Cruiser Seats..Why So Cruel?

I bought a V Star 1300 Tourer in May 2007.
I love the bike overall with the exception of the seat.  Mustang did not have a seat for the 1300 until now and I just received my new Mustang saddle with backrest and can not put into words how much better my riding experience is. Why do the cruiser manufacturers make such uncomfortable seats?   It is a shame I pay $10,000 for a great machine and have to switch the seat out to enjoy it.  

Yeah I know what you mean.  I have just over 1200 miles on my V-star 650 custom.  Riding for more than 30 minutes is downright painful (particularly on my tailbone).  I've had to really soften the rear pre-load which helps a little.  Unfortunately, the wife won't let me spend another $400-$700 for a real seat (yet hehe).  Maybe next season.  

Mustang seats are the best  

Corbin makes a couple of good seats too.

My Drifter came with the normal pain dispenser.

I ended up with a Fire and Steel seat on the bike, and it was comfortable for 400+ rides in a day. Kind of says the manufacturers CAN make a working seat, they just WON'T.

Personally, I think motorcycles should be shipped with no seat, and you have to pay to get the factory seat (or use the money as downpayment on a real seat). It would cut down on stuff going to the landfill. It would also force them to charge a lot less for the vinyl maidens the seat.  

Actually, most of the problem isn't the seat. It's the footpegs.

It used to be, you got main pegs, or floorboards located in the same place, with forward pegs an available option. The position of the main pegs, placed your heels slightly behind your knees, allowing you to take the weight off your butt or even just shift it around easily. Sitting on the stock seat for 10 hours or more a day was not a big deal. The aftermarket seats were tiny little show seats that no one would consider for anything more than bar hopping.

Nowadays, we have more forward footpegs to be stylish, too far forward to put your weight on them. Floorboards aren't quite as bad, but they are still too far forward on most cruisers. This limits your ability to move around, shifting your seating position. Consequently, the previously adequate stock seats are no longer good enough.

The stock seat it made for a generic size of butt. The aftermarket seats are no better, but are made for a slightly different size of butt, so some people find them to be a better fit than the stock seat. Each aftermarket seat maker tries to acquire a different portion of the market, not covered by the stock seat. People who find one brand feels better usually find other brands feel worse and no one can predict which brand (if any) will feel better for your butt. The only aftermarket seat I ever found to be a better fit than the stock seats, was a seat custom made by a small company in Athens, Ohio, from a mold of my butt. That was back in the early 80's, when I had some extra money to waste :-)

One trick I learned through the years of riding alone, is to leave the passenger pegs down and every half hour or so, shift one foot to a passenger peg for 10 minutes. That allows you to change your seating position enough to alter the pressure points on your butt and keep going from gas stop to gas stop. Another trick is to wear loose fitting boxer shorts instead of jockey shorts.

regards,
Joe  

sloowpoke
I have to respectfully disagree. My wife has a Mean Streak with forward pegs, and the seat, while not perfect, is acceptable. My Drifter 800, with footboards, so front to back should be known, was horrid. When they went to the single seat, comfort got better on the seat. The F&S aftermarket, same overall size for front and rear passengers had no such problems on comfort.

BTW,(long as we're sharing) I use boxer briefs for long rides. It gets those nasty seams away from the pressure points. You'd be surprised what a little change like that does for comfort.  

Many cruisers are not designed for touring.  Between the small fuel tanks and the uncomfortable seats, most cruisers are made for local rides.

In cases where manufacturers put out a 1,300 CC or 1,800 CC V-twin cruiser with touring gear, I think they should include a soft touring seat.

If you ever want to feel discomfort, try a Honda Nighthawk 750 with the stock seat.  I just bought at Nighthawk 750 and I am going to customize it to make it a touring machine.  The first thing to go will be the seat.  

I have a v star 1100 classic 2007 and after this weekend me and my butt are ready for a coustom seat. Has anyone delt with Diamond Custom Seats of Seville fla? they may have something.  

I have an 03 650 v star and the factory seat was MISERY ! I replaced the stock foam and reshaped it as per instructions on the 650 cc&d site . What a difference !  

I bought a '07 HD Sporty Low, couldn't go more than 30 minutes without taking a break. And that's with mid controls (pegs I could put weight on) and forward rest pegs. I put a Mustang seat on it, could go hours (or at least till tank needed fillin') with no problems.

I now have a Triumph America, forward controls (pegs) only and a stock seat. I can go hours on it (almost twice the range of the Sporty) with no problem as well. So peg placement isn't a major issue.

I asked the HD sales manager where I bought the Sporty why the poor seats. His reply was that HD knows people will replace the seat to one more to their taste anyway, so why put on a more costly seat and increase the bike's price.

Regarding my stock Triumph seat, it's way comfortable. My only wish is that the turn up at the back of the seat was a bit further back, so I can occasionally stretch back a bit. I'm going to try this guy, in FL:

http://greatdaytoride.com/Home_Page.php

He'll make changes to the stock seat that make it even better, and he can greatly improve a poor stock seat. And his charge is real reasonable.

Jim F  
Your mount, your weapon, yourself,
- the Cav mantra

I just got my Corbin seat for my Nighthawk.  It is actually harder than the stock seat, but I am hoping that breaking it in will help, along with the different shape.  

I have a stock seat on my c109rt what misery.Is anybody making seats 4 this bike yet
that will handle a 4-500 mile day without the owies  

For you cruiser guys who want to tour (many of you), I recommend checking out our Explorer line of seats.  Transforms the cruising aspect into touring.  Gel included in all of the Saddlemen Seat line.  See www.saddlemen.com for details.

Larry/Media Relations/Saddlemen  

And even if you don't tour, we have a wide variety of seats that are so much more comfortable than the stockers.  The factory seats in most cases are barely adequate.  www.saddlemen.com