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enlarging pillion seat, doable/reccomended ?

Ludolf

Ludolf

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Dear Team,

To start with the statement that I really enjoy my "Onda" and actually would love to ride it untill it can not be ridden anymore. Yes, I do dream about BMW 1200GS, but those are just dreams, NC700X is reallity and a beautiful one.
Recently I went for a ride with my wife. She loves riding as a pillion but she simply hates the seat, can't last more than 20min. so for now small city drives is what she can do. Needless to say I love her and would love to go ocassionally on a nice ride in the countryside with her. I tried with adding some home made pillow, layer of memory foam, trying to mimic what custom seat could bring to her, but no luck so far (tried as in a garage, 10 min seating, not real ride). It looks like in her case wider seat may be solution.
Now, before embarking on a trip like that (modifying pilion seat to be wider), question for you guys with more experience not just in understanding if NC700X would tolerate such mod from technical, statical, God knows which perspective, but from ergonomy as well, as maybe pillion pegs are than not at the proper place/height.

In my head I believe it would be cheaper to mod the pilion seat to be wider, than to buy 1200GS ;) and I'm willing to try, but would love some of your wisdom before I do so.

Open for suggestions, and opinions if and how it might be doable, but please refrain from suggesting changing the wife or motorcycle :)

Thx guys !
 
I've been thinking the same thoughts for the same reasons. I put the Seat Concepts seat on and considered using the OEM foam and cover to expand the size of the pillion and make it a bit more rider friendly. Also this weekend I got a look at X-Man's Shad seat and the pillion is MUCH improved over stock. I'd like to hear from his pillion riders if it works as well as it appears to work.
 
Thx DanH, now I at least know there are 2 of us thinking along the same lines :)
I just understood that I was not precise in explanation how much pillion seat should be wider. In my case I think along the lines of 25cm or 10 inches. Wondering if the latching mechanism can sustain that width ... actually wondering about many things there if and how they will work
 
The custom shop made my seat much wider, so why not the rear? Just a matter of getting the right foam and shaping it. Obviously with this bike you can't get too carried away, lest you lose the ability to gas up, but you'd have to add a ton of material to get there.
 
I've wanted much the same for Mrs. Strat Tuner. I'd like to have something with a dished out back seat, arm and backrests, but that would probably take an upholsterer and a welder!

For us, we realized the NC just isn't meant for two-up, long distance, touring. That can only come with a gold-wing and winning lottery tickets.
 
StratTuner said:
I've wanted much the same for Mrs. Strat Tuner. I'd like to have something with a dished out back seat, arm and backrests, but that would probably take an upholsterer and a welder!

For us, we realized the NC just isn't meant for two-up, long distance, touring. That can only come with a gold-wing and winning lottery tickets.
Click to expand...

You can get a used BMW R....RT for less than an NC maybe even a K something in a few years, although your maintenance costs will be higher.
 
Rear seat width is only one the components to comfort..................knee and hip angle also play a HUGE role. These angles are also a reasons some are finding a front seat comfort a challenge and why highway pegs can bring relief.

Thinking the NC and long distance two up is not going to work.

Increasing the width will be limited by the grab rails and seat bottom support structure

My wife is also in the 20 minute comfort zone.................you guys with girls friends.............they will tolerate a lot more than wives before complaining.;););)
 
Aha! So there is a number of us having same challenge :) honestly am a bit relieved, I was afraid that this thread will just get discarded quickly with comments like "buy another bike" "leave wife at home" "it's not meant to be done" etc.
Got home from work and asked my wife to have a sit on pillion seat and to give me impressions. Her comment is so far focused only on seat surface, all good with knees angle. I'm thinking to cut a piece of wooden board, put it on top of the seat and put a pillow on it, and ask her to sit on it for a while to see if this sorts it. Will not go above the grab rails, i think 25cm or 10 inch width is anyway within these borders.
Still wandering if the latching system would be capable to work securely on this width and God knows what other technical nuisances I'm not aware of here ...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I got a SHAD seat set (rider and pillion) to replace the OEM ones. I don't think there is a big difference in widths between the two rider seats, but there is a HUGE difference in comfort for me. Same might the true of the SHAD pillion, but I've never ridden with a passenger.
 
