1st attempt at a DIY seat mod - abject failure :(

[Mollygrubber]

Well, I'm on the waiting list for a custom foam reshaping at Rich's in Seattle, but it's not until June, and my @ss hurts NOW. So I thought to myself "maybe I'll just do a little pre-emptive shaping to tide me over". Some things I learned:

1) be careful prying the staples out, or you'll slip and ram the screwdriver under your thumbnail (see my post during my rekeying case lock attempt).
2) there's no way a Craftsman manual staple gun will penetrate the seat pan plastic
3) there's no way a Craftsman manual staple gun will drive staples into the bottom of a deep, thin groove
4) I need a better staple gun and compressor
5) BMW in it's infinite wisdom glued the foam to the seat cover, not the seat pan. Separating the two tends to rip the foam.
6) for me, DIY usually ends up translating as 'that was frustrating, where's the band-aids?'.

Thank doG I stopped when I did, I must be getting wiser in some respect. Sorry, no pictures, I didn't want to get blood all over my camera.

I ended up getting the cover fastened back on (loosely speaking - no pun intended) such that you can't really tell it was monkeyed with, but the 'stapling' job underneath is something to behold. Reminds me of something my daughter brought home from arts & crafts class when she was 4.

As a lucky aside, blood rinses right off that vinyl.

I think I'll work on my wife's seat until I get the technique down...

Peter

[dderrig]

Well, I'm on the waiting list for a custom foam reshaping at Rich's in Seattle, but it's not until June, and my @ss hurts NOW. So I thought to myself "maybe I'll just do a little pre-emptive shaping to tide me over". Some things I learned:

1) be careful prying the staples out, or you'll slip and ram the screwdriver under your thumbnail (see my post during my rekeying case lock attempt).
2) there's no way a Craftsman manual staple gun will penetrate the seat pan plastic
3) there's no way a Craftsman manual staple gun will drive staples into the bottom of a deep, thin groove
4) I need a better staple gun and compressor
5) BMW in it's infinite wisdom glued the foam to the seat cover, not the seat pan. Separating the two tends to rip the foam.
6) for me, DIY usually ends up translating as 'that was frustrating, where's the band-aids?'.

Thank doG I stopped when I did, I must be getting wiser in some respect. Sorry, no pictures, I didn't want to get blood all over my camera.

I ended up getting the cover fastened back on (loosely speaking - no pun intended) such that you can't really tell it was monkeyed with, but the 'stapling' job underneath is something to behold. Reminds me of something my daughter brought home from arts & crafts class when she was 4.

Peter why waiting so long for Rich's, are they that booked up? I had my wifes 650GS done there and am thinking of getting mine done.

As a lucky aside, blood rinses right off that vinyl.

I think I'll work on my wife's seat until I get the technique down...

Peter

Peter, why waiting so long for Rich's are they that booked up?

[Mollygrubber]

No, it's scheduling and budgetary related. Two seats at once is a bit spendy. I guess we could bump it up, but it would have to be vetted by SWMBO . And she's still a bit choked about the new dual sport...

[dderrig]

I may end up going to Rich's also, my wife likes her Rich's custom seat on her F650 and I seem ok on my stock seat but how will I know what I am missing until I get a new one


Dave

[Mollygrubber]

Wow, your butt must be concave. I'm OK for about an hour, after that it's like riding a bowling ball covered with sandpaper.

Germans must be really tough, or genetically mutated below the belt.

Peter

[Mark]

Can't say I have any great problem with the stock seat either but I hear and feel your pain.
A seat that is not in tune with your butt is not a great recipe for long rides.

Had to laugh when someone mentioned a concave butt though.
Heard of a guy once that could climb a coconut palm tree using only his buttocks and another that could scale the side of a glass clad hi-rise building using only his butt with some kind of suction cup effect.

Takes all types I guess.

What I would add is that posture and fitness (or lack of) is a huge contributor to comfort on a bike over long distances.

[Mollygrubber]

What I would add is that posture and fitness (or lack of) is a huge contributor to comfort on a bike over long distances.

...neither of which I have great quantities of...

You and my wife should go for coffee, you're cut from the same cloth (do you work out every other day too??)

Not to diminish your advice, it's the logical step - and free.

-unrelated thought - I always laugh at those guys who spend thousands on ultra-light unobtanium upgrades to shed a few ounces on their sport bikes, then hit McDonny's on the way home to pad their hefty buttocks some more. I'm so superior...

Peter

[ka5ysy]

...
-unrelated thought - I always laugh at those guys who spend thousands on ultra-light unobtanium upgrades to shed a few ounces on their sport bikes, then hit McDonny's on the way home to pad their hefty buttocks some more. I'm so superior...

Peter

And you are much more comfortable on the RR to boot. Obviously we are all superior intellects to have selected such a fine machine

[Radar in oz]

FWIW, John Moorhouse (ergo motorcycle seats) did a fabulous job with my seat and I know of at least three other cases of happy owners.

http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~maddoggy/

I was happy with the stock seat, but my wife wasn't. Now she can sit on it all day (we recently completed 4000 Km in 8 days, not one complaint ).

We sent John our seat along with photos of where we sit and how much of the seat we "occupy" along with some notes about how we thought it could be improved and we are really happy with the result. He re-foamed the pillion section and blended it into the rider section. Co-incidently a week after it arrived home again I met another R1200R rider with a seat (front and rear sections) also done by John, the result was equally as impressive but quite a different shape that was tailored to suit him and his pillion. John has been doing this for a long time and clearly produces tailored results to meet individual needs. When we got it back he certainly insisted that if it "wasn't quite right" to just send it back and he volunteered to keep working on it if necessary. I can't vouch for that as we have had no need to take him up on it.

(I'd post pictures but I haven't been able to get that to work, when I try to preview my message with the Flickr url between the "IMG" delimiters I get a message "can't measure the size of the image" or something similar).

Cheers

Radar

[ShinySideUp]

I think I'll work on my wife's seat until I get the technique down..,

Now THERE's a line you don't want taken out of context!