The Vmax seat thread! The all seat thread!

[Buster Hymen]

Re: Stock seat mod - robbarrie

Here is some pics of the seat mod.

It was a $20 mod. Just for the gel pack. Make sure when do the cut out, don't throw away. You will be placing it back on top of the gel pack. You will likely be cutting it's width in half or else it will stick up too high. In the second pic you can see how thick it is. When you shape the hole, leave extra space ( a dip ) for your nuts and slope the back fro the tail bone. You don't want pressure points. Its not a custom seat but it saves my ass and back from constant pressure points. I used a little foam under padding from what you would use under a laminate floor to cover the the whole thing an try to even the seats new shape. In the last pic you see a slight flat indent near the tail bone. You can tell a little, but you'd think more people would notice - but nobody even asked me about it. Note: use an electric carving knife for cutting, it works wonders, a razor ( even a new one ) blade sucks.

Any questions- let me know

I wrote out a really good step through but when I went to save it I wasn't logged in and after I did it got lost out there somewhere in cyberspace...I was pissed. Having to re-type is not how I wanted to spend my morning !

I will snap a pic or two of it on the bike - soon
You guys get the idea.

I rate this mod at 10/10 for the money and time spent.

Ooops, sorry Rob, there is a time out feature for inactivity even though you are typing a message. The easier way to do it, is type it up as a Document or PDF file and attach it as a file, like you did with your pictures. I'd be interested in seeing it as the seat came out looking really good!

 

[one2dmax]

Re: Stock seat mod - robbarrie

Although the overall look of the seat did turn out fine you really did not change the shape of the seat which is the largest problem. The seat is too narrow to begin with and as such does not allow your "cheeks" to have the weight distributed on. By lowering the seat you can widen the seating surface and thus aleviate the main problem. You needed to cut out much more foam to get the basic shape set up then cut out additional to put your gel insert into.

Of course these are only my opinions.

Sean

 

[Robbarrie]

Re: Stock seat mod - robbarrie

When I take a few more pics, you'll see that I did flatten it out. It will show a little in the pics. I'll try to post tomorrow.

I used a seat cover from Wally-mart made by Bell used for cover bicycle seats ($20). I then stripped all the coverings on the gel pack and placed it in the hole I cut out. The gel pack was very sticky so I wasn't worried about it moving or shifting. Then covered the pack with the part I took out but made it thinner so I wouldn't stick up too high - then whole thing was then covered with a thin foam to smooth out the top. Then pulled the cover back over and stapled it back on.

If you do it - slope the back for the tail bone and a dip where your nuts would be resting - then the gel pack over top. This will allow those points to sink down as you sit on the gel pack - with less pressure. If you want you could probably add some foam to the sides and attach with a good glue to widen the cheek area if you wanted. However, I don't consider my ass very big so I didn't think it was necessary.

I would re-do this mod in a second if I bought another Max that had a stock seat.
For the money and time it took it was worth it.

When I looked at one of the pics - It really doesn't show how much foam I took out - but look at the one with the gel pack inside. You can see how deep the gel pack sits inside the hole.....just thought I might point that out.

Buster - Don't worry about it - my fingers and brain are rather slow in the mornings.

 

[one2dmax]

Re: Stock seat mod - robbarrie

it's not just how much you took out but how much you put back in. One of the big benefits of re-working the seat is to get you lower in the bike which makes a big difference on handling and feel. You can tell by the finished shape that the overall height of the seat remained very close to stock.

I would have taken out the foam almost all the way down and then put your gell pad in to bring it back up. This would have left the finished seat about 1.5"-2" lower then where you started.

Sean

 

[Robbarrie]

Re: Stock seat mod - robbarrie

I wanted to do that but - sometimes I do things and just fuc-it up more than it was. I just wanted to modify enough to give the seat a better feel. I didn't want to take the chance, only to put it back together and have it look like total ****. Not being able to get it smooth with folds all over the place.

Next time I may get more daring and go for it. I got some of that Tim the tool man blood in me - take it to the extreme only to have it blow up in my face ! :bang head: then turn around and bitch out 20 swear words and say I shouldn't have done that. Some of you may have this too.