Salut Ludolf,
1. modding your seat in CH may invalidate your insurance (if there is an accident)
2. it may invalidate your Honda warranty
3. why not just rent a GS or something bigger for the weekend if your wife is going?

:p
 
Since my wife refuses to get on the bike, this is a non-issue for me, but I wonder if it would be easier to think about a three piece seat. What if you attached a pad to the top of each hand rail and shaped the rear seat foam and side pads so they formed a bucket shaped seat. With three pieces you would still be able to open and close the rear seat for fueling and the fixed side pieces could be shaped as wide as you like. Don't know if something like that would be do-able, but it would make for an interesting project.

Bob
 
happy said:
Salut Ludolf,
1. modding your seat in CH may invalidate your insurance (if there is an accident)
2. it may invalidate your Honda warranty
3. why not just rent a GS or something bigger for the weekend if your wife is going?

:p
Click to expand...

Hey there neighbor ! :) didn't know this for insurance, probably I should give them a call to check.
Maybe if I explain that wife will be comfortable, moving less back there, so bike being more stable actually is a good thing, not leading to accident :)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Spaceteach said:
Since my wife refuses to get on the bike, this is a non-issue for me, but I wonder if it would be easier to think about a three piece seat. What if you attached a pad to the top of each hand rail and shaped the rear seat foam and side pads so they formed a bucket shaped seat. With three pieces you would still be able to open and close the rear seat for fueling and the fixed side pieces could be shaped as wide as you like. Don't know if something like that would be do-able, but it would make for an interesting project.

Bob
Click to expand...

This sounds like a good idea, never thought about this approach, thx Bob!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
My mind can't visualise this ...... if you get this done I would love to see a picture of it!

You could try contacting the aftermarket seat companies. I know seat concepts was contemplating doing a pillion seat and they would probably love to hear from you with your ideas.

If you want to try this project yourself, I would suggest finding a local upholster and talking with them about it. They could probably tell you what would and would not work and the right one could probably make one for you.

confused.jpg
 
It would be good to hear from anyone who has fitted the Shad seats - if the pillion seat is much of an improvement. I've ridden worse that the OE rider's seat and up to 2 or 3 hours without a break isn't too bad but my wife finds the pillion seat a real instrument of torture.
 
Last edited:
Oh, I'm dead serious about her comfort, as I'm dead serious about not paying 700$ (plus shipping and custom) for a custom seat :)
I'm basing my wish on modifiying the seat on what my wife feels as comfortable. As said before, I have already tried mimicking Airhawk (I have used kids swimmers - the thing you put on arms to keep you afloat) and still my wife was complaining after 15-20 min. Actually I'm grateful she was ready to spend that time just sitting on a stationary bike in a garage with me. So my guess is that real Airhawk or custom seat is not gonna do it, unless being wider, like said before.
And I also can't visualize it, so will need to create a dummy from some wooden board, maybe take Bob's approach of 3 pcs seat, 2 of them attached to grab rails.
and it looks like it will be done completely by myself, as I'm not speaking French at all, so talking to local upholstery is not going to do me any good, on top of it, this being Switzerland, it might easily be that the local upholstery price would be on a level of any custom seat you guys were suggesting... did I mentioned me wanting to do it cheap? ;)
 
I wouldn't have a problem get a spare custom pillion seat for a passenger. Whatever comfort cost, is money well spent in the long run.
I would still have my stock rear seat when riding alone and the custom for when the passenger wants a ride.
 
I am now thinking of going the other way..................removing or modifying (surgery on the foam) the passenger seat to allow a rider move movement back on the Seat Concepts allowing the full width of the front seat to used.
 
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