dakotamiles
New Member
Hi All,
I (finally found!) and talked to our local motorcycle upholsterer who said that the rear seats on motorcycles are designed for looks, not for sitting on. The rear seat on the NC700X is no exception. Meanwhile, I have a wife who will consider riding with me as long as she doesn't have to sit on a glorified sawhorse. We took one trip and she informed me that the rear seat is all wrong - it is too narrow, it slopes forward, and it bulges up in the middle.
I spent a lot of time looking at alternatives and was about to buy a Corbin seat but they wouldn't sell me a rear seat only - I had to buy the front seat too, because the two seats mate differently than the OEM ones do.
That's when I finally went looking for the local motorcycle upholsterer. And he seems to know what he's doing. (If you go to the Sturgis Rally, you'll find him fixing everyone's seats!)
I took my rear seat to him and in a couple of days he had me come back for the new version. He put in a steel plate to make it flat and wider, fixed the slant, and then put on some decent padding. It works a lot better for people to park their rear ends on! It latches just the same as always. The only problem is that it's a little tight against the top box when I open it to fill the tank.
You can sort of see the dents where it is supported by the grab rails, or whatever you call them. It kind of rests on those a little bit.
I took the missus on a short ride and she was a lot happier with her perch this time. I think it looks fine, but I'm all about function over beauty.
And while I was there, he told me that my seat is probably uncomfortable because it slants forward, would I like him to fix that for me too? I was reasonably okay with the original seat but I said "sure!". In about 20 minutes we got the seat off, he opened it up and dished out the back part of the foam with just the right shape for a pair of male seat bones, stapled it back together and I bolted it back on. You can't see the difference in the picture as he used the same fabric, so it is stretched over the new dimples. But I hadn't realized what I was missing! Now my seat is comfy and I don't slide forward, and my wife may actually ride with me more often!
Best of all, the price for both these fixes was about $250, less than the price of a single replacement seat. So if you can find a good motorcycle upholsterer, they might be able to get you fixed up.
Or, if you come to Sturgis for the rally, just look for Kreun Kustomz in the antique baby blue van. But you'll probably have to take a number because he's likely to be busy.
I (finally found!) and talked to our local motorcycle upholsterer who said that the rear seats on motorcycles are designed for looks, not for sitting on. The rear seat on the NC700X is no exception. Meanwhile, I have a wife who will consider riding with me as long as she doesn't have to sit on a glorified sawhorse. We took one trip and she informed me that the rear seat is all wrong - it is too narrow, it slopes forward, and it bulges up in the middle.
I spent a lot of time looking at alternatives and was about to buy a Corbin seat but they wouldn't sell me a rear seat only - I had to buy the front seat too, because the two seats mate differently than the OEM ones do.
That's when I finally went looking for the local motorcycle upholsterer. And he seems to know what he's doing. (If you go to the Sturgis Rally, you'll find him fixing everyone's seats!)
I took my rear seat to him and in a couple of days he had me come back for the new version. He put in a steel plate to make it flat and wider, fixed the slant, and then put on some decent padding. It works a lot better for people to park their rear ends on! It latches just the same as always. The only problem is that it's a little tight against the top box when I open it to fill the tank.
You can sort of see the dents where it is supported by the grab rails, or whatever you call them. It kind of rests on those a little bit.
I took the missus on a short ride and she was a lot happier with her perch this time. I think it looks fine, but I'm all about function over beauty.
And while I was there, he told me that my seat is probably uncomfortable because it slants forward, would I like him to fix that for me too? I was reasonably okay with the original seat but I said "sure!". In about 20 minutes we got the seat off, he opened it up and dished out the back part of the foam with just the right shape for a pair of male seat bones, stapled it back together and I bolted it back on. You can't see the difference in the picture as he used the same fabric, so it is stretched over the new dimples. But I hadn't realized what I was missing! Now my seat is comfy and I don't slide forward, and my wife may actually ride with me more often!
Best of all, the price for both these fixes was about $250, less than the price of a single replacement seat. So if you can find a good motorcycle upholsterer, they might be able to get you fixed up.
Or, if you come to Sturgis for the rally, just look for Kreun Kustomz in the antique baby blue van. But you'll probably have to take a number because he's likely to be busy.
