I might be on to something here (RE: Comfort)

Not that I invented any of these ideas, of course. I got them all here. But I'm trying to combine them, and so far it's going well.

First off, I'm tall. 6'4" in boots. The Swing is a good sized bike, but I'm still a little cramped. Plus, the seat has proven absolutely torturous for long rides.

A Saddleman gel pad has helped considerably, but I still suffer. Plus it raises me up about an inch, which detracts from the excellent effect of the Givi windscreen.

I just removed the stock backrest, thus enabling me to scoot back in the seat a bit. NOW I'm starting to get somewhere! I'm on the wider part of the seat, which was previously inaccessible to my behind due to the backrest.

My next mod will be to remove the seat cover and shave down the seat foam a little to make room to permanently install the gel pad inside the seat. It's a little wider than the top of the seat, so I can use some strips of the original seat foam to bolster the sides slightly and create a wider, more stable "bucket" for my....bucket. I also plan to carve out a little trough in the centerline, under the gel pad, so I won't be carrying weight on my corn hole and....umm....the, uhhh....internal....man bit. You know. The parts that make your junk go completely numb after half hour of riding. (That's rather disconcerting.)

With the backrest removed I have stretch-out room, like a chopper.

From there, I plan to use the backrest brackets to cobble together a gel-padded, thinner, taller backrest that will actually provide some support.

Finally, I can already tell I'm going to want to do something different with the handlebars eventually.

Long-term: The goal is a kicked-back cruising position with my feet up and a Motorcycle Cruise Control doing the driving for me. And maybe a naked girl riding pillion to fan me with palm fronds and feed me grapes.

Backrest problem solved?

http://www.leroybeal.net/motorcycles/silverwing/articles/backrest/backrest.html

Yes, the "search" function works very well. That is exactly what I'm going to do. The stock backrest, raised up a few inches, will be plenty comfy.

Progress marches on....

Let me know where i can order one of these naked fan girls thats a mod im interested in lol

In my state I think there is a law against eating grapes while driving any two wheeler... you have to let the naked lady drive and then you can eat the grapes while riding behind her. Although, I don't know how you will hold on... I will have to think about this for a while. HHMMMMM this is going to be a pleasant moment of meditation.
Gary

I just did the "raised up backrest" mod: http://www.leroybeal.net/motorcycles/silverwing/articles/backrest/backrest.html

Mucho comfy! I didn't do the 10 degree bend in the risers, though, because I didn't want to change the angle of the backrest. So I cobbled together a couple of spacers out of 1" square aluminum tubing.

Now I need to strip off the seat cover, carve up the foam, and install the gel pad.

Mickey, I've removed the backrest as well for more stretch room. I'm at the point where I can feel the rise in the seat pan which has no foam, of course, and on a longer ride you start to feel the pan. I was wondering if anyone has ever modded the pan to move the start of the rise back another inch or so for even more room and then add some padding in that location? Seems doable when looking at the pan. The pan must be some kind of plastice so bonding material to it may be questionable. Anyway, maybe something to ponder? Or, am I just nuts and just go buy another seat?

Jay600 wrote:

Mickey, I've removed the backrest as well for more stretch room. I'm at the point where I can feel the rise in the seat pan which has no foam, of course, and on a longer ride you start to feel the pan. I was wondering if anyone has ever modded the pan to move the start of the rise back another inch or so for even more room and then add some padding in that location? Seems doable when looking at the pan. The pan must be some kind of plastice so bonding material to it may be questionable. Anyway, maybe something to ponder? Or, am I just nuts and just go buy another seat?

I don't think you're nuts. The worst you can do is ruin the seat entirely. Then you'd have to buy a Corbin saddle, which would solve your problem. If you're resolved to spend the money anyway you might as well give it a shot. That's my thinking, anyway. But thinking gets me in trouble.

If you have no interest in ever using the stock backrest you could try drilling out the rivets that secure those plastic things to the seat. That's probably where most of the pain is coming from.

Mickey, I've already drilled out the rivets and taken the plastic things off. I guess the next step to modify the pan is to find out what it is made of and what will bond to it. Maybe I will make a small test using epoxy and glass cloth in some inconspicous area and see if it will bond to the seat. This would be a winter project for sure.

The pan is ABS, I doubt that epoxy will stick to it.