Seats
 

Can anyone tell me the best seat for a long haul to my Dr 650 SE 96 and the cost of it?

In alternative (and certainly with a lower cost) are there any covers to improve the confort of the original seat?

Where can I find both?

Yeah the seat is a plank, but time spent on it improves it. The comfort issue is with the width rather than the foam density.

For a 3 week tour of Europe I made up a seat widener from a split bicycle seat (costing about 26stg). A strap across the seat and bungies to the footrest brackets tensioned the contraption, resulting in a seat width of about 14 inches. I also used an airseat on top, but I could have forgone this. Perfect comfort for long days in the saddle.

(This really need a photo, but I don't have one, sorry).

A great thing about this approach is that you can swap the device between bikes, and remove it altogether when you need room for control.

Apart from the width I found the biggest problem to be the steep slope. I can't sit at the bottom of it when riding on the road, and I don't want to. The constant tension of my skin caused excruciating pain.

Solution: Add more foam to make it wider and higher in the front, so the seat has almost no slope. I made the mistake to make it too wide in the front, which causes problems with the thighs. Then I had a new cover made by a car upholsterer.

I suggest you take the modified foam for a long test run, before the new cover is made, because it's easy to make changes beforehand.

My bike is a bit too high now, but otherwise I'm happy with the seat now.

I use a flat Corbin on my KLR and it suits me fine. Last year I rode to Alaska with some friends and one of them got aseat enhancer called a Sweet Cheeks. Its a fabric and foam rig that goes over the seat and has pockets on the edge that you insert 2 liter plastic soda bottles in. There is an air pump arrangement to adjust the hardness of the bottles. This makes for a really wide seat, and thougfh I didn't try it my buddy kept it on for the duration of the trip.
I don't know the web address, but you can google sweet cheek seats and have a go.

a sheep skin on the seat will make it alot more comfy & is cheap also good for sleeping on sitting on etc . Used one on 8500mile ride round N/W Africa & it was great only down side maybe is it will make the seat higher.
Good luck kev

now i've just bought myself a sheepskin here in Marocco (v. cheap) and i rode for 3 hours a couple of days ago and i didn't notice any improvement in arse ache.

Does it need to be of a certain type or quality? and i take it its shaggy side up?

Paul

If any bike encourages home-made solutions it's the DR, the cheaper the better. I've already built my home made pannier rack, I've sorted the seat to my satisfaction. Next I'll turn my attention to a home made centrestand.

(It's a hobby).

Hi Mollydog,

I rode through Northern France with one meal stop, on or two muesli bar stops and the usual petrol stops every 150km, from 10am to 2.30am. Long day. Seriously, no discomfort. For everyday use I don't use the "device", it's too fiddly.

Can't take much credit for the centrestand. I bought one, purportedly for the DR650SE from Ricky Cross (an Italian company), which didn't fit. It may or may not have fitted the older DR. The bolthole postitions on each side don't mirror each other, so it may be just bad manufacture. Even so the stand sits unacceptably low on the bike (and I've lowered the DR so this is a real issue). The project would be to cut and reweld the stand to a new tighter fitting bracket. Yes, getting the balance right is going to be tricky, and I've no engineering know how to guide me. Still it is worth a try. I like to park on a centrestand, especially in the city.

The racks were my "project" in a beginners metalwork class. I'm quite pleased though. I got them powder coated.

I'll try and post pics of the seat "device" in a day or two.

Cheers.

My sheep skin is about 2 inches deep & not cut down (yes shaggy side up) & it works for me i tried a wunderlich & a corbin seat before but in the end found the sheep skin better now use standard seat with sheep skin . Im not saying there arent better seats out there but i wouldnt have been without it on my last trip & still use it alot at home .they do vary i find the ones where the wool is quite tight togther better . It also stops you getting a sweaty arse. & as my sheep skin hangs over the sides of the seat on my bike it dose make it a bit wider.
Cheers Kev

Thanks a lot for all of your opinions and helps.
I'm going to try and find an importer of the sheep skin here in Portugal to know more details and costs.

Try pet shops. That's where I get my sheepskins from. They sell small oval ones perfect for bike seats here.

Regards

Nigel in NZ

Here's a few seating options for the DR650. Homemade seat widener with adjustable straps (The Device). It's held on the the bike with bungies:

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/upl...7b5b8bb3c3.jpg

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/upl...be15c430e2.jpg

Sheepskin:

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/upl...634cb51707.jpg

Airhawk airseat:

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/upl...c44c78381e.jpg

The sheepskin is great for keeping you cool in hot weather. It doesn't address the problem of insufficient seat width.

The airseat is great for distributing you weight over the seat. On its own though it doesn't widen the seat enough (it adds a few cm). I use it with The Device, and move it between bikes. Here it is on a DRZ400sm:

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/upl...e2a1218102.jpg

Of course there are drawback to any of these add-ons: they're very fiddly to attach, they can detach themselves from the bike, they can be stolen from the bike. Also ugly, not a big concern with me.

I think the best option would be a standard seat with inflatable side wings which (upon squeezing a bulb inflater a few times) would expand to the shape of a Russell Day Long seat, and as easily deflate to the standard shape. Will any manufacturer make such a thing? Probably not, too expensive and not enough demand, not to mention fugly.

My own experiments will continue...

Try these guys if you have the cash
 

Lot of good words said about these guys:

Renazco Dual Sport Seats

They rebuild your existing seat to your spec, wider, softer, lower, whatever. Looks good quality, from 300 bucks from what I can gather.

What about this one?

the DR650 thread - Page 242 - ADVrider

It looks wierd but comfortable.