Re:lowering the seat height

wildbill · Sep 4, 2004

Thanks.I thought about thinning the seat foam some.I looked at seat a few times and see what all I would need to do.It would to me look like the removal of 2 to 3 inches.Basically for me if the seat was not much thicker than where it mounts and was flat it might work better.When I take the seat off I can then straddle the bike just about flat footed.That might make the bike a little easier to handle for where I ride anyway and help starting to.I will think on it some more and thanks.

AtomicPunk · Sep 5, 2004

If it's any help Bill, I know Husaburgler shaved his seat foam and it worked perfectly for him. He bought an N-Style gripper cover for an '04 KTM and it came out great.

wildbill · Sep 7, 2004

AtomicPunk said:
If it's any help Bill, I know Husaburgler shaved his seat foam and it worked perfectly for him. He bought an N-Style gripper cover for an '04 KTM and it came out great.

Thanks for letting me know.Do you have any idea how much foam he removed?I need a idea on where to start,like is the seat flat or what after he got done.I have plenty of time to plan because of the storm moving through,supposed to get some bad flooding here{6-12" of rain} before it moves out.Thanks and take care.

Splat · Sep 9, 2004

Removing 2 or 3 inches of seat foam will ruin the ergonomics of the bike. Since the foot pegs will be in the stock location, your knees will be higher than your hips while sitting. As Dale stated, the better choice is to reduce the suspension travel. It is a simple matter of adding a couple stop spacers in the forks and the shock. Have the spacers installed during the next fork & shock service.

wildbill · Sep 9, 2004

Splat said:
Removing 2 or 3 inches of seat foam will ruin the ergonomics of the bike. Since the foot pegs will be in the stock location, your knees will be higher than your hips while sitting. As Dale stated, the better choice is to reduce the suspension travel. It is a simple matter of adding a couple stop spacers in the forks and the shock. Have the spacers installed during the next fork & shock service.

You are right!The only time a lower seat would help would be starting otherwise it would be a very large pain.I have looked at the problem and thought about it quite a bit and have decided for the time being to use the tiedown setup as suggested earier in this thread.I don`t want to solve one thing and then get in a big nest of other problems.Later on I will see about reducing the supension travel but right now I will go by the old saying "if it ain`t broke don`t fix it".Thanks and take care.

bakey01 · Oct 4, 2004

Hi Wildbill

I'm pleased you're back riding

A with most thigs, a solution is achieved via a combination of smaller actions. For me (as one who could be classed as a 'shorter-than-average' berger!) I've:

(i) installed softer foam in the seat - this allows it to compress more and lowers the to-deck measurement by about 2 inches. The sort of riding I do (H&H) means that I'm rarely sitting down anyway!

(ii) dropped the yoke through the forks by about a 1/4 inch

(iii) wound the rear preload off by a couple of turns - but only enough to increase the static sag just slightly past optimum

I start it by standing on the left hand side of the bike, turning the 'bars to the right (whilst holding on to the front brake) and leaning her towards me. I find that this gives me sufficient leverage to kick her over with my right leg.

On the trail, I find the e-start fires her up pretty quickly, but if I have to kick, I just find a handy rut (loads of them around in the UK at this time of year!) and drop the bike into it - plenty of height then.

The real solution, which I will investigate next is (as Dale and others have pointed out) is a properly engineered suspension solution. I've yet to bottom out the suspension in my style of riding, therefore giving sufficient margin for adjustment.

Regards

Bakey

wildbill · Oct 4, 2004

Softer seat foam would be a good start.My seat feels like a covered plank and a lot of my ridding does involve me sitting.A softer seat with a gripper seat cover helps{sometimes feels like I`am doing chinups off a 10 story ledge}.I think a combination of softer seat foam and lowering the supension would help since I mainly woods ride.Thanks for the tips.

BD · Oct 4, 2004

softer seat foam.

Who sells softer seat foam? BD

wildbill · Oct 7, 2004

Re: softer seat foam.

BD said:
Who sells softer seat foam? BD

I second that. :idea:I did a little checking and there is a link concerning softer seat foam and seat covers.At least now I know where to look. :!:

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Re:lowering the seat height

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