Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > Sport Touring: ST4 / ST3 / ST2 > sore backside ?

[adamH]

Ive ordered the ducati performace seat, Ron parkinsons did me a deal and Im getting it for less than £200. I'll let you know what its like once ive fitted it.

[Athelstan]

I have just ridden from Switzerland to Spain and then up through France into England on to Scotland and back home to Switzerland - seat is fine with me - 73kgs and 1.75m - so it must b down to the individuals body size and weight

[RichardsonI]

Heavier the bum, harder the seat. It's your basic law of physics.

[belthead]

adamH -

yep, would be interesting to know what the Italian's provide for cush-comfort

[Phil Butler]

I have given the Corbin seat a good try out and despite the good reports, it did not suit me, well actually my pillion complained of sliding about on the leather covering.
I thought it felt firm initially but as the miles mounted it was actually quite good, except that I felt that the seat was made for an American butt i.e more room than I needed art the front, pillion comments apart from being to smooth were very complimentary.

Anyway as I have to travel a lot on the twisty roads here in the Picos with a passenger, I will sell it, but probably not to you guys 'cos you're too far away....unless of course you want to pop down and try it out before buying. Cheers

[Shazaam!]

I've found that the stock seat is reasonably comfortable for short rides when riding in my leathers but not so when riding in jeans. The reason, I concluded, is that the stock covering doesn't allow heat and moisture to pass through readily, making your butt sweat. But, it's waterproof.

I considered a gel insert of some kind but decided that it presented the same problem with body heat and moisture.

If you remove the stock covering and upholster it in leather it can be made more comfortable. Unfortunately, on longer rides, there's simply not enough foam padding to cushion bumps; so as we all know, your butt gets sore. Eventually, I was in the market for an aftermarket seat.

I bought a used Corbin leather seat off eBay for another $100. I had read warnings about Corbin's weight and relatively poor quality. All true. My Corbin had thick leather that is riveted to a very heavy fiberglass base and fitted-up poorly

For me, the shape of the foam cushion itself is very soft and comfortable, and that's the bottom line with Corbins. The leather that Corbin uses is thick and durable, but for me it was too slippery and didn't fit very well. So I decided to reupholster it.

Suede is just leather with the unfinished side up. You can buy all kinds of leather/suede that is suitable to recover your seat in any color, thickness and roughness (even perforated). Buy the leather and have a professional do it if you're not handy. All that's really needed is some contact cement and scissors. I first tried suede and found it to be too grabby which made it difficult to move around easily (it certainly prevents a passenger from sliding forward under deceleration.) Now my trousers stuck to the seat and I slide inside my trousers. A better solution, I discovered, is a very soft smooth leather.

I reupholstered my Corbin seat in black deerskin and it is ... truly, a luxury. Southern California rarely sees rain during the riding season so a waterproof seat covering isn't needed.

Perhaps try an artificial suede covering for your Corbin, Phil?

[Phil Butler]

As always a good response from you Shazaam, I agree about the weight and the leather is certainly good quality and hard wearing. I did check out artificial suede when I had to remodel the seat from a Mk1 superlight to fit my 750ss, but Alcantara and cheaper alternatives were more expensive than real leather, so I had that done in black automotive quality leather with red contrast stitching.

It is softer than the Corbin leather and is not so slippery, but I can still move around OK.passengers are not a problem on the SS which is now a monoposto. The part of Spain where I live does get rain, I live between the Cantabrian Sea and the Picos de Europa, so dampness is always a possibility especially on the higher passes, maybe I could try a softer leather and see how that goes, Leather is something we are not short of here. cheers Shazaam for the input. Phil

[BDG]

After 6500 miles on a ST4 & 12,000 miles on a ST4S i begrudingly spent nearly £300 on a Sargent seat.

It's superb. I have done 4500 miles since fitting it with no regrets at all, big improvement over the standard seat including a longest day of 600 miles.

It is very well made and although i am the same height as daveh i have no problems (another mans meat is anothers poison etc).

I had a Corbin fitted to another bike and it was like sitting on the toilet seat locking you in one position. The Sargent alllows you to move around for enthusiastic riding whilst still remaining more comfortable. NO I AM NOT THE IMPORTER!

[adamH]

the DP seat still hasnt shown up !!

[kwikbitch]

Originally posted by daveh
Difficult choice.
Sore ****** or sweaty 'nads..................

You see...I said in my very first post that you end up with sweaty pants...Now you've just proven my theory!!!