Can't Get Comfortable

I just can't get comfortable on my '08 GS. I'm just over 6' and weigh in at 104kg and no matter what I've tried, I find the following after about 1/2 an hour in the saddle:


A*se gets very uncomfortable and I find myself constantly squirming around and moving forwards and backwards to try to get comfortable
My left shin bangs on a component that seems to have been installed with the express purpose of being there for me to bang my shin on
My back gets sore
My shoulders ache
My knees ache

In order to try to get comfortable, I have done the following, all to no avail:

Installed a Corbin seat (and have tried both height settings)
Fitted an Airhawk pad
Wear cycle shorts under my bike trousers
Fitted handlebar risers and experimented with various lateral bar positions
Fitted lowered footpegs


Short of buying a new a*se (and mine does seem to be cracked), I don't know what to do. I love the GS but long trips are not as enjoyable as they should be.

Advice from the more experienced?

Blimey you've done all that and its still uncomfortable Try different seats Sargents are meant to be very good,but any seat takes a bit of breaking in .Try an adventure seat as its higher ,a standard GS is lower than an adventure,my SE has an adventure seat and I'm 6 foot 6 and 12 stone,and its the most comfortable of all the GS's I've had.I find the standard GS seat height has my knees too bent and puts too much weight through my arse ,worth a trip to a bike shop that has a few bikes/seats to try

You might also try aftermarket adjustable footpegs to move your legs away from the special leg basher component ingeniously designed by Herr Flik of the BuMW product design department.

I'd try the "new arse" option. If you've done all that and are still uncomfortable, there's not much hope. Have you been comfortable on other bikes? Maybe try other makes of seat, see if you can borrow one for a day.
I am lucky enough to have a GS shaped arse, and have been perfectly happy with mine for 10 hr days on the standard seat (high position at the front, low at the back)
Good luck.
Mark

Buy a different bike Fella the GS obviously not for you.

Hi Ultrablast,

This may be a bit out of left field, but the shoulder and back pain locations suggest to me that perhaps your body is too tense when you’re riding – this would explain why you ache all over within a short time, and why your GS (which is an intrinsically comfy bike for tall folks) feels uncomfortable so quickly even after you’ve upgraded the comfort.

Do you feel relaxed and confident when you’re riding, or are you riding at 9/10s a lot of the time? Maybe consciously check this a few times during a ride – most of the time we’re concentrating on the road, and don’t notice whether our physical state is relaxed or wired. If you’re constantly ragging the throttle and dabbing & grabbing at the brakes, then you’re probably a bit adrenalin-pumped a lot of the time, whereas if you’re very smooth, you’re probably relaxed in mind & body, and the problem lies elsewhere.

If you’re physically fit and supple, your joints and muscles are more resistant to fatigue, and being compressed, stretched or immobile. Even just riding the bike regularly will contribute a modest amount of adaptive physical conditioning, which is how distance cyclists can be comfortable all day on those ridiculous saddles. If you’re rather unfit, your body may well protest a bit when you ride, as biking does place some physical demands on muscles and skeleton.

Also bear in mind that fitting higher bars takes weight off your wrists and forearms, but transfers it onto your backside. It may help to take note of which pains start first: arse, back, shoulders, knees etc. as it may be just one pain that initiates the whole syndrome.

When you start aching somewhere, your body will instinctively protect that area by transferring load to other muscles, so when your bum starts to ache, you take more of your sitting weight with your leg muscles and joints, and 10 minutes later your legs start to ache. The pain makes you tense, and your shoulder blades start to burn, and so on.

I hope this helps – I’m just over 6’ too, and on some rides have experienced shoulder twinges and numb bum, but a lot less so now that I’m a bit fitter, stretchier, and ride more smoothly. Wishing you all the best in getting back to glorious day-long trips on your GS.

-Pip

Thanks Robbo. I guess I'll be trying a few different seats.

earthmover said:

I'd try the "new arse" option. If you've done all that and are still uncomfortable, there's not much hope. Have you been comfortable on other bikes? Maybe try other makes of seat, see if you can borrow one for a day.
I am lucky enough to have a GS shaped arse, and have been perfectly happy with mine for 10 hr days on the standard seat (high position at the front, low at the back)
Good luck.
Mark

Click to expand...

An interesting question, to which the answer is no. My previous bike was an 06 GS. I found the saddle uncomfortable and replaced it with a Corbin. This made some (but not much) difference.

Once I'd fitted handlebar risers I had no further problems with shoulder and back aches.

Makes me think that the differenced between the 06 and the 08 might be a contributory factor.

earthmover said:

I'd try the "new arse" option. If you've done all that and are still uncomfortable, there's not much hope. Have you been comfortable on other bikes? Maybe try other makes of seat, see if you can borrow one for a day.
I am lucky enough to have a GS shaped arse, and have been perfectly happy with mine for 10 hr days on the standard seat (high position at the front, low at the back)
Good luck.
Mark

Click to expand...

Having the seat on high at the front and low at the back is something I haven't tried yet. I seem to recall something in the manual about not doing this but I'm willing to try anything. I'll give it a bash with both the standard and Corbin seats. Thanks for this.

