Making a custom seat for my Vulcan 500

[burkbuilds]

Update: I took a 4 hour ride yesterday through the Georgia Mountains and some National Parks and the seat was great. At the end of the ride, I felt about like I would if I had spent four hours sitting in a nice chair in my living room. Very comfortable. I think I could ride this all day and not be in pain after 8 hours on the road. Guess I'll have to test that theory out sometime. Maybe another run down to Panama City Beach when the weather warms up.

[Water Warrior 2]

Sounds like your redesign worked out very well. When a 4 hour ride feels good you are ahead of 99% of other riders.

[burkbuilds]

I was actually feeling more comfort after those 4 hours than I usually feel after about 45 minutes on my old seat, which was an improvement over stock. I realize that seating is very individual. I've heard you tell about Linda riding the GZ across Canada and being fine with the stock seat, for instance. I would bet that few people would find my seat comfortable, but it wasn't made to fit anybody else, just me. If someone taller, shorter, or with different length inseam tried my seat it probably wouldn't work for them. Motorcycle seats are the only non adjustable seats consumers seam to accept without question at purchase. I mean, if you went to buy a car, and the seat wasn't adjustable, you'd probably walk away from the purchase. Maybe mfg's need to give that a little more thought and offer seating options for different size people or figure out a way to put the seat on a rail system to slide forward and back, up and down and still look good. Gee, even a bicycle seat has more adjustment than a motorcycle seat does. I bet they'll just keep cranking out the same stuff and let the consumer go to custom seat mfg's though.

[Water Warrior 2]

So very true BB. Stock seats are too much of a comprimise to work properly for most folks. Oem stuff has to look good and be cost effective. I rode the Weestrom 15 minutes at a time for the first 3000kms. The gel seat was an improvement but now my old butt says it is time for a custom seat.

[Sarris]

I've always been a Mustang Seats fan until I got my Harley Street Glide. It has the most comfortable seat I've ever been on, OEM or otherwise. Comfy enough for all day rides and very supportive for my weight. It's like they made it custom for me. I've never had a better seat.

[b1pig]

well. there are always different tastes in the world. i had a Corbin saddle on my GSX1100G. got THE last one in stock at Corbin at Bikeweek'99. i thought i wasnt going to like it because it was so firm, but it was perfect. literally. lowered the seat height by 1", form-fitted and the passenger's part was also firm and had a kicked-up section between the front and rear that kept the passenger from sliding down onto the operator. perfect. (i miss that bike sometimes)

sargent seats makes some custom stuff too.

[Water Warrior 2]

Sarris, the H-D makes a good LEO bike because the seat is good for long hours in the saddle. A big generous seat that offers more support over a larger area is always best.
I did see(many years ago)a Suzuki GT 750 with a horse saddle on it. Looked pretty comfy with a sheep skin on it.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by burkbuilds

I was actually feeling more comfort after those 4 hours than I usually feel after about 45 minutes on my old seat, which was an improvement over stock.

Where is this seat guy ? I might like to pay him a visit.

I've still got my stock seat stashed away and instead of selling it, I might like to get it "fixed"........since the Mustang I got doesn't help my much on long runs.

[burkbuilds]

I've heard he only works on his own bike ER.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by burkbuilds

I think my upholsterer likes working on bike seats.

Doesn't seem to tally with the above statement.