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Cruiser
Posts: 249
Phenix City AL. | Does anyone else have an issue with the passenger sliding forward with the stock seat? For some reason my wife keeps sliding forward, no not in a good way LOL. Has anyone re enforced the front part of the seat, to slide the passenger back into the backrest? |
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Tourer
Posts: 307
Columbia, SC | I haven't had problems with my wife sliding forward, but off the top of my head, a possible solution could involve bungie cords, or perhaps a ratchet strap? :P |
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Tourer
Posts: 337
san antonio, tx | I modified mine. Removed the lip at the back and slightly sloped the seat to the rear. I should have sloped it just a little more.
I also added the footboard extensions. Those really seemed to help too. My wife is about 5'5" and my daughter is about 5'7" and they both find it a much more comfortable ride now.
I took some pictures while I was doing it, but I can't seem to find them. If I do, I'll post them.
I started by removing the cover. Lots of staples to remove! I then used a seam ripper (from the wife's sewing box) to carefully separate the front and rear portions of the cover.
I used a cutoff wheel on a hand grinder to remove the plastic lip part of the seat pan at the rear where it rises up to match that lip on the back of the seat.
I then used a long serrated bread knife (an electric one would have been ideal, if I had one) to cut the lip off, flush with the new line of the plastic seat pan. Make sure you don't screw up the heating pad that's under a thin foam pad.
When you cut the lip off of the pan, it leaves a very large gap between the front of the trunk and the back of the seat. I used 1" blue foam from an upholster supply store and glued it to the back of the seat pan. I then carefully pullled the heating pad forward and used the grinder to dish out the back portion of the factor foam.
From there, I cut some more blue foam and used it to fll in the gap, glueing it to the factory foam. Then it was just a matter of using the grinder to get everything symetrical and shaped to what I thought would be most comfortable.
For me, the next part was the most difficult. Making a new seat cover for the passenger seat. I was able to match the factory vinyl at the upholstery supply store. I used the original top upholtery panel as a starting point pattern for the new panel. It took me two cuts to get it right. The side panels were pretty straight forward, just a strip that was long enough to go completely around the side of the passenger seat with plenty of extra that could be cut off later. I had to make sure everything was going to look decent and line up everywehere, to include the little sleeve that the backrest slides into.
I sewed the two halves back together, with my seam a little forward of the original so it would not be sewn in the original line, weakening the seam.
I put it back on the seat, monkeyed around with it a bit to make it fit nice and tight. Then I discovered that my Arrow stapler was not up to the task of stapling into the plastic. I ended up taking it to an upholstery shop and for $25.00, they quickly stapled it up for me.
Not counting the trip to the upholstery store and shop, it took me two evenings to do.
Basically, |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 763
Anderson, IN (48mi NE of downtown Indianapolis) | The previous gf was 5'2" and she complained about sliding forward. She also mentioned her legs going numb. I installed 3" passenger floorboard risers. She never complained about either problem anymore so I assume that fixed both issues.
Edited by victoryvisiontour 2011-12-31 3:08 PM
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Iron Butt
Posts: 825
, WI | Yes and no. I have a 8-Ball and with the stock 8-Ball seat, no problems,
I put a heated seat on and on the first ride my wife said I hate to tell you this but I really hate this seat. She kept sliding forward.
I put the 8-Ball seat back on and no more problems. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 66
Oklahoma City | Weird, my wife is 4'10" and she has no complaints about the stock seat. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 249
Phenix City AL. | I have to find an 8ball seat, and try it out. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 880
Orlando, FL | HMD also makes a seat that appears to fix that problem. Might want to check that out also. And the Russell Day saddle might be a solution. I know a couple of guys on here have that seat. |
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Tourer
Posts: 482
Beer Collins, Colorado (there is no fort) | A drivers back rest will keep her in in her place. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3773
Pittsburgh, PA | i didnt have that problem with my 08 vision but i DO with the 2011... |
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Cruiser
Posts: 255
New Brunswick , Canada | Floorboard ext. solve that problem for my wife..but now i mist the shock absorber feeling i had in my back.. ;o) |
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Cruiser
Posts: 156
Bluff Park, Alabama - God's Country! 2011 PW VV | Yall are looking at this all wrong. Put a 32" front wheel and a 13" rear wheel. Problem solved!
Happy New Year!! |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 37
Southern Indiana | I have the same problem with the wife sliding forward and was wondering if any one has any picture of how much foam to remove from the rear of the seat. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 8
Tampa Bay, FL | Had that problem on my old softail. What I did was stand the bike straight up, and put a small straight piece of wood on level part of seat (not rear raised area). Then I used shims to raise the front of level (near driver) until level should accurate. Then, for good measure, lifted slightly more as my wife wanted to sit back into seat. After all this I measure how much I raised the seat (it was actually 1 1/4 on the softail). I took the seat to a local seat guy and had him carve out the 1 1/4, and remove the rear rise ( flatten it). While at it had him add gel.
Wife LOVED it! |
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Tourer
Posts: 337
san antonio, tx | RiverRat - 2012-03-06 3:34 PM
I have the same problem with the wife sliding forward and was wondering if any one has any picture of how much foam to remove from the rear of the seat.
These aren't very good pictures, not sure if they are going to help, or confuse.
If you take the upholstery off the seat, you'll see that the seat pan rises up in the back, matching that lip. I just took a string and stretched it around the back starting where the rise began, and ending on the opposite side. I traced that line and just cut the plastic away. I cut the foam down to that depth.
Edited by cchristo 2012-03-06 7:01 PM
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Iron Butt
Posts: 880
Orlando, FL | I like it when my baby slides forward! Yea, baby!! No trunk and no sissy bar. I let 'em hang on! LOL |
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Visionary
Posts: 1365
Central Maryland | ByteN2it - 2011-12-31 6:08 PM
A drivers back rest will keep her in in her place. I like how you stated that 
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Cruiser
Posts: 74
Navarre, FL | @ J.b. hatch. If you want to take a nice ride to the coast we can swap seats and you can try it out 
Edited by SpookyEng 2012-03-07 6:11 AM
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Cruiser
Posts: 193
Buford, GA United States | My wife complained about it as well and I bought a "Butt Buffer" gel pad and she has never sad another word about it. It sits on top of the seat and with the drivers backrest it is propped up in the front so it pushes her back. I got the large size as the smaller ones don't go up on the backrest and push her back. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1117
Northeast Ohio | My 2011 seat is heading to Russell (www.day-long.com) on March 27 for this reason.
Edited by ScoreBo 2012-03-07 12:01 PM
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | Chris,
That looks great. Maybe you can come over and we can do that to my old seat. Where did you get the foam?
I have an air stapler that should do the trick.
Ride Safe
Edited by radioteacher 2012-03-07 5:25 PM
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Tourer
Posts: 337
san antonio, tx | radioteacher - 2012-03-07 5:23 PM
Chris,
That looks great. Maybe you can come over and we can do that to my old seat. Where did you get the foam?
I have an air stapler that should do the trick.
Ride Safe
There are a couple of upholstery supply houses on Mesquite near the I35 & I37 interchange.
I think I still have enough foam to take care of yours. They don't like to sell it in tiny little quantities!
They sell marine vinyl that matches the stock Vic upholstery very well.
I should have pointed out the mod when we rode the other week but didn't really think about it. I guess it says something that it doesn't really draw attention!
My wife's sewing machine works for this, but barely. It just can't sew a long enough stitch, or use the same thickness of thread, compared to the factory stitching. Plus, I'm not the greatest sewer (what's the term for a male seamstress?), so the seams are a little crooked in places. Good enough for me, I got what I paid for! My point is that you may want to consider having the actual sewing professionally done. You can look at my finished project and make that call though. |
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