SHAD Comfort Seat

[elizilla]

I got one too, and several others apologizing for their failure to respond to my earlier emails. So hopefully the seat will arrive before the 60-day deadline and we can all just forget about this unfortunate customer service episode.

They said that three people were accidentally charged on March 6. Me, and Hyperborea, and who else? Just curious if that person is also on this forum.

 

[dog]

I got one too, and several others apologizing for their failure to respond to my earlier emails. So hopefully the seat will arrive before the 60-day deadline and we can all just forget about this unfortunate customer service episode.

They said that three people were accidentally charged on March 6. Me, and Hyperborea, and who else? Just curious if that person is also on this forum.

Wow, you guys are going through practically the same thing us "early adopters" did earlier in this very thread: UPS tracking numbers NOT in the system, emails with excuses and new information from the supplier, poor communication with customers, etc... You can see for yourself starting about here:

http://nc700-forum.com/forum/nc700-mods/2525-shad-comfort-seat-7.html#post35335

If it's any consolation, they did eventually get everything right -- even the screw ups with the color of the rear seat, BUT they have to be one of the most disorganized companies I have ever dealt with. I DO also think part of the SHAD USA strategy maybe getting you to order the seat well before they are actually ready to ship. It keeps you from ordering something else in the meantime and gives them firm numbers to order against. Of course this is only opinion based upon their previous behavior.

Still, I'm really happy with my SHAD seat despite my disappointment with SHAD USA and their apparent poor business practices.

 

[scrumpymike]

Being one of those owners who find the Honda OE seat 'ergonomically challenged' (or maybe it's my butt!?), I've been following this topic with great interest. Last year, I took my 700X to a local specialist upholstery company and asked them to lower the seat at the back to remove the slope, keep the height and profile at the front the same, re-use the original cover - and otherwise do anything possible to make the seat more comfortable. The upholsterer ruled out using gel pads, as they would be too bulky, and instead used high-density memory foam. I don't know exactly what he did, as I went away for a couple of hours while he got on with the job. Anyway, what I can say is that - for me - the finished job looked good (see pic) and, more important, was much more comfortable, all for the reasonable cost of £80 (around 130 USD). So, now I've got my new 750X, what do I do? First off, I must say that the seat on the 750 seems much less uncomfortable. As far as I know, the only change is to the cover material, which is less slippery. If that's true, I'm surprised it's made such a big difference. So far, my feeling is to go back to my local guy, but I haven't completely ruled out the option of getting a replacement seat from Shad. Could it be even more comfortable? I guess nobody knows the answer to that question - and isn't that just the problem??

http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/scrumpymike/005_zpsa63dc1b3.jpg

 

[mkmclm]

I am the third person that was charged on March 6th. I also received the latest email about the seats being shipped out to us next week. I am anxiously awaiting the seat because my bum has been becoming sore only after 20-30 miles of riding!!!

 

[elizilla]

Well they didn't ship them Tuesday. Maybe Wednesday...

 

[killarneygetaway]

Looks like Shad is now offering a seat for the NC7x0S model bikes now. Not yet showing on Shad's site, but NC700shop has it listed and they have confirmed for me that it is indeed for the 'S' bikes and not a mis-print. Too bad shipping across the pond is so costly.

Shad Comfort Seat - NC700Shop

 

[L.B.S.]

So, apologies in advance-I didn't read through the many pages here with enough scrutiny to come to a clear conclusion.

What exactly is it about the stock seat that bothers (seemingly) every soul who is inflicted with one?

I mean I know about the slope thing, and the slippery fabric, but what else? Is it too soft, or too hard, or too narrow? Too wide?

I'm not bothered by the slope or (lack of) coefficient of friction; in fact I actually like those aspects, as it makes for good moving around when skittering about off road and needing to change my weight/position rather quickly sometimes.

I don't find the slope causes any undue harm to the dangly bit nether regions, the tank just is not angular or abrupt enough to like slam into or anything. I've had more than my fair share of past bikes with brutal tank shapes prove that to me! Honda NT650 Hawk was deadly!

