850L seat mod

[bubba]

Now that winter is here and the GS in hibernating, I was thinking of having the seat re-done. I have an auto trim shop nearby that can do the work. My question is has anyone made any mods to the stock seat to make it better? What works/doesn't work? I have thought of maybe a gel insert beneath the new cover, but I am not sure. The stock configuration gets kind of hard on my old a** after an hour or so.
Thanks for any and all input!

[almarconi]

A gel insert inserted into the foam is a good idea. You could also get a custom made seat like a corbin. If you are on a budget, a lambswool butt pad makes the seat alot more comfortable.

[Steve]

Slightly more expensive than re-doing your stock seat, but considerably cheaper than a Corbin is the Saddlemen Double Bucket seat. You can see how it looks on a bike by clicking on the link to my wife's bike in my sig. Many on the board don't care for the double bucket, but then, they don't care for the L bikes, either. If you plan on spending hour after hour in the saddle, this is a worthwhile seat. Not sure what they cost now, but we got ours four years ago, it was just about $150.

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[bwringer]

I installed an insert in my seat made from Sargent's Super Cell Atomic Foam. You have to call Sargent to order it, but they'll be happy to slice off a slab and ship it to you.

It made a world of difference on my seat, and I've done the same thing to a friend's 850GL seat with excellent results.

I did rough shaping with an old electric knife ($1 at Goodwill), and the final shaping with a sanding block.

Thusly:


I installed a new seat cover from http://motorcycleseatcovers.com , but you can certainly re-use your original if it's in decent shape. If you re-shape the seat, you'll need to have that upholstery shop make a cover. The original shape of a GS850G/GL seat is actually pretty good, though.

I also installed a Super Cell foam insert on my VX800 and re-shaped the seat. I was able to re-cover it myself with a piece of seat vinyl and a stapler:


Here's the original shape of a VX800 seat -- it's cruel and unusual:

[bubba]

I like the looks of that double bucket. Is it comfortable? Was it hard to put together? My seat now has a small split in one of the stitches so I can't re-use the cover. I would guess it is getting brittle too after all this time. If I went that way, maybe I should get an old stock seat pan and leave mine the way it is. Where can I get a gel pad?

[Steve]

I like the looks of that double bucket. Is it comfortable? Was it hard to put together?

Let me put it this way. My wife's bike needs to be backed into its space in the garage. With her short legs, she just can't do it, so she "lets" me do it for her. We have gone out on a day ride over 300 miles and come home. I park my bike in the garage, then get on hers to park it, but it feels so much better than my Corbin saddle, I will take it around the block. The BIG block around which I take it is about 25 miles, but if feels so much better than my Corbin that I really enjoy it.

Hard to put together? No. It comes as a shaped foam block covered with upholstery. You remove your cover and foam, install this one. Can't get much easier.

.

[SqDancerLynn1]

The double bucket is nice But it will raise the seat height about an inch. Downside It does not allow much movement on the seat. Takes a while to get used to it. I believe you can get it with a gel pad installed ?

[Steve]

This one did not seem to raise the height any, which is good for her short legs.

Not being able to move much is, indeed, a bit of a downside, but, when you look at the total picture, a lot of the reason you move around is because you are uncomfortable. That just does not seem to happen within the 3-hour stretches between fuel stops. With her L-size tank, she goes on Reserve at about 140 miles, so we are stopping about every three hours. It's a nice interval, anyway.

There are many on this board that do not appreciate the aesthetics of a double-bucket seat. On a bare, naked bike, I would tend to agree with them. However, given the context of fairing/windshield, saddlebags, trunk and all the other stuff, and the fact that she is riding amongst a bunch of GoldWings, that big ol' saddle looks just right.

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[SqDancerLynn1]

Yes it depends, I have both, stock & bucket

[flyingace]

I removed the cover and inserted an exta inch of dense foam on the driver portion of the seat. It helped - as in I can go 10 more minutes without pain.

I've found the answer to butt-ache is to get off your bike as often as possible and change your position a lot. I don't think a seat that locks you into one place would work for me. I move back to the passenger portion for a while, than forward again. Sometimes, I'll stand for a while if there's no traffic.

[Steve]

What part of the world do you call "home"?

Maybe you are close enough to one of us with a bucket that you can try it out.

.

[bubba]

I am in the UP of MI. A long way from Ohio. If you can go for 3 hours without stopping, that would be a HUGE improvement!!! I think I may look for a junk seat or a bare seat pan and give this a try. Was there any problem with the lock hole? Did it come with a hole or did you have to cut one?

[RobC]

Was curious I am currently needing to replace the seat on my 850 and have yet to find any in my price range (most I have found are about 1/4 of what I paid for the bike) and have decided to build from scratch a new seat pan. Is there anyway someone could take some measurements so I have an idea what I need to make, the PO hacked up the original pan pretty severely due to him liking a "solo" seat idea better.

I have a ton of scrap metal left over from previous projects so I can weld something up pretty cheap, just need a few measurements to go by.

Thanks

Rob

[Dogma]

Was curious I am currently needing to replace the seat on my 850 ...

What year & model 850 is that? I have an '82 GL seat in fair condition (tear on the front edge, solid pan) that's not doing anything. PM if you're interested.

[tkent02]

I removed the cover and inserted an exta inch of dense foam on the driver portion of the seat. It helped - as in I can go 10 more minutes without pain.

I've found the answer to butt-ache is to get off your bike as often as possible and change your position a lot. I don't think a seat that locks you into one place would work for me. I move back to the passenger portion for a while, than forward again. Sometimes, I'll stand for a while if there's no traffic.

Me too, I sit on the back, or in the middle a lot, prefer flat or only slightly stepped seats.
The ones that don't let you move makes everything else hurt after a while, knees, elbows, ankles, all of it.