Downtown seating position

[TANWare]

I’ve found that the seat just is not optimal. The guy’s who either designed or tested this had no appreciable size. I am 5’11”, 220 LBS with a 30” inseam. Leg room is minimal and the top forward section is almost unusable.

For a test I placed my feet on the top and then had my rear sit on the backrest ridge. Sitting the extra 4” or so back put me right in the optimal position, albeit a bit too high as the cushioning is too thick in that ridge. Too bad there are really no custom seats for us, let alone any real custom seats for Kymco in general.

I am going to start looking for a local custom reupholster shop to get a custom seat done, actually get the current one redone. I figure for any rear passenger the current seat has way too much room there now. So I’ll have the backrest ridge moved back 3-4” and the cushioning thickened a bit.

My cousin, 5’8” and smaller inseam even found it a bit short. Other than that he loved the scooter and he is primarily a motorcycle guy.  He even commented other than the seat it rode exactly like a nimble motorcycle.

[axy]

I’ve found that the seat just is not optimal. The guy’s who either designed or tested this had no appreciable size. I am 5’11”, 220 LBS with a 30” inseam.

Guy who designed and tested has 120 lbs because that is what Kymco claims in their manuals for passenger...
I was 120 lbs in 3rd grade, probably...

[Cortez]

I'm 5'11" and had more room on the Downtown then my Kawasaki, but yeah, the
feet-forward position panels aren't usable for anyone, and probably weren't even
supposed to be used.

I've had more room on the Xciting, but the Downtown seemed more comfortable
overall.

[TANWare]

Guy who designed and tested has 120 lbs because that is what Kymco claims in their manuals for passenger...
I was 120 lbs in 3rd grade, probably...

Maybe once I get really old and shrink a bit.............

I'm 5'11" and had more room on the Downtown then my Kawasaki, but yeah, the
feet-forward position panels aren't usable for anyone, and probably weren't even
supposed to be used.

I've had more room on the Xciting, but the Downtown seemed more comfortable
overall.

I am comfortable in the one primary position but don't we always want more............

[TANWare]

I can say now that the seat is breaking in a bit more that ear cussion seems to be compressing slightly allowning to slide back slightly more.

[hualalai]

Think Taiwan and Asia.... the DT300i is a luxury car for many buyers here (I'm currently in Taipei).  The inclined foot rests are for a child sitting on the nose of the seat.

Riders over 5'10", esp. over 6', may want to remove some of the seat pan so that the seat bolster will collapse under the weight of the rider.  This is a popular mod on the SYM 300i Citycom for tall riders.

[TANWare]

Thanks, never thought of having a child sit up front. We Americans just love to customize our bikes, especially custom overly well padded seats.................

[Syl]

I am 6' 1". 245-250 lbs and had a problem at first with the limited stretch back on my 300i. I was looking forward to having some upholstery done on my seat but find that the metal support under the upholstery may be a big problem to do so. I have 3 yrs apprenticeship in upholstery and was considering doing the redo myself but again...the metal. Anyway, I am getting more used to it as is the more I ride. Went for a country ride the other day and was comfortable to an extent running anywhere from 40 to 60 mph.

[TANWare]

Cool, did you pull it appart to see the metal? My thought was to build up the lower tub about 1-2" to the rear tub, this would place that axis point of the rear tub raising up rearward.