Vstrom seat recommendations | GTAMotorcycle.com

Vstrom seat recommendations

M

ModularGT

Well-known member
Looking for recommendations for a new seat for my bike, 1st gen DL1000. I find that after 2 hours I am sore on my backside, and uncomfortable. I find that the stock seat "locks" me in, and have no room to move forwards or back on the seat. I know seats are more of a personal opinion, and may require trial and error, but they are very expensive.

If anyone has gone through this, I would be interested in your findings. I know the Russell day long is what most guys eventually move to, but don't want to send my seat down the the US in the middle of riding season.

The rest of the bike fits me well, natural position for the handlebars, legroom is ok. If I could find the right seat, and a windshield to reduce the buffeting, I wouldn't have much else to complain about.
 
Ask MacDoc, I think he's been through a bunch of different seat versions.
There's a Givi Airflow windscreen that might be suitable.
 
I can only comment based on the 2013 DL650... the Glee, as I think it is called.

I have a Sargent, which was pricey, but the shape is better. I still need the bead rider though to do the extremely long days. I have also tried the Corbin and Seat Concepts, but prefer the Sargent.

If you can find any seats in good condition used (terry ardox, saddleman, sargent, corbin, seat concepts, etc), you should be able to sell them for similar to what you paid if you don't like it. There are upholstery places around that might be able to do a custom job for you as well.

Watch on stromtrooper for used sales... if the seller is in the US and won't ship to Canada, have it sent to CBI and go get it.
 
Start with a Beadrider ...lets you move around ....have used it on all my seats even the high end ones including the Russell and the Terry Adcox.

Screen%252520Shot%2525202015-06-05%252520at%252520Jun%25252C%2525205%252520%252520%252520%2525202015%252520%252520%252520%25252011.14.58%252520AM.jpg


I'd certainly start with the Beadrider.

Are you okay with the seat height?
The Russell is tall ...that's why I sold mine.

Terry Adcox you want to get in the group buy and you do not need to send your seat away until you get the new one.

Plus he can make it lower than stock and custom fit it.

Corbin was pretty well shaped but locked me in too much.

3 weeks on the road last year and Beadrider everyday...tried the Adcox alone after 2 weeks .....2 hours in I put the Beadrider back in place.

I had a Saddleman as well but was meh on it.

••

Just get the Madstat brackets for your existing screen as a start ....then maybe a bigger screen after that...Madstad is a must.
 
Last edited:
2011 DL650 here. I've found the stock seat lets me do about 45 minutes before I'm done. I started using a 10$ Crappy Tire gel seat cover which helped. I also used an Alaskan Sheepskin seat cover which also helped. I then tried out the Suzuki Gel seat which was a good improvement over the stock seat.

Then I bought a Corbin and can quite comfortably do 1000km days back to back. For me, Corbin is the best because it allows me the most mobility when riding twisty roads and yet offers long distance comfort. I've now put on over 100,000km on my Corbin on this bike alone (2nd Strom).

For windshield, I have been using a Madstad for about the 8 years I've owned VStrom's in combination with the Givi tall screen or Moose racing tinted shorty screen on really hot days. The biggest thing to help with helmet buffeting is not the windscreen though - it's swapping the mirrors out. The stock ones are like bis sails in the wind. Swap them out to either Aprilia, KTM or Kawasaki mirrors and you should be happier. I currently have the Kawi mirrors of a Z1000 and they are much better quality, are cheaper, do a great job of streaming the wind and actually look much better than the stock mirrors.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. With the stock seat height I am ok. With one foot down no problem, but if I put both feet down I am on the balls of my feet. I may give the bead rider a shot and look for a used seat.

For the windscreen, I am already using the madstad and the shorty screen. I have had my eye on the MRA touring screen with the little lip on top. I just don't want that little lip right in my line of vision, so not sure how it would work until I installed it, then can't send it back if I don't like it.
 
I usually get 45min out of the stock seat before it starts hurting. I bought a second stock seat off eBay and modified it myself into a touring seat, shaped roughly like a Russell DayLong. It is built up with thin layers of foam and spray adhesive. The foam is rebonded carpet underlayment from Home Depot ($50 for a huge roll). Vinyl covering material is from FabricLand. All together, the materials cost me about $100 and a couple of hours of my own labour. I have done several consecutive 11 hour days on it with no discomfort at all, so I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I also tried the beaded seat cover and sheepskin, but they didn't significantly improve my riding time. Beaded seat is nice in really hot weather though.

I run a Moose Racing shorty windscreen or no screen at all in the summer. For touring I use the stock screen on a Madstad bracket, plus an extra bracket (some angle iron) to extend everything an inch or so higher than the Madstad would normally be able to reach. It looks ridiculously tall, but it works. The Madstad bracket plus a taller shield would probably give the same effect without needing the second bracket.

And like mentioned above, the mirrors have way more effect on wind management than you might think. I found that switching to bar-end mirrors didn't really affect the buffeting much, but I was surprised at how much they reduced the wind noise.
 
I have third party mirrors but they were with the bike.

Tusk handguards are better value than BarkBusters

I'n not convinced on the MRA ....had one on the CBF and did not do as much as a taller screen.

I snagged a Givi screen - not sure the size - and really happy - very quiet even at speed.

Depends on your tolerance for height ...the Beadrider adds a bit ...I used lowering links to bring the bike down down 3/4" and have a lower Terry Adcox seat.
Between that and some build up on my boots I'm rock stable now. 30" inseam which I likely extended to 30.5 with the boot build up. I like being well planted as I end up carrying a lot on the Strom ...aka The Mule as the kid is on a FZ8 ....not a lot of storage there tho the Shad case is very nice and he added a rack to it ...excellent for drying clothes,
 
Baldwin Motorcycle Saddles
http://www.motorbikesaddles.com/

Very good service. Product quality is excellent. They do a "core swap"-- instead of sending your saddle in for modification, they build up a saddle they already have in the shop. You mail them your stock saddle when you receive the new one. That way you're never without a saddle.

Also...even though they're super-comfy, they don't look weird like some of the day-long types.

http://www.motorbikesaddles.com/ima...addles Custom V-Strom DL1000 seat image 1.jpg
 
Thanks for the suggestion Cranky Pete, looking at the website for Baldwin. I really like the options for coverings and the 3 different builds. The Day-long and the Baldwin Grand Touring look the most comfortable, but the weirdest. I guess it doesn't really matter how it looks when I'm cruising down the road though.

The DL1000 comes with factory handguards, so no need to upgrade those, yet... I'll look into the Givi screens.
 
Everybody's butt is different but I did over 200,000 km on my 2006 DL650 and for all except the first few thousand KM's used Corbin seats (two, I wore one out.) One trip included 10 days, 10,300 km with over 3,200 km on the last 2.5 days. I never gave my butt the slightest thought.

..Tom
 
Yup - lovely cases - came with the bike. I'd never fork out that much but they are really nice

They cost just about what my second Wee cost complete with factory luggage. Factory suff was okay today tho not so fond of side opening but they are really easy on and off

9c0da791be60c808198536dbf1a9fd7e
looks okay in white


Jesses not so much

750 km on the Beadrider/Tom Adcox ...could have done more .....kid on the the other hand ....NOT
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom