► Seats (too high, too hard, pillion...) and suspension

Duchess said:
Grib if you dont get what you want I can get you the name and number of a guy in Nottingham that modifys seats ie gel pads, lowering, recovering etc.

I've seen one of his seats and his work is second to none, quite impressive.

An option to throw into the pot just in case :)
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The seat swap thing doesn't seem to be happening just yet and I've been quoted £170 for a brand new, low seat! So, if you've got that number, it can't hurt to phone up for a quote if nothing else :)
 
Seat Re-Cover

Just had my seat re-shaped & re-covered by Tony Archer from Huddersfield;

seat 1.JPG


seat 3.JPG


seat 2.JPG

I based it on Bradders seat (from this forum) whom I met at Squires last Saturday. He gave me Tony's contact details and Tony has increased the padding on the standard (low option) seat, inserted gel pads & formed a 'hump' to minimise SWIMBO sliding around on the back.

I think it looks pretty neat (bradders seat has grey piping to match the faster magnesium 800GS) and it cost £60 for the re-covering and extra padding and a further £60.00 for the gel pads:thumb2

And it was done in less than a week:bounce1
 
nikp said:
Just had my seat re-shaped & re-covered by Tony Archer from Huddersfield;... cost £60 for the re-covering and extra padding and a further £60.00 for the gel pads..
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Looks like a good job.

Been thinking of doing this myself. Are those gel pads any good? :nenau
 
hi nikp, I'm struggling to recover my seat after I tore it with my boot, Just can't get the vinyl to stretch correctly. That looks the ticket for £60 :thumb2 I'm guessing it'll be a bit cheaper if I just want a one colour cover with none of the piping.

Found the blokes website too http://www.tonyarcher.co.uk/

Guess i'll try giving him a ring tommorrow :thumb2
 
Test ride on modified seat

Done a couple of hundred miles on the new seat today and what a difference:thumb2

The gel pads make for a nice comfy ride although probably not anywhere as good as an airhawk.

I find it better now I've had the height increased as well. I've done a couple of thousand miles on the low option seat and now its an inch or so higher I find the position much more comfortable.

All in all - a top job:thumb
 
nikp said:
Done a couple of hundred miles on the new seat today and what a difference:thumb2

The gel pads make for a nice comfy ride although probably not anywhere as good as an airhawk.
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Ah, but had you tried an Airhawk on the 800 before you had this done?

I'm impressed though, that seat of yours looks just great, and if I hadn't just invested in an Airhawk myself I'd be getting mine done like yours. I'm still trying to work out how best to adjust the Airhawk - I'm able to do long trips on it, but I do still have to shift position every so often.:confused:
 
freeloader said:
Ah, but had you tried an Airhawk on the 800 before you had this done?

I'm impressed though, that seat of yours looks just great, and if I hadn't just invested in an Airhawk myself I'd be getting mine done like yours. I'm still trying to work out how best to adjust the Airhawk - I'm able to do long trips on it, but I do still have to shift position every so often.:confused:
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That's interesting... I'm not sure what I was expecting from the Gel pad inserts... possibly something akin to being nestled in a comfy marsh mellow-cum-cloud whilst being massaged by Thai virgins, but I too found I was having to shift position periodically... but then again I am 15St so the Gel pad is probably working on the upper limits of its operating range :eek:
 
Similar to you guys in that I just bought an Airhawk from a fellow member on here thinking it will be great for my coming trip to Spain. Saturday I went out with my mate on his new (to him) GS and it had a converted seat on it with the Gel pads inserted. He wasn’t keen on the look of the seats so I offered to swap him for my standard ones and he accepted.

Things I wasn’t sure about with the Airhawk –

  • I haven’t used it yet but from a few reports I have read I think it may take some getting used to.
  • Getting the right air inflation more to mess around with.
  • Attaching it to the seat and having to keep taking it on and off then packing it away etc.

With my new (second hand) gel filled seat again haven’t used it yet -
  • Does look bit odd
  • Still a vinyl seat cover so sweaty ass in the heat? maybe


Airhawk seems to be tried and tested I have never seen a bad report about them

Gel seat conversion idea sounds good but not found any reports apart from this one as yet?

So have I done the right thing swapping my seat for this gel filled version? Guess proof of that will be in the riding. Do I still take the Airhawk? :confused:
 
nikp said:
I'm not sure what I was expecting from the Gel pad inserts... possibly something akin to being nestled in a comfy marsh mellow-cum-cloud whilst being massaged by Thai virgins, but I too found I was having to shift position periodically.
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A common misconception about gell is that it is some sort of wonderous comfort provider. It's not really, it just cuts out any secondary vibration coming through the seat. A good foam is better than gell (which is why Sargent et all do not use gell pads in their seats), but then there wouldn't be as many people making money by offering seat re-furbs.
 
Tony does a great job..

When i had a seat covered and asked for gel inserts - he just laughed! and asked me why. Then he said i'd be better off with different density foams. When the seat gets made for bike, it has the same type/density foam throughout, where as Tony can utilise differing densities and types of foam to create a 'smarter' seat in the comfort area.

I did find a gel, that, after reading about, ( here) that i wanted to try..... but alas the $ has gone south now and its not available here.

** the link is to a site that sells the cushions or the gel pads for self fitting. The company that makes them is called Flexgel, but the only site it throws up is an Australian site that looks very similiar to the Original American site. They used to have some cool vids that show how the gel works against pressure,heat and vibration..
 
digga said:
Tony does a great job..

...
I did find a gel, that, after reading about, ( here) that i wanted to try..... but alas the $ has gone south now and its not available here.

** the link is to a site that sells the cushions or the gel pads for self fitting. The company that makes them is called Flexgel, but the only site it throws up is an Australian site that looks very similiar to the Original American site. They used to have some cool vids that show how the gel works against pressure,heat and vibration..
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Vids:

http://revver.com/u/FlexGel/
 
The seat looks very smart indeed and good value as Tim says. I fear that it wouldn't look so smart on my bike after the sort of muddy off-road excursions I put it through - I am having trouble getting the OEM seat clean, I can imagine the textured surface on your recovered seat would make it even harder.
 
All this talk of gel and special density foam...

Just get a Sheepskin, costs £20 and looks better.....
 
High seat option

Hi
I see that pages 74/75 of the 2009 BMW accessories catalogue list a high seat option for the 800/650 GS. Has anyone seen, tried or better still own one of these? If so grateful for an opinion ref. relative comfort & extra legroom over the standard item.
I could do with a little more legroom on my standard seat 650 for longer distances. I can get both feet flat on the ground, so should be able to cope with a higher seat OK. I've already removed the footrest rubbers for maximum clearance.
I couldn't actually get my leg over the 800, so that wasn't an option!
 
colint said:
Who's selling sheepskins at that price?!!
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£9.99 from here

Don't choose the cream one - that does look like a rug :augie

I got the black one and have ridden with it all over the winter. Dead comfy and warm as toast.

PS. Another thread dealt with the "are they waterproof?" question. Just ask a sheep. :D
 
finally got my seat recovered by tony.

It's good to see him work, sure knows his stuff :thumb2


seat.jpg


Didn't want anything fancy so it's just as before. Cost £40 as in tonys words these seats are a pain in the arse to recover due to the shape of it, It's not glued on either, unlike the original cover.
 
Sheepskins and Airhawks. Any good?

The 800GS is a great bike, but the seat is a killer for long distance work.

I've seen mention of sheepskin covers for a tenner, and airhawks for considerably more!

Does anyone here use either? If so, would you recommend?
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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