Melvin Hunter seats?

[Possu]

I want to replace my standard 1150GS seat with something more comfortable, preferably fitted with a Gel Pad & less of a slope forwards on the riders seat but without spending £400+ on Corbin/Mayer seats

Melvins seats are an obvious choice - is there anyone near Oxford who has a Melvin seat fitted to their bike that I can sit on or even one For Sale? Before handing over £185.00 to have both seats gel padded & re-covered, I'd like to experience one first hand to be sure that I'm not going to be disappointed.

Failing that, any other aftermarket seats out there worth looking at or For Sale?

Any takers?

Thanks in advance

Steve

 

[Twotter]

I'm just about to go down the Melvin route on the basis that anything has got to be better than my standard seat. The price advantage is obviously a good thing compared with the competition and so is the lead time on having the work done.

He recovered the seats on my old R1100RS a few years ago and was quite a character as I recall

 

[Steve]

I'm just about to go down the Melvin route on the basis that anything has got to be better than my standard seat.

I wouldn't bank on it. The bonus is that he can re-shape the seat to a certain extent, but it still ends up too soft, which is, I think, the problem.

As you're fairly local, you can try mine for a few days first if you like.

 

[Martyn B]

Melvins seats

Steve is right - Melvin's magic is certainly an improvement but not a complete cure. Go into it with too much expectation and you'll be disappointed but I've had both seats done and I'd do it again. SWMBO also well pleased (worth £185 in itself!)

Martyn

 

[Possu]

Thanks for the replies.

I've heard that Melvin-ed seats are not a wonder cure.

I have noticed the following though, the degree of discomfort I feel with the stock seat varies considerably depending on the trousers I'm wearing.

Jeans: gets uncomfortable pretty quick.

Leather jeans: slight improvement.

Leather padded trousers (extra leather on backside): slightly better again

Hein Gericke Voyager leather/textile trousers: much better but not perfect. Managed 430+ miles at the weekend, felt okay but not perfect.

The HG trousers have an extra layer of leather on the backside also, this seems to make a difference? If it was a bit colder, I'd try them with the quilted thermal lining zipped in, may make another bit of difference?

Aside from the softness of the seat, I feel that the riders seat slopes forwards a bit too much. If I go the Melvin route, I'll get him to level the seat out a little using the Gel Pad.

Steve

 

[Steve]

Aside from the softness of the seat, I feel that the riders seat slopes forwards a bit too much. If I go the Melvin route, I'll get him to level the seat out a little using the Gel Pad.

Re-shaping/re-building of the front to get rid of the "slope" is one of Melvins stock cures anyway.

 

[Jimb]

Melvin changed the angle of mine and its wonderfull, I had it made thicker at the front and scalloped out at the rear and it changed the rake angle just right.

He can also fit heated pads, worth considering.

 

[Possu]

He can also fit heated pads, worth considering.

I think I'll pass on the heated gel pads, not suffering from Rockfords at the moment........

 

[Martyn B]

Eh?

He can also fit heated pads, worth considering.

I didn't know that. How much? (Me back's playin' up)

Martyn

 

[Big Lom]

Melvin Hunter seats

My R1200GS seats are with Melvyn at the moment. He has two different thickness' of gel which you can choose dependant on the degree of discomfort

 

[newman7096]

Im in Coventry and had both seats sorted by Melvyn about 6 months ago!

He fitted the thick gel pads in both and Im pleased as its much improved from original!

 

[hops]

Hot bot

I bought a 'Melvyn'd' seat for my GS off one of our members and think it is very good.

It has the heating element which was fuggin superb during the not to recent cold snap. The gel pads certainly postpone the numb bum feeling, having done about 700 miles in one day recently the seat was very comfortable, well recommended.

 

[rodsharp]

seat problems

Steve Give me a ring 07767 851099. I am near Oxford and you can try my Melvyn seats. I find they ,together with screen mod,transformed the bike and made it comfortable for all day rides rather than half an hour resulting in sore bum and headache from buffeting. Why didnt BM make it that way??

 

[Twotter]

Big to Steve for loaning me his Melvynd seat last week. Definitely different to the standard seat though I'm not sure it's the right answer for me.

One plus was he spotted a seat height raising mod that the previous owner had done. Last night saw me dismantling the back end to get at some cunningly hidden nuts to remove the mod.

Job done, and with surprisingly little bad language too. The ride to work this morning was quite a surprise. I found the standard seat to be a lot more comfortable and I arrived with no NBS.

I'll see how it goes, though out of all the options I think a Sargent from Nippy Normans is currently top of my wish list.

Cheers

 

[littleredrooster]

Just had the pillion seat done for SWMBO by Melvin Hunter and she reckons it is tremendous.

 

[theclowncrusty]

Seat Mod?

Twotter. I find mine a bit low, What kind of seat mod had been done to your bike and how much difference did it make to the seat hight? Mark

 

[Steve]

Re: Seat Mod?

Twotter. I find mine a bit low, What kind of seat mod had been done to your bike and how much difference did it make to the seat hight? Mark

It was the rear seat that was modified. You can, however, raise the front by fitting some spacers under the seat mounting slots and using some longer bolts. If you fit bigger spacers to the front, it helps prevent the sliding-into-the-tank feeling.

 

[Twotter]

As Steve says the rear seat had two brackets at the front to raise the height and it turned out that the front seat had spacers fitted to the mounting frame (front & rear) made out of a nut and three washers, with a longer bolt to fix it all together. It raised the seat by a good two inches.

I've gone from being on tippy toe to flat footed. In fact I've jacked up the preload a bit to make it a bit comfier.

 

[Possu]

Re: Re: Seat Mod?

It was the rear seat that was modified. You can, however, raise the front by fitting some spacers under the seat mounting slots and using some longer bolts. If you fit bigger spacers to the front, it helps prevent the sliding-into-the-tank feeling.

Took Rod Sharp up on his kind offer to borrow his seat for a quick spin. Better than standard but also a lot higher. Seat foam is considerably thicker, especially at the front where it slopes up the rear of the tank. Main difference was that the seat was nearly level, not sloping so much.

Went home & knocked up four 10mm tall spacers on the lathe & fitted them beneath the front mounting only for the front seat, leaving the rear mounting alone.

Quite a difference as soon as I sat on the bike, no longer constantly sliding forwards even though seat still slopes slightly with no one on it. Will make a proper set of spacers out of 10mm thick ally bar to support the seat mounts properly. Once I've done them, the original spacers are available FOC if anyone wants to try them, you'll need 10mm longer bolts as Steve mentioned - give me a call.

 

[guitarman]

You might want to look at this

Cheers

Dick