 

[Calimus]

Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

Ok, so some of you know I've been thinking bout leting the Max go and move on to an FJR. I might be changing my mind again and keeping the Max.

At the very least, I'll have the Max for the rest of the summer and into fall so I might as well enjoy it.

Which brings me to seats. I know it's either sean or shawn here on the board that re-works the stock seats, but my bike came with a corbin. The corbin seat in my book was developed by tourture specialists. In the 12k Miles I've put on my Max in a little over a year, that damn seat hasn't softened up a damn bit. 250 miles down the road, my ass is killing me and I get some really odd looks from the cagers when they see me sitting on the pillion seat riding the bike trying to give my ass a break. So, what other seats are out there?

I'm a fat ass, so the stock seat seams to be outta the question. I tried sitting on a stocker at the dealership and that wasn't comfortable right off the bat. The centerbar was hitting the tailbone and my nuts where hugging the faux tank. Might be a bit of TMI, but what the hell, it leaves no guesswork.

The corbin is setup right, just feel like I'm ridding on a brick. I've not seen any other seats (haven't done much searching yet either) and there are no other Maxers around me really to find out what else might be comfy.

So I'm putting it to you guys. Give me options, my ass will thank you. Well, I'll thank you anyway.

 

[Buster Hymen]

Re: Seat Options

Here's a cut and paste of posts I've saved from the Yahooo lists on making the seat more comfortable. I thought the seat was bad too until I bought the DRZ400 dual sport!!

I attended the FastLane Magazine's Biker Show today in NJ. I stopped
at the gel guy booth. He sells both gel and upholstered pads. He had
a gel pal ontop of a seat setup so you could try it out. I sat on
it...he said how's it feel. I said great. Then he told me grind my
butt back and forth,...how's it feel? Feels good. Now he tells me to
jump up and down on it with my butt to simulate a really rough ride,
bounce harder he says, now I'm starting to look for the hidden
cameras. He says get up. I get up and he lifts the pad and there on
the seat was about a dozen chunks of steel angle iron average about 1
1/2 in size each. My jaw dropped, I mean I bounced hard and never ever
felt a thing. I got his card. I am definitely going gel. Most amazing
thing was the gel pad was only about 1 inch thick! Granted the seat
below absorbed some of the shock. On a hard surface it may be a bit of
a different story. But I am sold. Seemed like real nice folk in a show
filled with a lot of attitudes, not to mention a healthy contingent of
the Breed Outlaw Club. If you want to check them out I just found the
card its:
Brooklyn Butt Buffer at http://brooklynbuttbuffer.com



I HAVE A SPORTMAX SEAT ON ORDER NOW. I SENT IN A DONOR SEAT I BOUGHT SO
NO DOWN TIME. I TRIED ONE OF JOHN'S SEATS WHILE IN STURGIS.IT WAS THE
DOUBLE STUFFED OPTION WHICH IS NOT LISTED ON THE WEBSITE,BUT IS A FREE
OPTION FOR THE ASKING!ALSO CAN GET A $32.00 DISCOUNT FOR BEING A VMOA
MEMBER!I HAVE HAD THREE SPINAL SURGURIES AND THIS SEAT IS THE
TICKET.REGULAR LOWERED SEATS REMOVE SOME PADDING UNDER YOUR BUTT AND YOU
CAN BOTTOM OUT ON A BIG BUMP, THE XTRA PAD IS THE ANSWER.I HAVE ANOTHER
SEAT IF YOU WANT A DONOR AND DO AS I HAVE AND ALSO GET TO KEEP YOUR
ORIGINAL FOR RESALE OR SENTIMENTAL REASONS.THE SPORTMAX SEAT RETAINS ALL
STOCK FUNCTIONS........JON



I've sat on the Corbin, SportMax (new and older models) and a Sargent
Cycle
Products modified seat. IMHO the Corbin is the best by FAR for really long
distance
riding. The SportMax is lots better than stock but not as good as Corbin for
really long
rides. I have a Sargent Cycle Products modified seat (all 3 sections) the
workmanship
is first class but they talked me out of the full drop design...I'm still
pissed about that.
>From what I've seen the UFO starfighter seat is very similar to the SportMax
design.
www.ufocycles.com
www.RMSportMax.com
http://www.sargentcycle.com



http://www.buttbuffer.com/default.asp

I have been thinking about one of these too. I had
the SportMax seat and it was nice, but my knee is
screwed up and it put it in a bad spot. Has anyone
out there tried one?


