Ok, i love this bike as a whole, but thought the seat angle caused me to slide forward in the tank a bit, so i took a piece of 3/16 th aluminum plate, made a pattern off the stock front seat bracket, sandwiched in under the original,using the stock bolts, only other modification is i had to used a grinder and trim the thickness of the front mount on the seat, to make it fit, that's it, seat goes right on as before, but puts a slight bow in it now, pushing me back like i wanted, the seat pan has plenty of flex so this was no big deal...... Oh, and put a pair of foam grip covers on, felt the grips were a little narrow, that's it for now, but more to come!

Thats pretty smart. It doesn't look like it causes too much distortion with the seat to frame clearance either. Nice mod!

Not a big fan of the way the grip covers look, but when your riding, you can't see them anyway. Besides, its all about comfort!!


http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g304/Bear_on_a_bicycle/thumb.gif http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g304/Bear_on_a_bicycle/thumb.gifhttp://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g304/Bear_on_a_bicycle/thumb.gif

Interesting mod - seat is definitely the next thing on my list...after about 10 miles I get a bad pain at the very back of my but - almost on my tail bone. I'm going to try this out, although I think I'm going to have to add foam, too. But we'll see.

I found a couple of good links on seats and foam, if anyone else is interested in that route - guess we might as well have them under the 'stock seat modifications' thread, too.

http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/index.php

http://www.rickmayercycle.com/foam.html

I too made a similar modification to the front of my seat to raise it up. I actually went up 1" to level out the seat to make it a more comfortable ride. I think that the front part of the seat is not supported by the tongue though, but by two small sections on either side of the tongue. I added 1" of material here also, to support the seat. It does make it a little more difficult to latch the seat closed, but my butt thanks me every time.

thats really cool, i should have thought of that.... i guess you went to college. I was just thinkin about what icould do with that the other day, and also, has anyone ever tried those gel pads that you can put or have put in the seat?

gel padsa are nice, but they will hold heat if they sit in the sun for too long, a good option is to use a airhwk cushion on top of your seat, works way better than gel

Well I went a different route. I resculpted my seat and added some harder foam. It works very well for me now. I did not take any construction pics but i do have an after pic.

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/8839/vsmods1eh3.jpg

I peeled the front section of the seat cover back by removing the staples. I then cutout the section from the back to the front that I wanted to redo. I went to walmart and got one of those blue foam mats for under your sleeping bag when camping, the harder the foam the better, that was about 1" thick. While I was there I got a memory foam pillow that went from 4"-6" thick. I cut the hard blue foam to shape and used spray glue to hold it in the area I had cut out. I then cut the memory foam to shape with the 4" section to the back making a slope backwards. This ended up too high so I split the memory foam in half so it is now 2" in back and 4" in front. I spray glued this onto the blue foam. I then took my rotary sander and shaped it as close as I could to the original shape. Mostly just rounded the edges off real well so it would blend in. I pulled the cover back over and stapled it back in. I raised my seat by 2" which is about right for me and really helped out with the monkey butt I would get quickly on the stocker and I don't slide forward unless I want to. It cost me about $23 bucks and maybe an hours time to do it. I have never done this before so it really is easy.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g304/Bear_on_a_bicycle/thumb.gifhttp://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g304/Bear_on_a_bicycle/thumb.gifhttp://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g304/Bear_on_a_bicycle/thumb.gif

I fixed my seat as soon as I got the Versys without taking the cover off. I stuffed a few feet of 6" wide insulation foam roll as used for flooring underlay, in through seat base's two vent holes to add support where needed. Nothing shows and the seat is now comfortable.
I like your aluminum plate mod, tsunamichop007... Seat base is also the battery hold-down, if you've noticed the small black foam block underneath. You might need a thicker battery hold-down now.

I'm gonna give Baddone's memory foam mod a try. I need a little more seat height, and I need to get rid of that annoying forward sloping seat. Once that's done I will be 110% satisfied with my V ride! :yeahsmile:

I like the foam used but I don't like the forward slant. I'm going to shave the foam down in back a bit to make it flatter and see what that does.

You all give good ideas. Thanks.

I'm gonna give Baddone's memory foam mod a try. I need a little more seat height, and I need to get rid of that annoying forward sloping seat. Once that's done I will be 110% satisfied with my V ride! :yeahsmile:

The memory foam will give you the heighth but not the support you need. It compresses to eaisly. I tried memory foam only first and it was not what I needed. You need a harder foam under the memory foam for comfort.

The memory foam will give you the heighth but not the support you need. It compresses to eaisly. I tried memory foam only first and it was not what I needed. You need a harder foam under the memory foam for comfort.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Yesterday I modified my seat to make it flatter. Made the mistake of buying a 4 1/2 inch grinder to do the job like sites said to do. It is too hard to use for the delicate job. I screwed up at one point using it because the grinder caught too much foam too fast and jerked upward right into my peeled back seat cover putting a small rip in it.

I ended up doing most the job with the various rough files I had which was much easier to work with. So far it feels good to ride and tomorrow I have to do a 4 hour ride and I'll see if it really helped.

I like this idea! Looks real professional.

Couple of questions: Did you use the original seat material to recover the seat or did you have to replace it? What did you use to reattach the seat covers? Finally, what grit of sand paper did you use on your rotary sander. I'm thinking something fine grit.

I did the same thing ATGATT. I was using my orbital sander and not paying attention :eek: and zip a nice little hole in my cover. Oh well I put some tape on the inside and called it my signature. :D

I like this idea! Looks real professional.

Couple of questions: Did you use the original seat material to recover the seat or did you have to replace it? What did you use to reattach the seat covers? Finally, what grit of sand paper did you use on your rotary sander. I'm thinking something fine grit.

Yes its the original seat cover. Just remove staples and the stretch it back over and staple it back. I used 60 grit in my sander as a finer grit clogs to eaisly and takes too long. Use caution and a light hand when sanding with a powered sander it does not take much pressure at all to remove the foam.

I like this idea! Looks real professional.

Couple of questions: Did you use the original seat material to recover the seat or did you have to replace it? What did you use to reattach the seat covers? Finally, what grit of sand paper did you use on your rotary sander. I'm thinking something fine grit.

Like others have said, just use the same seat cover. It stretches nice.

I have an air staple gun but you can use the cheaper electric ones too, I think. Just use short staples.

Again, if I were to do it again, I'd stay away from the rotary sander and just use hand files. They do a much more even job and you won't tear your cover or take off too much foam due to an error.

I just got back from putting on 500 miles since the seat mod and it is much nicer. No more being pushed to the front of the seat. Well worth it even though I tore a small section. Such is life.

Thanks for the answers and help. I may be giving this a try soon.

Another thing I should mention that found made a big difference sitting on long rides and it's.....wear casual pants, the inseams are much smoother. Wearing jeans is like sitting on a rope because they have such bulky seams. I tried the Diamond cut jeans and they still were not good. Good ol' casual pants under my mesh riding pants was the way to go.

Good tip - I also found softening the suspension helps. I've set the preload on 3 and the rebound dampner one rotation to soft. Much cushier ride without being too soft. If I have a passenger or luggage I'll put it up to 4 and keep the rebound dampner at it's present setting.

Hey guys.

This is my 1st official post. I've been trolling ever since I was convinced a 2008 blue Versys was a perfect replacement for my old Ninja 250R. (I loved that bike, it was effortless, however not near the bike the Versys is) I picked it up last Friday and managed to put 200kms on it already.

My main gripes are ergonomic. The combo of a sloping seat (where the wide seating area slopes forward too early) and the small hand grips result in tired hands that are trying to keep my butt back in the seat. I'm thinking I'll have to shave down the back of my stock seat. I've read the thread but does anyone have any tips how best to shape the seat? Would it be smarter to try adding some padding in the front first? (I'm 6' but the taller Versys ride make flat footing difficult, raising the front won't help that) I think the stock side view pic shows the seat's slope well. (though you all know what I'm talking about)

http://forums.kawasakiversys.com/images/kawasaki-versys-pics/18.jpg

So what do you guys think? Raised front or sloped back? Thanks!

Oh, and I've already got the Kona Thottle Lock, H&B Cage and Extend-fenda on order. I haven't seen any word around here on the Kona, so I'll post a review once I get it installed and tested. Good things have been said about them from the BMW types.

You need to add padding to the front and/or raise the front. I had already stuffed a few feet of foam sheating in through the seat base vent holes, without removing seat cover. I've now also raised the front, thanks to tsunamichop007's ingenious idea. I used 1/8" steel plate with a washer between it and front seat bracket with longer bolts to avoid trimming seat base mount. The seat is now perfect, and I'm always up against the 'back rest' when I accelerate. :thumb:

Awesome. I was hooked on the idea when tsunamichop007 started the thread but I was worried it might raise the front too much. Not like it matters since this mod wouldn't be as permanent as shaving seat foam down! I think I'll be dropping by HomeDepot for some steel on the way home tomorrow. Thanks!

:DHey, Under - the blue Versys are the best!:D

The special blue color makes them go faster.

Messing with a seat can be difficult, but you have to work with a bike to meet your needs. For me, I didn't want to add any more height to the seat so the only option was to take off padding from the rear of it.

You can't take off enough to make it level with the front because you'll be down to the plastic base, it just needs to be less of a slope and that has worked for me.

What I like about tennis racket wraps over the grips is that you can make one area of the grip a larger diameter than the other areas. I like the pointing finger/thumb area to be a bit larger than the rest of the grip.

That's a good point atgatt. Grips with a thicker inside make reaching for the brake and clutch easier. I wonder if I can find some slip-ons that fit the bill.

I'm going to give some slip-ons a try first. They're cheap and I'm not totally sold on the idea of tape on the grips yet. (though I might try if if the slip-ons don't do it for me) The glue will eventually either dry out or peel off in the heat. I would at least expect the heat to soften the glue and regular usage will result in the tape and glue sticking to my gloves. (I'm going by my experience with a bike seat and some temporary duct tape to hold a rip together)

Ocean: Congrats on getting your M2! I just got my full M-class last Monday before I picked up my Versys. And yes, the Blue Versys is a) faster and b) easier to see at night than Red or Black. So we don't have to feel shallow about coveting only looks and performance, but also safety!!!

[QUOTE=under;2962]That's a good point atgatt. Grips with a thicker inside make reaching for the brake and clutch easier. I wonder if I can find some slip-ons that fit the bill.

QUOTE]

Funny you mention that because that is exactly why I like it thicker towards the steering column. It seems easier to be more precise with the throttle using point finger and thumb as I have my other 3 fingers covering the brake lever in places that are "just in case".

In my particular case these two things, working together, have brought about an excellent, level, result:

1. Front of seat mount mod.
2. Rear Spring Preload moved from 5 to 4

I did not find the seat mod. to be enough by itself, but in conjunction with the change to rear spring preload . . . now that's an improvement (and the Versys does not need much improvement!:clap:)

Sic et non, however . . . Any softening of the rear spring preload will be a bit of a trade, I found that moving from 5 to 4 serves my purpose well, but it does, if I am being honest, take a bit of the razor's edge off the linear performance . . .

Hope this description is helpful . . .

It absolutely is. I have yet to play around with the rear shock adjustment and didn't know what to expect. I've been keeping it at 5 (I think, whatever the factory default is, supposed to be good for 140~180lbs, I'm on the low side) for when my wife rides on back.

I'm going to plan some time this weekend for adjustments and testing. The front seat mod, possibly new grip covers and then a spring adjustment to get a feel for how the rear shock can change the ride. (I've never been able to play with the rear shock in the past)

Hopefully my experience will be similar to yours! Thanks. (I hope I didn't hi-jack the thread but the seat is only part of the ergonomic discussion here, grips and rear shock all add to the seating issue)

For crying out loud, now you got me thinking about that rear spring.

Forget about using "5", "4", etc, if I weigh 140 lbs and let's say I mainly carry about 40 lbs of stuff with me on my weekly road trips, should I have the spring compressed as much as possible or backed off as much as possible?

The way I have it now it is uncompressed with the latching click plate towards the back of the bike all the way.

It seemed at the time to drop the back of the bike farther when I did that and that's what I wanted. Correct?

You're looking for proper ride height; about 1 1/2" vertical compression (sag) at the axle while sitting on it with your 40 lbs of stuff, from rear suspension's highest position. For your total weight, #3 (starting from lowest position) should work, and possibly #4 with your wife on for best results. Go up one position if bottoming out occurs. Check your rebound damping setting as well. Many have it set too stiff in an attempt to resist hopping. Too much rebound damping prevents suspension from decompressing quickly enough between bumps, keeping it hung up in compressed position. I'm 185 lbs, and have it set at #3 preload (ride height) with 10 clicks out (starting from maximum hard 'H' position-towards soft 'S' lowest rebound damping resistance position).
For a good balance and also less forward lean, forks are at maximum preload (ride height) with both hex adjusters turned in all the way, and the rebound damping setting screw (on right fork only) set at 1/2 turn out (counterclock wise from maximum clockwise position).

Ok, we should spin this into a new "Shock Adjustment Experience" thread. :-)

In advance of playing with the seat and new grips I decided to adjust the rear shock and see what the ride was like. Its was from the dealer at #5 (from the bottom) and I brought it down to #4 where I noticed the seat was lower and a little flatter. (in comparison to the slope forward it had before) I decided WTH and lowered it to #3 like invader suggested. The seating was more comfortable than #5, closer to my old Ninja 250 seat flatness, so I took it out for a spin.

I'm 6' and with the front forks at stock settings (haven't touched them yet) and the rear at #3 I found the angle difference in the wind screen (the back is lower now so the screen is tipped back more than before) made for a MUCH windier ride at 80km\h. I didn't like it, and I rode a small 250R previously. (the gale force at 100km\h on the 250 when you're 6' is pretty good) My first thought was that I needed a bigger wind screen!

I plan to play for the front forks tomorrow, but what do you guys think? Invader suggested raising the front forks (I completely understand we all do what's right for each other) but that would make the screen protect even less.

I think ultimately I'll have to find a middle ground between seat mod and shock adjustment. Maybe a #4 with the front forks down a bit and tsunamichop007's raised seat front mod.

FYI, I weight about 140lbs and, as mentioned, 6' tall. I don't have any luggage yet but my V46 Givi is on order and my wife does ride with in back on weekends.

Your priority is to set you suspension right first, then the seat, then the wind screen... I cut my own wind screen out of a medium tinted Ski-Doo (ZX chassis) windshield. It's 4" wider on top and 1" taller with a small flip-up. I'm 6'1" and it works great on lowest setting.
You could try flipping your stock wind screen upside down as some have...

