Make-do wool seat cover

[dlapierre]

OK. Now that I've impressed at least one of you with my make-do skills. Here is another little thing I made. See it at http://www3.telus.net/Habitat_Farm/bikeseat.htm

 

It is basically a latch-hooked wool pad, made by copying an old wool-craft. Once upon a time, it was not uncommon for people to use the craft to make wool saddlepads for horses. That is, if there were sheep nearby. I used elasticised bands underneath to keep in it place. I found it works fine as a seat pad and is quite comfortable. And it is washable.

 

I make saddlepads for the horsey set, so it was easy for me to make. If I made another, I'd adjust the dimensions just a bit. I'll probably make another one, longer this time, to provide a cushion for a pack I like to carry when I make overnight trips.

 

There is a little more to this pad than there is to the make-do "O" ring cruise control. If anyone wants to know how to make one of these pads, I'll send them a little tutorial.

[dlaing]

That seat looks comfortable.

Is it more or less durable than wool on the sheepskin?

I guess it has the advantage that you can get many saddles out of sheep's life while only a few saddles if you want sheep's skin attached to its wool.

Can you slope the thickness to change the support. (my Corbin seat slides forward too much)

I guess you could slope foam and put it underneath.

I'd appreciate a tutorial.

[Guest ratchethack]

Another fine effort, but IMHO this one goes way past "make-do", my friend. Hand craftsmanship of any kind is a dying skill, and my hat's off to you. If it's possible for something to LOOK comfortable, somehow this does that. Yes, I actually agree with Dave on this, and you gotta know wot a rare thing THAT is. . .

 

I've done lots of miles on horseback. If such a thing can get a horse to tolerate a "big 'un" (not me, y'unnerstand, but I've ridden a fair piece o' landscape or 2 with a few!) in the saddle all day in sweltering heat, it's gotta have some powerful breathability and comfort properties, which sounds like wot we're after goin' into another hot summer, wot with the ominous threat and deadly spectre of Global- - - oh, nevermind. We don't want any more of that again here. . .

 

How many hours does it generally take to knock something like this out? I reckon if it's not too bad, there might be a market for it. . . Pending proof of concept and field testing and all that, of course. . .

 

Please advise. I'm interested, might want to try my own hand at this. Since this is a "How To" Forum, if it's not too much trouble, why not just post your tutorial if you've already got something written up?

 

Many thanks.

[quazi-moto]

Personally, I prefer lambskin for a more "natural" feel.

[dlaing]

Personally, I prefer lambskin for a more "natural" feel.

that's baaahhahahahdddd!

[stormsedge]

That looks like a great seat addition and may keep my gel insert from scalding my backside after sitting in the Florida sun too long. Gonna have to experiment with that. k

[dlapierre]

Here's the tutorial. http://www3.telus.net/Habitat_Farm/tutframe.html I wrote it for those wanting to make their own saddlepads.

I made my seat pad using a machine I invented for making saddlepads. Once you've figured out the technique, you should be able to make a pad with a latch-hook in a couple of hours or so.

[Guest ratchethack]

Thanks for the link to the PDF, DL. Nicely done.

 

But I reckon I'd much rather do a top-end job on the Guzzi than tackle something like that. Not that I'm "chicken", y'unnerstand! It's just that I've never done much needlework kinda stuff, and well, I don't mind admitting that it intimidates me a little. I wouldn't have the foggiest notion where to even find the right materials, let alone get started. . .

 

But is there any chance you'd be interested in marketing saddlepad seat covers on some kind of a limited basis for V11's -- on this Forum, perhaps??

 

Enquiring minds (well, you know).

[dlapierre]

I don't mind trying to improve a bit on the one I made, especially if is useful to someone. I see little sense in making improvements to the kind I made and just accumulating them.

 

What I'll need is a finished dimension from you. When I did mine, I measured the length of the seat, taking account of the curve, and the width of the seat both at the front and the back. My seat is lower than the standard, so the dimension is probably different.

 

Gimme your dimensions, I'll get around to making it and if it looks decent, we can go from there. Howzat?

 

Mebbe dlaing can do the same.

[Guest ratchethack]

Gimme your dimensions, I'll get around to making it and if it looks decent, we can go from there. Howzat?

Sounds like a plan to me, DL. Much appreciation in advance, my friend.

 

I know quite well wot hand-made labors of love take in terms of effort and time. Mucho respect!

 

Wot I've got in mind is exactly wot yours looks like in the photo at your link. I've no need to cover anything under the cowl.

 

EDIT: I just took some measurements. It seems pretty obvious wot you need, but let me know, all will be gladly provided. I measured the surface from lower edge to lower edge across the "corners" and midpoint of the solo seat area via tape measure. I get 17" at the rear corners, 16" at midpoint, and 16" at front corners.

 

Many TIA!

[dlapierre]

Here's an update for anyone who may be interested in having me make them a pad. What I did for r...hack is make a 17" x 17" pad, 1 1/2" thick, with three 1" wide elasticized straps affixed so that it could just be slipped over the seat into place.

The one I made for him, I made fairly dense, the result being that it raised his sitting position a bit up and forward. For me, with the one I made myself, that was great. I needed the added height and I liked the feel of being a slight bit more forward sitting.

What I've learned from the way I built the second one I sent him is that I should consider building them slightly less dense, if added height is an issue for anyone. No loss of comfort in making the pad less dense.

I think that otherwise, the dimension was just about right for a standard seat. No question about the added comfort, especially for those wanting to avoid "monkey bum" from riding on hot days.

 

I expect he'll now follow-up with his own comments.

