KymcoForum.com
Scooters - 125 to 300 => Downtown 300 => Topic started by: ScooterWolf on August 25, 2019, 04:45:12 PM
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I just completed an 8 day road trip from Philadelphia to the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia, Canada. My bike performed flawlessly, despite needing a new front tire and it being past the time to replace the belt drive. Having a throttle assist made some of the marathon rides possible, but an unexpected problem that came up was saddle soreness on the ride back (an all day 17 hour ride).
I had purchased a neck cushion at a Service plaza as it was the only thing available in the area of seating comfort, and used it to sit on. It made a huge difference and probably without it I wouldn't have finished my ride (yeah, the discomfort was that bad).
It'll be a while before I take on another long road trip, but does anyone have any suggestions for a good seat cushion, or pad for the Downtown, or a creative fix along the lines I used, but better?
https://www.essentialaids.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/m/e/memory-foam-and-gel-neck-cushion.jpg (https://www.essentialaids.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/m/e/memory-foam-and-gel-neck-cushion.jpg)
- Wolf
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First on long rides where you do not stop often and get off bike----wear no underwear in summer, winter long johns do not seem to cause hurt.
Scooter, feet forward riding position seems to hurt butt.
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That was a great idea, Wolf! You may have started something!
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First on long rides where you do not stop often and get off bike----wear no underwear in summer, winter long johns do not seem to cause hurt.
Scooter, feet forward riding position seems to hurt butt.
Yeah, my knees were pretty sore too. The no underwear idea is new to me. I'm not sure if it would have made a big difference. It wasn't about the heat, but just the hard contact of the seat after a while.
- Wolf
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I bought a version of the airhawk inflatable cushion for my DT for $70 on ebay. It made the ride somewhat better but I doubt anything but a flat saddle would be comfy for an all-day ride: you gotta be able to move around to keep the blood circulating and different muscles working while others rest. Kymco doesn't understand this basic fact about saddle design. Their saddles lock you in one position, a recipe for butt and back pain. I agree with John: feet forward is bad for the back.
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Airhawks are not inexpensive - but the ride reports seem to swear by them (if properly inflated)!
Stig
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What I used to when I rode superbikes was to wear those padded underware for cyclists. The extra padding in the bum definitely helps.
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there is a Seat Gel Pad Shock Absorption Soft Cooling Fabric in Amazon
there are different shapes starts from 30$
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This is a timely post for me as I have recently got a DT200 to ride in scooter cannonball 2020. My comparison is the Vespa seats which are flatter and give you room to move around. I also notice that the DT seat seems to be sloped towards the front of the scooter and when I hit some bumps, I would slide forward.
Are there aftermarket seat options available? Are there other Kymco seats that would fit?
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What I used to when I rode superbikes was to wear those padded underware for cyclists. The extra padding in the bum definitely helps.
Great idea. I’ll definitely look into that as it’s hard to figure out which pad or cushion will fit my seat.
- Wolf
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IDK. Its as if a lot of scoots that come from Asian countries just don't seem to fit our bodies - with us generally being heavier and having longer legs? Lots of stories about miserable seats.
Right now I am working on my BET and Win seat. It would give me ass pain in about 20 minutes. Problem is a hump in the plastic seat pan that wouldn't allow me to slide back far enough to be comfortable. I took a jiggle saw and kept cutting out sections of the hump until it was completely removed. Much, much more comfortable. Probably could have kept like that.
Removed the cover and foam, then make a flat metal pan to fill out the hole I made. Took the foam to a guy that does custom auto a bike upholstery. He trimmed the factory foam, added a harder foam where I sit and we have been working on making it fit me. It is about ready to get a cover made.
Interesting that the foam where I sit is a higher density/harder foam than the factory foam. As the seat was leveled out to kill the sloping forward, the foam where I sit is only about 1-1/4 thick. I have ridden hours on it without problem. The nose of the seat was raised a bit with foam that is more like the foam in home upholstery.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that softer foam will be more comfortable. Not true.
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Yowsa Dan!
You have inspired me to do likewise to my DT saddle. The damn seat is the only thing that keeps me from doing longer rides. I could ride all day on my BMW because it had a great saddle.
My Grandvista needs help, too: I removed that lumbar support but the spot my butt sits on is a metal plate, obviously not good for long distances.
Stu
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I just completed an 8 day road trip from Philadelphia to the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia, Canada. My bike performed flawlessly, despite needing a new front tire and it being past the time to replace the belt drive. Having a throttle assist made some of the marathon rides possible, but an unexpected problem that came up was saddle soreness on the ride back (an all day 17 hour ride).