Thanks for the advice. I was set on buying the Givi wind screen anyways but I want to wait for the tail case to come in before shelling out for the screen. (vacuum pull, which I actually noticed when my wife was in back) I want to get a feel for the case with the suspension changes. Once I'm settled in I'll upgrade the screen. Thanks again.

Under - I didn't know there where other's out there like me. I'm 6'4" tall and I weigh 155lbs - a typical bean pole.

I found reducing the preload and the dampener helped make the seat more comfortable and reduced the bucking when I went over bumps.

I finally got my Vario windshield and I absolutely love it. My dealer had both the Givi and the Vario. The Givi is supposed to do an excellent job even to the hand grips. I didn't want that much wind protection and I liked the way the Vario looked better. I rode home from the dealer in a strong head wind and there was no buffeting and it was much quieter.

Webbikeworld has a great review on all three windshield options.

Here are pics of my 1/8" steel plate front seat mount mod. You can also see the plastic spacer I glued to battery top where it meets the battery hold down under seat base.

I'll add my identical seat mod to the rest.

I have my first 100m and my saddle fears wear confirmed, the saddle is to low and narrow on the front and after 30 minutes half of my me is riding on the tank (ouch).

Being a do-it-yourself kind of guy I went ahead and put some pad.

Check it out.

http://javierisassi.googlepages.com/kawasakiversysseatmod

I just did it today so I don't know if it works yet. I'll post my results here and on the site. :thumb:

I went in the other direction. After peeling back the seat cover, I used an electric carving knife to flatten to seat from the front to almost al the way to the drivers seat section. Then I used a grinding wheel on an electric drill to dish out the seat area and narrow the thigh area. I also loosened the handle bars and rocked them back and readjusted the controls. Though I am a very inexperienced rider, I noticed an immediate improvement in comfort as well as a significant improvement in handling in twisties. There's lots of padding in the stock seats so shaving some off doesn't appear to have had an effect on comfort in that regard. :thumb:

Back when I had my 99 ZRX 1100, I did a seat mod similar to Dorian in that I used the electric carving knife. I cut out and leveled the old foam in the seating area. Then for a more comfortable feel, I used carpet padding to build it back up. Two layers of 3/8ths rebond to be exact. Easy to trim and work with. Felt super comfortable and was still going strong when I sold the bike in 04.
I'll be doing the same to the V later this week after it gets back from its 600 mile svc. I'll take some pics and post as soon as I'm finished.

I've also been noticing the "crushed junk" problem with the seat.

Tonight, my wife gave me her "seat saver" from her horse saddle to try. I'll probably have to do a little sewing to secure it to the underside of the seat and maybe flea-bomb it before bringing it in the house, but I'm not as brave as you guys in opening that seat up - I'm seriously ham-fisted when it comes to re-stretching that damn vinyl.

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/junkerjak/seatsaver-on-versys.jpg

Update: The seat modification was not very successful. The pad combined with lowering the rear shock suspension from 5 to 3 increases the ride comfort from 20min to 30min but after that problem comes back again. Basically the seat is like a slide that you have to hold up against you braking or on a stand still. All this time I'm driving under 55 mph. I guess that when accelerating or being pushed by the wind a high speed creates the balance that the seat was designed for, to prevent your body from sliding back. I went and looked at the corbin seat ($400.00+) no thank you. I could go ahead and flatten the seat with a carving knife but I have not yet gone into the highway for long periods of time(70mph+). I think I'm going to hold on for a while until I hit 600m and then decide what to do.

Update: The seat modification was not very successful.

That's not surprising at all with the lump of foam you stuffed up in front of the seat. You need to raise the front mount and/or build it up progressively with foam padding from the back to the front where you actually sit..

I posted this in the "Corbon seat" section too:

Earlier I did a mod to my seat that helped but still wasn't good enough. Then some pics of the Corbon seat were shown and how it "cupped" in the rear of the seat to "cradle" the butt.

I then went at the seat again with my trusty files so that the center of the seat from the front to back is level as the back left and right side cup up above level. After two trips, I can say that the seat is really nice now.

No more "forward push" now and it feels very supportive.

I'm on the third experiment with the seat.


http://javierisassi.googlepages.com/kawasakiversysseatmod


I replace the foam with polyethylene pellets. I don't want to carve the seat. I have already raised the front 1/4" but the cup shape it's the root of the discomfort. Let's see how this one fare.

cab, forgive me for laughing, but your site gave me a good chuckle. Most likely because you remind me of me sometimes.

At stage II if your seat got any higher, you'd need a ladder. :)

Let us know how stage III works.

You sure do great write ups.

This is just a quick updated for the seat mod.

It works.

http://javierisassi.googlepages.com/kawasakiversysseatmod

The pellets filled the sides making the seat a bit wider on the front. The biggest advantage is that the seat doesn't get much higher but a do have to tip toe at the stop light. But my legs are way more relaxed on the pegs.

