wordsmith

TRIAL-PACK... Did a trial-pack in readiness for my upcoming trip north from August 10th. Made some small revisions to the route, accommodations, and timing to give me an extra day in paradise. Route now looks a touch over 5000km/ 3100mi. Panniers and top-box with contents weighed-in at 21.3kg, and still plenty of room left, not that I'll be filling them 'just because'. 8-)

Wordsmith, i see you are in Australia, the land of a billion sheep, try a sheepskin pad in conjunction with a seat that is modified to be flat in shape. A cheap option to try.Been there, done that:nbg! But thanks for the thought.. And FYI (for I found it an interesting point) Oz has (depending on which report you take) about 74 million sheep, NZ about 30 million. The figures cannot be 100% as the guy counting fell asleep... Celebrated English wit, writer, actor, raconteur Peter Ustinov, after a visit there, is reported as saying that New Zealand had "too many sheep, not enough vowels" (Kiwis have a unique vowel-light speech pattern, but are lovely people with a lovely country).

Hoping against hope that the seat fairy may have come in the night and fixed the Seat Concepts Touring seat after my disappointment with it over ~850km last week, I went out for a short ride today. Although I very much prefer the straight-backed sit-up-and-beg riding position that greatly suits my 5’9.5” height (in fact the almost GS-like ergos on the Tracer were a strong reason for choosing this bike) I deliberately found myself moving around trying for that sweet-spot. To recap – in my preferred upright seating position it didn’t take long for the pressure-points arising from my seat bones to become uncomfortable, ready to switch to painful after 60 minutes or so. On today’s outing I found that if I leaned forward by bending my elbows (it would be the closest I’ll ever get to a racing crouch) I could distinctly feel the pressure points move forward and more towards the upper thighs. I didn’t much care for the forward lean, but seat-wise it was a little more acceptable. I doubt I’d be happy to hold this position for long, but as a temporary relief measure it helped. Next I went the other way. I moved my head forward, pushed my belly backwards and in a slouched position allowed my spine to bend. Hunchback of Notre Dame – eat your heart out! Again I could feel the pressure points shifting and giving a more tolerable if short-lived degree of comfort. And - not relating to comfort - I again found that the increased seat height was, for me, a definite turn-off too, as I hate tip-toeing at stops. None of this poor comfort is acceptable for other than a short time, so it’s back to the drawing board with the LUIMOTO Gold Gel seat insert, currently winging its way from Canada, and a firm discussion to be had with the makers and vendors of the SC seat. I have only ten more sleeps before my long-ish ride north, so time is running out.

PAINTED TOP-BOX SIDE PANELS TO MATCH PANNIER LIDS… That’s all! Paint appears a bit darker than on the panniers due no doubt to my spraying the paint directly onto the black top-box plastic (after appropriate ESPing to ensure good adhesion). The panniers had white primer undercoat applied first, which lightened the Charcoal Metallic Gloss appreciably, even after several coats, of which it required many to get an acceptable match to the fuel tank. The newly-painted section is almost the same colour as the dimpled black plastic surface of the top-box itself, and in truth it’s almost invisible as it is on the pannier lids themselves, but its high gloss finish does give a bit of contrast – more in some lights – and chimes quite well with the panniers. I’m happy with the result though, not least because the top-box and panniers will rarely be on the bike together. And if they are, I’ll only ride after dark so as not to offend the purists here…! (Second pic only added because it's there - nicely cleaned bike!)

Actually, 614km (about 380mi) is a very comfortable distance each day. Enough to get in a very good day of riding yet not too long to become tedious. Over the course of your trip do you have "off days" or a few shorter riding days planned? Good luck dealing with Seat Concepts, hopefully you can get a resolution on your seat. I'll have 3 x 2-nights stops along the way (of 13 nights on the road), allowing me a full day off the bike between sleeps each time. All the others are one-night stands only. Average daily ride, if I stick to my plan, will be around 450km (around 270 miles). It's looking very much as if I'll have to wear the SC Touring Seat on this ride, unless the gel insert arrives from Luimoto in time for me to fit it - probably only a few hours work. Yeah - the 614k day is long enough for me nowadays - I have done more than one >1000km day in the past, on my GSs, but those days are long gone. I shall be writing a stiff letter on cardboard later this weekend to both the business that I bought the Touring Seat from and to SC as a matter of courtesy, hoping to resolve my dissatisfaction. Gotta be careful not to be too aggressive - "a soft approach turneth away wrath". Stay tuned!

That's good for you, betoney. Regrettably it just doesn't work for me. I'm still working on a resolution from the Oz vendor-distributor and/ or Seat Concepts, but the deathly silence is not encouraging. Might be $275 down the drain. Consecutive 400mi (640km) days are getting up there a bit and my upcoming ~4500km trip will see the longest single day at 614km. That'll be enough!

Good to hear your positive impressions, betoney. I didn't find it at all satisfactory, alas, but I do agree with your observation on the increased seat height. I won't attempt to guess what that increase is precisely, though I'd suspect more than a half-inch (it certainly felt like it), which put me up onto tip-toes at rest, which I hate, especially when in stop-start traffic and feet are going up and down frequently.

[i style=font-weight:bold]PUT SOME REFLECTIVE TAPE ON THE HANDGUARDS...[/i] Today I gave the bike its first clean in balmy 26°C (79°F) temperatures under a cloudless blue sky. If this is winter (and it is) give me more… Having some dayglow orange reflective strips I also cut two shapes out and fitted them to the handguards on each side, all in the interest of being seen. If my hi-viz front ‘conspicuity’ LEDs don’t do the job, these will assist, especially in close-quarter combat traffic, aided by their being mounted high-up and wide-apart. The material is pretty thick and stiff so it hides completely the bolt-holes there – not that a dimple or two would matter. But being an ultra-fussy Bloke I'm not quite satisfied with the fit around a couple of the the edges, so when I'm back from my upcoming trip north I'll re-do these stick-ons. I've kept the cardboard template I made, so it's just a matter of rather more careful alignment when applying - though that's easier said than done as the adhesive does want to 'grab'.

Hey Lawrence- maybe your penchant for gold pinstripe is influenced by the gold pinstripe on your favourite tipple (in those cases in the background) ? Minchinbury Crisp Classic Brut.. x_x Hey, Robert - sadly not, though it's not a bad drop. They are Mrs Wordsmith's property, destined for a charity fashion show she's been organising for some time now, raising funds for The Smith Family. Alas, I'm not invited!

That's a good first impression to have - but I'm still not clear if that is the Seat Concepts 'standard' replacement seat or their newer 'Touring' kit, which I currently have installed. I can't quite flat-foot it at rest unless I straighten right up on the seat and move right forward. Thanks for the response...

...what Kimmie said.Just because I happened to have a roll of the 3mm gold-coloured pin-stripe tape I decided to apply some to one pannier lid. Took about two minutes. It looks OK, but no better than that, so I think it will come off...(in fact it's already off!)

It's amazing that Yamaha managed to engineer a windscreen that consistently performs worse than nothing at all. Not so amazing. They achieved the same thing with the factory seat - it feels as if it's been left off and the rider is sitting on the tool-kit!

That seat is probably more comfortable than the one on your FJ!

Kimmie - you and Mrs Wordsmith seem to be of the same opinion - so I shall probably apply the pinstripe tape!

[b style=font-style:italic]REPAINTED THE PANNIER LIDS AND GAVE THEM NEW DECALS... [/b] There were one or two comments that my recent pannier-lid decoration was a bit OTT: although deeply wounded and hurt, after a while I did tend to agree, so I’ve re-done the detail. I removed the silver chrome ‘MT-09 Tracer’ lettering and the 6mm wide silver pin-stripe border, and while at it decided to give another coat of paint and clear top finish, as I had some left in the cans. By applying another coat of the Dark Charcoal Metallic paint to the lids I also hoped to reduce the silvery tint, although it’s only apparent in photographs: believe me when I say that in the flesh the colour and glossiness match between tank and pannier lids is now excellent! And the contrast between the glossy paintwork and surrounding matte black pannier material adds to the visual appeal, I think. Only the centre portion of each lid was painted, that being nicely curved in outline and complementing the curvaceous lines of the fuel tank. This approach also helps to prevent damage to the paintwork that might occur if kicking the top of each pannier when climbing on and off the bike. It’s quite rewarding how good a finish one can get with a rattle-can, given good and patient preparation, careful paint application, and a decent thickness of clear top-coat. I left out the ‘MT-09’ silver letters, so the decals are now rather less ‘busy’ with only the gold chrome ‘Tracer’ word, and I did away with the border pin-stripe. The new gold decal colour is quite subtle, and seems more coordinated with the gold front fork (24 carat, of course), and overall I think the new scheme seems less ‘in-yer-face’. But I do have some very narrow (3mm) gold-coloured pin-stripe tape, and depending on how I continue to see the new lids I just might apply that around the painted areas, although as they are the paint-line edges are neat and clean. With still a little paint left in the can I’m now going to spray a small ‘swoopy’ panel on each side of my aftermarket top-box to complete the look. Pix below: (top) - original style: (bottom) - new look. In the top lhs of the bottom pic you can see the second pannier, still with some masking tape around it, and covering the Yamaha badge and reflective strip; and extreme top left is the top-box awaiting painting.

Norcal - is that the Touring seat, or the (earlier) Standard seat replacement kit from Seat Concepts? Comments after trying it out would interest many here... thanks.

GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF IT ALL... I have been intrigued for a very long time about why some motorbike seats work well, others not so. My latest foray into the murky underworld of options has led me to believe that the problem is less that of the seat itself, more the rider’s anatomy. Out last week for two lengthy rides of about 440km each on my new SEAT CONCEPTS Touring seat, about which I had very high hopes, I came up with a pretty good mental description of how that seat felt: it was as if two halves of a golf ball were placed across the seat a few inches apart, lightly covered with a thin towel. Within a short time the two pressure points on my butt became uncomfortable, then unbearable. It seems that the structure around our hips has two protrusions called ischia (see pic), aka in the biking world as ‘sit bones’, as these carry all the body’s weight when we are seated. Yes – as a doctor I’d make a fine plumber! Any rider well-endowed with flesh and/ or fat in that region might find it perfectly acceptable. I imagine that Jennifer Lopez or those Kardashian gels might be pretty comfy! With me, being very skinny and having at best what feels like about a half-inch of cover on those bony protrusions, not so. So unless I’m seated on very thick foam, or something more resistant to localised pressure points, it will always feel that I’m actually sitting on the hard seat pan itself. This is certainly what my experience on the OE seat and now the SEAT CONCEPTS Touring seat suggests. At the same time, I have to say that the SEAT CONCEPTS original replacement seat kit that I had on my previous Tracer was a distinct improvement over stock. I guess that I expected the newer Touring kit to be a step up again, but alas for me it is not - $275 down the drain. I now await delivery of the LUIMOTO Gold Gel seat insert, which I’ll fit into the OE seat foam, as that gives me less of a (minor) height issue than the Touring seat, which is a little taller. And as I scribe this it does remind me that one of the most comfortable seats on any motorcycle I have owned was an OE gel seat that was standard on the mighty Yamaha MT-01. I’ll report back on the impact of the LUIMOTO Gold Gel insert once fitted. It needs to arrive here from Canada within the next ten days to give me time to install and then test it, or my trip north will have to be deferred or cancelled. Stay tuned!

I've done this twice now, so if I may: you do need a very sharp (new or almost new, preferably) drill bit, and to keep up pressure steadily when drilling the old pin out.

I have just ordered from the Sydney (Oz) distributor one of the GOLD GEL seat pads from LUIMOTO, as discussed and illustrated by kiwicanuck in his recent posts. Regrettably, I found the new Seat Concepts Touring seat kit less than satisfactory during my ~860km trial circuit last week. I have an ~4500km trip north planned, departing August 10th, so I hope it arrives in time - if not, trip will have to be be deferred.

Didn't know that - it's not mentioned (unless I missed it) on their website, nor did my local (Oz) distributor tell me.

“AND NOW THE END IS NEAR…” So warbled Frank Sinatra in what became his signature piece. I won’t burst into song lest I frighten passing dogs and small children, but I can also say that now the end is near for me too, as I have in fact finished the final farkle! And as I’m always interested in learning what others have done to their bikes by way of farkling, add-ons, enhancements, call them what you may, here is my list, which I now don’t expect to have to add to. These enhancements are mainly in two categories - increasing safety and/ or comfort and ease of use. Just a cuppla the following could be regarded as ‘bling’! Safety enhancements: • Front hi-viz LED lights on DIY mounting-bar • DIY rear hi-viz flashing brake LEDs • 2” auxiliary blind-spot mirrors • Risers/ extenders for rear-view mirrors • Not-quite Mack truck-like Stebel Magnum horn • DIY Stainless-steel mesh radiator guard. Add-ons aimed at increased comfort and/ or ease of use: • Genuine Grip Puppies • Span-adjustable brake and clutch levers • Rubber-topped foot-pegs • DIY side-stand lowering-peg extension • Go Cruise throttle-lock ‘cruise control’ • cncfx side-stand foot enlarger • DIY easier-to-locate button on indicator switch. Others: • Rear rack carrying a 28L Third Gear top-box • AMHP headlight protectors • DIY carbon-look protective knee patches on tank sides • Decorative ‘MT-09 Tracer’ and Yamaha badges on OE hard panniers. The all-up cost of these things has been around AUD$845, which in many cases includes shipping from some faraway places. AUD$845 = CAN$833, USD$645, GBP£501, €562. Most of these little jobs have been written-up, with pix, on the ‘what did you do… today’ Thread here. Happy days!

It will be 440km EACH WAY, plenty enough already. Sorry it wasn't such good news, but lots of time and road left. I wonder if any of the Kardashians would donate a bit of booty...

Without going into huge detail (for once!) I took a short-ish non-stop ride today of about 120km, taking about 90 minutes (guesstimated), thinking to get some more impressions of the new seat. Interim verdict: it’s an improvement on stock (what wouldn’t be?) but not the giant leap forward that I’d hoped for. I certainly wasn’t squirming after an hour as in the past, but neither was I fully comfortable, butt-wise. Further assessment will take place later this week as I take a 440km ride north on Tuesday, then return a couple of days later after a day off the bike. Each 440km leg should be done with only one stop along the way, giving me a good opportunity for a full appraisal of the seat. Stay tuned!

I think we are all waiting to get your report before we click on the buy. That gives me time to arrange a commision on sales from the manufacturer! (Only kiddin').

I'll be putting-in a ~900km round trip next week (with a day off in-between out and back legs) so that will give me a good guide to the new seat's form - and foam! I'll post results and impressions on my return...