How To Make Your Motorcycle Seat More Comfortable.

Well, with better and better upgrades I’ve done on my TaoTao TBR7 motorcycle( Recommended TBR7 Upgrades ), I’ve done longer and longer rides. Given the characteristics of a single-engine bike and lots of vibrations, the rides can get more uncomfortable as I ride the bike. So I wondered how to make your motorcycle seat comfortable without going crazy.

As I said, the rides on the TaoTao TBR7 motorcycle are going further but also at faster speeds. My inner city rides have been replaced with back country rides, typically about 45-50 MPH. As I want to get to more and more back country areas, I jump on the highway. Now the Highways in my area are 55-65MPH, but to survive, you have to go with the traffic flow.  

Typically the highway speeds are much higher than the posted speed limit.

As a result, the little 229c TBR7 motorcycle engine is working hard, which translates to solid vibrations coming up through the seat. Non-riders might giggle at vibrations getting uncomfortable after a while, but they do become uncomfortable.  

My TBR7 motorcycle is a dirt bike( My TaoTao TBR7 Is A Dirt Bike! ) that is street legal( Why I Register Motorcycles In Vermont (Without A Title) ). So the TBR7 motorcycle is built for dirt, not long-distance comfort rides. Have to get a bigger road cruising motorcycle for this. Still, in the meantime, I wanted to make my motorcycle seat more comfortable.

I’ve taken steps to make my TBR7 motorcycle more comfortable. Still, I will review all the steps I am considering for a more comfortable ride. I hope this helps you narrow down what you will do to make your motorcycle seat more comfortable.

How To Make A Motorcycle Seat More Comfortable:

1.- Add A Motorcycle Seat Pad.

I did add a padded seat cover and will go over this upgrade soon, but let’s list out the padded seat cover options:

a. Air Inflated Motorcycle Seat Covers.

I looked at these air-inflated motorcycle seat covers and was not impressed. Their construction was just air pockets sealed inside a tiny plastic cell(s) or bag(s). 

Imagine sitting on an air-filled zip-lock bag. Or a couple of layers of bubble wrap?

The worse thing about these air-filled motorcycle seats covers the price, and they are expensive compared to what you get—bags of air under your but.

However, I found a couple of good seat cover options in my research. Also, adding in Amazon’s great return policies might be several air-filled seat covers options for trying out and see if I really don’t like them or should move on to other comfort options.

b. Water-filled Motorcycle Seat Covers.

If you thought I wasn’t a fan of air-filled motorcycle seat covers, I am not a fan of water-filled motorcycle seat covers either.

I believe the selling pitch of motorcycle seat covers filled with water stirs fond memories of floating on the ocean or a water bed. Now you have a water bed for your buttocks.

The good news is that it might form in the contours of your buttocks, and the weight might reduce the amount of vibration reaching your butt. But (ha, butt) it’s added weight, and the water pockets might off any cushion for road conditions and rapid bike movements.

I will pass on the water-filled motorcycle seat cushion for now.

c. Gel-Filled Motorcycle Seat Cushions.

Just read above, gel-filled motorcycle seat cushions seem like the slower sibling of the water-filled motorcycle seat cushions. The nice thing, I believe, is with the higher density of the liquid, compared to just water, gel-filled motorcycle seat cushions might have more vibration damping properties.

However, because of the viscosity of gel over water, the cushioning effects from road vibration and bumps might be less than water-filled motorcycle seat cushions.  

Please comment below if you have any options or experiences with water-filled or gel-filled motorcycle seat cushions.

d. Foam-Filled Motorcycle Seat Cushions

This is my direction with my TaoTao TBR7 motorcycle; I got a foam-filled motorcycle seat cushion( Best Comfort Upgrade For Your TBR7 Motorcycle For Under 20 Bucks! & New TBR7 Seat Upgrade With This Cover ).

Foam-filled motorcycle seat cushions seem lower priced than air-filled, gel-filled, and water-filled seat cushions.  

Also, the foam being a higher density than just air alone, the foam-filled motorcycle seat cushions appear to have better anti-vibration properties than the air-filled seat cushions.

Of course, the foam-filled versions do appear to have less anti-vibration properties compared to the water-filled and gel-filled motorcycle seat cushions.  

One drawback is that the foam-filled motorcycle seat cushions and foam cells aren’t air/watertight. This design can lead to wet seats while riding in the rain, and worse yet, the foam padding can be entirely compressed by your weight and the material’s age, making the foam completely useless. :/

There does seem to be a life expectancy for foam-filled motorcycle seat cushions. Figure I will update my previous foam padded seat cushion posts when I reach the end of life of my Coleman seat cover( TBR7 Seat Upgrade With This Cover ).