Hey guys, this is directed at anyone of you who have taken the seat skin off the base pan to monkey with the foam.... Is the hump (for passenger) re-enforced with plastic or is it all foam inside? I was wondering if the hump can be shaved down to make it into an old style bench seat....It would make it alot easier to slide back a bit and alter the knee angles on longer rides... just a thought and I'd like a heads up if anyone knows it wouldn't work... any and all input greatly appreciated. thanks

I want to thank tsunamichop007 for contributing his solution to the sliding down/forward problem. Intuitively, it made the most sense, so I went ahead and did it with no problem. Also, if you put 2 fender washers on each side above the aluminum bar, then no shaving of the front mounting tab on the seat base is required ,which may weaken it. Warning, the screws are barely long enough with this method and may be replaced with longer ones.
On an unrelated matter, I found a neat place to install an accessory 12v. outlet attached to the lower aspect of the main fuse cover (on the left.) It requires removing only the silver side cover and main fuse cover. The wires thread easily alongside the battery and tape to the inside of the frame. Run them in the under seat area to tail light power (red wire) and ground to an existing screw in powder -coated frame. The outlet is $6.99 at Radio shack and comes with a sturdy plastic bracket that can be ground down (the top back flange, 1/8inch and bottom 1/4inch.) to fit the available space. I can provide a picture but doubt it would help much.

Hey guys, this is directed at anyone of you who have taken the seat skin off the base pan to monkey with the foam.... Is the hump (for passenger) re-enforced with plastic or is it all foam inside? I was wondering if the hump can be shaved down to make it into an old style bench seat....It would make it alot easier to slide back a bit and alter the knee angles on longer rides... just a thought and I'd like a heads up if anyone knows it wouldn't work... any and all input greatly appreciated. thanks

Its foam. There are 2 or 3 strings though that would need to be cut to get to it though. They are the tie downs for the crease between the lower and upper seat. If you are looking to create a single level seat though they are not needed I would think.

Since I made my seat "cup" like the Corbin, it is much better. Had to do over 500 miles Monday, the same Tuesday and just 300 today, so the seat did very well considering how it was before.

I don't know if there is a seat that gives complete comfort. I just look for tolerable.

Does anyone have a seat that gives all day rides comfort, day after day?

I just performed the tsunamichop007 mod, and man, what a difference. I'd say it cured 75% of the sliding forward problem, and resulted in a much more comfortable ride all the way around. Instead of 3/16" aluminum plate, I used 1/4" marine grade plywood, filleted at the corners and radiused on all of the edges. I bought some longer bolts at the local ACO Hardware store, and placed two washer per bolt between the stock metal bracket and the plywood riser/spacer.
I feel kinda dumb for ordering a $430.00 Corbin seat yesterday (before trying this mod), but at least I'll have a much more comfortable ride until my Corbin arrives....:)

All the padding was not worth much. After two weeks the problem persisted. I went ahead and added a piece of plywood to raise the seat front bracket.

http://javierisassi.googlepages.com/pywood.jpg/pywood-large.jpg

I had to order the bolts online 6mm x 1 45mm lenght ..metric of course. Did it work? Mostly. I ride almost two hrs every day. :blah:

http://javierisassi.googlepages.com/bumped2.jpg/bumped2-large.jpg

In morning all is great. In the afternoon when is hot and Im sitting in traffic I want to lean back further back but the level seat won't let me. Is the narrow front again, no matter how high, is not right.I say is 90% better but definitely not plush. I need to update my mod page!:(
I most likely end with the corbin seat too.:huh:

Interesting mod - seat is definitely the next thing on my list...after about 10 miles I get a bad pain at the very back of my but - almost on my tail bone. I'm going to try this out, although I think I'm going to have to add foam, too. But we'll see.

I found a couple of good links on seats and foam, if anyone else is interested in that route - guess we might as well have them under the 'stock seat modifications' thread, too.

http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/index.php

http://www.rickmayercycle.com/foam.html

Well, last weekend, after studying the two links above, I decided to do major surgery on my seat. I am very happy with the results. I will post photos and some more tutorial when I get a few minutes. Thanks for those links!

I put a space under the nose as well, and after adding about 800 miles to the clock, my backside is much happier. Lifting the nose reduced the forward slide, and the extra miles let my butt get used to the shape of the saddle.

I agree that the nose is a bit narrow though.. could use a little extra padding. I will most likely try and add some foam soon... but the seat is good enough as it is to hold off plunking down a years worth of lunch money for the Corbin. (I loved the Corbin on my KLR)

i stuffed part of my shirt into the front seat vent with a pencil. worked great

The seat NEEDED some work for me too. This may help some one else. What I did was get to the foam in my hands.. my half came right out, leaving the pillion in place. I looked at the bottom side of the piece and visualized my ass on the top. Then with a razor and set to a depth of about 1" [via thumb and forefinger] the carving started. Basically what i did was hog out where my butt is and where me nads go. Then added a nice firm 1/2" pc of foam ive been saving for something at the front most part and then stapled back together..Walla !... it worked very well now and took less then an hour,

Hint.. Score in 1" grid like pattern then cut out.

