Spencer Seat Modification

Marc2007

Marc2007

Ruby2
Joined
Nov 22, 2014
Messages
4
Location
Greenland, NH
Bike
2007 Honda ST1300
To all those who suffered with the ST1300 stock seat here is an inexpensive alternative that worked for me and maybe it will work for you. Prior to the modification my butt would start hurting within 30 minutes of time in the saddle. Not good for an ST owner who enjoys riding long distances. To remedy this Spencer replaces the foam in your seat with a product called Supracor which was developed for aerospace & medical use. I have a 29" inseam so to have my feet planted on the ground I need to have the seat in the lowest setting. Unfortunately this position causes your body to slide forward putting stress on wrist and shoulders. Hoping to be able to ride with my seat in the middle position Spencer was able to carve out the seat lowering it by one inch. After the work is done he reattached the seat cover polishes it up and mails the seat back to you( Spencer is located in Florida). The whole process takes five or six days. The cost was $75 for the modifications and $66 postage to and from.
The good news is I can now ride for hours without pain thanks to the modifications. However even with the seat lowered I was still slightly sliding forward. As a fix I was able to have the front of the seat in the middle position and forced the rear of the seat in the lower setting. This worked like a charm. For someone like me who averages more than ten thousand miles/year in the saddle the seat modification was a great alternative. Check out Spencer's website at greatdaytoride.com
Happy Trails.
 
I think there are a lot of us who have sent their seats into Spencer. I know we sent the seat on my wife's 03 ST1100P in and made a big diff for her.:D
 
I, too, am a Spencer advocate. 60,000 miles on the ST and 10,000 on my FJR with the mod. The difference for me is 150 miles without or 600 miles with. I'm 5' 9", 30" inseam and 165#.
 
Is there any way to tell if your seat has been Spencerised already ?? I recently purchased my ST, and am surprised to find that the seat is very good for a stock seat. I did not expect that,,, having been a Corbin and Travelcade user on my other bikes. So far, I have done 2 hour rides without even thinking about my seat. But I don't see any markings on the seat pan that might indicate work has been done. Spencer's seat mod's look stock,,, right ?? Alan
 
Catmandu2 said:
Is there any way to tell if your seat has been Spencerised already ?? I recently purchased my ST, and am surprised to find that the seat is very good for a stock seat. I did not expect that,,, having been a Corbin and Travelcade user on my other bikes. So far, I have done 2 hour rides without even thinking about my seat. But I don't see any markings on the seat pan that might indicate work has been done. Spencer's seat mod's look stock,,, right ?? Alan
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Yes it's pretty close to stock, a little more dished out on top. Any signs of a second set of staples in the pan? It uses the oem cover.
 
Suggest you look at the underside of the seat to see if it has be re-stapled. This may indicate work has been done on the seat. Or you can take off the upholstery to take a look. The foam used on mine is white and has a honeycomb pattern.
 
Catmandu2 said:
Is there any way to tell if your seat has been Spencerised already ?? I recently purchased my ST, and am surprised to find that the seat is very good for a stock seat. I did not expect that,,, having been a Corbin and Travelcade user on my other bikes. So far, I have done 2 hour rides without even thinking about my seat. But I don't see any markings on the seat pan that might indicate work has been done. Spencer's seat mod's look stock,,, right ?? Alan
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You are right that Spencerized seats look stock. I have not compared one to a stock seat, but visually, there is very little difference - and mine was lowered an inch..... And, there are no markings on mine either. I suppose you could pull a staple or two and look under the cover, but I question why you even care. If the goose's eggs are gold, who cares where they come from?

I have to say, seats are a very personal thing. My modified seat is much better for me than the Sargent that came on the bike, but it is not perfect. The problem, I think, is in my anatomy (or lack thereof). And right now I'm not about to spend the better part of one large for a RDL seat. So, while Spencer did improve the seat for me, and then Bead Rider improved it yet again, it is still not perfect.
 
I have had three motorcycles "Spencerized" (Suzuki B-King and 1250 Bandit). In each case the improvement was very noticeable. I have tried Gel pads/inserts (the worst), Alaska Leather Sheepskin Buttpad and the Sargent and Rick Mayer Custom seat. Never tried the "BOSS", the Russell seat but that seat limits your side-to-side movement and for carving curves it is not an option for me. For the money versus comfort improvement you cannot beat Spencer (IMHO).

Last Oct I made a two-week tour of New England, PEI and Nova Scotia with my stock seat using an Airhawk seat pad. While the Airhawk does help, it still didn't give me what I was hoping for. Double up using the Airhawk plus "Spencerizing" and you have an unbeatable combination. I really don't need to pull out the Airhawk however, until after about 200 miles. Also, the Airhawk adds about 1/2" height and with a 30" inseam I need all the reach I can get. (See my thread: "Two reasons to not lower your ST: Spencer and Logans Magic Shoe Care" thread).

Talk to Spencer if you get the chance (greatdaytoride.com). If not, pay close attention to his order form. I always felt like the ST1300 was pushing me forward to the tank so on the order form I noted that I wanted a neutral seating position - made a big difference for me! Be sure and get the Supracor foam option.
 
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I've had my new-for-me ST1100 for less than a week. But what I have noticed is that I'm on my tip toes at a stop - so first I scoured all the threads here and found two options for lowering the seat by modifying the seat. One was Spencer and the other was day-long. I was disappointed when day-long sent me back the following reply:

"I am sorry but we can not get a seat any lower then stock and our seat design will raise your ground reach."

But in contrast, Spencer sent me back a very detailed message and I've decided to go forward with Spencer.
 
I've had great luck with Spencerized seats on two bikes. Frank is great to work with and his upgrades are a substantial improvement over stock. I did a Saddle Sore 1000 on a Spencerized seat with no saddle soreness. Frank does not work on BMW seats, so my current ride has not had the seat Spencerized.

I know several people who have had both Spencerized and Russell seats and they all say Russell is better. However, Russell Day Long is a special animal and your reach to the ground WILL go up, plain and simple. I sent my seats to Spencer to (a) make them lower (I'm 5' 7") and (b) make them more comfortable and Russell can only help me with (b).
 
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I've used both - a Spencer mod on a ST1300 and Russell on my ST1100s. My opinion (and it is mine only) is the Spencer mod works pretty well unless you are a 'larger' specimen of the species. ;-) It did not work for me at all on the ST1300 that I had done for when I rent ST1300s and I sold it after one extended ride - but I have no complaints about the price or the quality. I also have a Travelcade Gel seat which is okay for a while. But my Russell probably has well over 200,000 miles on it and it was well worth every dollar I spent. The Russell will sit you higher due to the seat suspension as they explain (usually 1 inch or so) so they are not for the vertically challenged. If you just get the front done with no backrest, they usually run around $500 IIRC. After 13 years, I plan on having my Russell refurbed as the cover is finally starting to show some wear. Your best option is to come to an event and try seats out - at least it will give you some experience as to what it feels like for you. It's like Corbin seats - to me they feel like I am sitting on a box of bricks but folks that like them are very comfortable on them. The whole seat thing is a lot like mattresses - some like them firm, some like them soft, some like something between the two. And there are Meyer seats and other options out there also. YEMV. :D
 
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Best modification I've made, took an 80 mile seat and made it an afterthought for multi day trips. Over 30k and loving it.
 
Bones said:
Frank does not work on BMW seats, so my current ride has not had the seat Spencerized.

I know several people who have had both Spencerized and Russell seats and they all say Russell is better. However, Russell Day Long is a special animal and your reach to the ground WILL go up, plain and simple. I sent my seats to Spencer to (a) make them lower (I'm 5' 7") and (b) make them more comfortable and Russell can only help me with (b).
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Seth Laam - best of both.
 
Good info. Just sent them an email as to what they can do with my Corbin to make it softer.
 
ATA said:
Good info. Just sent them an email as to what they can do with my Corbin to make it softer.
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"Them" is just a one man operation. Spencer doesn't work on Corbins but knows the seat very well and can help with advice on how to get Corbin to rework yours to your liking. Worked with mine.
 
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