Helix
Member
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2016
- Messages
- 27
- Reaction score
- 28
- Points
- 18
- Location
- Little Rock, Arkansas
I finally gave up on the stock seat. I tried the seat tongue over the loop and that really helped and convinced me that raising the front of the seat was part of the solution. Seat Concepts (SC) states that they built up the front and dished out the rear portion so I was pretty sure that was the direction I needed to go. I called and asked them how much they thought their system would raise the overall height of the seat and they thought it would be pretty neutral.
I tried my manual staplers and found that it was very difficult to get any of them to punch staples firmly into place, so I bought a Harbor Freight air stapler, since I had the compressor and the connectors. It worked just fine at 90 psi. and can go up to 120 psi. SC recommends 1/4" and that's what I used. I found SS 1/4" staples at Home Depot.
I removed the stock cover and foam and when I first tried the SC foam and cover on the seat pan I thought I'd made a big mistake. I couldn't see how I was going to remove the wrinkles from the compound curves front to back and side to side. I was ready to box it up and send it to them to assemble. I thought about it for awhile and decided to give it a try so I swiped my wife's closet heater to heat the cover in the shop. SC tells you that heat is your friend and that is definitely that case. Note: I did not glue the foam to the pan and I did not use the plastic film as a water barrier but should make your own decision on that. There are several YouTube videos that are helpful but the important parts to me are to very firmly and with a lot of heat stretch the front pointed corners very tightly, staple it in a couple of places near the center, pull tightly to the center rear and staple near the centerline. Then about midway along the side get the welting all the way to the edge of the pan and staple. From there it's a matter of stretch and see what it takes to remove the wrinkles. You will probably have to remove and replace some staples as you go through this process. I was pretty satisfied with the initial results and only had a small wrinkle on either side. That was almost gone the next morning. Before I did any more correction I wanted to ride on it a bit to see how it would stretch.
Finally, after 2.5" of rain it cleared off and got up to 50 deg.F so off I went. I had the seat installed in the stock location and the changes SC made in the foam had the fore and aft angle very good. It was quickly noted that the foam was much better than stock even though I think the overall height was increased by 1/2". Normally I'm wiggling around after 45-50 miles and today I was fine at 70. Note: on longer rides and trips, I wear cycling shorts with a padded crotch and with that setup I've ridden several 450 miles days on this bike, but I was very uncomfortable. What I did notice is that the All Carbon cover I selected was slick. On braking I would slide forward. Were I to do it over, I'd get the Carbon side and the Gripper top. Guess I should have listened to my riding buddy who made that choice for his Africa Twin.
Conclusion- It's an excellent solution for a flawed stock seat and if you don't want to mess with the fabrication yourself, just sent them your pan with the stock cover and foam removed and for $25 they'll install the foam and cover. With this seat I know I will be much more comfortable after 450 miles. I used to do 600 mile days but hell, at 76 I'm just glad to be riding.
Helix
I tried my manual staplers and found that it was very difficult to get any of them to punch staples firmly into place, so I bought a Harbor Freight air stapler, since I had the compressor and the connectors. It worked just fine at 90 psi. and can go up to 120 psi. SC recommends 1/4" and that's what I used. I found SS 1/4" staples at Home Depot.
I removed the stock cover and foam and when I first tried the SC foam and cover on the seat pan I thought I'd made a big mistake. I couldn't see how I was going to remove the wrinkles from the compound curves front to back and side to side. I was ready to box it up and send it to them to assemble. I thought about it for awhile and decided to give it a try so I swiped my wife's closet heater to heat the cover in the shop. SC tells you that heat is your friend and that is definitely that case. Note: I did not glue the foam to the pan and I did not use the plastic film as a water barrier but should make your own decision on that. There are several YouTube videos that are helpful but the important parts to me are to very firmly and with a lot of heat stretch the front pointed corners very tightly, staple it in a couple of places near the center, pull tightly to the center rear and staple near the centerline. Then about midway along the side get the welting all the way to the edge of the pan and staple. From there it's a matter of stretch and see what it takes to remove the wrinkles. You will probably have to remove and replace some staples as you go through this process. I was pretty satisfied with the initial results and only had a small wrinkle on either side. That was almost gone the next morning. Before I did any more correction I wanted to ride on it a bit to see how it would stretch.
Finally, after 2.5" of rain it cleared off and got up to 50 deg.F so off I went. I had the seat installed in the stock location and the changes SC made in the foam had the fore and aft angle very good. It was quickly noted that the foam was much better than stock even though I think the overall height was increased by 1/2". Normally I'm wiggling around after 45-50 miles and today I was fine at 70. Note: on longer rides and trips, I wear cycling shorts with a padded crotch and with that setup I've ridden several 450 miles days on this bike, but I was very uncomfortable. What I did notice is that the All Carbon cover I selected was slick. On braking I would slide forward. Were I to do it over, I'd get the Carbon side and the Gripper top. Guess I should have listened to my riding buddy who made that choice for his Africa Twin.
Conclusion- It's an excellent solution for a flawed stock seat and if you don't want to mess with the fabrication yourself, just sent them your pan with the stock cover and foam removed and for $25 they'll install the foam and cover. With this seat I know I will be much more comfortable after 450 miles. I used to do 600 mile days but hell, at 76 I'm just glad to be riding.
Helix
