Comfortable seat? 1981

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Terry Peacock

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Jan 21, 2012
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I have a 1981 and I would like to put on a more comfortable seat for me and the misses. Any suggestions?

Thank you for your time.

Terry
 
After the stock seat just didnt provide good support over 50 miles at a time I replaced it with a saddleman roadsofa.
I bought it directly through saddleman and although they admit they do make seats and covers for JC Whitney,that they are of a lesser grade material.
The roadsofa is made of memory foam with tailbone relief,and mine has the gel inserts and back rest made in.And the price was close to JCW.Which was cheaper than HARTCO,DIAMOND or RUSSEL.

At first it seamed stiff and tall (but did not seem to affect reach do to the differant cut),but I did appreciate that after a good ride. The hieght helped leg comfort and the stiffness made a world of differance in support after the first 100 miles.

I love this seat.
 

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I have a much older Saddleman Road Sofa that is more than likely the JC Whitney version? (It was on a wrecked bike I bought for parts). This seat does not have the same features as Tory's seat for sure. It does have a tag under the seat that says "Road Sofa", but this one needed help. Sheepskin did the trick!

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Seat 2.JPG
Sheepskin.JPG
 
Funny thing I've noticed about Honda is it amazes me that when it came to the GoldWing How can they put a $10.00 seat on a 10.000 Bike. Or in the case when I bought my 95 SE new it was a $15.00 seat on a 15.000 Bike. Yet on a Helix they can put a Barcolounger of a seat on it. All was needed on it was a Utpoia Backrest & its good to go. Sometimes I'll put my gel pad on it simply so I'm not sitting on the hot vinal.

One thing I've learned is that after 35 years of riding I'm spoiled. I don't ride anything without a good backrest!

I put a Russell Day long saddle on my 95 SE. Had no regrets. Had over 90.000 comfortable miles on it when I sold the bike. I've found Russell has got a bit expensive over the years. I also have a Russell on my Burgman. Still a top notch seat, Ought to be for the money.

Below is my 78 wing in the shape its in after rebuying it 16 Years after I had to sell it. I had this Diamond custom seat made for in back in the 80's. It had well over 70.000 comfortable miles on it when I sold it. I googled them & found them to still be in business. So I sent out the seat to be remade & of course add a backrest to it. Found them to be much cheaper than Russell.

When it comes to comfort you have to ask yourself what kind of riding are you going to do? If your going to do a lot of touring a well made custom seat with a backrest is worth every penny you spend on it.
Just around town & maybe just day trips. A good Gel pad along with a Utpoia backrest will work just fine.

78 wing with a worn out Diamond seat.
GEDC0854.jpg


Helix with a stock seat & utpoia backrest,
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Burgman with a Russell day long saddle,
GEDC0506.jpg
 
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