AWESOME yes it leaves me in awe and wonder. I just did this mod today along with the IAP mod and the bike feels brand new and way more comfortable. SO GREAT JOB Tsunamichop!! :)

Ok, i love this bike as a whole, but thought the seat angle caused me to slide forward in the tank a bit, so i took a piece of 3/16 th aluminum plate, made a pattern off the stock front seat bracket, sandwiched in under the original,using the stock bolts, only other modification is i had to used a grinder and trim the thickness of the front mount on the seat, to make it fit, that's it, seat goes right on as before, but puts a slight bow in it now, pushing me back like i wanted, the seat pan has plenty of flex so this was no big deal...... Oh, and put a pair of foam grip covers on, felt the grips were a little narrow, that's it for now, but more to come!

Does anybody have a shop manual that could tell me the size of the bolts (2) that hold the seat bracket in? I did the mod as above, and then conveniently stripped one of the bolts even though I barely put any torgue on it. I suspect it may have been stripped when it was originally put in. Anyway, if somebody has the size I can just go get a replacement at the hardware store (hopefully!).

Thanks

i think the bolts are 6 mm, or you could use the other good one to get a match off of it....u might be able to run a tap through it and clean the threads up

Patent it guys...... It will sell.....

I took the seat to a friend that does custom seats and he took a wire brush on a drill and took about 3/4 inch of the rear of the seat and it changed the ride all together. I wish i took pictures or video.

Does anybody have a shop manual that could tell me the size of the bolts (2) that hold the seat bracket in? I did the mod as above, and then conveniently stripped one of the bolts even though I barely put any torgue on it. I suspect it may have been stripped when it was originally put in. Anyway, if somebody has the size I can just go get a replacement at the hardware store (hopefully!).

Thanks

It's M6 X 1. It's 25 mm long (without the head) so you'll need slightly longer bolts to mount with a spacer.

I thought I would try the "raise the front seat bracket" trick. Seemed to simple to work. And that is right, as far as I can tell. With the spacers in, the seat wobbles and can move up and down. At least mine can. It seems that the white plastic seat mounts on each side of the hook rest on the bracket that holds the tank and steady the seat from below. With the spacers in there, these do not touch the tank bracket, and the seat has wobble and vertical play. Am I missing something? -- Hank.

Got my Corbin Seat late today. Tomorrow I'll see how it rides. I have a Corbin on my ST1300 and it fine so I thought I'd give one a try on my Versys. Reports to follow.

Ok, 1500 miles on my bike and the monkey butt got the better of me and I tried the seat mod (raising it 5/8" or so). Maybe I did something wrong but here are my comments. 1. Not only does it cause a large gap at the bottom of the seat line, but also a large gap where the seat meets the tank. 2. the right and left most forward flanges of the seat now rub against the tank which will cause the paint to wear off. 3. After fiddling for a while i finally got the seat to latch with the raising block in place. Problem was, I was not able to remove the seat again. There was way too much tension on the release latch. I did finally get the seat off but am concerned it could get permantently stuck on. Did other people experience this? I think I might have to go with "a different approach" to raising the seat height in front.

Yes, rising the seat with a wood block caused a visible gap between the bike frame and the tank and the seat. To Stabilize the seat (support) so I does not bend sideways, I put a small towel right on top of the battery.

The double metal latches in the back now go in an awkward angle so when they latch and lock, the unlocking gets stuck and you have to pull the seat backwards, not upwards, for the seat to unlock. It's tricky but I got a hang on it.

My mod went further and I cut the transition section of foam in the back (2 inches) so I can move further backwards. That immediately gave me some relief to the cramped position of the legs but I still slide down.

I resumed my riding in May. So far so good but the seat still far from right. I'm planning now to add material in the front to minimize/reduce the sliding forward without rising the height of the seat. I believe that can be achieved by adding the material on the sides increasing the surface of pressure on in the effect the stability. I'll keep you all posted.

Ride on! :thumb:

Got my Corbin Seat late today. Tomorrow I'll see how it rides. I have a Corbin on my ST1300 and it fine so I thought I'd give one a try on my Versys. Reports to follow.

Dallasdon, that corbin looks excellent! I am glad to see some pics of it other than from the corbin website. It didn't look very good on the website picks to me so I was leary to spend the money.

I might have to change my mind now. It looks really slick! :thumb:

I received my Corbin seat last wednesday, only a week and a half after ordering it. The seat is great. It so dramatically improves my riding position that I am putting much less pressure on the bars thus improving my control of the bike. With the old seat after a long day of work I would get muscle pains in my mid back on the ride home, now that is all gone. No more Monkey butt.....:D

How firm is that Corbin? I had a Corbin Flat on my KLR for several years and it was very firm.

Ended up with a Russell on it. But that Corbin sure looks good...

Mine is hard as a rock but it's getting softer the more I sit on it

Got my Corbin Seat late today. Tomorrow I'll see how it rides. I have a Corbin on my ST1300 and it fine so I thought I'd give one a try on my Versys. Reports to follow.

Does the Corbin add any height? Or, is it about the same as stock? Looks nice.