I'm not locked into a singular position, I can slide forward or sit back (I do wish the seat was a wee bit longer fore/aft. With the Rox risers on now, I find myself hitting the passenger seat hump much more frequently)

I like the narrowness of the front of the seat to be able to get better footing in sketchy conditions, via my stubby landing gear. (short inseam 30") The width near the back seems more than adequate, I can't say I'd want it any wider, really.

I find the foam pretty firm. If I could maybe make it a liiiiittle bit softer, without causing it to settle or collapse and get too soft with time, I wouldn't object. I for sure wouldn't want it any firmer.

I hear a lot about aftermarket replacement seats being extremely firm, to the point of needing thousands of miles to "break in". To me, this sounds very uncomfortable, and opposite of what I would want!

I must say in full disclosure, my CX500Turbo seat made my NCX seat feel like a piece of granite with rusty iron spikes sticking up, comparatively, lol.

Now, my DR350S seat was Lucifer incarnate, disguised as vinyl covered foam. Utter, utter misery with that seat. I shudder and have a** pains nearly 20 years later just thinking about that horrible thing. I only put about 80,000 km's on that bike, and it was the seat that caused the low mileage and gleeful selling of it. You guys don't know what a bad seat really feels like...

ps- any silk screened on logo or stripes or whatever not wanted, will most likely easily come off with a bit of paint thinner or gasoline, and not harm anything. I took off the HONDA and the pinstriping around the perimeter of my CX500 seat in the blink of an eye with excellent results. I don't guarantee this, but it worked awesome for me.

 

[Nortwestrider]

So, apologies in advance-I didn't read through the many pages here with enough scrutiny to come to a clear conclusion.

What exactly is it about the stock seat that bothers (seemingly) every soul who is inflicted with one?

I mean I know about the slope thing, and the slippery fabric, but what else? Is it too soft, or too hard, or too narrow? Too wide?

I'm not bothered by the slope or (lack of) coefficient of friction; in fact I actually like those aspects, as it makes for good moving around when skittering about off road and needing to change my weight/position rather quickly sometimes.

I don't find the slope causes any undue harm to the dangly bit nether regions, the tank just is not angular or abrupt enough to like slam into or anything. I've had more than my fair share of past bikes with brutal tank shapes prove that to me! Honda NT650 Hawk was deadly!

I'm not locked into a singular position, I can slide forward or sit back (I do wish the seat was a wee bit longer fore/aft. With the Rox risers on now, I find myself hitting the passenger seat hump much more frequently)

I like the narrowness of the front of the seat to be able to get better footing in sketchy conditions, via my stubby landing gear. (short inseam 30") The width near the back seems more than adequate, I can't say I'd want it any wider, really.

I find the foam pretty firm. If I could maybe make it a liiiiittle bit softer, without causing it to settle or collapse and get too soft with time, I wouldn't object. I for sure wouldn't want it any firmer.

I hear a lot about aftermarket replacement seats being extremely firm, to the point of needing thousands of miles to "break in". To me, this sounds very uncomfortable, and opposite of what I would want!

I must say in full disclosure, my CX500Turbo seat made my NCX seat feel like a piece of granite with rusty iron spikes sticking up, comparatively, lol.

Now, my DR350S seat was Lucifer incarnate, disguised as vinyl covered foam. Utter, utter misery with that seat. I shudder and have a** pains nearly 20 years later just thinking about that horrible thing. I only put about 80,000 km's on that bike, and it was the seat that caused the low mileage and gleeful selling of it. You guys don't know what a bad seat really feels like...

ps- any silk screened on logo or stripes or whatever not wanted, will most likely easily come off with a bit of paint thinner or gasoline, and not harm anything. I took off the HONDA and the pinstriping around the perimeter of my CX500 seat in the blink of an eye with excellent results. I don't guarantee this, but it worked awesome for me.

For me it was too narrow and did not support my hips,also the slope smashed my " boys " into the tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[elizilla]

I haven't had any complaints about the stock seat, but it's early days yet. I decided to order the Shad seat because I thought it looked attractive, and it would free up the stock seat for me to possibly destroy, if I wanted to frankenstein something for myself.

