Many motorcycle lovers prefer to seat on soft luxurious seats, but not being even 100 kilometers away than begin to surprise why they have back pains and their leg grow numb. So, how to make your own motorcycle seat comfortable? 

Foam
The opinion “the softer, the better” is rather erroneously. Foam has no elasticity, it can’t resist pressure and become as it was before seating. That’s why little by little the seat is turning to be a “flat cake”.

Look before you buy
The best example of typical cruiser seat is old farm tractor seat. When purchasing a seat one should take into consideration his build. The average motorcyclists of 5.6 feet height and 68-90 kilos weight can choose standard shop seats and they will be happy with their choice. But one should take into consideration his build, seat, thighs circle, legs position. Don’t forget about your passenger – as usually there are 2 seats in a motorcycle.

Examine your body position before making a purchase. Learn what parts of your body feel pressure when you’re seating on a motorcycle.

Having changed a serial seat, you can put your legs onto the asphalt easily, you can improve back support, motorbike’s appearance and passenger’s seat.

A bird in the hand…
Tom Seymour from Travelcade Saddlemen notes that while creating a seat one should take account of the fact that the seat should combine comfort and style. That’s why it’s a real problem for companies to make the motorcycle comfortable and beautiful at the same time.

Anyway Seymour accentuates that the seat shouldn’t be too thick. Seat should level pressure and control weight.

Seat’s material is rather important. It should breath and at the same time have water-resistant functions, rupture and wear resistance. Natural leather attracts by its appearance, it is very pleasant to the touch and breathes well. But this material is expensive and it is damaged under water force. Artificial vinyl which is used in many option setas can copy the best leather qualities and be durable, water-resistant and have an acceptable cost at the same time.

Some tested seat firms
There was a test of 3 firms’ seats. A “work horse” role was played by Yamaha Road Star 2002. The seats were estimated according to their placing simplicity, gear, appearance, comfort, support and passenger’s convenience.

The serial motorcycle seat Road Star wasn’t that bad while traveling in town but it pains buttocks during long distances. The seat looks good but a little bit all sugar and honey and has no uniqueness. Back support is minimal, it’s easy to reach land with one’s feet but in an hour inside thighs surface is strained. Passengers complained that they have slipped on the seat.

Mustang Seats presented Wide Vintage Seat, made in classic style and consisted of 3 parts – driver seat, back seat and removable back for front seat. The seat can be turned to the single one easily. It was rather comfortable during the entire trip, not slippery. Nevertheless, driver and passenger seats looked thick. The seat is covered with a high quality porous vinyl, which has a high weather conditions resistance level.

Saddlemen/Travelcade Company presented their Explorer model, with the possibility of back placing for a driver. The seat material is made of silicon gel together with polyurethane foam of different density, which makes the seat elastic and helps it to absorb vibration. The seat has a coal fibre basis which stretches while seating on it.

Corbin Pacific company made Dual Tour seat with option backs for front and back seats. It had the best appearance of all the seats, may be because it was the only seat to be made of natural leather. The only thing is that the back wasn’t easy to regulate.

And finally, we’ve asked Mark Todd from Sargent Cycle firm about how to make your own motorcycle seat comfortable. He explained us that wide handlebars, front steps and low seat don’t exactly guarantee comfort. He recommended doing simple modernizations as to exchange seat filling into higher quality foam and so on. He told that the comfort determinants were ergonomic driver position on the motorcycle, size, contour and seat filling type.