Topic: RE: Performance Seat Build 500 Miles without stopping

[chewbacca5000]

Hello everyone!  This going to be a long ongoing thread in my quest for a 500 mile seat.  I know there are aftermarket vendors out there like corbin and sargent, but they are made to fit the average rider and riding style which is great if that is you.

Chances are it is not.  You might be tall or short have an upright riding style or an aggresive style.  We will examine lots of different seats and find out what works and what does not work.

My definition of a performance seat is a follows:  A seat that allows you to ride further and faster without any pain or discomfort.

So that said performance first and styling is going to be last.  This thread is for people who really like to ride, and not have their bikes look good sitting at the coffee shop.

That said let's start off with our beloved stock seat affectionately refereed to as the "brick"

[chewbacca5000]

Notice how the stock seat is flat across the top.  As fars as comfort more padding does not equal more comfort.  The stock seat has 4" of foam and you start to hurt within 60 miles.

Now the cafe or brat seat get a lot of criticism for being flat across and more than one posted has stated that they in no way are shaped like the human butt.  This is true, but is also true of a stock seat.

So what makes a seat comfortable you might ask?  We'll for one thing it is having the right seat for your riding style upright or aggressive.  Aggressive is a term that means forward leaning ie clip ons or clubman bars are aggressive.

Too start off I am going to be working with the low rise bars, 1 1/2" rise that are upright, but slightly forward for an upright riding style.

[chewbacca5000]

In an upright position most of the pain you experience is in the "sit bones".  Here is a must read on this subject.

http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/comfort.htm

Flat across is bad as it creates pressure on these sit bones.  An ideal seat for an upright position will cup these sit bones and reduce the pressure in this area.

Now in order to do this we need to be able to accurately measure your sit bones.  Here is a great video on the topic.

http://www.artscyclery.com/learningcenter/measuresitbonewidth.html

[chewbacca5000]

Now I am thinking that if I put my bike on the center stand and cut a piece of cardboard to the seats profile and lay it on top of the seat, sit on it, and rub with chalk it will reveal where my sitting bones are on the stock seat allowing me to carve in some sit bone "cups" to reduce pain in this area.

Think this is where I will start as I have a seat that needs recovering anyways.

[754]

I don't know about you but the stock market seat. Should be going od for 500 plus..
I did over 700 first ride of the year in 09 on a recovered Stocker..

[chewbacca5000]

I don't know about you but the stock market seat. Should be going od for 500 plus..
I did over 700 first ride of the year in 09 on a recovered Stocker..

Very impressive Frank!  If the stocker is working for you then that is great.  I am not an iron butt, but do to ride further on occasion and the stock seat or any flat across just does not work for me.  Did you do any mods when you re-covered yours?  How many times did you stop on your 500+ ride?  I am looking for 500 miles between stops.

[andy750]

I almost agree with Frank - my stock K2 seat or K1 seat was very comfy for me for long distance 500+ mile days though the last 50-100 miles would be a challenge.

I am curious as to the seat you are going to build. 500 miles takes about 10 hrs riding so you are definitely going to stop ~4-5 times at least during that time. For how long depends on if you are going to have lunch? how much you drink etc.

watching with interest.

good luck
Andy

[chewbacca5000]

I am thinking 500 miles straight through no pain is my goal.  Gotta remember even though my bike may be mythic I am a mere mortal.  Gonna work getting a seat tracing and some foam carving next.

Gonna be a long on going thread with lots of twist and turns, but I am confident I can make a more comfortable seat for my bike.

[chewbacca5000]

So I learned that cutting out the cardboard and placing it on the stock seat does not do a good job of getting an impression of your sitting bones.  I think the seat strap and designs interfe a bit.

From this video http://www.artscyclery.com/learningcenter/measuresitbonewidth.html it looks like you need a fairing hard surface.

So I took the cardboard and put it on a flat hard kitchen chair and that seemed to do the trick.  It took a couple try, but am hopeful it will do the job.

Now that I now how far apart my sit bones are I can get to work!

[madmtnmotors]

Craig Vetter has his own take on riding comfort:

http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/Other_Designs/Magic-seatboard.html

[chewbacca5000]

Craig Vetter has his own take on riding comfort:

http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/Other_Designs/Magic-seatboard.html

Thanks Wilbur!  That is some great information on Craig Vetter's site, the man is real genius.  His magic board works by transferring  the pressure from the sit bones to the thighs.  I want to do something similar, but instead of weigh transfer I want to do it by weight distribution.

In other works I am hoping pockets or "cups" will be able to cradle the sit bones relieving the pressure on them.  So more pressure on your butt and less on the sit bones.

If that makes any sense.  The vetter board works great and has been proven, but is geared toward iron butt riders.  The downside to the magic board is you have to get up to take it out from under your butt for stops.

If there was a way you did not have to move the board from underneath you like collapsible wings I'd be into that.

If you think about it there is alot of engineering that goes into making a 500 mile continuous seat.

[chewbacca5000]

If you look at the Qualizer project it is more of what I am going for.  It cups the site bones.  Wheel chair athletes can not feel their sit bones and run the risk of the them punching through their skin if they are not careful.  The need cradling.

http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/Human_Powered/Human_Powered_Main.html

[madmtnmotors]

The downside to the magic board is you have to get up to take it out from under your butt for stops.

Yeah, I haven't quite come to terms with that yet. I can see me rolling up to a stoplight and not being able to put my foot down. DUH-OH!

I plan to try it, and I can post a review once I have. I'm trying to decide how to secure it when not in use.

[chewbacca5000]

The downside to the magic board is you have to get up to take it out from under your butt for stops.