MorayGSer said:

Buy a different bike Fella the GS obviously not for you.

Click to expand...

Tell me truthfully: Having owned a GS, would you seriously consider anything else?

I started off my riding life in my youth on a Suzuki 250 Twin and finally graduated to a Yamaha XT550, with a few others inbetween. At age 24 I had a serious argument with a car and lost, which kept me off bikes for a good few years. 6 Years ago I decided to get back on and after riding just about everything made, settled on an R 650 GS Dakar - what a brilliant bike but very soon grew tired of the lack of power. I didn't even bother shopping around and upgraded to a GS in 06 in the Middle East. Sold it when I moved back to the UK and bought an 08.

I plan to keep riding a GS until I can no longer keep it upright, at which time I will switch to a trike!

I find the GSA very comfortable straight from the crate, I've added a cheap inflatable cushion and a sheepskin and its lush for 300-400km.

As someone else suggested it my be your posture - I used to hunker down too much to get my helmet out of the airflow, now I sit upright and extended and shoulders and back are much more comfortable.

The GS's size means you can adopt several different positions on long journeys and keep mobile, sit back on the pillion seat for a bit, feet on the pots, feet on the pillion pegs etc.

Worst thing you can do is sit in a fixed position for too long.

Ultrablast said:

Having the seat on high at the front and low at the back is something I haven't tried yet. I seem to recall something in the manual about not doing this but I'm willing to try anything. I'll give it a bash with both the standard and Corbin seats. Thanks for this.

Click to expand...

I read that in the manual too, but then I read somewhere on here that it had caused no problems so gave it a try. I felt that I was pitched forward too much originaly, changed the position and never looked back. That was in the first month of ownership, June '05.
Mark

earthmover said:

I read that in the manual too, but then I read somewhere on here that it had caused no problems so gave it a try. I felt that I was pitched forward too much originaly, changed the position and never looked back. That was in the first month of ownership, June '05.
Mark

Click to expand...

I tried high, and low positions, and found I was getting a great deal of pain in my coccyx. Then went to high at front and low at the back, and had no more problems. I did a 650km stint the other day (Brugge to Braunschweig) and not a twinge.

I sometimes find my shoulders ache, other times not, strange!

simple answer to your problem go out and buy a fireside sheepskin rug mine cost £30.00 cut it in half made two seat covers Have 500 miles 10 hours riding no problems

I find riding my GSA uncomfortable the longer I ride. Not perhaps to the same extend but my arse gets very uncomfortable and I use an Airhawk everytime I ride now. Airhawk has made an improvement but it's not 100% for long trips either imo. I think my arse gets hot, especially when wearing biker padded leggings. The heat builds up and then it's very hard to get comfortable. Not tried a Sargent because of cost?

Lastly, I wonder if it's to do with my wieght? I'm 5'11, about 16.5 stone.

perhaps reference to thread
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232891 might give some answers?

Old age and poverty is the cause

Ultrablast said:

I just can't get comfortable on my '08 GS. I'm just over 6' and weigh in at 104kg and no matter what I've tried, I find the following after about 1/2 an hour in the saddle:


A*se gets very uncomfortable and I find myself constantly squirming around and moving forwards and backwards to try to get comfortable
My left shin bangs on a component that seems to have been installed with the express purpose of being there for me to bang my shin on
My back gets sore
My shoulders ache
My knees ache

In order to try to get comfortable, I have done the following, all to no avail:

Installed a Corbin seat (and have tried both height settings)
Fitted an Airhawk pad
Wear cycle shorts under my bike trousers
Fitted handlebar risers and experimented with various lateral bar positions
Fitted lowered footpegs


Short of buying a new a*se (and mine does seem to be cracked), I don't know what to do. I love the GS but long trips are not as enjoyable as they should be.

Advice from the more experienced?

Click to expand...

I had exactly the same problem as you regarding a numb/painful arse within 30-40 mins of riding my 05 GS. I'm 6'4" and thought it was because of how far back I had to sit on the seat, I was sat on the pin that fastens the seat down and could feel it through the padding. I tried gel inserts and airhawk, and it didn't help. I ended up only keeping the GS a few months Oh, I used to get shoulder aches as well.

I now have the GSA and find it much more comfortable. I don't know it it's the actual shape of the seat, the peg to seat height, the position from the bars or what but I can ride for much longer before I get a numb arse. I must admit I've always found bikes a little uncomfortable in this department, but the GSA is by far the best, much better than the GS, and better than the Tiger 1050.

The bitter truth

I am about the same height as you but I weigh 20kgs less. Having owned many bikes in my time I find that over a period it is easier to adapt myself to a bike than the other way round - which can be expensive and often confusing.
As has been said, comfort has a great deal to do with fitness and a relaxed riding style and posture.

Brian ROSEN said:

comfort has a great deal to do with fitness and a relaxed riding style and posture.

Click to expand...

Yes I think this might be part of the reason. I have 4x bikes and can get uncomfortable on all eventually. I thought buying a Sargent seat would be the end of it, not that I have yet, cause people tend to post to the effect that you can sit on your bike all day with a sargent seat and not get arse ache. I'm not sure I buy into this, at least for me!