Suggestions for hard seat problem

[mstriumph]

How does sheepskin go in the wet??? (Honest question here, not a dig...)

wet?

you mean you get your bike WET?
------------------------------------------

seriously [yep - i can be, but not often ] it probably goes soggy in the wet .... but this is west australia so i don't have much chance to find out.
when i lived/commuted in wellington i found that "keep on riding" tended to keep it dry [ie my butt covering it's butt lol] - that and undercover parking at each end .......

[mstriumph]

they smell funny in the rain, and look ghey.

i'll bet the economy is thanking the powers that ten million sheep don't think the way that you do ...............

... but come to think of it, wet sheep DO smell a bit .... fishy ......
hmmmmmm - mebbe that's an aphrodesiac iffen you are a sheep of the ghey variety?

[Bonez]

i'll bet the economy is thanking the powers that ten million sheep don't think the way that you do ...............

... but come to think of it, wet sheep DO smell a bit .... fishy ......
hmmmmmm - mebbe that's an aphrodesiac iffen you are a sheep of the ghey variety?

Time to toss in a few sheep jokes gal. :spudwave:

[Blackbird]

Seriously, I most likely will need a new seat made - as mentioned (and you can see by my avatar), the Goose seat is basically a dense foam pad similar to the stuff you get in gardening kneelers - it doesn't so much need reshaping as having extra padding added to it. .

Fer God's sake woman , that's what McDonald's did to my Blackbird. I had the "full works" - all that was left was the seat base. They stripped all the foam off it and completely rebuilt it using different density foams. I take it that you actually have a metal or plastic base on your deat which new foam can be laid up on?

[Paul in NZ]

Fer God's sake woman , that's what McDonald's did to my Blackbird. I had the "full works" - all that was left was the seat base. They stripped all the foam off it and completely rebuilt it using different density foams. I take it that you actually have a metal or plastic base on your deat which new foam can be laid up on?

I think the Goose just has a piece of foam glued to the tailpiece... AKA racebike...

[Blackbird]

Ouch - that DOES sound uncomfortable

[Beemer]

I think the Goose just has a piece of foam glued to the tailpiece... AKA racebike...

I haven't tried taking it off yet, but that's what it appears to be - a dense foam pad (NOT a vinyl-covered foam pad) that is held on the bike with a single screw through the pad towards the front. It may well be attached to a base but it doesn't appear to be at first glance. As for the pillion pad - that is pretty much what Paul says - an even thinner piece of foam that covers a small storage area! I would definitely NOT want to be sitting on that for long!

So I'm thinking it would be a new seat from scratch rather than a rebuild - has anyone had this done?

[Oakie]

I cut up a sheepskin a couple of weeks ago just to use on long trips, but just for the hell of it I threw it on for the 10km commute this morning. Luxury ... pure bloody comfort. It's like wiping your ass with 4 ply extra soft dunny paper after you've previously been using sandpaper.

[Paul in NZ]

I haven't tried taking it off yet, but that's what it appears to be - a dense foam pad (NOT a vinyl-covered foam pad) that is held on the bike with a single screw through the pad towards the front. It may well be attached to a base but it doesn't appear to be at first glance. As for the pillion pad - that is pretty much what Paul says - an even thinner piece of foam that covers a small storage area! I would definitely NOT want to be sitting on that for long!

So I'm thinking it would be a new seat from scratch rather than a rebuild - has anyone had this done?

Yes, but you need a base to upholster to. Get a sheet of alloy (old road signs are usefull here ah hem) and cut it to shape. Sort out the fixings (ie how are you going to attach it)

Start with a thin layer of VERY dense foam, add a layer of less dense etc and get it covered.

Voila

[Groins_NZ]

I've got a Suzuki Goose and the seat on it is incredibly thin and hard - it's basically a dense foam pad (not a vinyl covered foam one like most seats) that is only a couple of inches thick.

I've only had the bike six months and it's already created problems that required surgery - no bull! Female motorcyclists and cyclists suffer from cysts in delicate parts of our anatomy, caused solely by pressure from hard bike seats. As you can imagine, I don't want to experience this again but I also don't want to give up motorcycling or change the bike. My specialist suggested padded cycling shorts under my bike gear, but I have a big enough bum as it is without EXTRA padding, so I think changing the seat is a better option.

Any ideas on how to go about this? The seat seems to be attached by a single screw, but it's not a standard sort of seat and I doubt I'd be able to replace it with anything from another bike. Can a seat be made with better padding - and if so, who does them? I don't really want to use a sheepskin either, so any suggestions would be welcome.

Give up motorcycling?

[TLDV8]

I can't remember where i saw it,might have been Sargent seats in the US..but it was a bladder type seat cushion that you could put air into. (fwiw)

[clint640]

I would call a few of the local auto/marine upholsterers, they won't all have bike seat expertise but chances are there'll be someone who can help you.
Improving on most motorbike seats is not rocket science by any means, making a truly great seat is a bit of a rare talent tho.

Cheers
Clint

[F5 Dave]

Well check this out for a comfy seat & no the gloves usually aren’t there. Add the unyielding seat to the scrunched up riding position (I’m no midget, average sizing) & what are you complaining about?

But seriously folks, my YZF had a thin seat & I got Charmans to recover it & stick another layer of foam in it. Quite cheap too.

While not a miracle it is much better. Try this & send away for some outside gel pads, apparently they are only any chop when mounted on top of the seat.

[Cajun]

My father in law is owner of McDonald Motor Trimmers.

Anything is possible, evne tho seat is only pretty much a piece of board with a bit of foam glued to it, we can recover it.

Most seats use to 'soft' foam. they are nice and soft when new, but after a few km/h get compressed and turn hard. and next to useless.

We are based in Tauranga. But you can courier seat to us, we work our magic and courier it back to you. We have a qualityed metal fabiactor working with us, so we can modify/make/fix anything that we need. But what i remember from riding a goose. 2 years ago i am pretty sure we can work something out. If ya can take a couple of digital pictures of your seat, would be best

Send me a pm, and i let you know more

BTW
Those gel pads - are okay, not great, unless done correctly the gel in middle could cause more damage, they need be inserted in to a 'pocket' so don't damage the foam/vinyl cover.

[Beemer]

Thanks Cajun, far better suggestion than Groins - give up motorcycling - what are ya?

And just to clarify something in one of my earlier posts, when I said my seat had already been reshaped by McDonald's, I was being fascetious - I meant my arse had been reshaped by eating at McDonald's (the fast food chain), NOT that my bike seat had been unsuccessfully reshaped by McDonalds, the motor trimmers! I just got a PM from someone saying they had their seat reshaped by them and he was sure they'd fix it if I wasn't happy!

What I'll probably do is have a chat to a few people who know way more about seats than I do, figure out the best option, then probably get in touch with someone like McDonalds to do the work. It does need doing, I love the bike but it's like sitting on a 4x2! The other option is already being explored - I'm having my spare boots built up to see if it makes enough of a difference for me NOT to sell the Beemer. If I keep that bike, then the seat isn't a problem!