Are you talking about the "MarioSeat" conversion on the stock Corbin seat ??
Yes !!, there is a gentleman here in Ohio, who re-shapes the stock Corbin
seat for a better fit, especially on the thigh area...he did my old Corbin
about 4 years ago, and also made conversions for Vern Hataway and others.

Mario

 

[Calimus]

Re: Seat Options

Very interesting. I'll have to look more into this. Thanks for the info Buster.

 

[shawn kloker]

Re: Seat Options

Ok, so some of you know I've been thinking bout leting the Max go and move on to an FJR. I might be changing my mind again and keeping the Max.

At the very least, I'll have the Max for the rest of the summer and into fall so I might as well enjoy it.

Which brings me to seats. I know it's either sean or shawn here on the board that re-works the stock seats, but my bike came with a corbin. The corbin seat in my book was developed by tourture specialists. In the 12k Miles I've put on my Max in a little over a year, that damn seat hasn't softened up a damn bit. 250 miles down the road, my ass is killing me and I get some really odd looks from the cagers when they see me sitting on the pillion seat riding the bike trying to give my ass a break. So, what other seats are out there?

I'm a fat ass, so the stock seat seams to be outta the question. I tried sitting on a stocker at the dealership and that wasn't comfortable right off the bat. The centerbar was hitting the tailbone and my nuts where hugging the faux tank. Might be a bit of TMI, but what the hell, it leaves no guesswork.

The corbin is setup right, just feel like I'm ridding on a brick. I've not seen any other seats (haven't done much searching yet either) and there are no other Maxers around me really to find out what else might be comfy.

So I'm putting it to you guys. Give me options, my ass will thank you. Well, I'll thank you anyway.

Any of the 3 seat makers makes a nice seat.I have a UFo but have sat on the others(Muscle and Furbur).Major improvement! Sean Morley also does some very nice reworked korbin seats!I like sitting in my bike instead of on top of it.I can easily ride now till I need gas.And buy the way,I feel that I am finally ready to hit the strip.See what the bitch will do.

 

[partenr]

Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

I can see right away that my '07 Max is a little bit of a pain in the axe. What have some of you done in the way of seat mods? (Besides just being tougher than me)

 

[4gasem]

Re: Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

I can see right away that my '07 Max is a little bit of a pain in the axe. What have some of you done in the way of seat mods? (Besides just being tougher than me)

Personally I would suggest Sean Morley... I have seen his seats and heard of his reputation and it is all good... Definetly NOT UFO. Sorry... Disgrunteld(sp?) ex customer...:bang head: Great guy to deal with if you can get him to call you back and if you don't have an initial problem with his junk he peddles...:whistlin:



I have one of his on order now and from what I see of his interaction with the customer I like!:clapping:

Good luck,
Chris

A pic he sent me that I added some questions to. This one looks to have the oversized pillion pad... I went with the stock look...

 

[Buster Hymen]

Re: Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

It's faster to email Sean at [email protected] until his web site is functional.

 

[Maximum]

Re: Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

Guess I have to part ways with Chris on the UFO Starfighter seat. I bought one and I really like it. Like the one in the picture Chris attached (Shawn's, I imagine), the front of the Starfighter follows the downsweep of the tank and looks great. I have to say I've never done an all-day ride on it--probably 100-150 miles max at a time, but it feels comfortable to me. Although a lot of what UFO sells is pricey, this seat was only $175 because Jon Cornell suggested I use my rear seat as the bike was an '07 and like new--something I didn't realize I could do. I went to UFO (a wild experience--what a shop!), and Jon put the seat together for me while I waited. I originally bought a Corbin and was very disappointed--didn't fit well and although comfortable enough, I had trouble flat-footing 'cause the damned thing was so wide (32' inseams). The Starfighter lowers you about 3 inches, and the Max is a whole different bike when you're that much lower to the ground. Just my 2 cents. I'm sure Shawn's seat is a good one as well.