Does the Corbin add any height? Or, is it about the same as stock? Looks nice.

Its a bit shorter but mostly because you sit "IN" the seat instead of "ON" it.

I fixed my seat as soon as I got the Versys without taking the cover off. I stuffed a few feet of 6" wide insulation foam roll as used for flooring underlay, in through seat base's two vent holes to add support where needed. Nothing shows and the seat is now comfortable.
I like your aluminum plate mod, tsunamichop007... Seat base is also the battery hold-down, if you've noticed the small black foam block underneath. You might need a thicker battery hold-down now.

Sounds great,,,Where did you purchase the insulation from? Do you have any pictures of what it looks like, or is it carpet underlay?

Thanks

dbocz

I too made a similar modification to the front of my seat to raise it up. I actually went up 1" to level out the seat to make it a more comfortable ride. I think that the front part of the seat is not supported by the tongue though, but by two small sections on either side of the tongue. I added 1" of material here also, to support the seat. It does make it a little more difficult to latch the seat closed, but my butt thanks me every time.

Would you have any pics of what you did?

Here is what I did, sorry didn't think about adding it to this page until now but then again its not really a cosmetic mod, its for better butt performance. :)

http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4847

Going back to the original post, could you not just use a few washers either side to lift the latch rather than shaping a piece of metal to fit?

The seat has a tongue that slips into the space, and if you simply raise the latch without raising the base, the tongue will sit in the same spot on the bottom and flop up and down. You need to raise the whole slot.

Sorry, not a great explanation, but it works to even out the stock seat.

Do these mods affect how much space you have under the seat?

I think I'm not understanding - you carve the foam out and replace it with... foam? Does this change the height at all? (I'm hoping to go a little lower.)

For those who have tried the mod AND the Corbin, is the Corbin better?

Thanks!

TQ

I did the tsunami' mod last week and I bought the Cramp buster... the last 2 problems before attempting the first long ride.
That came this weekend with a 350km ride..... the seat is almost perfect now, and it cost me 0$ !!!!
What a pleasure!!! This should be standard by Kawasaki...

Great seat mod! I have a sheet of aluminum left over from making a bracket for my Stebel. I'll put it to good use this weekend. Thanks for sharing.

Forgive if already mentioned, but I'm a huge fan of the AirHawk. On my former steed (2001 Shadow 1100) I had a Corbin seat with built-in gel pack. My butt would still hurt after couple/few hours. After repeated badgering from my brother, I finally coughed up the $150 for the AirHawk. Best money I ever spent. I can ride all day but it won't be my butt that's complaining.

They are made by a company who origins were making wheel chair cushions. I can just picture some dude in their shop saying "Man! This would work great on my bike!".

The AirHawk is the only farkle that was transitioned from Shadow to the V.

www.airhawkseatcushions.net

I've been looking at my stock seat in the trunk of my car for some time now. I have the low gel seat and frankly its great for me. The issue I still have is I'm on tippy toes every so often. I love the height of the V so I've been wrestling with the lowering idea.

I then had an epiphany the seats aren't too high for me its the darn width. Ok the stock is a bit high but not terrible. The seats are throwing my legs a little wide even on the low gel seat which impacts how I place my feet down. If I scoot up on the stock seat or low gel and crush my boys on the tank I can get my feet down further.

Since the stock is sitting in my car trunk doing nothing I'm thinking I will shave the stock seat down and narrow the width where my legs go. Well out the butt area and buy a 1/4 inch gel pad then add a layer of foam on top of that. This way when I'm riding I can scoot back into comfort areas and when I get ready to stop scoot forward to the narrow and get a bit more foot down. I'm hoping this makes some sense.

Worse thing that can happen is I'm out my stock seat. Now if I can just find my staple gun, the wife has been re-arranging tool boxes and I can't find a darn thing anymore.

Did this mod to my stock seat last night. Took all of 20 minutes. Felt better on my commute to the office this morning. Look forward to giving it the full test this weekend. Thanks again for posting this simple yet effective mod. :thanx:

I am soooo annoyed
:mad:

I sent my seat tyo a place in Barcelona http://x-sits.com/ to get some "viscogel" inserted into the seat plus have the front raised to stop me rolling forward. The guy seemed to know what I was talking about since as soon as I told him it was a V he mentioned the sliding forward.

Well they sent it back and I only managed to try it for the first time this week due to having a broken wrist, and even though the cast has been off for two weeks it´s only just starting to feel normal again.

Anyway, I digress, it now seems to be worse than the stocker. Did a 15 minute journey yesterday and I was already sore, an all for 115 euros.

To say I was pi%%ed was an understatement. I mailed them with my report and all they did was apologise for not making it better.

Think I´m gonna have to try the gti20vturbo route and do it myself, I´m also pretty cackhanded but luckily I bought a spare seat on e bay a while back so I´m hoping that by carrying out the changes and also adding the
"viscogel" I will get this finally sorted!

