As all 696 / 796 owners know by now the standard seat does tend to have you sliding into your tank when braking and can get uncomfortable after a while riding, so I'm thinking of switching to the comfort seat which apparantly has a different profile and stops you sliding forward. So has anyone made the change and if so, is the change enough to warrant the £200 investment?
How are you mate? I had the comfort seat on my 696...can't say it was much different, except it looked much nicer...
Hi, I have an 1100 and not sure what , if any, differences there are with the seat . I almost always wear leathers and have no complaints about the seat at all but I have noticed a couple of times when riding in kevlar jeans that it is incredibly uncomfortable after as little as 15 minutes. Lots of sliding around. My leathers are quite coarse and plenty of grip so I wonder if the problems are all down to what strides you wear?
Alter the standard seat and create a dip in the seat to stop sliding about.... ..I have a small b*m and I was constantly backwards and forwards on my SS seat regardless of which trousers (unless I wore the velcro jeans)....... ...now I have done my seat it's much better but I could have done more.... AL
You can your standard seat modifed to prevent this. They take cover off and ditch it, add and improve on the standard foam to add a shaped 'prow' and softer seat foam then a re-cover with material that prevents sliding. There's a geezer (Tim?) in north london (Islington) who can do a sort of 'while you wait' service if you set it up with him. Of course you may want to get some side-to-side sliding action. Then you need to discuss two types of material, one for the seat and one for the 'prow'. If you are planning to do distance then you might want to consider a gel insert as well (although choosing the right replacement foam can also sort that out).
I have a "lower" seat fitted on my 1100evo from day 1 - it's a black suede like material and does look plusher than the standard seat, no sliding issue and very comfortable. Probably take longer to dry than the standard leatherette seat thought.
I fitted the Ducati Performance 'Comfort/Touring' seat to my 600 Monster some years ago, as the original was about as comfortable as a park bench after about 30 mins! If the 'comfort' seat is similar on the later monsters then I can tell you that it is slightly lower (with less depth of padding if anything), has a much flatter profile, with much more room for the rider to move fore and aft. It also has 'flip-out' hooks for attaching luggage to the pillion seat and a seat covering which provides much more grip. The gel pads it's fitted with are in a questionable place IMHO and it took quite a while to get used to them. Initially it feels like you've got your bum is 'perched a pencil' running across the seat, but it does depend on your build and where exactly you position yourself in the saddle . The pads are not hard, just a bit uncomfortable to start with (not what you'd expect from a 'comfort' seat :frown. Having said all that, I rode over 500 miles in one day in France and although I wouldn't say I arrived as 'fresh as a daisy' by any stretch of the imagination, I was at least able to walk which I'm not sure I would have been able to do with the standard seat. Personally I've never re-fitted the standard seat since and do find it much more comfortable than the original, once you get used to it. However, just don't expect Gold Wing levels of comfort - it ain't happening! Is it worth £200? Depends on how often you ride and how far really, not to mention how much disposable income you have at the time. If you ride regularly and for reasonable distances e.g. 80-100 miles at a time, then yes, if you've got the cash would be worth doing, but don't make the kids go without food in order to get one :wink:
