[moflow09]

I've had my 2022 since April and have put over 5000km (3100miles) on it. So far, for my style of riding I've loved it. Sure I'd like a little more power and less vibration, but it's a KLR and it is what it is. My biggest complaint is the seat, while initially it feels good for the first hour or so, then slowly the foam compacts and the vibrations come through. Before I bought the bike most journalists praised the stock seat as one of the best, but my arse begs to differ. The big problem for me is the slight forward slope to the seat that puts more pressure on my tailbone and slowly rides my shorts up into wedgie territory. On past bikes I've pulled back the seat cover and taken a carving knife to the foam below, but damn the 2022 seat looks so good I don't want to butcher it. So at this point I'm looking to add some kind of seat pad, or sheepskin cover that will hopefully make things better. I've looked at Air Hawks and the Chinese knock off's, but without spending $$$ on Corbin or Seat Concepts has anyone found an easy DIY mod to that can keep our butts happy after 7 hours in the saddle??

 

[2WHLOZK]

I've had my 2022 since April and have put over 5000km (3100miles) on it. So far, for my style of riding I've loved it. Sure I'd like a little more power and less vibration, but it's a KLR and it is what it is. My biggest complaint is the seat, while initially it feels good for the first hour or so, then slowly the foam compacts and the vibrations come through. Before I bought the bike most journalists praised the stock seat as one of the best, but my arse begs to differ. The big problem for me is the slight forward slope to the seat that puts more pressure on my tailbone and slowly rides my shorts up into wedgie territory. On past bikes I've pulled back the seat cover and taken a carving knife to the foam below, but damn the 2022 seat looks so good I don't want to butcher it. So at this point I'm looking to add some kind of seat pad, or sheepskin cover that will hopefully make things better. I've looked at Air Hawks and the Chinese knock off's, but without spending $$$ on Corbin or Seat Concepts has anyone found an easy DIY mod to that can keep our butts happy after 7 hours in the saddle??

Same here, I'll probably carve the foam to ditch the forward slope. I've done that to a lotta bikes in the past with success. The KLR seat has adequate foam thickness at the rear, that was the first thing I checked before buying.

I thought about maybe getting a kit from Seat Concepts, but they've raised their prices from $175 previously, to $265 now. That's too pricey for a DIY kit, and there's no guaranty that I'll like it anyway. So a "foamectomy" is looking like the answer for me.

The "journalists"...yeah they all praised the 2020 Tracer as being super comfy. In reality, it turned out to be the most uncomfortable seat ever, despite me reshaping it, adding a memory foam insert, and MacGyver-ing the front higher with spacers. Traded the bike for that very reason, 50-75 miles and I'd be heading straight home in a hurry.

Now, where did I put my electric carving knife....

 

[Six8five]

Keep riding it your but will leather up and get used to it.
No seat ever is comfortable for 7 hours.
Take a break every 150 miles or couple hours whichever comes for first.
I used an air hawk for a short period, made it worse .

 

[Jay Bee]

Sheep skins just make the seat cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. This effect is really noticeable if you ride in blue jeans or Kevlar jeans. It's less noticeable in poly/Cordura/synthetic riding pants. Beyond making them cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, they really don't add much comfort beyond that. They won't level out a sloping seat or make them any softer.

That having been said, I do like Seat Concepts foam/cover kits. The downside is they use your stock seat pan so you won't have a stock seat to sell. Obviously if you go with Corbin, you can recoup a few bucks by selling the stocker. Seat Concepts will also do custom foam densities. I bought one for my 2016 Versys and asked that the foam be "almost as firm as a Corbin seat". That's what they sent me and I love it.

Good luck.

 

[2WHLOZK]

There's dude in Tenn that does custom seats that everyone on the Tracer forum loves. He'll reshape your seat any way you want. Tell him where your ass hurts and any other specific physical issues, and send some pics of you sitting on the bike. For $375 I would have gone ahead with it, but he was a year out on orders when I contacted him last year....I couldn't take another year on the Tracer. lol

 

[PeteK]

A slightly different take: I have used a gel seat pad on long cross country trips on my Harley. What I really like, however, is switching it on and off at alternating fuel stops. That way, my butt doesn’t develop pressure pain from sitting on the same pressure spots all day. I haven’t tried that on my KLR yet, but I’m pretty sure it would work the same way on a late Gen2 or Gen3 seat.

 

[PNWexplorer]

Bump and a hi-jack...

This thread is exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately, no one has answered the OP's question adequately, which is identical to mine.

I ride 15 miles to work on a rural highway and my junk is numb by the time I get there. I did a 100-mile trip the other day and had to constantly move rearward and half stand on the pegs to retain feeling below my waist.

The factory seat is awful.

A YT guy I follow, Dork in the Road, mentioned that he uses a cheap ATV seat cover for $20 on all his ADV bikes and that it makes a huge difference.

I bought one and added it my seat and barely noticed any difference at all.

So far, for my relatively short rides, it is not intolerable, but would like to find a cheap solution to increase comfort. My hunting backpack has a free-hanging pad that is used for sitting on the ground. While hiking, it hangs off the pack and is barely noticeable, but when you stop and need to sit, you can tuck it underneath for a comfy rest. Thinking about something similar for the KLR. There's gotta be a gel pad for cheap that can be used.

 

[JimR]

A sheep skin cover, bicycle shorts, and pure cornstarch on the tush is what I used when I toured on my BMW. I could go all day. For the KLR, the factory seat was comfortable on the tush but was crushing the ball sack. It had to go. Bought a pricey as hell Corbin seat and have no regrets. Let us know what you come up with.,,,forgot to mention, when I do long days I take my wallet out of my pocket.

Regards, Jim.