2.- Padded Riding Pants For Motorcycle Riders.

Well, these solution goes back to my mountain bike riding days. Mountain bikes have thin seats; usually, when riding, I am standing on the bike’s pedals. With a narrow seat, your legs/knees are closer together to crank harder on the bike.

With padded riding pants, if you have to sit down, it’s more comfortable without having to make a more oversized bike seat.  

Now, these padded riding pants ideas can be transferred to the motorcycle. I’m sure there are many padded motorcycle riding pants, I have jeans with pockets for knee and thigh armor, but I would feel weird wearing them.

Not weird wearing padded seat riding pants while riding; that sounds great. It’s what happens after I am done riding. Do you pull the pad out of the back of the pants, or do you walk around looking like having more junk-in-the trunk?

With mountain biking, we didn’t go out too many places after riding wearing the same riding clothes. On the motorcycle, I do.

It’s a good idea to pad the riding pants, but not sure about how practical it is. If you have padded riding pants, please comment below about your experiences.  

Padded riding pants are too expensive, even padded riding shorts, for me to buy and experiment at this time. Maybe later…

3.- Replace Your Stock Motorcycle Seat

This option for a more comfortable motorcycle seat is among the highest-cost options. Not unusual for motorcycle manufacturers to use stiffer/uncomfortable materials in their stock motorcycle seats. So a complete change to an after-market comfortable motorcycle seat upgrade would be fantastic—a complete transformation.

However, this is a pricey option. Once you are committed to completely changing your stock motorcycle seat for an upgrade, you will be flooded with options that quickly add to the final cost.  

If I were completely replacing my motorcycle seat, I would shop around for a new seat that I buy once and ride forever. This means I am targeting high-quality materials and superb craftsmanship, and all are equaling a higher end price.

Leather would be my option for a tough material that lasts ‘forever’ with care and gets better looking with age. Just imagine the price of a leather dirt-bike seat for my TBR7 motorcycle. I might double the cost of my bike. :/

4.- No Cost Option: Take Riding Breaks.

Funny how I went right from the most expensive option of an after-market motorcycle seat to this free option. Riding your motorcycle is uncomfortable, don’t. Just take breaks from riding.

This solution sounds so simple, but when I ride, I ride to ride. If that made sense. I am on the bike for a reason, and that’s for the “knees in the breeze” feeling. Occasional breaks sound ok, bathroom breaks, get a drink and snacks, etc., but to stop riding because I’m uncomfortable is weird. 

I want to fix what makes me uncomfortable, not learn how to tolerate it.

So breaks OK, frequent breaks because I’m uncomfortable, no. Not interested in interrupting my riding time for lame excuses. Riding season is short, and time to ride my motorcycles is limited, so once on the motorcycles, I’m Riding!

Conclusion

I am still new at riding motorcycles, and there are many options to customize your bike. Having so many choices can overwhelm an over-thinker like me.  

Add in how frugal I am with these motorcycles, afraid of damaging an expensive bike; some comfort options might be out of reach for me.

Why do I go with a cheaper after-market foam padded seat cover? It works but looks dumb to me. Like my seat has some weird skin disease, with all the foam bumps.

The good thing is when I’m riding; it’s not easy to see the seat cover, so looks aren’t that important. Performance is. And this foam seat cover was cheap and worked great!

If interesting, check here:

Thank you for your time, and if you want to add to this discussion, please do. I value your experience and suggestions.  

Ride Safe, Ride Comfortable, Ride Fun!

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TBR7 Upgrades

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Click To See My Recommended

Boom Vader Gen 2 Upgrades

How To Make Your Motorcycle Seat More Comfortable, Without Trying?

Now, this is a supplement to this original post. The post targeted steps to make your motorcycle seat more comfortable; however, I found something NEW.

I changed something on my Boom Vader Gen 2 motorcycle, and the bike became more comfortable, and I reduced the engine’s vibration.

I still have a stock seat on my Boom Vader motorcycle, so I still need to take steps to make the seat more comfortable, so there is still lots of room for improvement. But let me get to what I did.

I increased the size of the engine mounting bolts. Grom Clone motor mounting bolts are undersized for the mounting holes cast in the engine. This size difference allows the engine to move around and vibrate under load.

Increasing these bolts, I created a tighter connection between the bike frame and the engine. Reducing the vibrations.

This event pointed out something overlooked, if you feel a weird vibration( I Broke A Motorcycle Motor Mount Bolt. ), you might have something wrong with your bike, and comfort isn’t your goal now. Getting your bike looked at by a mechanic is.

Good luck, and I will continue to update this post as I learn more. Feel free to leave comments below!