Any Ideas on making a ninja's seat more user friendly?

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Duffy · #1 Unread post by **Duffy** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:16 pm

Although I love to ride my new bike and so far completely satisfied with it's performance, my only complaint would be it's seat. Within 1/2 hour my arse is killing me. I tried googling seats for it, but the only seating changes I have found is with the skin, more stylish to match the paint scheme. I have been toying with the idea of even making a new cover over the old but adding more cushioning. But not only would that make the seating position higher (I'm already tip toeing it) But I have never picked up a sewing needle in my life and I'm afraid it's going to look butt ugly (no pun intended). Are there pre-made, decent looking seat covers made for all makes and models?

Veda · #2 Unread post by **Veda** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:05 am

If you have $300 sitting around Corbin just started offering a seat for the 250. Most people rave about their seats.

Other than that there are lots of options for air seats or sheepskin pads, etc, but I don't have any personal experience with any of them. Surely other people here do though.

Duffy · #3 Unread post by **Duffy** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:41 am

Thanks Veda, I'll look into that. Price is a little steep. But I plan on keeping this bike for the long haul and I think it'll be worth it to minimize the discomfort when riding. I hate missing the scenory and experience when all I can think about is the pain.

Also, you have same bike. Do your hands get numb quickly. The vibration in handle grips shake the blood right out and I'm sometimes afraid that I won't be able to move em to shift or break. I was wondering if it was the grips themselves and replacing them to see if that helps minimize the problem.

And one more question while I have you here. You said in another post that in Mass we cannot add the flush mounted blinkers because of the closer proximity to the headlight. But looking at your pic your blinkers look white. Mine are yellow. Are they white? If so, is that how it came, or did you switch them over?

Veda · #4 Unread post by **Veda** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:34 am

Hey, Duffy, good to hear you are still enjoying your bike.

I don't have much of a problem with my hands going numb. I have a mid-range pair of gloves and I also have a "cramp buster" on my throttle. I suppose I'm never really gripping either grip very tightly, just resting on them. Overall I'm good for the first 90 minutes or so... after 90 minutes of riding straight everything starts to get uncomfortable for me.

Regarding the turn signals - mine are actually the stock yellow ones. I edited that photo to make the background black & white, and accidentally made the blinkers black and white too. I really wanted to switch mine to the flushmounts too, but when I read that they need to be 4" from the headlight for state inspections I started to wonder if it was such a good idea. Presumably they want them 4" away from the headlight to be more visible, and I certainly want to be visible to traffic so I guess I'll keep them sticking out in the interest of visibility.

Shorts · #5 Unread post by **Shorts** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 4:12 am

How about getting the seat shaved and contoured a little better to fit you? It'll lower it a bit too which will give you better footing. Cost about $100 and you can reuse the seatcover.

Duffy · #6 Unread post by **Duffy** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 4:42 am

I don't know the first thing about *shaving, and probably would screw it up. I was checking out the corbin seats and they look real nice. AND bonus, you can add a glove box in the back for extra storage and I've been looking for something to hold my gear. Maybe I'll ask for it for my birthday

I'm thinking buying a lowering kit from the dealership and having them install it, prolly do that sometime next year though.

*edit, shaving seats!!!

Veda,
yeah, still enjoying my ride. I love the bike. Thank god I didn't get something bigger cuz I still mess up now and then and almost.....almost wipe out, but am able to wing it (cant tell you how many times back end has swung up due to improper throttle, clutch, braking issues). I am absolutely certain if I had more power from the throttle I would have eating gravel more than once.

Now, what exactly is a cramp buster...never heard of that. I don't hold on tightly, maybe I have poor circulation in my hands or something...but within 20 minutes my hands are numb and they feel like they are 3x bigger. Gloves help minimize the effect for another 10 minutes. I lost my gloves the other day though when I put them in my pocket and they must have blown out or something on ride home

So now I need a new pair and I think I am going to invest in earplugs too, cuz with all the wind noise, I am experiencing hearing loss/damage. I'm getting into the bad habit of saying "What?", "Say again" as a first response to everyone who says anything to me

Shorts · #7 Unread post by **Shorts** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 4:53 am

Duffy wrote:I don't know the first thing about *shaving, and probably would screw it up. I was checking out the corbin seats and they look real nice. AND bonus, you can add a glove box in the back for extra storage and I've been looking for something to hold my gear. Maybe I'll ask for it for my birthday I'm thinking buying a lowering kit from the dealership and having them install it, prolly do that sometime next year though.

*edit, shaving seats!!!

That's why you don't do it yourself but take it to a shop, and why I stated it costs about $100.

Sargent seats are nice, we have one on the Ducati.

flw · #8 Unread post by **flw** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 5:22 am

What type of businesses do seat shaving? I called only a couple dealers and repair places and they were of no help for shaving.

My bike has no corbin or mustang etc... options for a truely better seat.

Septimus · #9 Unread post by **Septimus** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:10 am

The 250 is already pretty low and I think the Ninja 250 FAQ recommends against lowering it further except as a last resort after you've had the seat shaved, robotic appendages installed on the rider, etc.