Part II "Please, Take Your Seats"

No need for the alarm as I was wide awake long before it began it's annoying chirping sound. Get the coffee on and start getting ready for the day, which is to be a  BIG day. When travelling why is every day always a BIG day? I have no idea other than maybe because they are all action packed and jammed into a limited time and distance. Later in the week I'm going to try and plan a "little day", with minimal activity, other than say, lay around a pool, read a book and go out for a walk or two.

We are in Kingston, Washington at Rich's Custom Upholstery ready to get our new seats built. Rich is there early as are a couple of other customers who are getting new seats or modifications to existing seats. The crowd is a variety of riders, Keith, a local on his '09 V-Strom, Theresa with her Harley Street Glide, a guy with a new Motoguzzi and another guy who I forget what he was riding. He was just in for a slight alteration so he was gone pretty quick.

The crew wanders in accompanied by a couple of dogs and we get down to business. First of all Rich questions us on what we dislike in our old seats and what we want in the new ones. 'My seat's too high', 'My seat's too low', 'I'm sitting too far forward' or 'I'm sitting too far back'; the comments ran the gamut.  In our cases, Lori wants her seat lowered, have the seating position moved forward, better padding and reshape the seat pan where it rubbed the inside of her leg. I was nearly the polar opposite as I wanted my seat raised a tad, have more side support under my butt and have more cushioning added.

 

Lori's bike minus the stock seat.

 

 

 Rich at the bench doing some initial trimming.

 

Next one of the guys strips the stock vinyl cover off  and re-installs it on your bike, With the bike on it's centre stand, Rich gets you to sit on the seat and and makes marks on the exposed foam base as you sit up and down, forwards and backwards. This helps determine where to shave, reform and custom fit the new seat using the existing seat pan. 

 

Next it's back to the bench, a little shaving, some shaping, spray on glue and apply a padded blanket like material. This is shaped to the existing seat foam which is built out, expander etc. This shaping and sitting goes on a few more times and then you go for a test ride with just the foam seat with the new padding adhered to it. The idea is to go for a ten to fifteen minute ride and get a feel for where the lumps and bumps are. It is also an opportunity to let the guys know where if you're experiencing and rubbing or pressure points. Upon return they take listen to your feedback, get you to do another sit test and then mark up the seat where the issues are. Off to the bench when more shaping, contouring and shaving occurs as the guys tweak the seat. This is where the true customization takes place. The team is methodical, attentive and do not rush you through the process. It is very personalized and thorough.

 

 Things are starting to shape up.



 

Time for another test ride and this time you really feel the seat with the alterations now very evident. Back to the shop for more feedback and any additional tweaking. Lori had a couple more little modifications but my was good to go. Once you agree to the fit and feel a gel pad is installed right under your butt and that is followed by the covering of a thin foam membrane which is shaped and tightly fitted over the seat.

 

Fitting the foam membrane.

 

Now for the fun part; picking the material for the final cover; colour and type of stitching. My bike is a desert brown colour so I went with a black leather cover and double stitch thread matching the paint. Lori opted for a black leather as well but we upped the ante and had custom red flames added to the sides. Lori has fire walked so the flames are well suited for her machine and sense of style. Kelly designed the custom artwork, cut all the pieces and stitched it together. She did a fantastic job and really hit it out of the park. Well done Kelly!

 

Kelly working her magic.

 

 











One happy customer!

 

 

Here's mine.

 

 

The final product looks and feels great! The seat fits you because it was made to for you to your shape. I wished I had had this done on previous bikes I've owned. If you've been thinking about a custom seat stop thinking and go do it. You'll have no regrets and your poor old backside with thank you up and down. Go give Rich a call. http://www.richscustomseats.com/

 

 

 

Landy, Lori and Rich.

 

 

It has been a long day and we still have some miles to cover. After saying good bye to the crew we saddle up and wiggle delightfully yes into the new seats. Hwy 104 west to 307 and then onto Hwy 3 south. The ride to Shelton is a relaxing run on good surface with very little traffic. It meanders in and out of the trees with the odd glimpse of Puget Sound on your left. Just south of Shelton we hop onto Hwy 101 which shoots us down to connect with I-5. I wanted to get past Olympia and avoid any rush hour traffic the next morning.

 

We're cold and feeling tired so as soon as we're clear of the capitol we skip off at Tumwell Road and hit the Comfort Inn where a hot shower brings the day to a close.