Gel Pads

[halfwitt]

I'm thinking about this: http://www.saddlemen.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=169_236&products_id=4505 for my navigator. Any thoughts on this or other gel pads around $100?

[royalstarjac]

You might want to check the wally world gel seat pad. We have 2 for the GW.

$19.

They're in the automotive section.

[halfwitt]

She's had the Wally World pseudo-gel pad for about a year and a half. If you're referring to the same one, it's not really gel but kind of a honeycomb rubber. She was complaining about it towards the end of the season this year so I'm thinking of upgrading her to a real gel.

[Bwhite]

Had gel seat pads that we ended up not using because they didn't seem to make much difference. Got mesquito wipes leaked on them and were destroyed.

 

Bought the real sheepskin covers and love them. Made the 550 mile ride to Sturgis last year much more comfortable.

 

http://www.wildthingsfur.com/products.asp?cat=14

[halfwitt]

I wonder if she'll go for the fur bikini on that page instead??

 

Did you get the sheepskin/gel pad or just the straight sheepskin? What size fits on the passenger seat? This looks like a good option!

[KeithR]

Check out Alaska Leather

 

Keith

 

www.alaskaleatheronline.com/servlet/StoreFront

[cecdoo]

I'm thinking about this: http://www.saddlemen.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=169_236&products_id=4505 for my navigator. Any thoughts on this or other gel pads around $100?

 

Randy, I have a nice heavy gel pad we no longer use, make me an offer and I will donate the $$$ Craig

[Rick Butler]

Randy,

 

If you want a professional (humble) opinion....gel pads are highly overrated. They were intended to provide a softer compliant surface to sit on, but in fact they are very firm and may not deliver the comfort you are seaking. And they really are a heat sink and need to be taken off or covered when the bike is sitting in the sun, if you don't want a toasted tush. Now some seat makers do use them with some success as a shock absorber for the tailbone. But I've taken more gel pads out of seats like Travelcade (including mine) than I care to count.

 

My solution is first to get the foundation foam shape right, like what Corbin does. Then I finish the entire seat off by glueing a 1 1/2" layer of memory foam to it and tapering the edges before I put the cover back on. Memory foam does not provide any phsical support but it does reduce pressure points and provides a very compliant surface to sit on. I have recently started addressing butt bone issues and have always addressed the tailbone issues.

 

If you have not seen my ad in the Member Vendor Classifieds(Rick Butler), it explains and shows what I do to a seat. It also contains everything you need to send me a seat (s).

 

http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=1023&title=butt-butler-seat-mod&cat=25

 

Let me know if I can help,

 

Rick

 

Oh, and it's geeting real close to me seat time of the year as you guys up north start putting your bikes up for the winter.

 

I'm thinking about this: http://www.saddlemen.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=169_236&products_id=4505 for my navigator. Any thoughts on this or other gel pads around $100?

[frogmaster]

Randy,

 

If you want a professional (humble) opinion....gel pads are highly overrated. They were intended to provide a softer compliant surface to sit on, but in fact they are very firm and may not deliver the comfort you are seaking. And they really are a heat sink and need to be taken off or covered when the bike is sitting in the sun, if you don't want a toasted tush. Now some seat makers do use them with some success as a shock absorber for the tailbone. But I've taken more gel pads out of seats like Travelcade (including mine) than I care to count.

 

My solution is first to get the foundation foam shape right, like what Corbin does. Then I finish the entire seat off by glueing a 1 1/2" layer of memory foam to it and tapering the edges before I put the cover back on. Memory foam does not provide any phsical support but it does reduce pressure points and provides a very compliant surface to sit on. I have recently started addressing butt bone issues and have always addressed the tailbone issues.

 

If you have not seen my ad in the Member Vendor Classifieds(Rick Butler), it explains and shows what I do to a seat. It also contains everything you need to send me a seat (s).

 

http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=1023&title=butt-butler-seat-mod&cat=25

 

Let me know if I can help,

 

Rick

 

Oh, and it's geeting real close to me seat time of the year as you guys up north start putting your bikes up for the winter.

 

I can say before my seats were redone by (Rick Butler) the passenger had to stop every Tankful for 30 minutes and then was sore rest of weekend. Driver was good for 6 to 8 hours then sore rest of weekend....NOW Both can ride 12 to 14 hours for days on end and nothing sore

[Aimhigh]

Never tried it, but I ran into a guy that says he has done some iron butt rides and his solution was to cut a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet for the seat. He said, as strange as it sounds...it works. ????

[jpbragwell1215]

I wonder if she'll go for the fur bikini on that page instead??

 

Did you get the sheepskin/gel pad or just the straight sheepskin? What size fits on the passenger seat? This looks like a good option!

I actually have the sheepskin and the wal-mart pad. The wife really likes the sheepskin/gel pad much better. The size large is a good fit for the passenger seat on my '01 RSTD.:happy65: My driver seat is a Rick Butler re-do, lowered slightly,reshaped, added the butt buffer, and the best money ever spent on a seat. My butt thanks Rick evertime I hit the road!

Edited December 2, 2010 by jpbragwell1215
add comment on driver seat.

[Rick Butler]

Yeah Jim,

 

For all my years of riding a touring bike (all Ventures) and the past 3 years of reworking seats, I've learned that not one seat solution will work for everyone. A Corbin seat is a prime example where I have never seen anyone that says "I kinda like my Corbin".

 

Now I am a big proponent of a sheepskin cover which will provide air to circulate under the bottom. I was one of Mark Hart's first customers when he made his first cover for the 83 Venture. But once I discovered the heavy duty velour that Travelcade uses, it's been my seat cover of choice for seat perspiration. But for just a pad, I'd go with an Alaskan sheepskin.

 

Rick

 

Never tried it, but I ran into a guy that says he has done some iron butt rides and his solution was to cut a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet for the seat. He said, as strange as it sounds...it works. ????

[Eck]

Never tried it, but I ran into a guy that says he has done some iron butt rides and his solution was to cut a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet for the seat. He said, as strange as it sounds...it works. ????

Yep, I agree with what he said too from my own personal experience..

 

WildHair told me when I was in Ft. Collins, Co., to go down to the dollar store and buy a bath mat rug for a buck..This was on my 05 Venture.

 

When I left Ft. Collins for Huntsville, Al., I rode 14 and a half hours straight the first day and 13 and a half hours the next day and I was home.

Two hours later, I was out mowing the grass on my riding lawn mower..

[halfwitt]

...go down to the dollar store and buy a bath mat rug for a buck.

 

I wonder how my wife would react Christmas morning if I bought her a bathmat:confused24:

 

I guess it couldn't be any worse than the year I bought her a bar of soap!

[latchkey]

i went thru the buy this try that thing a year ago. what i found that works for me was the cheapest thing i bought. beads, yes the kind taxi drivers use. got one off ebay to fit my seat and love it. they make them for cycles. they let air flow thru them. i didnt think i like them but wont ride without them now.

[KiteSquid]

Instead of gel I would recommend a Sorbothane pad.

[Bwhite]

Bought two of the $40 black sheep skin (no gel). One for driver seat, one for passenger seat. Tied a couple of 1" wooden beads to the leather tie-downs on the front one so I can wedgy the beads in between front seat and back seat. Can be easily removed and tossed onto the trunk. Back one can be easily tied to the trunk brackets.

[Herb In Texas]

I had Rick do the navigator seat on the Venture and Dawn said it was a night and day difference. Then on a trip through Lake Tahoe we got her a sheepskin at a roadside stand. Between the two she was good from Tahoe to to Cheyenne.

[halfwitt]

I appreciate all the advice. You know how it goes - If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. And if mama is comfortable then mama is happy and that means more riding time!

 

I think I'll pull the seats off this weekend and send them off to Rick. I'm not sure how I will wrap that for a Christmas present though. Maybe I'll do sheepskin seat covers too.