Seat cover for hot weather

jonz

jonz

Joined
Sep 19, 2008
Messages
419
Location
CA desert/Montana
Bike
2009 ST1300
STOC #
326
Howdy gang,
I had to blow the dust off my ST1300 for a couple of commutes between Montana and SoCal. Worsening arthritis in my right hip necessitated switching from my Corbin seat back to the stock seat. The stock seat in the high position lets me straighten out my leg just enough so that my hip doesn't hurt. I'm riding north back to Montana tomorrow and was hoping to find a seat cover, either fur or beads, to help my rear end breath and sweat less. Anyone know of a source along I-15? I'll have to ride through Las Vegas but may be there too early for shops to open. I'll probably detour around the Virgin River Canyon to avoid the construction back up but might be convinced to exercise my clutch hand if one of those covers was available in St. George or Cedar City. I know Rocky Mountain ATV is just off I15 south of Provo and is open to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and they sell a Pro Pad Sheepskin covered pad. But I'm not sure I'll be there by 4:00 p.m. I'll check the local shops around here today but I don't have high hopes.

Thanks in advance,
Jeff Jones (jonz)
 
Maybe a telephone call to Rocky Mtn ATV to expect you and have a Pro Pad ready and waiting for you. I understand you might not be able to make it by 4:00PM.
Not much of a help now but a Russell Day Long should allow you to extend the right leg thus helping your right hip.
Sorry to hear about your hip problems. :old1:
Either way, have a safe trip.
 
Well, I'm surprised the stock seat is pretty decent. By riding with the seat in the high position, my hip pain was gone. My rear did get a little sore but that was on an almost 800 mile day. I bought the ST1300 used with the Corbin so hadn't tried a stock seat. I bought the stock seat a few years ago with the idea of sending it off to be modified either by Russell or whoever. But when I bought my KTM 1290SA T, the Honda mostly just sat. Now, it seems I might have to make a fair number of back and forth rides between SoCal and Montana, and the ST is well suited for that duty.

I'd like to try a bead seat cover or maybe a fur one. Looking for better breathability in the heat. What are the groups recommendations?
 
jonz said:
Well, I'm surprised the stock seat is pretty decent.
Click to expand...
+1 No doubt almost all if not all of the aftermarket seats are an improvement of varying degrees. But in my two NorCal to MT rides maybe 500mi days and one 700mi day it wasn't bad. I wouldn't want to do 800mi at all and not more than ~500mi for a few days though. I don't carry quite the padding for that.
 
jonz said:
I'd like to try a bead seat cover or maybe a fur one. Looking for better breathability in the heat. What are the groups recommendations?
Click to expand...
The first time I used my Beadrider, I was surprised at how much cool air flowed under me. Were you to try one in the winter, you might start freezing from the top down AND bottom up at the same time.
 
I use a modified Walmart car beaded seat cover, and love it. It might be difficult to do it on the road though. I am sure there are youtube videos of how to do it. Made a big difference.
 
Follow up - I got the Beadrider and deployed it for the first time yesterday on the ride south from Montana. I put it on in Wendover, NV. Initial impression was it was too hard but did flow some air. After riding for a couple hours, the impression of hardness went away and it was comfortable. It got the acid test this morning - 111* riding I-10 past Palm Springs at 1030 this morning. I may need a more breathable pant to take full advantage of the air flow. I'm wearing a Klim Badlands Pro pant which is HEAVY. Vents work well when standing, not so much when sitting. Of course, if I really wanted to know how well it worked, I could have stopped and removed it. But it was too effing hot to stop. One thing I didn't like was the beads are oriented so they roll front to back and I had to fight the tendency to "roll" forward when slowing.
 
I have Lamm seat. Went back to the stock seat with Alaska Leather sheepskin. Works best for me in hot or cold weather.
 
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