SEAT Mods - lower & more comfy

Did some mods to the seat to make it lower and a little better for long road rides. Been meaning to do this for a while, so w/ this weekend's snow I finally had enough down time to tackle it. Shouldn't have waited, it went surprisingly quickly.

First step, removing the staples to take off the seat cover. I started out trying needle-nose Vise grips and a small flat screwdriver, ended up just carefully prying them all out w/ the screwdriver.

You can see I left a few factory staples in the front, this was to ensure proper alignment when I replaced the seat cover. Even with those few remaining staples, I could peel the cover completely off the top of the seat to have full access for the next steps.


Marked out a rough pattern for the desired profile:


Sawzall time. Some use electric bread knives for this step. Being below freezing helped, made the foam more likely to be cut rather than deflect the blade. If it were summer, I'd suggest putting the seat in the freezer...


The sawzall/breadknife is great for reaching a rough profile, but it is just that - rough. Next step is a grinder to smooth things out a bit (kinda like working wood or doing auto body work - start with the right tool for roughing in and get successively finer). Again, I'm pretty sure that the cold temps made this easier.


Dry-fitting, cut & grind some more (repeatedly). Baby steps man, baby steps.


Little more cutting, little more grinding:


Grinding got stuff "close", but not perfect. One last step - the belt sander. FWIW I tried a random orbit sander at various grit sandpaper as well, but it wasn't nearly as quick and precise as the belt sander (@ 80 grit, I believe).


Getting closer:




One final trial fit felt great - time to staple the cover back on. A standard construction-style staple gun couldn't penetrate the thick plastic of the seat pan, so I snagged a pneumatic brad nailer/stapler from HF for $20. I do a lot of construction/trim work and always wanted an air stapler - besides stapling, this thing will also shoot the exact same 18-gauge brads (up to 2" long - impressive) as my Stanley-Bostich brad nailer.


Like all the previous steps, it was important to take time and care when re-covering the seat. Nothing too troubling about it if you carefully stretch it into place and take small bites as you move up the sides, but I can see how seat covers get wrinkled if one gets into a hurry.


Finished product:


As we know, the WRR is a tall bike for a dual sport. And a VERY tall bike for a 250 dual sport. I did this mod to be able to flat-foot the bike without actually lowering the bike itself (and thereby losing ground clearance). This will be a huge advantage when riding rocky singletrack and similar nasty terrain.

Also, the stock seat is kind of convex (bumped out) right where yer bum goes. I actually dished this area in a bit - can't tell from the pics but you can definitely feel it on the bike. This allows better, fuller, and wider support for the parts of YOU that actually touch the seat - a good thing for long days.


"But how can it be more comfortable - you took away foam??" I learned this from an old-timer who made horse-saddles from scratch - it's not the MATERIAL, or especially the AMOUNT of material that makes a saddle comfy - it's the way it fits the customer's individual rear end (and the horse, as it were). This guy could make an all-day comfortable seat out of oak & leather - so by following those principles it was a cinch with foam (and power tools!) Frankly, OEM seat foam is so soft and spongy that a firmer, well-shaped cut is always worlds better anyway.


(the discoloration in the rear is just dirt from where my cargo net usually drapes)

Man, that looks better than factory.

Sarah

Cool - how much height do you think you took off the seat?

guessing about an inch to 1.5" in height, plus I shaved the front "shoulders" out quite a bit and, as mentioned, made the main seating area a bit concave.

Whatever I took off made a HUGE difference. Before I was on the balls of my feet (not tippy-toed, but still not the most secure footing). Now I can flat-foot both feet while stopped, and the decreased distance gave me a lot more leverage.

Nice job...looks like it was done by a pro

I bet this IS alot more comfy. The stock seat is shapes like a loaf of bread.

Hmm, I've got the step seat from Wheeling and I'm still not thinking it is low enough (my gal is a shorty at 5'1"). The Wheeling seat is still in the wrapping so I think I may be going to chop the seat myself to see if I can get her lower to the ground.

