[ukvette]

Hello all,

I am thinking, rather than how many miles in a day would you do on tarmac.
However, more along the lines of, how many hours can you sit on the seat?
I know the AT isn't renowned for the most comfortable seat there is, so how many hours is enough.

Is there an alternative seat for the AT, that is simply a direct replacement?
or should I look for an upholsterer, and get it repadded.

It's a 2000 RD7A with about 26k miles.

'vette

 

[Cabby]

Grow a bigger arse...It's worked for a lot of us.............

Someone will be along soon with a sensible answer.......Forum search will bring up a lot also..

Good luck....Long trip planned?

 

[Lord Vader]

Have a loo at G.Wells
Here http://www.xrv.org.uk/links/seats-25/
Its not so much my arse which hurts on long trips but my knees

 

[Nickel Arse]

What would you say would be your comfortable maximum now and why

some good tips on the IronButt pages that are not related to the seat but just general tips.

Stop often before you need a rest, if you stop every 90mins or so for a short break to stretch everything you'll find it easier than waiting until you have to rest. Like Vader its not always the backside that hurts first, My shoulders used to hurt more, I fitted bar displacers to cure that. Knees early in the season, I don't have to commute and ride for pleasure, so the first few rides out I need to stretch my knee tendons again. The last ride to London my wrist played up due to a broken wrist that's still on the mend. I reckon without a Crampbuster I would have given up.
With the seat you can try reupholstering, an Airhawk or similar or the good old fashioned Sheep skin cover, I prefer the latter as it's the sheepest (see what I did there, god I'm clever)

 

[raymo]

I have mine lowered so there is even less foam in it and still managed to do 12hrs pus ( TLD )....

oh I have a wee boney arse

guess its the law of diminishing returns .. fat bloke fat arse .. weight crushed foam

search the site plenty of advice

 

[Chad]

its subjective really and a lot comes down to you personally , but the std africa twin seat is a bitch i could never stand more that 80mile at a stretch on it .vaders suggestion is a good cheap answer, ive had a touratech seat on a twin that allowed me 400mile days without to much trouble , yet others cant get on with them.

yet on my GS 600 days are not to much of an issue with my DFS sofa sargent seat:teeth::teeth:

i would go down the wells route then do a few runs and build up to the kind of mileage your comfortable with:thumbup:

 

[Farky]

Fitness matters to as does back position. Ive found my cycling makes a big difference as I regularly do events every other week in the summer, 100 mile ride there over 2 hours, 30min rest, event lasting 3 hours in the seat over 80 miles, 30 min rest and hone again so totalling 7/8 hours in the saddle and it hurts if I aint been cycling during the week regular.

The obvious seat upgrade or dead sheep would help to.

 

[Tony Varadero]

Grow a bigger arse...It's worked for a lot of us.............

Someone will be along soon with a sensible answer.......

I thought that was a sensible answer ....

 

[Chad]

Fitness matters to as does back position. Ive found my cycling makes a big difference as I regularly do events every other week in the summer, 100 mile ride there over 2 hours, 30min rest, event lasting 3 hours in the seat over 80 miles, 30 min rest and hone again so totalling 7/8 hours in the saddle and it hurts if I aint been cycling during the week regular.

The obvious seat upgrade or dead sheep would help to.

funny you should say tha i used to do a lot of cycling , and have been thinking about starting up again , you know that old feck im over 40 and need to start looking after myself sheit

 

[zbzrzuzczez]

agree with cycling. cycling helps a lot :thumb:
the longest non stop trip i did was 18 hours on a standart domminator seat after that i was like a zombie
but i quite regularly do 10-12 hours riding without any problems

also i found out by my own experience, that good (properly fitting and comfortable) touring trousers and the rest of a kit helps a lot (hurting knees, back, wrists etc)

 

[650 Fred]

I found that some days i can do stupid hours in the seat and others hardly any at all. when i first got the AT i managed a few 14 hour rides no problems at all and other days 2 or 3 hours and i,m standing up to ease the pain i'm also certain the right clothing can help although i wore the same stuff on the 14 hour run as when my arse was killing after 3 hours.

 

[stageonesimmo]

I've got a [email protected] seat on mine and TBH for what they cost I cant beleive how uncomfortable it is! - I've done 2 TLDs and used to commute home 180 miles of a weekend - I could manage about 120 miles before I had to start standing on the pegs to get some feeling back in my arris - Then - I put a sheepskin saddle thing from a horsey shop over the seat and hey presto - nice pain and numbness free back-side - the down side now is that I get mild 'nappy rash' as my 'areas' sweat so much!

There's just no answer to it - apart from putting miles into it - the more long rides you can do the longer the rides you can do - again confirmed by my history of mountain bike riding and racing.......