 

In the meantime, if anyone else would like to order one, pm me. I'm ready to make a few more now.

[Guest ratchethack]

With apologies for the length of time it took for evaluation, I hereby submit my analysis:

 

WOOL "SADDLE PAD STYLE" SEAT PAD PROTOTYPE – PRELIM. FEEDBACK

 

THIS AIN'T NO "DOWNSTREAM" SEAT PAD! -- and it ain't no "make do" seat cover, either!

 

Thanks again Dennis, for a fine product!

 

My primary interest and objective with this seat pad was relief from the dreaded “Monkey Butt” syndrome on long hot summer days on the road, as mentioned above. Now I generally have no problem with the stock seat under most conditions, but by way of extremes -- Anza-Borrego and Mojave desert trips in years past spring to mind -- which were made, er, shall we say “considerably less enjoyable” at temps up to 120F by the aforementioned MB syndrome . . .That, after several hours, my friends -- I'm here to tell you -- can chap y’er butt just as hard and nasty as if you’d ridden hard with y’er cheeks firmly clamped all the way to the back teeth in the jaws of a pair o' gila monsters. . .

 

Now then. The first thing about this pad is actually not the intended thing. But keep in mind that there were plenty of surprises here – all pleasant ones, too, though there are some small trade-offs here & there. . .

 

The first thing is that the proto seat pad Dennis sent me adds wot I currently estimate to be about 1” of seat height, when fully compressed with my 190 lb riding weight. Dennis assures me that the thickness will decrease as the pad settles in and I'm sure that this is accurate. Now that doesn't sound like much. But after 33K miles of muscle memory conditioning with the stock seat height, one inch is a considerable change to riding ergo’s! Having said that, and setting seat comfort aside for a moment, for me, there are definite ergo changes at work here.

 

The pad gives the distinct perception of being up farther forward, again as Dennis mentioned -- AND the perception of decreasing that famous long Guzzi stretch forward to the bars. Since my preferred riding terrain is local mountains, where I need to get as far forward over the front wheel as possible to balance the heavily aft-biased Guzzi chassis, this is a definite plus in the mountains, and it’s certainly no negative for me on any kind of road.

 

To me, the increase in height from the pad makes the Guzzi chassis seem smaller. Though it’s only an inch, it also gives the impression that I’m sitting way up in formerly uncharted airspace. Now in addition to riding the Guzzi, I also get lots of miles on an old dual sport single (from the pre-"adventure bike” era) that has about 2” greater seat height than the Guzzi with the wool seat pad. This can’t actually be -- but with the seat pad on the Guzzi, it seems like I’m up at the same altitude as the thumper.

 

Inexplicably, it also feels like the bars have been raised, though I'd expected the exact opposite! The knees are definitely more relaxed and less cramped, with a noticeably greater seat-to-peg extension. This is actually a plus in itself, and I hadn’t really expected this aspect of it, having become so well accustomed to the stock ergo's.

 

Now on to seat comfort!

 

Well, Dennis’ pad is without any question more comfy on the butt on any kind of ride! As mentioned, I figure it currently gives about 1” height change. It also makes the seat 2” wider (I estimate again at least an inch on each side), which works with my already raised ride height with custom springs and lengthened custom shock to make my formerly easy flat-foot at stop a marginal proposition. Not that this is a problem for me, but those with a short inseam would need to consider this.

 

It’s not hot weather here yet, and I’ll have to wait until mid-summer at least for the full “monkey butt” analysis, but I know that wool has exceptional breathability properties, and my expectations at this point from riding the moderately warm temp miles I've put on it are very favorable. So far, there’s no takin’ this thing off! I can easily imagine why riders of trail and work horses seek Dennis' saddle pads out -- though it's for the comfort of the horse in the case of a saddle pad, not the rider! I figure I’ve probably got somewhere over 100 miles on it now, and they’ve definitely been more relaxed and enjoyable miles as a result of the pad. I occasionally take longish trips up into the many hundreds of miles on the Guzzi, occasionally several days of travel. On any such kind of ride, IMHO this will be a vitally important piece o' gear for Yours Truly, and likely decrease or even eliminate the need to carry pain-killers. I look forward to many extended summer days on the road for a more thorough analysis.

 

FWIW, I wouldn’t change much of anything about the prototype with the possible exception of more secure anchoring than the elastic straps. I may replace them with parachute cord or the like, an easy enough proposition, I reckon. I like the thickness. In fact, this is just me, but unless I had a height restriction, given the choice, I’d prefer the same thickness Dennis gave me with the prototype.

 

Well then. There you have it!

 

Many thanks again, Dennis. Cheque’s been in the US Mail since Monday, so no tellin’ when it'll arrive?!

[dlaing]

Inexplicably, it also feels like the bars have been raised, though I had expected the exact opposite!

Raising the bar in your own mind comes natural to you Perhaps that explains it????

Otherwise, great review!

[dlapierre]

Thx for the feedback. I appreciate the positive review. One comment about the stretchy bands. On my next one, I'm going to use a type of anchor that will allow for some adjustment so the bands can be tightened a bit more easily. Having some stretchiness in the bands is, I think, better than having a tightly tied down sort of way of anchoring the pad to the seat. It needs to be able to move a bit without stressing the anchor points too much.

[stormsedge]

I've got my custom dlapierre saddle blanket (seat pad) and am very pleased with it. Did away with the heat transfer from the gel pad and fatigue/cramps of 250ish mile ride...and it gets alot of wishful looks from the Harley bubbas at Daytona...ha ha. Highly recommended. Thanks, Dennis!