Yeah, I haven't quite come to terms with that yet. I can see me rolling up to a stoplight and not being able to put my foot down. DUH-OH!

I plan to try it, and I can post a review once I have. I'm trying to decide how to secure it when not in use.

By all means write us up a review I would love to get the feedback.  If I was ever going cross country a trip to Loews to buy some plywood would be first on my list.

[kpier883]

Do you intend to mod the tank to achieve a 500 mile range?

The stock setup allows me to move my feet from the normal pegs to the passenger pegs from time to time which makes an unbearable situation bearable, but not comfortable for 500 miles.  I need to add some forward pegs to see if that extra option would make much difference.  The other thing I find myself doing is turning my torso far to the left for a while then far to the right to vary where the weight lands on legs, rump etc. 

Two hours at highway speed is enough to have me looking for gas, as I don't have range for more than about 150 miles on the Cb750

Am quite interested to see what you come up with

[chewbacca5000]

kpier883,

Good point I completely forgot about the gas tank size.  At 40 MPG I would only get 160 miles on a tank.

I do the same dance as you.  Left cheek. right cheek rear foot pegs.  Helps some, but far from pleasant.

Now if your sit bones are cradled in a cup or dish the weight is more evenly distributed reducing hot spots and pain.

Now what your saying about the rear sets / passenger pegs has some merit to it as you are transferring your weight from your sit bones more toward your pelvis.  Only problem with this is there is very sensitive blood vessels and nerves there that can be permanently damaged.

If I am given the choice of a sore butt or ED I am going with the sore butt.  Still having the passenger pegs slightly forward might help relieve pain temporarily on a longer ride.

[Retro Rocket]

I'm going with a cut down foam seat like this one Chewy, for longer rides i'll use a nice thick piece of sheep skin cover cut to size with elastic straps so it stays on the seat, I've used them like this before and have done 8-900 mile days with only fuel stops, you'l always get some soreness on a long ride, its about managing it to be bearable and sporty at the same time...

[chewbacca5000]

Thanks for posting.  Loving that mean looking race bike!  Is that yours?  Reminds me of my 750, or whatever it is.  Like the idea of a cover.  Will have to do some experiments with that.  Yeah I want to go past making it bearable.  I want to make it so you never want to stop. 

Picture this one bad day at the office, get on your "super seat" and just keep riding! 

[Retro Rocket]

Thanks for posting.  Loving that mean looking race bike!  Is that yours?  Reminds me of my 750, or whatever it is.  Like the idea of a cover.  Will have to do some experiments with that.  Yeah I want to go past making it bearable.  I want to make it so you never want to stop. 

Picture this one bad day at the office, get on your "super seat" and just keep riding! 

Unfortunately, most of the comfort seats i've seen on these old bikes are an eye sore and would never be seen on a performance bike...   I'm not real heavy, around 145 pounds so i suppose what would suit me would not suit someone heavier...   Thats not my bike, but just the way I like them, ready to go, its a street bike too, just doing a track day..

[chewbacca5000]

Yeah that is my point performance seat for a performance bike.  After all the reading I have done points to a seat that "fits" is better.  A bigger seat flat across will not provide much of a boost at all. 

My bet is that a slightly larger seat with dishes for the sitting bones will produce the performance I am after.  Time will only tell.

[Retro Rocket]

Yeah that is my point performance seat for a performance bike.  After all the reading I have done points to a seat that "fits" is better.  A bigger seat flat across will not provide much of a boost at all. 

My bet is that a slightly larger seat with dishes for the sitting bones will produce the performance I am after.  Time will only tell.

Everything's a compromise...

[chewbacca5000]

Yeah that is my point performance seat for a performance bike.  After all the reading I have done points to a seat that "fits" is better.  A bigger seat flat across will not provide much of a boost at all. 

My bet is that a slightly larger seat with dishes for the sitting bones will produce the performance I am after.  Time will only tell.

Everything's a compromise...

Not to this guy.... Elon Musk

Read up on him.  Very interesting stuff.  Winner of Space X without any degree in rocketeering.

[Retro Rocket]

Yeah that is my point performance seat for a performance bike.  After all the reading I have done points to a seat that "fits" is better.  A bigger seat flat across will not provide much of a boost at all. 

My bet is that a slightly larger seat with dishes for the sitting bones will produce the performance I am after.  Time will only tell.

Everything's a compromise...

Not to this guy.... Elon Musk

Read up on him.  Very interesting stuff.  Winner of Space X without any degree in rocketeering.

You've trumped me with the rocket scientist...   Pretty hard to match that...

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I'm going with a cut down foam seat like this one Chewy, for longer rides i'll use a nice thick piece of sheep skin cover cut to size with elastic straps so it stays on the seat, I've used them like this before and have done 8-900 mile days with only fuel stops, you'l always get some soreness on a long ride, its about managing it to be bearable and sporty at the same time...

Mick,

I love this classic race bike at Willow Springs.  Great brake set-up both front and rear, as well as the wheels - plus the Pops Yoshimura pipe.

[Retro Rocket]

I'm going with a cut down foam seat like this one Chewy, for longer rides i'll use a nice thick piece of sheep skin cover cut to size with elastic straps so it stays on the seat, I've used them like this before and have done 8-900 mile days with only fuel stops, you'l always get some soreness on a long ride, its about managing it to be bearable and sporty at the same time...

Mick,

I love this classic race bike at Willow Springs.  Great brake set-up both front and rear, as well as the wheels - plus the Pops Yoshimura pipe.

I have about 20 pics of that bike, I should post them in the inspiration thread...