goodtimes
Expedition Poseur
So I figured out why people refer to the stock seat on F650's as a "100 mile seat". These things are brutal! After 100 miles, you just want to get off. Unfortunately, there is the small problem of the 100 mile ride home.
So, I did a little research on aftermarket seats. I see 3 problems with them. First, they aren't cheap! Second, most places that people recommend, want you to ship them your seat, so they can either modify it, or re-use the pan. Third, there is no way to tell if you'll like it until you have already paid for it.
So.......I had to take matters into my own hands. Since unlike earlier years, the cover on the 07's isn't bonded to the foam, I started by removing the neoprene (?) cover, and putting the now uncovered seat back on the bike. I used a business card to see just where the butt/seat contact area ended. Then I inked it in with a marker. After a little bit of looking and thinking, I broke out a bread knife and started cutting. It took about 10 seconds to see this wasn't going well. Strait cuts are fine, but getting the concave curves I needed wasn't going to happen. So, out came the power tools. A right angle pneumatic grinder with a abrasive disk (50 grit) turned out to work amazingly well. I spent about 1/2 hour removing material, sitting on it, removing more material, sitting on it, etc.
Once I had a reasonable fit, I cleaned up the mess, pulled the cover back on and stapled it to the underside of the pan (which is how BMW does it). After a quick ride around the block says it is MUCH better. Tomorrow I'll take it for a spin up out through the park and see if there are any adjustments I need to make. Then it comes back apart for final adjustments and clean-up (get rid of the rough edges).
Pics below...top is before, bottom is after. Note the red lines on the second pic. That is the top of the "hump" on the seat. I moved it back quite a bit....
So, I did a little research on aftermarket seats. I see 3 problems with them. First, they aren't cheap! Second, most places that people recommend, want you to ship them your seat, so they can either modify it, or re-use the pan. Third, there is no way to tell if you'll like it until you have already paid for it.
So.......I had to take matters into my own hands. Since unlike earlier years, the cover on the 07's isn't bonded to the foam, I started by removing the neoprene (?) cover, and putting the now uncovered seat back on the bike. I used a business card to see just where the butt/seat contact area ended. Then I inked it in with a marker. After a little bit of looking and thinking, I broke out a bread knife and started cutting. It took about 10 seconds to see this wasn't going well. Strait cuts are fine, but getting the concave curves I needed wasn't going to happen. So, out came the power tools. A right angle pneumatic grinder with a abrasive disk (50 grit) turned out to work amazingly well. I spent about 1/2 hour removing material, sitting on it, removing more material, sitting on it, etc.
Once I had a reasonable fit, I cleaned up the mess, pulled the cover back on and stapled it to the underside of the pan (which is how BMW does it). After a quick ride around the block says it is MUCH better. Tomorrow I'll take it for a spin up out through the park and see if there are any adjustments I need to make. Then it comes back apart for final adjustments and clean-up (get rid of the rough edges).
Pics below...top is before, bottom is after. Note the red lines on the second pic. That is the top of the "hump" on the seat. I moved it back quite a bit....