Sargent Cycles Custom Seat

[Badbob]

I have a front and rear seat at Sargent Cycles getting a make over right now. I've been using an AirHawk for more than six months and finally decided that the AirHawk was just too inconvenient. I plan to post a full review. I know that lots of GA250 riders have trouble with the GZ250 seat.

The stock foam flattens out real quick and your sitting on the seat pan. Cruisers have a very poor riding position and even with the best seat some people still have issues. It is my hope that the Sargent custom seat will not only solve the last of my seat problems but will also help other GZ250 riders who have similar problems. This is the first seat they have done for a GZ250 somebody has got to bleed a little to get this stuff figured out. This time its me.

Here is the Sargent Cycle URL: http://www.sargentcycle.com/

There are some interesting documents on the site about seats.

Check them out.

[Badbob]

We have worked out all the issues and I should have the new seats within a week.

I had thought I was the first one they had done but there is a GZ250 front seat just ahead of me. However, when I started the process with Sargent Cycle they had never done one before. I'm still going to have the first full set.

[Badbob]

The seats are here. Feels real good sitting on the bike in the garage. I didn't get to ride it yet. I'll post review and some photos soon as I get time to got on a long ride.

[Badbob]

I put 110 miles of city, highway, and back country roads on the new seat today. This is much better. No pain. Now my seat is not much different than sitting in my chair at work.

Comfort was greatly improved over the stock seat. Although I don't think I'm ready for an iron butt ride I think this is about as good as I'm ever going to get with GZ250.

Control and road feel are greatly enhanced. This also means I feel vibration through the seat a lot more than with the air hawk but some what less than the stock seat. I like feeling the road but not the engine vibration.

Finally I don't slide onto the tank when stopping. I'm not sure what caused this but when I put my feet down I always seemed to windup straddling the back of the gas tank. Not any more. :) This was unexpected.

The two inch increase in seat height worked out very well for me. Just about as close to perfect as I can imagine.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give this mod an 8.5. It's expensive as in very expensive. I subtract a whole point for this. I had a lot done including having the back seat reworked to match the front seat. If you skip the back seat and only get the super cell foam upgrade to the front seat. It will cost you a lot less. I took half a point for comfort. THe seat could be more comfortable. This is not Sargent's fault. They warn you in their documentation that there is only so much they can do with a cruiser seat to make it comfortable.

Was it worth it? I think so. It's definitely cheaper than buying a new bike that may or may not fix the problem.

How much did it cost?

Basic price, seats with 2pc plastic base pan. 109.95
Color welt $20.00
Widen & scallop rear. $25.00
Superrcell foam, widen and dish front only $175.00
Install Supercell foam, rear $40.00
Increase height, front 2 " in addition to S/C widen and dish, front. $25.00
Special discount. (Nov Discount 2006) -25.00% -$98.74
UPS Ground Service 0.00
Subtotal $296.21
Tax (FL-LEON 7.5%) $22.21
Total $318.42

Plus The cost of the seats I purchased off ebay so I would not need to give up my bike for four to six weeks.

[BadMojo]

Great post, I was wondering how much $$ it would cost for one of those critters.

[Badbob]

Great post, I was wondering how much $$ it would cost for one of those critters.

Here is what you do:
1. Go to this link and read all the documentation so you will understand what they can do: http://www.sargentcycle.com/custserv.htm
2. Call and talk to Bill in custom seats. 800.749.7328. He will help you figure it all out but you need to read the docs first so you can ask intelligent questions.
3. Do some testing with towels and duct tape. To test your ideas. Use good quality duct tape or ridng gear you don't care about. I got goo all over the back of my pants.
4. Call again and run what you want to do by Bill to see if it is feasible. So things they can't do. For example they can't make one seat out of two.
5. Now using their price list you can get a good estimate of what it is going to cost.

Note that they give pretty steep discounts during their slow season. When people are doing lots of riding they don't want to do without their seats for several weeks. I bought used seats and shipped them to them. For me their is no riding season. I ride year round and did not wnat to park my bike for weeks while I waited for my seat.

My seats cost $300 but I had lots of extras done and both seats.

I should have sent my sissy bar pad in as well. It looks odd having different upholstery and black welt instead of the blue the new seats have.

I have some photos but I was having some serious performance issues getting them posted. I'll get them posted later.

