Personal discomfort zone

Andrew Shadow

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My brother-in-law is on the short side and has purchased many bikes over the years that force him to reach for the bars causing him to have this very problem. On many of these bikes he lifted the seat cover and cut away some of the seat foam in the appropriate place to create what he calls a "ball pocket". He says that it makes all the difference in the world. He also, after getting on to the bike, reaches in to his pants and grabs a hold of and yanks up his parts to make sure that they are in front of him and not under him. Works for him!
 
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I'm 56 years old. I'm 6' 0" (okay, I'm 5' 11-1/2") with a 34" inseam. I stand over the bike very easily, but I do lean forward about 9 or 10 degrees to reach the bars and I have a slight yet chronic lower back pain. I think a more upright position would help a lot.

- Some kind of handlebar risers
Yes - was my first farkle ... and you may find it also helps make a tad bit more room for the jewels.
 

ST_Jim

In the Hotel California...
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Handlebar risers should help a bunch. And an aftermarket saddle. I use a Sargent, but if I had to do it over again I would probably just do a ride-in at Russell.

BTW, you didn't mention whether you were having issues sliding forward, and squeezing the "boys" into the tank. If so, check to see that you have the saddle installed correctly - there are 3 height positions on the front bracket, and three corresponding steps on the rear of the seat. It's possible to have the front at a lower position than the rear, which will result in a forward angle on the seat.
 

SteveST1300

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Russel is the way to go it took me a few years before I broke down and ordered a Russell but it was the best money I ever spent on the ST. And not really that much more than a Sargent or other off the shelf aftermarket seats.
 
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alanm123
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Jun 26, 2015
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Mt Tabor, NJ
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Airhawk makes a seat cushion exactly for this problem....it's called the Airhawk R. There is a channel and a cutout so that this problem is reduced/eliminated. Haven't tried it but I did try the regular Airhawk and loved it....this looks even better. http://www.airhawk.net/airhawk-r.aspx
That looks pretty good. I may give that a try. I've decided it's not just "the boys" but the pressure on the nerve running straight down the center.

On many of these bikes he lifted the seat cover and cut away some of the seat foam in the appropriate place to create what he calls a "ball pocket". He says that it makes all the difference in the world. He also, after getting on to the bike, reaches in to his pants and grabs a hold of and yanks up his parts to make sure that they are in front of him and not under him. Works for him!
That's another good idea. I thought about that myself, creating a channel in the existing seat.

Yes - was my first farkle ... and you may find it also helps make a tad bit more room for the jewels.
I think the best bet is a combination of all of these. I ordered the 3" risers and expect them to arrive in a couple more days. Then I'll see if I still need to mod the seat, but I'm pretty sure I will.

The BeadRider arrived in time for my 260-mile trip from Boston to New Jersey yesterday, and the improved under-tush air flow reduced the monkey-butt a little bit, but I'll need to keep working on a complete solution.
 
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alanm123
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Interesting: I tried the Airhawk-R and didn't care for it. I took it back. I thought for sure it was going to be the solution. But it was about as helpful as the BeadRider. I got a little bit of airflow under me, so that was good, but there were 2 problems:

1. The general sensation of floating above the seat. I did not feel secure.

2. Because the air pockets fill up to distribute pressure evenly, the pockets in front filled up, and the pressure there was not really relieved as I had hoped.

Luckily the handlebar risers I added have helped a lot with general comfort. They let me lean back more than I was able to before. Still, I think one more attempt will be made. I'm going to try a test with some 1" thick styrofoam (or something similar) and apply it to the seat, then cut away a space in front. I think that may do the trick, because right now I can get temporary relief by sitting halfway back/up on the passenger seat.
 

Mellow

Joe
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The stock seat was torture for me both on the front and the rear.. LOL

I went with a Sargent seat and would put the front in the mid position and the rear in the low. That would help level the seat out so there was no tendency to slide forward, the material also helped with being less slippery. I also went the the Gen III MCL risers and that was a perfect combo for me. The risers were more due to shoulder pain and such. I tried all the exercises and posture stuff but in the end, adjusting the bike to me and not adjusting me to the bike was what helped.

On the Super Tenere I had tried a Sargent seat and it was horrible, not sure why but ended up with a Seth Laam seat on that, I was lucky enough to get that done befoe Seth started having production issues of late, hopefully he figures those out as it's been a great seat.
 

Don-STOC237

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Almost any medium to large town has a good upholstery shop. Most of them can do a good job on modifying your seat to fit your bottom. They can add or shave foam, add different densities of foam, etc. Most of them do plenty of motorcycle seats. You'll end up spending 50-100 bucks or so, far less than any other supplier, and you can work directly with the upholsterer to get it right for you.

Try it.

Oh ya, and get your LDrider undershorts, and some generously cut riding pants, such as Aerostich AD1's. That makes all the difference too.

If you're going to add risers, do it first before your seat mods, because those will affect how you sit on the seat.
 
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