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How to shave your seat.... in 20 minutes

By squintv,
in DRZ400/E/S/SM

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squintv

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So yesterday i was a little bored and had to rebuild the spedo/headlight unit on my bike, and as the liquid nails was drying i saw the stock seat in a box off to the side. being 5'6" and 135# i know i'd almost never use it opposed to my gel seat, so i decided to "shave off some foam.

Anyone who was wondering about doing this mod and worrying about it coming out bad, dont, i took 20 mins with a razor and a stapler and had it done in no time:

well hee it is stock and before i got to hacking

CIMG1064.jpg

And i tried to pull out some staples, but i really didnt wanna fuss with that. and i figured since ill be taking out material that would yield more seat-cover-overlap, so i'd have plenty to staple if i just cut it off:

CIMG1065.jpg

once the seat cover was off i roughly sketched a 2-2 1/2 mark as to how deep i'd go. i then made a cut out to the back and one up towaeds the tank tapering until it evened out with the stock seat. i tried to peel and cut, peel and cut for about a minute, but well that way sucked and wasnt very efficent, so i started to just cut straight down to my depth line in 1-2" segments and then would just cut that piece out and so on the whole way down:

CIMG1066.jpg

I continued until it was done... crappy but done. i was going to try to smooth it out, but taking small chuncks out of there with a dull razor is not easy. you just rip it. so since i wasnt gunna use the seat anyway i decided to go ahead and cover it. to cover it i put one staple on each end in the center to ensure i didnt put it on crooked. then i did 3 or 2 staples towards the center from one side to the other. with 2 inches of foam missing from the middle you really have to pull hard to suck it down. i finally got it done, and notcied that i shoulda smoothed out where the cut part meets the stock part, but oh well, i'd be easy to re-do. anyway i dont think its too bad for a short guy and 20 minutes...

oh and be sure when you staple it back down you push real hard and squarely with your stapler or it wont work.... pull fabrick, hold it in place with stapler, and squeeze if you try to hold tension with your hand and staple behind it, it usually dosent work out too well

and yes there is about a 1/2 inch gap between the seat and fabric in the middle of the bend...

CIMG1067.jpg

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squintv

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well thanks for all the support guys...

i didnt do it for comfort or looks.... i did it because i had an extra seat just sitting there and so i could touch the ground a little better at the track. the only time i sit is in the turns... so thats why i lowered it...

but it works for me and isnt really any harder than the stock seat...

plus i use the gel seat for anything besides harsh track riding...

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Skidder

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I think you had the right idea but not the right tools for the job. Maybe if you tried the electric knife and a die grinder or some coarse sandpaper to smooth it then just a bit of glue to hold down the 1/2" gap it will look just fine. Try again and then repost I think you'll get better posts.

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Skidder

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Nobody was bustin on ya. You supplied a great tip for all of us here. Sometimes ya get a little ragging is all. But you had a great cheap tip for anyone on a budjet. Your tip just needed a little refining was all. Everyone is here to help and that's what you did. Thanks.

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massrider

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Mr Black, is that seat more or less comfortable than it was stock? I am looking to improve my seat because after about 50 miles on the road my arse is sooooooooore. and does anyone know if an E seat and S seat are the same, I have been looking on ebay for a seat to cut up and keep the stock seat if I don't like the modded one

thanks

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Mr_Black

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IMO it is an improvement in comfort. It still hurts but not as much. My biggest problem is that I am short somewhat lol, and I ride in traffic alot so even when stopped that stock seat was shoved up my ass. I could never get away from the damn thing unless I rode around on the street standing up.

Now at a stop I can flat foot at least one side and relax my butt. :devil:

There is still a good inch or more of foam over the plastic base so it is still pretty squishy.

The other thing I kinda don't like is now it forces you to the bottom of the seat which makes moving around a smidge more difficult.

Overall, it was very worth it IMO and I think it looks better then the gel seat.

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squintv

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well i re-finished mine... didnt spend a ton of time trying to perfect it, but i got it looking decent, if someone who dosent know what to look for saw it they'd think its stock.

took like 10 more minutes...

i think it is more comefortable for short trips and trail/mx riding than the gel seat, due to more surface area on your butt, but the gel seat isnt so firm so if you can slide back and sit on the fat part, its better... so for me the seat comfyness just dipends on how agressive the riding is going to be.

Q

CIMG1130.jpg

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  • 7 years later...
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plankk

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Shaving your stock seat is a great DIY project. I used a drum sander to "finish" my foam. I also tapered the crotch area for a slimmer fit. For a custom seat cover, you can sometimes get away with fabric store materials. I used some marine grade vinyl to make a red seat cover, but its a bit slicker than standard seat cover material and the cover doesn't fit "perfect" but for $10 I cant complain. Here's some pics from my project. You can click my garage to see the seat on the bike.

 

ShavedSeatFoam_zps2047e28c.jpg

FinishedSeat_zps8886474d.jpg

Edited by plankk
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