...the OEM seat leaves a lot to be desired with respect to long-term comfort. Fortunately for Kawasaki when they stumbled upon this design originally developed by the Spanish Inquisition the original patent had apparently expired.

So I have done some searching on this forum and have not come up with much more than the Seat Concepts solution, and the too-expensive Corbin and Sargent alternatives. I'm generally in favor of FYI projects, so if anyone has some positive experience with modifying their seat I'd like to hear about. My main concern is to make it wider rather than softer or lower, so ideas of that type are best.

 

Not sure.

I know the Sargent Cycle seat, is 3 inches wider than the stock one I had.

REvZILLA had the best price on this seat.

Major upgrade over the stock seat,

bought the motorcycle in a hurry and didn't realize the seat was so narrow.

glad they have aftermarket ones that are wider.

Not sure how you would go about making the seat pan wider and reupholster.

maybe fiberglassing it wider?

 

Arctra did a bit of an impressive job on his diy seat.
This link will take you to his thread, its an interesting read too

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...flatten-42528/

 

I saw that one, but his goal (a flatter seat) is not the same as mine (a wider seat).

KLX 250's comment that the Sargent is 3 inches wider is useful. I have done some modifications on a number of seats over the years -- it's easy with an electric carving knife and/or wire wheel on a drill to recountour the foam -- but the sticking point in doing anything major is the shape and size of the cover. You can dish out the center and build out the foam to make it wider on the sides, but then the OEM cover can't be stretched enough to cover the edges and still get a flap for stapling.

I went forest road riding for about 2 hours yesterday and my tailbone this morning tells me something must be done. I'll start whacking on the seat today and see how it goes, and if DIY doesn't produce the desired result I guess I'll have to buy an aftermarket one.

 

What actually must be done is partly to get used to the seat.

Seems even Gold Wing riders complain about their "sofas" that came on their bikes.

It takes me several rides every spring to get my butt back in shape.

This is not to say "don't do the seat", but rather to say when it comes to spring and off road riding, you need to give some time to get your butt broken in. You can do the seat or you can see if your butt "breaks in". Besides even my old Wing seat would be a pain after a couple hours.

"Butt break in" is how bicyclists deal with those things they call seats - ride time. A fat cushion seat is actually more restrictive and in their case actually will cause more problem with soreness through chaffing. There is a reason dual sport and off roaders have those narrow relatively hard seats - maneuverability - ability to slide easily in any direction quickly and easily. Adventure bikes, on the other hand, go for comfort since those streetbike engines don't allow quick maneuvers anyway.

Juat sayin' walk in to the seat changing thing eyes open. You may never find one that meets what you expect. Personally when I redo my seats it will be to flatten them to keep from that slow slide into the tank while street riding.

 

anciano, are there any upholstery shops near you where you could buy some vinyl to recover your modded seat? Or order some online? Good luck. I, along with lots of others here, went with the Seat Concepts kit.

 

You don't have an 06 or 07, right?
Seats are a bit different than newer gen and there's less options.

I have an 06 which has identical seat as KLX300R. So I ordered a 98 klx300 seat off eBay with intention of carving it up... but I may not need to lower it after all and seat seems kind of comfy to me.

 

Other Ideas

Looking at some online threads,

I came upon this page.

some one opened up a seat and put gel pads in the shape of a tush.

are you gellin?

 

Started whacking on it yesterday. I'll post some pics as the project goes along, but right now I'm still in the experimental phase. I considered a gel pad and even fitted one from my trail bicycle seat to see how it felt. Not bad, actually.

The most comfortable seating surface for long hours in the saddle (as I found out from touring on my Wee-Strom before I put a Rick Mayer seat on it) is an inflatable pad with just a little bit of air in it. When you sit on it the air is pressed to the margins of the pad so you get good side support. If I can find one of the proper size I may try to install it underneath the seat cover in the space I have carved out of the foam.

We'll see. It's a work in progress. If all fails and the OEM seat is mutilated beyond redemption I'll likely go the Seat Concepts route.

 

Yeah, its like sitting on a 2x4 wrapped in pleather. I just stand on the pegs a lot.