Anyone had any experience with a gel seat or pad?

It's for my wife on the back, for the most part, but if it's a full seat it might be worth it for my behind as well.

I'm just wondering how much of a difference they make? and with a pad is there much movement??

I can't speak directly to a gel pad, but I did use an air pad in my bike (not a Versys...yet) and it was a good stopgap. It made an intolerable seat (for me) tolerable. Then I had a seat custom made. What an unbelievable difference. The stock seat was literally painful for me after 1-2 hours. With the custom seat I've done 12 hour days (only stopping to fuel) with no more than a mild bit of numb butt at the end.

I had mine done by Rick Mayer http://www.rickmayercycle.com/index.html but there are several others available. $429 to reshape both the drivers and pillions seats and cover in vinyl. I had my seat made taller than stock and I requested a firmer than standard foam. No extra charge for that. Rick even threw in a backrest pad for my Givi topbox (I had to fab up a plywood plate and mounting system, Rick padded it and covered it with a cover that matched the topstiching on the seat)

The Gel Seat available from Kawasaki is horrible. It's not any better than the stock seat.
I would only buy it for reach. It is 2" shorter. However, the seat to peg distance is unbearable. I bought one and am keeping it only for the few times my wife rides the Vs.

I am going the custom seat route as well thru Sargent. I'll post a review once I get my seat back from the shop.

The Gel Seat available from Kawasaki is horrible. It's not any better than the stock seat.
I would only buy it for reach. It is 2" shorter. However, the seat to peg distance is unbearable. I bought one and am keeping it only for the few times my wife rides the Vs.

I am going the custom seat route as well thru Sargent. I'll post a review once I get my seat back from the shop.

Let us know how the Sargent seat works out.

I used a gel pad on my 1150rt riding out to Wyoming, it starts to feel hard as hell like the seat itself after a while, and it's holds heat and cold if you leave it on the bike, switched to an airhawk cushion, much better way to go, short of a custom seat

I used a sheepskin pad from http://www.alaskaleather.com/ on my ride a couple weeks ago. It worked pretty good. I don't think I could have lasted as long as I did on the stock seat without it. It made the ride so much more comfortable.

I've also been talking with the people at Corbin and I'm possibly taking my bike down there so they can get the molds made for the Versys. I haven't heard anything on when they want to do this so I'm gonna give them a call again tomorrow.

I have the taller gel seat from Kawasaki, its 100% better than the stock seat. My wife doesn't slide about on it. Its a little harder than stock but it moulds after a short while and I can now ride 300 miles + in one day.
I understand the shorter seat is 50mm lower and 30mm narrower than stock, this would give less support distribution, that would not be good.

I have the taller gel seat from Kawasaki, its 100% better than the stock seat. My wife doesn't slide about on it. Its a little harder than stock but it moulds after a short while and I can now ride 300 miles + in one day.
I understand the shorter seat is 50mm lower and 30mm narrower than stock, this would give less support distribution, that would not be good.

Caveman,on the Kawi website the only seat I see for the Versys is the lower one.What is the info on the taller one you referred to? Thanks......Lefty.:confused:

Caveman,on the Kawi website the only seat I see for the Versys is the lower one.What is the info on the taller one you referred to? Thanks......Lefty.:confused:

That sucks, its sounds like you dont get the options we get here in UK.

http://www.kawasaki.co.uk/product.asp?Id=340445DF773&Sub=5

Wow, you UK folks sure have a lot more options than us. C'mon Kawi, get that stuff over here!

Okay, finally got my seat modified and had a decent ride on it.
I had Sargent Cycle (sargentcycle.com) do a seat upgrade. I had them upgrade the foam, change the rise (to get my parts off the tank), widen and increase the seat height.
Upon inspection, the work is excellent, seat looks good.

What a difference in the ride, the seat is so much more comfortable. The sliding into the tank is gone and I have much more support on my legs and lower back.

Well worth the cost (somewhere under $300, don't remember exactly, price sheet is on their website). I believe they did as good as you can do on the stock seat pan.
The ultimate solution is going to be a custom built seat with a wider seat pan (i'm 6'6", 265).

I still would like a little more distance between the pegs and seat, so I'm going to look at lowering the pegs.

All in all, I am extremely happy with the Sargent upgrade.

can you post some pics of it

I posted about my experience with the "lower" gel seat here: http://forums.kawasakiversys.com/showpost.php?p=6098&postcount=7

I used a sheepskin pad from http://www.alaskaleather.com/ on my ride a couple weeks ago. It worked pretty good. I don't think I could have lasted as long as I did on the stock seat without it. It made the ride so much more comfortable.

Did you get the plain sheepskin or the gel sheepskin pad? what size?