Fitting a gel seat pad

[fin_676]

After a couple of hours riding i get a bit of pain in the tail bone so i finally decided to do something about it
i do like the look of my stock seat and didn't like the idea of using a seat pad that goes over the seat
So i bought a suitable gel pad for fitting internally in my seat
First thing i did was strip the seat cover off ensuring all remnants of the original staples were removed and stripped the smoothing foam off the main foam pad

I sat the gel pad on the seat foam and marked around it

I then cut slits in the marked area at the approximate depth of the pad

It was then easy to remove the slits of foam until the pad fitted correctly

I then used a spray on glue to hold the pad in place more glue and re fitted the smoothing foam

I then put the seat cover over the foam and using a thin length of old coat hanger looped the string for the buttons over the end of the metal and held in place with a wee bit of tape and pushed it through in the appropriate place

Fitted the loop of string into the new seat buttons and secured with new parts on the underside of the seat foam

Fitted the foam with attached cover back on to the seat base making sure i was using the original line for the staples

Finished

A wet and windy Sunday afternoon taken care of and only time will tell if it was time well spent

Brian

 

[Bodeen]

Nice work Fin! Looks great.

Bodeen

 

[trvlr]

Good stuff finman...I've "always" had the tailbone issue ever since I've been riding. I've come to the conclusion that you need a little "V" cutway in the seat where your tailbone touches, where that area is suspended with no pressure contact when seated. I'm yet to really find anything that is/has been the total cure for me. Interestingly, the stock HD seat on my EGC is not too bad for me on that issue. I'll be watching for a followup report on your success. Thanks for posting that up.

 

[fin_676]

Due to various commitments i wont get a chance to do a full day in the seat till mid July when we are on our summer trip then it just seems to be day after day on the bike and that is when i had the problems in the past so hopefully ill remember to update this thread toward the end of July

Brian

 

[kzoo]

For all you do it yourselfers, here is a little tip. (Wife owns an upholstery business)

When working with leather or vinyl and you need to stretch it tight, especially around to make nice corners and such, try using a hair dryer to heat the material. This works especially well if you added some padding and now it appears the material is a wee bit too small.

Works like a charm every time.

 

[gator508]

Very nice..Fin!

 

[torquetwins]

Looks good. :yes

 

[horizonchaser]

Nice job! I like the fact that the pad sits in its own nook within the foam cut out. What I don't like about any seat "add ons" for comfort reason is that whether its gel pad or sheepskin they always raise the rider up higher in the saddle, but your seat doesn't do that. Your seat looks like a normal seat that has the gel incorporated in the seat. Also, the way you have the foam notched out to accommodate the gel pad in addition to the sprayed on glue, ought to keep the gel pad from shifting about while you ride. Give us an update on how well it performs.

 

[IBA Harley]

That's how a lot of the people install the gel pads at the bike events. Pretty quick and easy. However, I remember finding one custom seat guy... was from Maryland, of course, can't remember his name... anyway, he installed the gel UNDER the foam next to the seat pan. As I talked with him for a while, his explanation made a LOT of sense.

I've had gel pads installed like you've done it... and now have one done with it under the foam. Maybe it's just my imagination, but the "under foam" version seems to provide more comfort.

 

[Dr. Dolittle]

Nice Job! Are you sure you're not the overseas rep for Mean City???