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It’s All About The Slope!

Red Rider

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I knew from the very first ride when I took my new NC home that the seat was absolutely one of the worst of any new bike I had ever experienced.

Since then I’ve done the “Showkey” mod, a cruiser style gel pad, an Airhawk, and a combination of the two - which actually worked quite well as I inserted the gel pad inside of the Airhawk pouch.

And throughout, I’ve continued to lust after an aftermarket seat (RDL for one) that would cure all my ills. But I just couldn’t come to terms with the $$$ involved on the off chance that I wouldn’t love the new seat.

A couple weeks ago after a long ride and another session of wiggling and moving my combo seat cushion to change the seat “pocket” I decided to see just how far I could push the envelope of changing that hated slope.

Using some circular 1” pads designed for furniture legs, I began to equally build up the contact points under the seat; the main one at the leading edge of the seat just before the frunk and the points on either side of the seat where the bottom extensions of the seat come into contact with the resting points of the bike. The pads are self-adhesive and easily removed. Nothing about this modification is permanent or harmful to the bike. I left in place the rubber stoppers that were already placed under the seat with the Showkey mod.

After several incremental layers and test rides I finally got the seat up to the point that the slope - ANY slope - to the seat is GONE. It still bolts down easily at the rear of the seat. It does not wiggle or feel less mounted to the bike. It in no way interferes with the pillion seat. And at most, it means the frunk lid won’t stand completely vertical on its own without flopping closed. I can live with that.

Now it does create a noticeable gap below and along the front edge of the seat on both sides and at the frunk. A casual observer probably won’t notice it, or pay any attention to it, but it’s there. While that may matter to you when it’s parked, it certainly won’t mean a thing when you’re riding. What I DO notice is how I can now use every inch of the driver’s portion of the stock seat without ANY tendency to want to slide forward. My butt doesn’t move an inch. I can slide back, forward, whatever and break in a whole new pocket. And I have to say, the stock seat is actually reasonably comfortable for the first time ever. Hour after hour. No cushion necessary.

So if you’re still struggling to get comfortable while you await the lottery winnings necessary for that RDL, just pull that seat off and play with this idea for awhile. For me, it wasn’t the cushion material, the cover material, or even the width or breadth of the stock seat. For me it was All About the SLOPE. And finally every bit of that is g-o-n-e. :cool:
 
I concur. I rode the original seat on my 2012 for 25,000 comfortable miles with this simple modification.

You can take a piece of 1" closed cell foam pipe insulation and trim three pieces to fit against the frunk and each side cover. With a little trial and error the pieces fill the gap and your eye is no longer drawn to the gap the Showkey seat mod makes. See post #2 here:

 
I concur. I rode the original seat on my 2012 for 25,000 comfortable miles with this simple modification.

You can take a piece of 1" closed cell foam pipe insulation and trim three pieces to fit against the frunk and each side cover. With a little trial and error the pieces fill the gap and your eye is no longer drawn to the gap the Showkey seat mod makes. See post #2 here:


Could you share a photo of your solution?
 
I have done the showkey mod but the Seat Concepts seat is going to be my XMas gift to myself when I store it for the winter. Last I looked Seat Concepts said 38 day wait time because of Covid.
 
I'm already in the process of doing this little trick to my old Corbin seat(that desperately needs to be recovered and new foam). Pics once it is installed and adjusted to the right height. :{)
 
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