[Badbob]

The images thatt were linked to in this post are long gone. Here is the best photo I could find.


http://tinyurl.com/z328em4

[Dupo]

Wow, what a difference! Looks like money well spent.

[Badbob]

New photos added.

[Bill]

My priorities are comfort before style. I don't intend to be miserable just to look good for someone else. But isn't it great when they both come together so nicely. Congratulations!
Cheers!

[Badbob]

My priorities are comfort before style. I don't intend to be miserable just to look good for someone else. But isn't it great when they both come together so nicely. Congratulations!
Cheers!

I'm pretty much the same way. I like comfort and function over style. If it does all three so much the better. I'm just sorry I waited so long to try this.

[jnortonsr]

is there anyone out there that could combine the two so that there isn't the separation between them?

[2006 gz]

Just thought one of my easy mods would look good on your bike. I had my seat recovered and raised one inch. I then took the rubber washers on top of the rear tank mount and put them underneath to raise it approx. 1/2 inch. This slightly leveled the tank and got rid of the newly formed gap from the raised seat. Have considered making taller spacers and getting longer bolts to also make room for an unrestricted k/n style air cleaner! Looks cleaner without those sofa buttons! Another easy and cleans up the look is the horn relocation. Just simply remounted it into the pretapped hole! NATEhttp://upload4.postimage.org/1908030/IMG_0019_19_1.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1908030/photo_hosting.html)
http://upload4.postimage.org/1908034/IMG_0017_17_1.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1908034/photo_hosting.html)

[Badbob]

is there anyone out there that could combine the two so that there isn't the separation between them?

They can probably do that but it would require taking your bike to them and leaving it there until the seat is completed. I kind of like that idea myself. I wanted the rear seat to be the same height as the front but without the bike we could only guess.

Sargent's will not change the front or rear profile of the seat because of issues with getting them to fit without having the bike.

[Badbob]

Just thought one of my easy mods would look good on your bike. I had my seat recovered and raised one inch. I then took the rubber washers on top of the rear tank mount and put them underneath to raise it approx. 1/2 inch. This slightly leveled the tank and got rid of the newly formed gap from the raised seat. Have considered making taller spacers and getting longer bolts to also make room for an unrestricted k/n style air cleaner! Looks cleaner without those sofa buttons! Another easy and cleans up the look is the horn relocation. Just simply remounted it into the pretapped hole! NATEhttp://upload4.postimage.org/1908030/IMG_0019_19_1.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1908030/photo_hosting.html)
http://upload4.postimage.org/1908034/IMG_0017_17_1.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1908034/photo_hosting.html)

My seat was raised two inches. If I could change anything I would have went about 1/4 inch higher to make it even with the back seat.

I have been considering raising the tank. However, I want to ride enough to get used to it before I make a change. That way I can tell very quickly if the change makes a difference.

I have never liked the buttons. I'm don't like the look much but the big thing is that they collect water. My GZ250 is a daily rider so its going to get water on it.

My horn is mounted on the engine guard (crash bar).

[Dirt_McGert]

Wow, that's awesome. The stock seat gets uncomfortable after about 30-45 minutes.

[Badbob]

I can ride this all day. I will not say its comfortable after eight or ten hours in the saddle but I can ride the tank dry on this seat if need be and still be able to walk. The stock seat was crippling me. Half an hour and I needed a break if I stayed on it for two hours I would have difficulty walking. This seat fixed all that. I spent the money because it was spend the money or sell the bike. Since I bought it new getting the seat cost less money and it worked out well for me.

If I had it to do over I would have them match the height on the seats or make the rear seat lower than the front. My butt presses up against the rear seat unless I have something loaded back there big enough for a back rest. This isn't a big deal on sort trips but when you ride all day it irritating. Sort of like sitting on something in your back pocket all day. I can adjust my position but I keep moving back.

All things considered I' very pleased with it.

[Whynot?]

Who can modify the seat besides Sargent. The post by 2006gz showed a seat re-covered and rasied 1 inch - where should I take my seat so this can be accomplished ?

[Water Warrior 2]

Badbob, impressive looking seats you got there. Must say the whole bike looks good as well.