Any tips on not shaving too deep? do you feel any of the plastic pan under the thin layer of foam?

Are you in PA or OH? I spy a red/white/blue plate in one picture.

Once the cover is off, you can easily tell how deep the foam is. If, while cutting, you're unsure, something slender and pointed like a straight dental pick (or just a needle/pin!) would give a good indication of remaining depth.

If you shape it anywhere remotely close to her bum, there won't be any pressure points at all - the idea is to get a slightly dished-out seating area that supports the rider fully. Ergo, getting kind of close to the pan is actually good because it helps that soft, spongy foam actually have some support.

I can't stress enough - you could sit DIRECTLY on the pan and be comfy - so long as it fits your arse! Shaping is the goal, and again - removing the too-soft foam provides necessary firmness.

Nice job... I did the same thing to the girl's CRFx seat. ...but didn't think to use a belt sander. I think I'll take the cover of again and soften the ridges out of the "saddle" section. I was able to use a standard Stanley hand stapler to get the cover back on though.

I actually spent the money on a Corbin seat for my KTM SMC ( which actually has a 4x6 for a seat). It was the best thing I did to it.

There is one potential suggestion though. ...and that suggestion comes my back sides satisfaction with the Corbin profile; I'd start with not taking so much of the dome out of the "Saddle" section. You can go down progressively, but don't flatten it out so much initially as a height reducer. The reason is that once your legs are allowed to form down in a more natural posture the height is already somewhat compensated.

The Corbin does "dish" somewhat in the natural riding position. I would suspect that is to reduce pressure on the tailbone (your cheeks area squishes down on the rim area of the seat).

I don't think I can get the seat in the freezer, and there's no snow around here, but I think I'll go to school on your technique and get the girl out there to instruct me while I do it.

Either way I'm bound to exit the garage bleeding from one thing or another.

Robert,

Bear in mind the Stanley won't work on this seat pan. It's got a funky double ridge and the nose of the stapler won't fit down in it.

Sarah

Bummer... Well, at least you caught me before I headed into the garage !

I can see the girl with her dremmel in hand now.

Was bored and took a little out of mine today.
I used a Stanley power stapler.

It is the zing cover that wheelingcyclesupply sells ( i pulled the stitching out of the logo and removed it )
I did not use any glue, just pulled tight and stapled.

I tacked the front down, stretched the back and tacked it down.
Then worked my way around.
I had to removed some staples here and there to pull tighter in some areas before it fit good enough for me.

I used an electric carving knife and sand paper to smooth it down.

There seems to be a correlation to nice seat jobs and snow.

Trick of the trade for all you folks who want to make sure you don't get a pucker. Use a hair dryer (or a heat gun if you possess one) carefully on the material so it is warm and pliable, then stretch and staple. This way if will have a uniform fit over any curvature, and when it cools it will suck itself to the form.

Your idea was so good, I decided I'd give it a go too. I didn't have the stuff you did (belt sander, sawzall or electric knife) so I did it all with an angle grinder.






Now I have to take a trip to the shop and tack it with the staple gun. Didn't turn out bad with the angle grinder! I'll get pics once I have it tacked and on the bike. I took a bit more off, about 2 inches. Feels good on the bum.

Nope, that's my seat heater.

SheWolf wrote:

Nope, that's my seat heater.

Haha, that's about 90% of the reason I bought this bike. . . I sure love my accessories!



I just dropped my gal's seat and it is a good bit lower than the Wheeling stepped seat. Now I just have to figure out which one she likes better and put it on.

I can touch with both feet now, where before I could touch with just one, leaned over a bit. So now when I normally put my foot down I've got more than just my toes connecting. That heater works like a charm too. Sometimes too good.

f3joel wrote:

It is the zing cover that wheelingcyclesupply sells ( i pulled the stitching out of the logo and removed it )

How does it look where the logo was ? Can you notice the holes from the stitching ? I'm looking for a plain black cover without graphics but I can't find one.............