New Seat For Yager?

[MotoRandy123]

The stock seat is not very comfy after 20 minutes or so. It seems there isn't much
foam in there to play with (as they try for max storage). I found out that Corbin
makes seats for scooters (just not ours). Here's one for a Vespa that might work;
http://www.corbin.com/vespa/gt.shtml

Sargent does custom work but not sure what it might cost;

http://www.sargentcycle.com/custserv.htm

They also will sell you a chunk of foam for do it yourself for $40 - $50 dollars...

Russell does some scooters too;
http://www.day-long.com/gallery_Specialty_Bikes.html

This guy is supposed to be inexpensive (?$75?);
http://greatdaytoride.com/Order_Form.html

[MotoRandy123]

Check out the funky seat (and floorboards) on this Korean Yager;


It's from an article where they changed the front wheel to 12" for racing !?!

[Zimmerman]

Randy,

I have to agree about that seat . . .  man do I miss the old seat on my 1989 Yamaha Riva 180 ! !

I'll have to do something this winter.  If I can't ride the scoot I can tinker with it.

Kevin

[MotoRandy123]

 I had a Kawasaki KE100 and that had the best seat! It was a big square of
foam but super comfy!
 
 The Yager's driver section foam is quite thin. You either need some good foam
or have to cut the seat pan to allow more thickness. Kymco offers a seat upgrade
on the Grand Vista but not any other. They must know they need upgrades for
American butts....

[ludo]

In the driver's section of the seat, I noticed that there is some space between the vinyl cover and the foam so I am thinking of adding something like that:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CONFORMAX-Motorcycle-Seat-Gel-Pad-Small-TR-/320735033451?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4aad4c386b&vxp=mtr

There was a thread about that few months ago on this forum....

[Zimmerman]

Ludo,

That gel pad looks pretty good !  I've bookmarked it and will probably try it this winter.
I need filler material to eliminate the forward angle of the seat.  It might as well be an excellent gel pad material. Plus they say you can cut it anyway you want!


My issue with the seat is it pushes me forward.  Putting my feet up on the fairing does help (by pushing back) but my lower stomach gets fatigued on long trips - from the constant forward pull/roll caused by the angle of the seat and it's padding. (maybe I should do 'crunches' to get my abs in shape!)

I'm 5 feet 9 inches and 210 pounds.

Looking at the seat from the side - The front takes an upward swing forming a hump. I sit farther back than that (most people my size probably do) so that hump doesn't create a 'saddle' for me.
 Seeing some 3rd world scooter videos, I wonder if they put a small child in front of the driver. It would probably make a good saddle effect for that 'passenger.' I'm going to try it stationary with my kid.  Or maybe the typical Asian adult is just enough shorter that the saddle fits them ergonomicly, front and back.
But about that hump, I only use it when leaning aggressively - the inside of my leg pushes against the side of the hump when leaning. The hump is useful for that. Maybe that's what it's there for.

Soo let's ignore the hump.  Looking at the seat w/o the hump the aggressive angle becomes very apparent.
That angle is the problem. I think adding the gel pad that you found will fix/fill it.

Some riders have removed the foam ridge behind the driver.  That probably would help.  But we ride two up a lot and I'd like to keep that upper platform as is for the kids. 

So that's my over analysis of the issue.  But the more your ass hurts the more you think about mod'ing the seat ! I love this scoot and want to take long long rides in comfort.

[MotoRandy123]

I agree the seat is leaned forward. Here's a pic showing the factory rack is tilted too;



I thought of lowering the back to fix this using something like this, it drops the back of the seat by 1 inch;


In Thailand it is usual to shave the seat foam (you can get it modified for $8!);


The bike was a 50cc then went to 150 then 175. I think is was designed for the smaller engines.
They use lighter rollers in other countries as the top speed is much less. They might not notice the tilt
as much. I feel it more when I try to run higher speeds.

That bumpy seat may be a factory option in some markets. Here is a factory upgrade for the Movie S;

[Zimmerman]

Randy's first pic shows the seat angles.
Ignoring the hump, the angle is extreme in the drivers area.
The passenger area is mucher flatter. My kids say it's fine.

That's an interesting idea about lowering the rear of the whole bike. I wonder what else might be affected . . . I'll stick with the seat mod itself.

It's too soon to tell but I'll probably apply the gel pad to the backside of the hump (in effect to move it back) and have the remainder of the pad in the bottom of the saddle.

[MotoRandy123]

I'm not sure about the gel. I've had a factory gel seat on a Suzuki and have been
know to use a butt buffer, which is an add on gel pad but in general gel is good for
pounding type absorption. It doesn't breath very well and foam is much better for
comfort. I tried some gel on my last bike and it felt best with foam on top but it
sometimes gets jiggly so I ended up just making a saddle type dish out but it still
wasn't perfect. I think as I get older it gets tougher to make a seat comfortable.
That's probably why the asian guys don't need and changes as they are all 20
something years old!

[MotoRandy123]

Found this comment on another site"
The thing I might say against this new Dink though is the seat which slopes from the back forward. This is going to be very frustrating after having the rear passenger constantly sliding into the rear of the rider, not like the old one which had flatter seats. This is a problem of many newer bikes which seem to only add the slope for styling or under cushion space. It's a very annoying feature on my Kymco Movie too, which has me constantly readjusting my seating position.


That exact problem had me removing my scoter seat cover, chucking the foam and base into the freezer and resculpting it with a bread knife and coarse grit sandpaper... works great as long as you don't remove too much material...
"

[Zimmerman]

Randy,

Thanks for the freezer tip - that one I didn't know.

No chest freezer here but it gets pretty darn cold here in the winter.

KZ

[MotoRandy123]

I've never used the freezer for that. I use a grinder but it makes a big mess!

My grinder died though so maybe I need to try the old freezer trick?

[Zimmerman]

FYI - I'm just doing a little research as I'll be doing something with my Yager seat this winter.

Here are some links I found:

http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/foam_types.htm

[MotoRandy123]

Good info! The biggest problem is foam. You need to use 3 - 5 layers for maximum
comfort but don't have 3 - 5 " of height to work in. I generally find taking foam away
works better than adding but I don't have a good selection to work with. I think maybe
having the local auto customizer redo it might be better as he has a better selection of
foam to work with.

[Zimmerman]

Randy,

You're right - the current height is about as high as I can take.

Adding foam will obviously be a problem.

I heard there isn't much foam on te seat to trim away, and once you've done that you're really committed.

KZ