 

[ukvette]

What would you say would be your comfortable maximum now and why

.
Hi Snaphappy.
I am new to my AT, I have only done about 2000 miles with it, in the last year.
After an hour and half, I need get off, for 10 mins, and take a few swift walks around the AT, and back on again.
May be it's age catching up with me, Im'e 45 plus now.
It could also be that it's been too many spills off the 500cc crosser Suzuki that cracked my knees. (Killing machine)
Some days my knees ache, but mostly I get sore asse.

My previous steed was a ZZR600.
I could ride that for hours, as it had big comfy seat, and the wind would take the weight off my shoulders.

I think I really need to make some seating adjustments.
Either get the seat "repacked" or a lamb fleece.

'vette

 

[StumpyFingers]

Have you considered an airhawk, they give some comfort to a hard seat.


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[fatowl]

It also depends how many days you are going to be riding. If it's just one day, you can do huge mileage, but if it's going to be kept up for a number of days, it will all add up - you've got to keep the miles down !

 

[Nickel Arse]

.
Hi Snaphappy.
I am new to my AT, I have only done about 2000 miles with it, in the last year.
After an hour and half, I need get off, for 10 mins, and take a few swift walks around the AT, and back on again.
May be it's age catching up with me, Im'e 45 plus now.
It could also be that it's been too many spills off the 500cc crosser Suzuki that cracked my knees. (Killing machine)
Some days my knees ache, but mostly I get sore asse.

My previous steed was a ZZR600.
I could ride that for hours, as it had big comfy seat, and the wind would take the weight off my shoulders.

I think I really need to make some seating adjustments.
Either get the seat "repacked" or a lamb fleece.

'vette

Dont bother with a lamb fleece, if you go down that road you need a sheep skin, an animal that's seen at least one winter. the fleeces you can get cheap from Ikea are great for babies as they have been chemically cleaned, but all the natural goodness has been taken out. I got mine from over here they will post to the UK, get a second bio fleece, these are the ones that dont make the grade so may have dye marks, straw or scars. But they still have the lanolin in, the natural grease that keeps sheep dry and warm, even after a downpour I can shake mine to almost dry. (wouldn't sit on in jeans mind you).
Try these any problems just ask
schwarze Lammfelle, schwarze Schaffelle - DAS- Schaffellhandel


Having your seat repacked and widened a bit may also help but your sitting much higher on the Twin as you were on the 600 so its getting the balance right and not stopping circulation in your thighs. On a long trip I like a bag on the passenger seat to give my lower back some support. With that I can change positions either by leaning back or forward and moving my feet from the front to the rear pegs or just let them dangle. I can also get my feet on the crash bars for while.
I must say so though I've got a Varadero that they are made for hours in the saddle, keep us posted to what you decide on, then build up to covering more and more slowly, you'll be on endurance rallies in no time.
Fancy Blackpool Tower to Eifel Tower in June?????

 

[raymo]

.

My previous steed was a ZZR600.
I could ride that for hours, as it had big comfy seat, and the wind would take the weight off my shoulders.

I think I really need to make some seating adjustments.
Either get the seat "repacked" or a lamb fleece.

'vette

the seating position on an AT is much more upright ( I prefer it :joker: )

you may also need to mess with bar raisers and possibly mess with the pegs.

long distances.. I wear cycle shorts, as there are no seams to rub , I also wear a lower back /kidney belt which seems to help.... with an AT and the like.. you can always stand up on the pegs for a short while :iconbiggrin:

 

[ukvette]

Fancy Blackpool Tower to Eifel Tower in June?????

That sounds good, fun

'vette

 

[Farky]

the seating position on an AT is much more upright ( I prefer it :joker: )

you may also need to mess with bar raisers and possibly mess with the pegs.

long distances.. I wear cycle shorts, as there are no seams to rub , I also wear a lower back /kidney belt which seems to help.... with an AT and the like.. you can always stand up on the pegs for a short while :iconbiggrin:

Haven't tried a kidney belt yet, aiming to as I'm told it supports the muscles there which normally tire first, thus causing others areas to strain that you don't normally use. Also leads to the butt muscles tiring early too.

I've also worn padded Lycra shorts underneath and the pad does take the edge off the seat a fair bit. Stops it digging in at the sides.

Always a bit concerned that I may not be treated after an accident when they find out I was wearing Lycra....some sort of freaky thing goin on there!


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[raymo]

Always a bit concerned that I may not be treated after an accident when they find out I was wearing Lycra....some sort of freaky thing goin on there!


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get the cycle shorts with chamois lether in.. then you can polish your 'bits' too.... thne thay can glint when nursy cuts the shorts off

I used the shorts with the gel pads .. but found it a bit 'wrong'.. like I had shat myself .. may be that's solution