 

[4gasem]

Re: Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

Guess I have to part ways with Chris on the UFO Starfighter seat. I bought one and I really like it. Like the one in the picture Chris attached (Shawn's, I imagine), the front of the Starfighter follows the downsweep of the tank and looks great. I have to say I've never done an all-day ride on it--probably 100-150 miles max at a time, but it feels comfortable to me. Although a lot of what UFO sells is pricey, this seat was only $175 because Jon Cornell suggested I use my rear seat as the bike was an '07 and like new--something I didn't realize I could do. I went to UFO (a wild experience--what a shop!), and Jon put the seat together for me while I waited. I originally bought a Corbin and was very disappointed--didn't fit well and although comfortable enough, I had trouble flat-footing 'cause the damned thing was so wide (32' inseams). The Starfighter lowers you about 3 inches, and the Max is a whole different bike when you're that much lower to the ground. Just my 2 cents. I'm sure Shawn's seat is a good one as well.

I have nothing against Jon's seat at all... Shawn Kloker has one and loves it...:thumbs up:

I have something against Jon...:whistlin:


:rant: fftopic: Sorry...


:th_fridaay:

 

[one2dmax]

Re: Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

The corbins biggest issue is the width at the thigh area. I tried to attach a photo of the reshaped corbin but am "exceeding my quota". Wonder if Buster can help me out here? We cut the seat down everywhere and replace some of the foam since the corbin stuff is so hard.

UFO's seats and Sportmax seats are good enough though I have taken in trades of both types. Of course they didn't offer the options I did either. Not sure if anyone besides me is even offering to rework the corbins.

Sean

 

[davidon]

Re: Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

Sean

Know anything about a liquid foam that you pour and then it hardens to foam? Saw a brief step by step article on custom seats and after the pan is made it was mentioned that the foam was poured over the mold.

Tom

 

[Buster Hymen]

Re: Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

The corbins biggest issue is the width at the thigh area. I tried to attach a photo of the reshaped corbin but am "exceeding my quota". Wonder if Buster can help me out here? We cut the seat down everywhere and replace some of the foam since the corbin stuff is so hard.

UFO's seats and Sportmax seats are good enough though I have taken in trades of both types. Of course they didn't offer the options I did either. Not sure if anyone besides me is even offering to rework the corbins.

Sean

Edit your post Sean and upload the picture, it should work now.

 

[Lan1201]

Re: Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

Does having a lower seat height have disadvantages. I am 6'1 and dont have any troubles with the stock seat. I like the look of sportmax weave seat and would probably choose it, but will lowering the seat for a taller rider lead to me being uncomfortable??

 

[4gasem]

Re: Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

Does having a lower seat height have disadvantages. I am 6'1 and dont have any troubles with the stock seat. I like the look of sportmax weave seat and would probably choose it, but will lowering the seat for a taller rider lead to me being uncomfortable??

Sean uses any material you want including the weave look... He can redo the seat anyway you want really. If you just want to recover the stock seat he probably could do that as well...

Mine will be dropped 1.5" from stock. Yes. You loose leg room but you gain butt mileage... I get about 40 miles out before my butt feels like it's about to fall off...:bang head:

 

[Maximum]

Re: Who do you think makes the best replacement seat?

Does having a lower seat height have disadvantages.

If you're 6' 1", you might feel a bit cramped. I have the Yamaha engine guards--nice and flat on the top. When I'm rolling on the open, I use 'em as highway pegs and it all works out just fine. I like the lowered center of gravity and the control the lower seating position gave me when I'm using my legs to move the bike, so the extra bend at the knees is a wouthwhile trade-off for me.