But if I had realized that the Shad people would behave so badly, I would never have ordered it. Today another promised ship date has passed and nothing has shipped. If I can get ahold of them again I am just going to cancel the order. The seat isn't attractive enough to be worth having them jerk me around like this, and I have other things I can use that money for.

 

[ziggie]

Its to bad about this problem,seems shad has the least complaints, other then the writing on it which I like myself.go figure the seat that is working out the best is hard to get.good luck to you all,I hope they get it worked out.

 

[mkmclm]

I Just received a email from Michael Schuiten at ShadUSA. He said the seats were shipped from the factory this past Monday. He said once they receive them he will ship them out the same day. We shall see!!!

 

[dog]

What exactly is it about the stock seat that bothers (seemingly) every soul who is inflicted with one?

I mean I know about the slope thing, and the slippery fabric, but what else? Is it too soft, or too hard, or too narrow? Too wide?

I didn't like the constantly sliding forward thing -- I'd rather pull myself forward if I need to move in that direction. But I might have been able to live with that if my rear end didn't start hurting like hell after about 30 minutes on the bike; and nothing short of standing on the pegs or getting off the bike would help. So there it is short and sweet.

As for the logo thing, it's embroidered on the rear seat so it might be pretty tough to remove with paint thinner!

 

[elizilla]

Well, I canceled my order last week and my credit card still doesn't show any refund. Checked the tracking number just in case they had ignored my cancellation and shipped it anyway, and no seat has been shipped. Has anyone who didn't cancel their order, received a seat yet?

 

[L.B.S.]

I didn't like the constantly sliding forward thing -- I'd rather pull myself forward if I need to move in that direction. But I might have been able to live with that if my rear end didn't start hurting like hell after about 30 minutes on the bike; and nothing short of standing on the pegs or getting off the bike would help. So there it is short and sweet.

As for the logo thing, it's embroidered on the rear seat so it might be pretty tough to remove with paint thinner!

So the stock foam is too firm? Most aftermarket seats I've read about are even firmer than stock!

re: embroidered logo- oof, lol! ixnay on the paint thinner advice then, heehee!

 

[Hyperborea]

Well, I canceled my order last week and my credit card still doesn't show any refund. Checked the tracking number just in case they had ignored my cancellation and shipped it anyway, and no seat has been shipped. Has anyone who didn't cancel their order, received a seat yet?

Didn't cancel and it still hasn't shipped.

 

[mkmclm]

I just received a email from ShadUSA saying they received the shipment of the seats from the factory this morning. UPS is picking them up today and I should receive my seat within 2-3 days. I hope the wait and the hassle was worth it!

 

[Hyperborea]

I didn't get any email but when I checked out the UPS tracking number, for maybe the 100th time, it is finally showing some activity. It looks like the package shipped out of Florida at 9:49PM their time, so about 2 hours ago. Estimated date is for next Monday. That isn't the 2 day priority that we were told they would go out when they were supposed to have arrived last week.

 

[elizilla]

I received a cancel notification from Shad, so it looks like things are finally shaking loose up there.

 

[davidc83]

So the stock foam is too firm? Most aftermarket seats I've read about are even firmer than stock!

re: embroidered logo- oof, lol! ixnay on the paint thinner advice then, heehee!

For me, the slanted/canted forward seat places pressure on the tailbone, which hurts when riding, not my butt cheeks. I velcroed a metal cabine door handle to the top of the front seat bracket and then placed the tab/tongue (whatever you call it) on top of the handle. It removed the slant (did raise the front of the seat about 1.5") and then my sheepskin cover on the seat. I can live with the gap in the seat and the slant is gone and no pressure on the tailbone.

 

[dog]

So the stock foam is too firm? Most aftermarket seats I've read about are even firmer than stock!

I honestly don't remember the exact problem now. It could have been firmness, or a lack thereof; maybe the shape, or even something else. I clearly remember the pain though....