For those that find the stock saddle acceptable but a little too hard after a while try a sheep skin pad from Alaska Leather. Got one for Happy Hobo and tried it out on the VStrom for about 3 hours with good results. On my xmas wish list now. Happy had a short ride on it and liked it on the GZ. When I sat on the GZ the seat was softer with no hard spots that were noticable to my hind end. The small size fits the GZ and looks really great too.

[Whynot?]

I have a sheep skin which I bought for my Vstrom (DL650) and use it on the GZ. It is certainly more confortable but even with that about 45-60 minutes in a ride I can feel the push on my tail bone and it makes it very unconfortable.

[Water Warrior 2]

Whynot ?, have to agree with the tailbone thing. Just not quite enough room on the GZ for some one with long enough legs to ride a Strom.

[Whynot?]

yeah, I had the Vstrom and was able to flat-foot it at stop so I have the "size" for the bike. I am riding a VFR800 now for every day use but I bought the GZ as a scooter chaser when my lovely takes her scooter out for a ride. For short trips I will be OK so will jut leave it for now.... unless find a cheap easy solution by somebody or some local shop to re-cover the seat and make it level with the back-seat. This would mean raising it with about 2 inches as added benefit - adding some more leg-room as well.

[Water Warrior 2]

Oh my, a VFR !! :tup: They are a sweet ride to say the least. Never heard a bad word about them from anyone. SCraig from Stromtroopers recently got a new one to ride when the Wee 650 is taking a break.

[Whynot?]

Yes they are sweet, I am still member of stromtrooper.com not checking daily but still browsing it from time to time...if you lok up my user name you will see my posts...
http://www.gyalay.com/albums/2007V-Strom/index.htm you can see my used to be VStrom and http://www.gyalay.com/albums/VFR800AK7/index.htm will show the VRF pictures and yes the http://www.gyalay.com/albums/GZ250/index.htm GZ250 pictures...

[Water Warrior 2]

Whynot............Looks like somebody got a real nice almost new VStrom from you.

[Whynot?]

I have sold to a gentleman from Seattle. He rode tha bike all the way back. The bike had 38xx miles and I did the 4K service knowing that he will ride it all the way back.

[Easy Rider]

My seat was raised two inches.

(Boy do I feel stupid. Thought I was at the end of the thread but it was just the first page! :cry: So now I see that Bob has made a follow up report already but I'll leave this here just incase someone has anything to add!)

OK, Chief. Since this thread is about 2 years old AND this is such an important subject, can we get an update, please?

So, two years later, how's the seat holding up.....and the thing that rests on it, how's it holding up !?! :lol:

Is the extra 2 inches a "standard" kind of thing because of different padding or did you ask for it to be raised??

I got an extra seat and took it to a local guy but it's beginning to look like I got some bad advice.....and may be out $130.
It looks like yours ended up being mostly flat.....as opposed to dished out....and my guy is going the other way, making the dish deeper. Sigh. Should have paid more attention to this thread FIRST.

I went to the State fair yesterday. 100 miles each way. At ~50 mph, about a 2 hour trip. With the stock seat and gel pad, I was able to delay the onset of butt cramp by shifting positions early and often.....but that just delayed it. After an hour, it was uncomfortable and shifting positions didn't really help much.

The trip was otherwise perfect so I AM going to have to fix the damn seat.....one way or another. If my modified one doesn't help, I've considered getting a seat for a John Deere riding mower and strapping it on there. I can sit on it for HOURS with no pain!!! :roll: :lol:

[burkbuilds]

Badbob, I saw your seat mod on the internet long before I found this site and I really liked how it looked and the extra height appealed to me as well. I tried to get Sargents to duplicate what they did on your bike, but they were very non committal saying each design was unique and they couldn't guarantee how it would look and spent a lot of time trying to talk me out of it, so I finally gave up on them doing it and just bought the foam from them and did it myself. I had a local shop cover it once I was happy with the shape and it's been a big improvement. Not sure why Sargent's was so against raising it up 2", it works really good for my 6'1" 210 lbs. Hope you take my copy as the sincerest form of flattery for your design! I don't have the blue seam trim, so mine is not as sharp looking as yours but the results are a lot more comfortable than the stock seat. Thanks!

[Easy Rider]

Hope you take my copy as the sincerest form of flattery for your design!

Ah, the Brotherhood wins again !! :2tup:
Good show. :cool: