Uncomfortable Breva 750 seat.

[Jurgen]

Does anyone have experience with alternate (custom) Breva 750 seats?  My hind end has lost so much padding that 200 mile rides are becoming a chore.  I've tried the gel pad and an Air Hawk pad.  Neither is a solution, they push me too far forward into the tank or make me sit too high.  I've tried both the standard and low seat.  Any ideas?  Jurgen

[Muzz]

I use a sheep skin on my seat.  Find it very good.  Have done some quite long trips on it and have found it made a huge difference.

[ITSec]

Contrary to popular belief, softer is not more comfortable - harder is. Almost all LD riders use harder seats to one degree or another. Take one of your seat pans to a seat builder and have them put firmer foam into it, or consider a custom or semi-custom seat from Sargent, Corbin or (best of all, if you're serious) Russell Day-Long. I used to recommend either of the Mayer brothers, who are both good, but there have been so many reported delivery issues with them lately that I can't suggest them any more.

[Arizona Wayne]

Jurgen, what do you expect your Breva seat to do for you?  A good seat spreads your body weight around for long distance comfort.  I just rode my `04 750 Breva w/stock seat for a week, 300+ miles a day in comfort.  Not perfection, but comfort for a MC seat.  I have 30" inseam legs & weigh over 200#. 

[Jurgen]

Arizona Wayne,
Thanks for your reply.  At 200# you probably have a little more padding on the behind than I do at 150#.  That's my problem.  I used to ride 4-600 mile days without pain, now 200 miles are a chore.  The padding I lost has to be replaced artificially, probably by a custom seat to spread the load more evenly.  Jurgen

[biking sailor]

Everyone is a little different in how we are shaped/built.  What works for one may not work for another.  My smallish framed wife thinks her little Breva seat is the most comfortable she has ever been on and had done 10 to 12 hour riding days without a problem. 

What really matters is figuring out what is hurting.  Me, it is two fold. One is the way my hip bones connect creates pressure points that start to get uncomfortable on almost any seat I have tried after an hour or so.  Second is my lower spine has a couple fused joints that cause muscle fatique.  My solution is moving around on the seat (including standing up on the pegs regularly while underway) and an Air Hawk.  With those two things, along with frequent, very short couple minute long, stops, I can ride all day without much complaint.

Another thing I find kinda amusing, and I don't intend to hurt anyones feelings, but we are riding a motorcycle here!  I have to chuckle when I hear folks complain about motor heat, or cold wind, or how they can feel vibration.  That's just natures way of letting you know your doing something (cool, I might add) and are alive!      

[sign216]

Try high quality bicycle shorts underneath your riding pants. They really do make riding more comfortable, without the expense of a custom seat.

I have found that what makes it uncomfortable, isn't so much the seat, but my pants folding or bunching up underneath my legs. I've considered getting elastic riding jodhpurs, much like women horsemen wear.  For their smoothness.  Haven't pulled the trigger on that idea yet though.

[biking sailor]

Another bit of info I picked up from a guy.  He worked out of a shop at a local small airport making custom seat cushions for private aircraft, along with redoing motorcycle seats and such.  He told me he had learned that the more "padding" a person has in their backside, the harder the seat, and the inverse was true for skinny guys, they needed more softer seat padding to conform to their "boneyness".  He was also a sailor and believed nothing made up for displacement, in boats and seats!

[Arizona Wayne]

This information sounds like the best I've ever heard of for anyone who isn't comfortable on their MC seat.    Years ago I met a Dutch rider who could ride long hours on a stock CX100 seat(2x6 board) by wearing padded bicycle pants.