Flat seat, Curved Seat???

[solidbs]

Hello Everyone,

Since I started riding I've always wondered why MX bikes are made with an aggressive "flat seat", sleek look and trial bikes almost always have a dipping, curved seat.

Just wondering if there was a performance reason or if manufactuers simply make MX bikes to look "sleeker". I can imagine a flat seat would be easier to move around on and slide up onto the tank.

Thanks for helping my inquiring mind!

[CRfofiddyF]

I shaved my seat about 1/4" from the top to about half of it. I also made a homemade bump seat sot having the seat shaved/curved helps me stay put on the bike and I don't slide back much.

Hope this helps

[solidbs]

haha well, what I'm asking is that is there any reason for the difference in stock seat shape?

that some more high-end bikes look like:

http://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/crop/200905/ktm-250-300-xc-4_460x0w.jpg

and some bikes have a "dip" look like:

http://www.dirtrider.net/gallery/files/7/6/0/6/2/1998KDX220-20.JPG

[CRfofiddyF]

Based on the pic you provided, the bikes are too far apart as far as year/design...in addition, the KDX is for offroad so bigger tank...that's wll i can think about ?

[R-Dubya]

What I think is that the straight-across seats are basically part of the "sleek" design. But also, they make it easier to move around on the seat and make standing up less of an effort. Pretty much, the taller the set, the closer you already are to standing up. As you look at older and older bikes, the seats are thicker. Around late 80s/early 90s a lot of the bikes had the angled seat you see on the KDX, but they were also very thick. On my bike, I have one of the angled seats, and it's also trimmed down, so my seat REALLY has a dip.

It wears me out going from standing to sitting faster than it does on my friend's KTM 144sx, but I love it. The super low seat gives it such a low center of gravity in turns, especially flat turns, that makes it easier to lay it over more and still keep traction.