Fitted new Seat Concepts Touring seat...

[wordsmith]

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. 

[betoney]

I won't attempt to guess what that increase 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 can sure understand your situation, fortunately (for me) I am a bit taller at 6'-1" and 34" inseam.  The increased seat height might be a slight bit easier on the knees as well. 

[betoney]

***UPDATE*** I rode a little over 300 miles today and only stopped for a quick lunch and 2 gas stops. The sport touring foam is a definite improvement over the standard S/C foam, but still not perfect, though I dont know of ANY seat that will leave you 100% comfortable at the end of a longer ride.
I frequently ride with a small group and everyone has aftermarket seats whether its Seat Concepts, Sargent or Corbin. We recently did a week-long road trip with consecutive 400+ mile days, after a few hours there was not one person who wasn't squirming, readjusting, briefly standing on the pegs or stopping to walk around.
While I still needed to do all of the above, I did it much less frequently with the S/T foam and I felt much better at the end of the day.

[wordsmith]

***UPDATE*** I rode a little over 300 miles today and only stopped for a quick lunch and 2 gas stops. The sport touring foam is a definite improvement over the standard S/C foam, but still not perfect, though I dont know of ANY seat that will leave you 100% comfortable at the end of a longer ride. I frequently ride with a small group and everyone has aftermarket seats whether its Seat Concepts, Sargent or Corbin. We recently did a week-long road trip with consecutive 400+ mile days, after a few hours there was not one person who wasn't squirming, readjusting, briefly standing on the pegs or stopping to walk around.
While I still needed to do all of the above, I did it much less frequently with the S/T foam and I felt much better at the end of the day.

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!

[betoney]

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!

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.
 

[wordsmith]

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!

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!

[wordsmith]

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.
 
 

[owle]

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.
 

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.

[wordsmith]

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.
 

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).

[wordsmith]

***UPDATE*** I rode a little over 300 miles today and only stopped for a quick lunch and 2 gas stops. The sport touring foam is a definite improvement over the standard S/C foam, but still not perfect, though I dont know of ANY seat that will leave you 100% comfortable at the end of a longer ride. I frequently ride with a small group and everyone has aftermarket seats whether its Seat Concepts, Sargent or Corbin. We recently did a week-long road trip with consecutive 400+ mile days, after a few hours there was not one person who wasn't squirming, readjusting, briefly standing on the pegs or stopping to walk around.
While I still needed to do all of the above, I did it much less frequently with the S/T foam and I felt much better at the end of the day.

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!

All’s well that ends well. The Australian vendor from whom I bought the unsatisfactory (for me - YMMV) Seat Concepts Sport Touring seat kit has now, after much friendly banter and argy-bargy, offered to swap it for a SC ‘standard’ seat kit. I had one of the SC ‘standard’ seats on my previous Tracer, and while not perfect it was better – what isn’t! – than the rock-hard stock OE perch. 
So kudos to Richie, owner-manager of AdventureMoto, located in Dural, NSW – 02 9651 3355.
 
No kudos to Seat Concepts, the manufacturer, who just didn’t want to know.
 
 
 

[betoney]

Great news that you were able to get at least a partial resolution.
I had a similar experience with Seat Concepts, I had a question prior to purchasing the standard foam and they never responded to my emails. My local Yamaha dealer is a Seat Concepts distributor so I had them purchase the foam and cover. When they finally shipped the cover it was obvious that one of the panels was stitched crooked as there was a large crease where the panels had bunched up in stitching. It was something that couldn't be stretched or steamed to be made to fit correctly. Seat Concepts claimed there was nothing wrong and insisted that the dealer ship the cover, foam and seat to them for inspection. A few weeks later the seat was returned with the cover installed and the panel had obviously been replaced since the bunched up panel was gone. However, Seat Concepts STILL insisted that there was nothing wrong with the original cover and it was the dealers installation error and charged them the installation fee.
Their customer support and business practices are beyond terrible.

[wordsmith]

Great news that you were able to get at least a partial resolution. I had a similar experience with Seat Concepts, I had a question prior to purchasing the standard foam and they never responded to my emails. My local Yamaha dealer is a Seat Concepts distributor so I had them purchase the foam and cover. When they finally shipped the cover it was obvious that one of the panels was stitched crooked as there was a large crease where the panels had bunched up in stitching. It was something that couldn't be stretched or steamed to be made to fit correctly. Seat Concepts claimed there was nothing wrong and insisted that the dealer ship the cover, foam and seat to them for inspection. A few weeks later the seat was returned with the cover installed and the panel had obviously been replaced since the bunched up panel was gone. However, Seat Concepts STILL insisted that there was nothing wrong with the original cover and it was the dealers installation error and charged them the installation fee.
Their customer support and business practices are beyond terrible.

People with this attitude towards customers are sowing the seeds of their own destruction.   I spent a lifetime in retailing and understand how hard it is for any business to win customers, and how easy it is to lose them to a competitor with similar product but a more enlightened attitude towards those who wish to spend money with them.   In your case, betoney, one has to ask what the cost would have been to SC if they had accepted the fault and dealt with it on a no-cost basis.   Pennies only, instead they suffer reputational damage.

[slownsteady]

For whatever it's worth... I placed an order for a Seat Concepts kit for the FJ and ran into an issue with shipping delays. The company is amidst a relocation from California to another state and advised the order would be delayed a couple weeks. I requested cancellation and they were not only prompt with replying but also were very courteous and positive overall.
 
I can't attest to the product itself or the post purchase customer support, but for a brief dealing I'd say they rank in line with what is expected in today's "the customer is always right" culture.

[wordsmith]

For whatever it's worth... I placed an order for a Seat Concepts kit for the FJ and ran into an issue with shipping delays. The company is amidst a relocation from California to another state and advised the order would be delayed a couple weeks. I requested cancellation and they were not only prompt with replying but also were very courteous and positive overall. 
I can't attest to the product itself or the post purchase customer support, but for a brief dealing I'd say they rank in line with what is expected in today's "the customer is always right" culture.

It says a lot, doesn't it, that this (highlighted) should be regarded as exceptional and worthy of comment, irrespective of who the vendor may be!

[wordsmith]

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!

All’s well that ends well. The Australian vendor from whom I bought the unsatisfactory (for me - YMMV) Seat Concepts Sport Touring seat kit has now, after much friendly banter and argy-bargy, offered to swap it for a SC ‘standard’ seat kit. I had one of the SC ‘standard’ seats on my previous Tracer, and while not perfect it was better – what isn’t! – than the rock-hard stock OE perch. 
So kudos to Richie, owner-manager of AdventureMoto, located in Dural, NSW – 02 9651 3355.
 
No kudos to Seat Concepts, the manufacturer, who just didn’t want to know.
 
 

I have now (August 24th) concluded my dealing with AdventureMoto.   They sent me a new Seat Concepts 'original' or 'standard' kit (SKU 42-1309) being their earlier replacement for Yamaha's OE torture device.   I'd had this kit on my earlier Tracer and found it OK - not brilliant, but OK.    
Of course, quite reasonably I had hoped that the later Touring version would be a further improvement, but in fact it was a step or two backwards, being little if any improvement over the stock OE seat, merely extending the pain onset from one hour to about two.   The Touring kit (SKU 42-1310) - incidentally still mis-labelled as for the FJR - has been returned to AdvMoto.   
 
When time comes to sell the Tracer I'll probably re-fit the SC seats and sell the on-its-way BAGSTER unit so as to recoup some of the $550 or so cost.
 
Now that the dust and fury has settled, I must say that this was a pretty fair compromise from the vendor.   About the makers, less said the better.