Almost 6k on the Versys and my butt is finally crying uncle. Put a call into Terry's Custom Seats and put myself into the que. He has quite the backlog. Next season I hope my butt is happier
The seat on the V650 was no picnic either. Tried a Sargent seat which improved things a bit but still really uncomfortable after a half hour of riding. Same issue as stock, like sitting on a slope tilting towards the tank. Finally ordered, then received my modified seat from Terry's Custom Seats. Could not be happier. Feels more like sitting in a bucket, no sliding forward. The only slight tradeoff was my feet could not reach as far to the ground due to the side wings on the seat. For me this is a very happy compromise. Can ride hours now without seat induced torture. Now on to the rear shock ... Pix of Sargent and Terry's seats.
Other low cost option is to use Purple® Portable Seat Cushion in Black/Purple, use a coupon to make it cheaper. I took out all the original foam in seat, put this in on top of some foam (close cell, used under carpets). Then just before putting the seat cover on, put a layer of black plastic for waterproofing.
Before I did the X300, I did my FJR the same way and worked great.
You can also not use the the original seat cover and use Artic Vinyl Black with a 40% or 50% off coupon.
At same time you can play with the slope of the seat by adding a little more foam under the purple cushion to raise the front up.
Same idea can be used to raise or lower the seat depending on how much foam you put in.
I used Black Duct tape to keep cover on while going out for ride to see how it feels and to make it easier to make adjustments.
I had been hemming and hawing for months what to do about the seat situation. I'm actually fine with it for the most part as I like my seats firm; the problem was that the squared off sides started to cause discomfort in my inner thighs after a while. There's actually nothing I'd like more than a heated seat from Sargent or Corbin since I ride it year round in New England. However, since I have seemingly dropped almost as much coin on accessories as I did on the bike itself, I figured I'd try something cheaper first and go from there. I have an Airhawk on my CTX1300 (also fantastic) but wanted more connectedness to the seat (read: not sitting on a pillow) for my X. Then I found this at Cycle Gear:
I bought medium, and it's absolutely perfect in size and feel. Just enough to cover the squared-off sides, and thin enough to not add too much ride height. I barely even know it's there, usually only noticing it when my mind goes to "hey, I just noticed my feet aren't tingling!".
This is what I did to my seat - the bike was bought Nov 2008 and my pics are dated Jan 2009. It didn't take me long to get rid of the slope.
The seat is flattened at the rear by 35mm. I came up with this number by setting a spirit level on the seat on the bike and seeing how much higher it was at the rear over the front.
I did it with an angle grinder as a knife left cut marks. The angle grinder, used very very carefully, took it off as dust. I had a fan blowing across it and my back yard ended up covered with foam dust. The fabric remains in its original place, with an empty space underneath until I sit on it.
If I was to do something like this again I would look at what it takes to remove the foam from the underside rather than the top. This would retain the smoother foam surface.
Another lower cost option is Spencer's Seats. He will reshape the foam to eliminate the forward tilt on the V650, lower it a tiny bit if you want (there is only so much one can do because the seat pan is very shallow), and replace the foam with Supracor material for around $75. I'm very satisfied with mine. The hard part was finding a box to ship it in.
Throwing in my two cents on the Seat Concepts foam + cover option. I've had mine a couple of weeks including a 5+ hour ride recently. I went with the vinyl + low-slip cover option, in tall, with BMW foam as a request, (meaning softer than their standard foam) and am really happy with how improved it is (and how it gives you 2-3 different riding positions depending on how close you sit).
I'm 6' 3" and 208 lbs, FYI.
About 1/3rd the price of a Corbin or other custom seats at $195. Huge improvement in comfort and the look of it is nice and streamlined.
Oh, and I paid $40 to have an auto upholsterer do a far better job stapling the seat cover to the foam than I could. Money well spent. You can also mail your pan in to have them install for free (aside from shipping charges) but you're out a seat for the few weeks it takes if you go that route.
I got 7k on my little Versys and 2 and a half years. Just could not stand it any more. Called Terry but his Que was a bit longer than I wanted to wait. There is a seat builder in Fort Collins (about 70 miles from me) that has a great rep and was able to build me a seat with in two to three weeks, and I was able to ass test it as he built/shaped the foam. 100 buck more than Terry but more convenient for me. Got the bike back and did a 180 mile ride the next day. No issues at all.
I got 7k on my little Versys and 2 and a half years. Just could not stand it any more. Called Terry but his Que was a bit longer than I wanted to wait. There is a seat builder in Fort Collins (about 70 miles from me) that has a great rep and was able to build me a seat with in two to three weeks, and I was able to ass test it as he build/shaped the foam. 100 buck more than Terry but more convenient for me. Got the bike back and did a 180 mile ride the next day. No issues at all.
My Versys 300 has a seat like a plank but weirdly it is not too bad and since the bike is so easy to ride standing it shouldn't really matter anyway. However, I like my comfort so I have installed the dual sport Airhawk and then covered that with a sheepskin (or possibly a dead cat from the look of it) and find it is now completely comfy for as long as I care to ride.
Vincenzo—here are those pics, including a closeup.
The issue is the pan's plastic is quite hard, so getting the staples correctly seated takes more than just muscle and a good stapler.
After trying an electric stapler (awful) and a heavy-duty hand stapler (better, but still not enough) I was happy to pay $40 to have the auto upholsterer get it right with this pneumatic stapler and expertise.
Of course, you can buy a pneumatic stapler for $30 or so but then you need to get the air source, which is more expensive/annoying to deal with.
Otherwise, very happy with the seat, and even with the $40 to the upholsterer, was about $250 total including shipping—less than half the price of a Corbin seat.
In all cases, read lot of forums and complains about many saddles like Corbin, Seat Concepts, Russell Daylong, Terry Customs, as good comments also. It's difficult to take a decision for me.
I have an idea I want to share and get opinions. I plan to take the upholstery off and take small diameter (1/2"-3/4") diameter foam cores out of the seat area every 2"-3" and then cover that area with a soft 1" thick foam with flared edges to soften the holes after I re-cover the seat. This should soften the seat, what do you think?
I know nothing about seats other than when they hurt or are comfortable but Terry knows a lot about seats! Link below may provide some insight into what goes into making a comfortable seat. See the last section "Work Process: A Note from Terry".
Good for both of you. My experience was the seat upgrade, by far, made the biggest improvement in comfort. I realize every “bottom” is different but I can’t for the life of me figure out what Kawasaki was/is thinking with their seats. At least they could offer an upgrade to a more comfortable seat. I picked up a 2019 Versys 1000 SE+ this spring and sure enough the seat is (for me) awful. Sigh … time to get back in queue for Terry.
Took a 160 mile ride yesterday and confirmed the seat is awesome. Feels like a different bike. Now if The weather wouldn't suck so bad life would be better.
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