I thought I might share some recent experience with seat problems. A look at the following pictures will help you to understand the issues. I have relatively short legs and suffer from arthritis in the hips. When riding for about an hour, I suffer from pain and severe cramping in the right hip and thigh. All day rides or even a few hours are out of the question, although I can tolerate trips around town with frequent stops.



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You can see from the pictures that there are two issues:
1) seat height - I'm up on the balls of my feet with the existing Corbin touring seat
2) seating position - The seat height problem is exaggerated because I'm directly over the foot pegs so I have to reach past them to the ground. Seating slightly back would allow me to place my feet behind the pegs. Also, with the hip problems, I have limited lateral movement of my legs (the closer I can keep my knees together, the more comfortable for me - go easy on the jokes please). As I slide forward on the seat, the more I have to straddle the fuel tank, the more uncomfortable.

I should add that I also ride an F800 GS which has a narrower seat ( 3 inches narrower) and 2-3 inches narrower spread at the knees, therefore much more comfortable for me.

I thought the solution might be a Russell Day-Long seat which would be more comfortable for me and allow me to take longer trips. I did my research and browsed the endless debates about seats. Russell emphasizes a personal fit and their order system requires measurements, weights and pictures of the rider on their existing seat. I completed the order and within half an hour I received a phone call from them in California. Their rep had already reviewed the order and the pics and wanted to make me aware of potential issues. Russell's strategy is to provide the rider with a seat that will be comfortable for hours of riding. In order to do this, they build a suspension into the seat that will add about 1 1/2 inches of seat height. In my case, this would put me beyond tippy toes when standing astride the bike. Although they would like the business, it was clear that it would be a problem for me, so we agreed to cancel the order. I certainly appreciated their honesty to avoid providing something that could be less than satisfactory for me. It was clear that they had previous experience with this as an issue with the K100s and mentioned the R1200 GS as another model with similar issues for some people.

I will be looking at various solutions for my problem and keep everyone advised if I find a good fix.

Hi g35corona,

Don't you envy those middle aged guys who can just keep riding without too much discomfort.
I have a fused right hip since the age of 7 and have subsequently worn out my left one. I've been working around this for 40 years of riding but have decided that with a 20 minute riding range and silly pain levels I have called a hopefully temporary halt to riding.

I have a very rear set right foot peg with mechanical brake linkage and a lowered and forward left foot peg. I have raised my seat to 840mm (I'm 181cm 5'11"). I have also raised my bars slightly. I also use an air hawk for longer rides.

I know these aches and pain issues are very individual, but I have been thinking about seat narrowing. I have sat on a F650 twin and found the seat narrowness an advantage (although many "normal" riders think it's a plank). I am thinking of trimming a K100 seat base above the side covers to narrow it, but maybe putting in some elastic into the seat cover sides to maintain a relatively normal appearance. When you sit on the bike your inner thighs can compress the sides of the cover. This should only be limited by the frame rails. That's the theory anyway.

Best of luck with your experimenting.
Cheers, dee why

don't suffer any medical problems yet but i am vertically challenged 5'6
i got a rear shock that was 15mm shorter(2nd hand) pushed my forks up through the triple by the same amount (free) used handle bar risers(free but about $20- 30) and had an upholsterer reshape my seat narrower and lower($150) even modified the centre stand so it still works
this worked for me might give you somethings to to think about

My wife rides the k75 and we used a 30mm shorter shock dropped the forks about the same and put a low profile rear wheel on it and it is a low seat model. Now it is 65mm lower than a standard K100 or K75. conering clearance is a bit limited but not real bad and she rides it with a bit more confidence. It is still a bit heavy but I said I will tie lots of heilium filled balloons to it (she didn't say anything just gave me that look).