Just found this amazingly helpful website for seat modification - check it out :

http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/modify_3.htm

I am soooo annoyed
:mad:

I sent my seat tyo a place in Barcelona http://x-sits.com/ to get some "viscogel" inserted into the seat plus have the front raised to stop me rolling forward. The guy seemed to know what I was talking about since as soon as I told him it was a V he mentioned the sliding forward.

Well they sent it back and I only managed to try it for the first time this week due to having a broken wrist, and even though the cast has been off for two weeks it´s only just starting to feel normal again.

Anyway, I digress, it now seems to be worse than the stocker. Did a 15 minute journey yesterday and I was already sore, an all for 115 euros.

To say I was pi%%ed was an understatement. I mailed them with my report and all they did was apologise for not making it better.

Think I´m gonna have to try the gti20vturbo route and do it myself, I´m also pretty cackhanded but luckily I bought a spare seat on e bay a while back so I´m hoping that by carrying out the changes and also adding the
"viscogel" I will get this finally sorted!
Bad work they have done.....one place I would not ask for...
PD: te saluda otro españolito, de Galicia........qué putada lo del asiento....espero que lo soluciones de la mejor manera¡¡¡:goodluck:

I've been looking at my stock seat in the trunk of my car for some time now. I have the low gel seat and frankly its great for me. The issue I still have is I'm on tippy toes every so often. I love the height of the V so I've been wrestling with the lowering idea.

I then had an epiphany the seats aren't too high for me its the darn width. Ok the stock is a bit high but not terrible. The seats are throwing my legs a little wide even on the low gel seat which impacts how I place my feet down. If I scoot up on the stock seat or low gel and crush my boys on the tank I can get my feet down further.

Since the stock is sitting in my car trunk doing nothing I'm thinking I will shave the stock seat down and narrow the width where my legs go. Well out the butt area and buy a 1/4 inch gel pad then add a layer of foam on top of that. This way when I'm riding I can scoot back into comfort areas and when I get ready to stop scoot forward to the narrow and get a bit more foot down. I'm hoping this makes some sense.

Worse thing that can happen is I'm out my stock seat. Now if I can just find my staple gun, the wife has been re-arranging tool boxes and I can't find a darn thing anymore.

You won't do any 'scooting' back and forth, just doubt that's gonna happen. But you're on the right track for modding what's there, and it can work famously.
Exactly what I did here in my seat thread:
http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11152

There's a local cat here in San Antonio named Tony who has a re-upholstering business. He's done stock seat modifications for my bike in the past, and I went back to him so that he could fix this seat. He had already modified stock V seats before for other customers, so he already knew about how most of us dislike the forward slope of the seat. The last color-matched seat job he did for me lasted years and didn't fade, fall apart or get worn down. He also uses some kind of proprietary seat foam that's very comfortable on long rides when he fixes or modifies seats. He added about 2" of soft foam for me and centered my butt in the seat. Here are the before and after pics....and this job was done in only one day:

Before:
1315713158


After:
13159 13160 13161 13162 13163

I normally don't shill for anything or anyone, but Tony is the real deal. He's not paying me nor am I getting a cut of any future business....it's just that this guy is that good with his seats. Other people have been mailing stock seats for him to fix, so it can be done. Here's his website (you need Flash) http://www.carservicesinc.com/pages/gallery.html. The pictures of the red Honda Shadow Sabre on page 12 was the bike I sold to get my V when I first bought it in 2008. Hope this helps someone who didn't want to spend $4-500 bucks on an aftermarket seat with no customization. And by the way...OMG the seat feels so much better, and looks trick too! Cheers!

Looks really good.
What did he charge you?

Looks really good.
What did he charge you?
My price was a little bit more than half the price of a new Corbin. I can't really post a price since each seat is custom made for each rider, but I can say that for the work involved and the product you get, his prices are more than reasonable when compared to the aftermarket.

I finally did this seat mod to the front tab mount. This mod combined with my foam removal make the stock versys seat the most comfortable seat I have EVER rode on. Best part about it was it was completely free and hands down 100% better than the corbin on my CBR. :thumb::thumb:

Removal of the foam from underneath help to create a more "tractor seat pan" like feel really spread the pressure out over my butt and legs. I commute 120 miles a day and its a breeze now with not one thought given to how I fit in the seat. Its prefect! :yeahsmile:

I guess they knew what they were doing many years ago when they made these tractor seats. :D

My take on the bracket mod:
http://randginlv.smugmug.com/photos/i-S447bGd/0/M/i-S447bGd-M.jpg
http://randginlv.smugmug.com/photos/i-PrcD7t2/0/M/i-PrcD7t2-M.jpg
http://randginlv.smugmug.com/photos/i-XXL9SwX/0/M/i-XXL9SwX-M.jpg
http://randginlv.smugmug.com/photos/i-FDnpr3k/0/M/i-FDnpr3k-M.jpg

No - it aint pretty, but nobody will ever see it and it doesn't require any additional washers or trimming/grinding of the tab.

.

After:
13159 13160 13161 13162 13163

Cheers!

"pretty seat!":thumb:
Looks Great!:goodidea:

Thanks...I appreciate it.