Seat re-covering etc

[Steve Brown]

Hi all, I want to get the dualseat for my 500 done. I'd like to improve the comfort levels too, and have been asking around at RK Leightons, P&P and a Coventry firm called Custom Seats. I'm almost ready to go with either Leightons or P&P, but before I do commit, do you have any recommendations or feedback on gel pads as a comfort booster?
I'd appreciate any input as the seat is the most limiting factor with this bike. Did 60 miles on it today, and it was just about bearable-but that was using my 'Airhawk' saddle cushion-without that it's only just bearable on my 10 mile ride to work!

Thanks in anticipation, Steve.

[corsaro chris]

Steve;

I guess that what we're really all after is an answer to how to cope with advancing years! (Speaking for myself, here, of course... )

I remember riding two up through southern France on our lovely red 500 many years ago with luggage aplenty (and the proverbial half Swagman of spares - cf David P's article in ATG about the Factory visit). We coped with pouring rain, a burst bottle of sunflower oil, and baking hot weather for the best part of 2,000 miles. Seat comfort didn't come into it then - but we were younger, and fitter.

I'd love to hear advice from comfy seat users - so we'll sit back and await the deluge of advice...

Good riding,

CC

[Steve Brown]

Chris, I think we may be in for a long wait...........so I've gone ahead with Leightons doing a standard recover. They don't do gel pads, he explained the pads were only about 9" x 6" so wherever you put it it will only be usable in one small area of the saddle. I have seen pics of the pads on other peoples websites and they do look about that size. Widthways on, it would have trouble supporting my 21yr old arse-of course,now I'm 53yrs it's even more optimistic
The comfort level I spoke about above, was my experience of the Sport saddle currently fitted-it really is crap by any measure. I have no problems with the Sport seat on my 350, or even the leatherette covered saddles on my Scott or Matchless. On the Matchless I did the National Rally twice, full distance both times, and have been to Dijon and back, Northern Holland and back, Scotland and the IoM dozens of times. So I'm not being a wimp chris! Advancing years, my arse How very dare you Mind you, reading my post I would have thought the same......wimp.
I haven't used the dualseat that is to be covered, so before I took it to Leightons I rigged it up and bounced up and down on it, it does seem to be better foam than that on the Sport seat. I hope to get away with that and use the 'Airhawk' for longer trips. We'll see, I'll post the results when I know them. Expect to see me advertising the Sport seat here in a week or two-just long enough for you all to forget how bad I said it was

Chris do you think the apparent lack of interest in this topic is because no-one rides their 500 sports anymore? I must say I think there seems to be more evidence of people putting the miles in on older classic and vintage bikes, or have they all really got work hardened backside from years of Morini/buttock abuse

[alan j]

Steve, I went down to the "Bristol show" on my 500-3 hours to get home in the cold and my bum was as fresh as when I started! and I can give you a few years! They say that every time you sit down you burst a lot of blood cells, maybe you've run out of them! Peter Crawford spoke highly of a jell seat-but by the time he had ridden back from Nepal on his "Enfield" he had worn it out! alan j.

[corsaro chris]

Ah, we're in to the rose tinted specs days now!!! I can give you 5 or 6 years Steve, and you'll know from ATG that last year I did the NW200 on a 9.5 with little problems, and before that the north of Scotland on the trusty Corsaro... Of course, they both have more modern seats - bigger and a bit more comfy... Tom should be able to give us the low down on gel seats, what with him going to Italy and back two up on the Corsaro and all that.

Having said all that, I rode the 3.5 to Cadwell and back in a day (350 miles or so?) a few years back without discomfort. As Alan says, probably killed all the nerve endings by now! Two up is a differnt matter, mind - the Corsaro is pushing it a bit with more than 100 miles - hence the switch to the GP (haven't I mentioned that?)

I found the 500 really good - although I had the Strada version - the Sport looked really good, especially the bright red with black and white pinstripes. Ah, happy days, which is where we came in!

Good riding, now that Spring is almost here,

CC

[Emmohaswheelsagain]

Hi All,
Over the years the Morini seat and it relative merits have filled many a road test often to the detriment of the bike. Speaking as some one who has had some issues with seats I can recommend the gel option. The guy who gelled my 9 1/2 seat said it was a down to the materials used along with modern manufacturing techniques. In his view gell would reduce the discomfort but not totally cure it. I must say if I want to arrive in comfort I would take my 350 Strada every time, not that the 9 1/2 is bad but the reduce power of the 350, its riding position and the narrow bars does make all the difference. Like Chris I had the 500 Strada and whilst the seat wasn't that substantial it was a good however long you were riding. The 350 Sport mind you had a seat which was difficult to stay still one and mine spent most of its time hung up in the garage as I preferred a dual seat with the extra padding. Lets not kid ourselves however as we get older we all become 'a pain in the backside', well that's what my wife tells me

Safe Riding

Paul

[morinipete]

Interesting one this. As Alan said I did 8,000 odd miles on a gel seat in about 20 days this summer, but the truth is after doing a couple of long days the gel seat became irrelevant. When I was doing regular, weekly 6-7 hour rides prior to this, I never used it as it felt odd. I guess this is why you see very few dispatchers using them. Basically you wobble round on top of them, no matter how firm they are, and it is very disconcerting (unless as I said you’re riding day in day out, in which case you become oblivious to any quirks……or if you’re used to riding a Commando with lose isolastics and shot head bearings ).

