Seat Raising

[wolfy]

Having got a better condition seat unit a few weeks ago, I've decided to use the scrappy one to experiment with raising my seat height to get a little bit of extra legroom. So, I've now got on order various types of foam, a vinyl cover kit, spray glue, staple gun etc.

Anyone here had a go at this and got any do's or dont's?

[rj2para (Bisto)]

Interesting project and one previously talked of and tackled in different ways. One of the members has raised their seat in a uniform hump from end to end.

Outlaw went the other way and lowered his footrests.

I have rambled on about seat shape / sport seats etc and ended up recovering my existing seat.

I did do some reading up though. Here are a couple of links.:

www.obairlann.net/reaper/motorcycle/ninja/seat/

rides.webshots.com/album/226893080oOEpHg

[De Graaf van Salland]

I found the photo below through the dutch forum.


If I remember correctly the owner claimed that the seat was made for a trial police-version of the NTV. He also claimed that it was very comfortable.

GvS

[wolfy]

good links bisto, the first one looks handy, I had a feeling an electric carving knife might be called into play at some point

GvS - that's a good photo, pretty much looks like what I'm aiming for - can't go too high otherwise the bars would then be too low, and being the 600, there's nothing I can do about that!

[rj2para (Bisto)]

Thanks GvS I had forgotten you had found that one.

Wolfy: Re bars you may want to read Outlaws bar project post :-)

www.ntvhonda.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=chasistandshandlebsaddle&action=display&thread=1577

[wolfy]

Yes, I read Outlaw's thread, very interesting, especially the spare set he made; we've been in touch and sadly he doesn't have them anymore, which is a shame

I suspect I will be getting a physically bigger bike sometime next year anyway, what with the superlative length of my arms and legs for my height, but in the meantime some comfort mods would go down a treat.

[wolfy]

...I'm also looking at lowering the pegs by using the Deauville hangers.

[vtwinfan]

bozboz has recovered his seat and made it thicker , he did have it up for sale .

[wolfy]

That's right, I was going to buy that, but I decided to stick with the grey seat I'd got as I preferred the look, but then I got a standard black seat dirt cheap, used it for a while and then preferred that look. I'm so fickle!

All this comfort mod stuff should be fun, but if it doesn't come off I'll be looking for a TDM I reckon.

[peewit]

hi all, just a hint for when your stapling your vinyl to the underneath of the seat, heat up the plastic with a hair drier as the base of the seat is rock hard. ive ridden a tdm 850 and i was more than impressed

[wolfy]

Ah, I'm a bit late for the hint I did the seat yesterday and it turned out pretty much like the one in the pic GvS posted further up this thread. Basically it looked a bit weird, but was extremely comfortable in terms of legroom and bottom-cossetting.

Unforutnately, raising the seat 2 inches also had the effect of the bars ending up 2 inches too low, and lots of my weight was therefore pitched forward. I had to abandon and go home after a few miles because my wrists were hurting so much.

So - I've learned quite a bit about what sort of posture I can and can't handle on a bike, and that I only need a little more legroom than the NTV offers to be comfy. And also that I don't actually like feeling all that high off the ground whilst riding - feels a bit like falling into a corner.

So, I might give the Deauville hangers a go, but I might just wait until February when I can afford to look at getting a different bike. TDM is front runner....