I had purchased a neck cushion at a Service plaza as it was the only thing available in the area of seating comfort, and used it to sit on. It made a huge difference and probably without it I wouldn't have finished my ride (yeah, the discomfort was that bad).
It'll be a while before I take on another long road trip, but does anyone have any suggestions for a good seat cushion, or pad for the Downtown, or a creative fix along the lines I used, but better?
https://www.essentialaids.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/m/e/memory-foam-and-gel-neck-cushion.jpg (https://www.essentialaids.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/m/e/memory-foam-and-gel-neck-cushion.jpg)
- Wolf
If you look at your first pictures first blog my seat is very comfortable it has 10 lb. rebond foam in it , I rode it to east coast a few times with no discomfort, even at my age I was 83 then., I wish It would fit my piaggio,
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If you look at your first pictures first blog my seat is very comfortable it has 10 lb. rebond foam in it , I rode it to east coast a few times with no discomfort, even at my age I was 83 then., I wish It would fit my piaggio,
What pictures are you refering to? I didn't find any on this thread?
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the fist pictures scooter wolf did on his trip to Ottawa ,
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the fist pictures scooter wolf did on his trip to Ottawa ,
where do I find those?
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a link to the pics would be appreciated
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a link to the pics would be appreciated
I am not ScooterWolf by try starting here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3g8tgau4SljleLvzPGQ2cg (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3g8tgau4SljleLvzPGQ2cg)
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Another member wanted me to post my seat project, so here goes...
First, I want to say something: scooters are built for shorter people. Period. The manufacturers target consumer is much shorter than me. I dont expect them to make scooters to fit me, I expect them to fit 90% of the market that they are in... and that leaves me to adapt myself. No problem. In fact, bicycles (of which I have ridden about 80k miles, mountain and road) have nicely adjustable seats. I figure that if I can sit on a bicycle seat for 100 miles, I ought to be able to adapt to a scooter!.
Anyway, in that vein, let's consider a modern high end bicycle seat. It is oriented so that when you sit, your sit bones contact the seat. The crotch area is cut out for comfort. It is tilted ever so slightly back. I want to duplicate this... somewhat.. on my seat. So what I did is: I took closed cell foam and cut it in the shape of my air hawk knockoff pad. Yes, a standard $10 walmart camping pad. A single pad cut about 7 layers. I took these 7 layers and put them on the seat, forcing the back edge against the back. At that point, I applied duct tape to fix them in place. When I make this permanent, I will use something like Gorilla glue to glue up the foam pieces into something permanent. Also of note is that most pads come rolled, and have a curvature that they want to follow. USE THIS to help the cushion fold around the seat (legs). After creating the wedge, I wanted to create a seat pan to put my air hawk. I modeled it somewhat after a bicycle seat. One modification that I still want to make is a cut out for my tail bone. I noted that on my last ride! Anyway, there is no right or wrong here. This is EXTREMELY CHEAP. .... the knockoff air hawk is the most expensive thing at $27. I used a razor blade to cut the foam. I estimate that this increases leg length by about 3.5".
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Before and after leg room:
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Finally, this is a side view of seating. Notice the angle of my legs before and after.
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Pretty dog-gone elegant! Can you still flat-foot it at a stop?
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Yes. I can still flat foot it at a stop.
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Perfect! Thank you Thank you! I will be working on this after the holidays as I need to modify the seat if I am going to make it thru the cannonball. I do understand about hi end bicycle seats as when I rode that is how the seats were. As a matter of fact, hi end shops had a device to sit on and would measure your seat bones.
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Feel any less planted in the bike, sitting up there?
I did after building my LIKE200i seat. But I've gotten used to it. Being a touch over 6'3" means I still flat foot stops.
Stig
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I feel firmly planted, moving my center of gravity by 2 and 1/2 inch doesn't seem to make much difference. But then again if I was going two-up, the center of gravity would be much higher and further back. Or, if a much smaller person or a much bigger person were piloting, their center of gravity would move more than two and a half inches from my center of gravity. So I don't think it makes much difference as long as you don't go too crazy
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I bought an air cushion online similar, maybe exactly, to what you have. Have an old foam mat used when we were tent camping years & years ago. Cut that up and raised myself about 2 to 2.5 inches. Just took test ride (44 deg and sunny, so good excuse). Liked how my legs and seating position felt, can still flat foot and feels easier to raise my leg back onto running board. Need to do some sculpturing of the back. The other thing I noticed was that my riding pants were slippery on the air cushion. I plan to put some of shelf non skid material on the bottom and probably try some on top also.
Here is a pic of the test setup I just rode on.