The seat on my 500 is pretty thin, but the standard Strada seat I have now is better than the standard Sport one I had on before. Coming back from Bologna this October I did 16 hours non-stop (OK 2 sitting on the ferry) and it was my neck and arms which ached not my bum. I took the gel seat off halfway as it made bugger all difference. In fact it had delaminated.

In short I think your bum gets used to what ever it gets stuck on and doesn’t complain once you use your bike a lot. If you don’t ride a lot you’ll get uncomfortable after an hour whether you’re 16 or 60, and while a gel seat may make a tiny difference, it won’t be much. What Paul said in regard to his Strada/91/2 doesn't suprise me though, as I get the impression most modern bikes aren't designed to do more than a few miles at a go and might actually benefit more from a gel seat than a flat seated 'classic' ?

Interestingly Alan Jennings seems to put a dead sheep on his seat for his transcontinental jaunts, though this may say less about his ergonomic peculiarities than his sexual ones…………

[3potjohn]

I 'd be interested to hear when the seat is done.I have 2 old seats for my 350 K1, one worse and MUCH harder than the other but so far I have not suffered much.Will the seat have a log on the back?I hand painted one on mine and you can tell.Mind you the longest continual run I 've done without a break was 140 miles.I did note considerable ankle discomfort but this was attributable to the footrest being bent upwards, presumably from a fall at some stage.
Plenty of folk like the sheepskin approach but I've not seen it on anything sporty, though a friend did try wrapping a Fallow deer around his Suzuki 550 once.Still as one gets older one finds an increasingly hirsute posterior,which I am hopeful will solve the problem.There's got to be some point to it.

[3potjohn]

Log??I mean logo must be time for work.Hey ho.Or maybe I was right the first time....

[alan j]

Baa, baa-the best laugh I've had this miserable winter! It is true, the more you ride, the less your bum aches!-the sheepskin stops me sliding about on the Vincents' plastic like seat in hot weather [when was that?] makes my camping stool more comfortable and also doubles as a pillow.Any other use it has is private!

[MickeyMoto]

Still as one gets older one finds an increasingly hirsute posterior,which I am hopeful will solve the problem.There's got to be some point to it.

A new TV Show - The Hairy Arsed Bikers...... Do you cook?

[Steve Brown]

Well! perhaps this subject touches a few more 'sore points' than just mine? I will report on the results, but it will only be the original foam with a new cover. As I said above, and a couple of you seem to have found the same before me, the Strada type dual seatfoam does appear to be better. Only time and a few miles will tell. Went out on my Matchless yesterday, another 70mls of back lane bimbling with no discomfort. That's on a rigid frame bike with Lycett saddle, so I feel sure that my rear end has a few nerve endings yet. (Btw. National rally on this bike twice covering over 600mls inside 22 hours-saddle not an issue)
I see that Petes gel pad was an add-on to the outside of the seat. (like my Airhawk thingy) What I was thinking of originally was a gel pad permanently built in to the saddle foam. That would have cost about £50 extra, and very mixed reports on the results, so as I may even sell this bike at some point soon-ish I'll live with it for now.
My 350 Sport is still very comfortable and as that was my first Morini I'll be keeping that. The 500 might go to funding another project Apparently Alan Jennings knows where to get dodgy old Vincents for £400-I might even get a couple.....

[alan j]

You will need "a time machine", Steve-Vincents were once down to only 150 "smackers!"-late 60's.

[Brubru]

If you want to feel your Morini seat comfortable, first spend some time on a Ducati (I owned a Pantah).

Bruno

[morini_tom]

I bought a pair of gel seats for my Corsaro. Obviously a different beast to the 500 but I assure you no more comfortable in standard trim!

The gel seats were a fairly pricey factory accessory and have the gel pad inside them. On the ride down to the factory last year they were thoroughly comfortable, even for Suzanne on the back. When I bought them I was told that they toook a while to 'break in' which suprised me but that did seem to be the case. After a few rides however they felt considerably more comfortable than the original seat.

I've never used an aftermarket seat upholsterer to insert a gel pad but I would have thought the result would be similar. One thing I noticed with the Morini Corsaro seats is that the material the sides are made out of on the gel seat is much more compliant than the standard seat covering so maybe to get full advantage from the gel you need a compliant seat cover as well as the gel pad. I'm sure the seat upholsterer could advise.

For the Corsaro the gel seats were certainly worth the money. I would have thought that getting something similar for the 500 would also be worthwhile. Hey- it might even convince you to keep the 500!


Tom