Posted by Mike Hartman on June 28, 2000 at 16:43:13:
There seems to be a lot of Forum activity on the subject of the Savage seat. It is no secret that there is room for improvement. Like any MC accessory, quality aftermarket seats - if you can find one! are damn expensive. To have one custom-made might be OK for a $10k+ bike, but it is hard to justify for the Savage. After going over options that I could afford (I'm cheap as hell), I settled on the following - it was a lot of work, but actually fun:
We live in a rural area, and through the local Ag extension agent I got ahold of a local sheep raiser who had a couple of really thick home-tanned sheep skins. Bought a whole rough sheep skin ($25.00) and ran it through the washing machine - cold water & Woolite, & let it air dry. It shrunk up and got really dense. Next I made a paper pattern off the (removed) Savage seat & trimmed the skin to accomodate the pattern, leaving a minimum of 2" - 3" around the edge. I then punched holes every inch around the edge of the entire skin about 1/2 inch in & ran it through the washing machine rinse cycle only. While it was still wet, I covered the Savage seat with plastic & cross-laced the wet skin tightly to the seat using heavy string (underneath) and pulling it really tight. I put this outside in the shade where it got a lot of air circulation and let it dry for about 3 days.
When I cut the strings & removed it, I had a form-fitted seat cover. I riveted about 8 tab loops around the edge, bought a piece of 1" thick upholstery "super foam", cut that to fit inside, & laced the whole thing back onto the seat with leather thongs. (I had to add some small strong bungies to hold the tension). What a difference!! Took out virtually all of the vibration, changed the seat angle slightly and was surprisingly cool due to good air circulation. The first trial was a 300+ one-day (RFTW) ride with less butt fatigue than previous 50 mile rides.
Down sides: 1. Makes the bike look "fuzzy" - clashes with the clean, functional lines of the Savage. 2. If you don't cover it at night from dew, or if it gets wet from rain it holds water & dries slowly (But every time it dries, it refits itself to the seat).
I recently got in touch with Savage owner David Dorsett (see "Fun around the Bike") He knows of a small shop in Leicester, NC that makes a high-tech(NASA) memory foam called "pudgy" that seems to have a lot of promise for MC seats. We plan to check it out in the near future. This info will be on the forum when we do.
Mike Hartman