The 'No Pissin and Moanin' DR650 Thread

[Dalmatino]

Nice bike

[deputygene]

My wife on her blue 07

Camping trip

Her 07 with home made side racks

My yellow 05, my son's white 96

[deputygene]

Originally Posted by kobukan

I purchased a ProCycle Saddleman seat foam & cover kit from Procycle a little while ago and thought I'd share some info.

I have two stock Suzuki seats, two Suzuki Gel seats, a Sargent seat, and now the Procycle seat.

The gel seats are hard as a rock imo. Suzuki must have sourced their gel from a concrete supplier.

The stock Suzuki seats I actually like for most days because I ride off road a lot and they work well for dual-sport purposes, but they're a little too hard for long touring days on pavement.

The Sargent seat is unbelievably comfortable - I can sit all day on that thing and never even think about it. But, the shape of it is not ideal for me for standing - my knees hit the seat a little where it starts to widen out. It's not too bad, but just enough that I notice it and have to adapt my position to fit the seat.

So . . . I'll probably stay with the Sargent seat on the '03 because it came with the bike and the issues while standing are minor compared to the comfort level while seated, but I probably wouldn't buy another one. I was hoping to find something for the '02 that was a little more comfortable than the stock seat for long touring days, but not too wide so I can stand up comfortably. I went to the Procycle web site because that's usually where I look first when I need stuff, and I narrowed it down to either the Procycle seat kit or the Seat Concepts seat kit.

I called Procycle with some questions about the shape of the seat and they were very helpful, as usual. I should have asked about the "firmness" of the foam, but I was too focused on the shape.

I decided to go with the Procycle seat. When I received it I was really impressed with the quality of the seat foam and seat cover. The foam and cover fit perfectly on my seat pan and the installation was very easy with the right tool - I bought a good quality pneumatic staple gun for the installation.

But . . . I was pretty surprised at how hard the seat was when I first sat on it. It is VERY firm. Every bit as hard as the stock seat imo, though the shape is better, thereby making it more comfortable. I have about a thousand miles on it now and it has gotten better, but its still very firm. I think the shape is perfect for true dual-sport use, but unfortunately the seat is so hard it is not nearly as comfortable as the Sargent seat in terms of touring comfort. I should also mention that I did not get the gel insert with the Procycle seat - I'm generally not a big fan of gel, and after trying the Suzuki gel seats I didn't want any more gel.

So, if you're looking for an excellent quality seat kit at a reasonable price from a good vendor, AND you like a really firm seat I would highly recommend the Procycle seat kit. But, if firm isn't what you're looking for you might want to try something else.

Has anyone tried both the Procycle seat and the Seat Concepts seat? If the Seat Concepts is a little softer I may give it a try.


Pics of the Procycle seat on the bike

Totlly agree on the pro cycle seat! Hard, better than stock because it's wider, but hard.
Yourslooks a lot like mine

[BadDogMax]

DR with stock suspension survived about 50 passes at this jump.

BILT tailbag survived as well, although the BILT tankbag was destroyed (straps ripped from bag).

[deputygene]

Got out DR's out today for a little trail riding. Here is my wife on her Blue 07 DR

She doesn't really like trail riding that much, but she humors me

My son on his 96

My bike

Back home after a good ride.

[Killa Meter]

Hey kobukan I have the seat concepts on my dr and I'm really happy with it, you might as well buy one you have all the rest except the Corbin . Might be a good compromise between the procycle and the Sargent . I have no trouble standing with mine and its soft enough without being too soft.
my 2 cents worth hope it helps

[kobukan]

Originally Posted by Killa Meter

Hey kobukan I have the seat concepts on my dr and I'm really happy with it, you might as well buy one you have all the rest except the Corbin . Might be a good compromise between the procycle and the Sargent . I have no trouble standing with mine and its soft enough without being too soft.
my 2 cents worth hope it helps

Got it sorted out last summer . . . still happy with it now.

Here's the posts on how I modified it to get it the way I like it.

Originally Posted by kobukan

Update on the Procycle seat.

A while back I posted about my recent Procycle seat kit purchase. I found the seat to be very firm, to put it mildly. Someone here suggested drilling holes in the foam to soften it up and I finally got around to trying it since the seat wasn't getting any better after a couple thousand miles.

I pulled the seat cover back as far as I needed to drill the area where I sit and started drilling away. I used an 1/8" drill bit and put about as many holes as I could in it. It didn't take long since it's foam and you can drill it as fast as you can plunge a drill bit into it. The whole process took about an hour start to finish. It helps a lot to have a good quality pneumatic stapler.

Here's a pic of the foam after all the drilling.


It was hard to tell how much of a difference it would make, but it seemed to soften it up a little. I stapled the seat cover back on and went for ride around some local back roads for about an hour and a half to see how it felt. It's definitely better - a little softer for sure, but nothing drastic and still considerably firmer than the Sargent on my other DR650. At this point I'd say it's better, but still not great - it'll take a longer ride to really get a better feel for it. I may take it off again at some point and run a bigger drill bit thru the holes, maybe try drilling some additional holes thru the foam at angles, but I think I'll ride it a little while like this first since it seems a little better than before.

Originally Posted by kobukan

As reported previously, drilling a bunch of 1/8" holes in the seat foam was an improvement, but it was still too firm for me.

Today I decided to take the cover off again and do some more drilling. This time I used a bigger drill (7/32"). I re-drilled all previous holes to make them bigger and added more wherever I could. I also drilled some additional holes a little further back on the seat, but not as many. And, I drilled numerous holes at steep angles starting near the center of the seat and drilling toward the edges. I drilled several rows of those angled holes toward each edge. Overall, a fair amount of foam was removed without affecting the shape of the seat.

When I was done drilling this time I could tell it was going to make a noticeable difference. I stapled the cover back on and went for a two hour ride and I'm happy to report that the seat is now much more comfortable. I'd say it went from being very firm, to about a medium firmness. Before the modifications the seat was so firm that there was virtually no give when I sat on it - I was just sitting on top of the foam. Now, I feel like I'm sitting on a cushion - it gives a little when I sit on it. Much better. I'm very happy with the results, and at this point I'd call the experiment a success.

[TrophyHunter]

DeputyGene.... So good to see a family riding together! My wife humored me for a bit with her quad but finally decided not to ride. Good thing is, she'll jump on the back of my other bike with me.

My son and I get out on our DR's as much as we can.

[sandwash]

Wow,check out those can's! Are both of those the 40's? Look's like great time and the bike's are a wonderful set up.Good job with the family and bike's.You did good!! You have it going on.Great pic

[TrophyHunter]

Yes - 40's. Set the bikes up pretty close to the same. Pumper carbs, etc. I did the suspension but my son weighs in at 130 lbs so the stock stuff is fine for him.

Thx SW.

[Trespasser]

There's a 40 can on the parts flea market right now for 85!

[Midpack]

Anyone had any experience with DIRT BAGZ mounting racks? I been happy with the durability of my Ebay side racks, but I picked up a set of DIRT BAGZ RANGER bags not knowing they made racks to go with them. The bag specific racks have simplistic clip on attaching points is why I'm interested.....Thanks

[JayHawk]

The racks are simple, durable and attaching the bags is easy. I use the system a lot.

[TinMan207]

I was riding so the pics were taken by others...





Rosie and I doing our best imitation of a tractor


/a

[Adv Grifter]

Wow! Nothing better than seeing a DR650 towing a KTM!

I hope you don't mind if I "borrow" your pic to post in those contentious DR650 bashing threads put up by KTM worshipers?
Cheers!

(PS: What was the issue with the KTM?)