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Message |
Slaughter
| Posted on Saturday, July 29, 2006 - 07:58 pm: |
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The seat is still in good shape but after the ride to Laguna and back, I'm looking for recommendations to improve the comfort and know what's out there for gel and Sargeant's foam. Wanting to know if any of you have had good results - especially riding 2-up! |
Henrik
| Posted on Saturday, July 29, 2006 - 10:26 pm: |
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Steve; I've re-done a few seats using Propads and like the results very much. In short, 500 -750 mile days are now possible. Passengers have given positive feed-back as well. I wrote up some more description here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=4062&post=389350#POST 389350 If you want more info, ideas, advice, please feel free to PM me. I'd be happy to help. Henrik |
Whodom
| Posted on Saturday, July 29, 2006 - 10:31 pm: |
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Slaughter, I had my S3 seat reworked by Sargent a couple of months ago. See photos and story here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/4062/206034.html I did my first long ride on it a couple of weeks ago (~320 miles in one day). I'm pretty disappointed in the comfort of the seat. I had the cover reworked and had their "super cell atomic foam" installed front and rear. The foam helps, but I think the seat shape really needs to be changed for long-distance riding. Sargent can do that ("dish & widen") but it would have been another ~$100 over what I spent. My seat might work fine for someone else, but for me, it's not what I needed for long distance comfort. The Sargent foam is a definite improvement over stock, but the one bad thing I have noticed about the foam is that it conducts MUCH more heat up from the oil tank than the stock foam did. My butt roasted riding ~320 miles back from Deal's Gap last week. If I had it to do over, I think I'd spend the extra money and get a custom seat from someone like Rick Mayer or Russel. They use photos you send them and rebuild the seat based on how you fit the bike. They charge accordingly, but I suspect it'd be money well-spent. I've actually been toying with the idea of trying to adapt a standard Ulysses seat to my S3. There's one for sale cheap in the classifieds, and everyone raves about the comfort of the standard seat on those bikes. I got some measurements and it's MUCH wider than the S3 seat, and it seems like it could be made to work, but until I get a seat in hand I have no idea how difficult it would be. Just an idea. |
Henrik
| Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 11:16 am: |
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Ah yes, heat; I've heard come complaints about heat retention with the Propad. And true enough - park it in the sun for awhile, and your butt will be nice and toasty for awhile. I haven't found the heat to be uncomfortable though, and especially for longer rides, airflow will cool things down quick enough. Mind you, I've noticed the heat on occasion, but never found it to be a problem. I think Fireman Jim uses a top pad from Propad btw. Henrik |
Whodom
| Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 03:06 pm: |
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Henrik, I thought about trying the Propad but I thought I was doing better by having the seat reworked. The Propad may have been a better bet. I don't know that Sargent's foam retains heat any worse than the original, but it definitely transmits much more heat up from the oil tank. Running ~80 MPH on the interstate in ~90+ deg. F weather it felt like sitting on a hot plate. OTOH the seat was great riding in the twisties, and for short trips it seems noticeably better than the stocker. Hugh |
Oldog
| Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 04:35 pm: |
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have you guys ever tried a sheep skin slip on cover? Don't laugh they are used for invallid bed pads, to prevent bed sores. I did one, I cut it out of a bucket seat cover and put it on my suzy'z seat its quite comfy just cover it if you leave the bike in rain its difficult to dry out the wool other wise |
Whodom
| Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 06:17 pm: |
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Oldog, My wife made a couple of nice ones cheap. We bought two genuine sheepskin auto washing mits. She split the seam along one side, folded it out flat, and added an elastic band to hold it on top of the street. ~$6/each at Walmart IIRC. Another thing I tried recently is a "Bunsaver" hunter's seat cushion. It cost ~$10. It has foam inside, with an air valve that can be opened to let in more or less air to vary the firmness. It works pretty much like a ~$100 Airhawk seat cushion at 1/10 the price. It helps but takes some work to get adjusted properly. I think I read about this in Motorcycle Consumer News a while back. BTW, I think I cured the heat transmission problem from my new Sargent seat. I had just installed a new A/C unit at home and had a roll of aluminum duct/insulation tape left over. This is NOT conventional silver duct tape. This is basically a roll of thin aluminum with an adhesive backing; you unroll it and peel off the paper backing and it sticks like superglue. I covered the underside of the seat with this and it made a big difference in how much heat is coming up through the seat. (Message edited by whodom on July 31, 2006) |
Loki
| Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 10:24 pm: |
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speedtape, what a wonderful invention |
Slaughter
| Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 12:23 am: |
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Saw an Airhawk on a BMW. Cool idea, big bux. I'm prolly going to try some "strap-on" device (OK, I know it's a family bbs but hey...) - if I can do it "cheap" and if it works, it's worth a look. |
Henrik
| Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 10:26 am: |
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Ping the Fireman and see what he thinks of his Propad strap-on. Henrik |
Slaughter
| Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 06:24 pm: |
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Ping the Fireman and see what he thinks of his Propad strap-on. Henrik Worth a call/email/note (thanks) - still keeping options open but that run to Lagua and back really got me looking. Another guy here at work also gave a thumbs down on his Corbin. Said it could have been better if they had fit it to him sitting on the bike (an option but would have cost him a day travel) I'll hit up FMJ |
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