I'm not positive that my new Saddlemen seat will be here in time for my upcoming trip. J&P has a Saddlemen "saddlegel" seat pad that I can have in time for my trip to supplement the stock seat. Does anybody have experience with one?

 

I use Air-Hawk, it helps a lot on long rides.

 

Seats are a tough call. For me, stock seats just suck and I don't like the gel pads at all. With that said, the Harley ventilator pads are excellent for me. It made the stock seat on my Fat Boy rideable for 200ish miles. With the ventilator pad on my Corbin seat I can go all day. The ventilator pads don't add any significant padding, so they don't add any height or width either, but they do seem to add a little cushion and most importantly, they prevent swamp ***.

What part of Texas are you in? If you are anywhere close I'll let you try a ventilator.

 

not that brand, but did buy a quality gel-pad (don't remember the brand, but was a $100 dollar bill w/tax)
Loved it right from the get-go
bought an Airhawk a few weeks later just to see if it was better

I hated the Airhawk at first (it took forever before I finally got the air amount dialed in just right for me)
Once that accomplished, I like it plenty good too


I really can't say one is better than the other as far as comfort (both are good) or being hot in summer (both are too)

the only ding I give the Airhawk, it has to be strapped to seat or it falls off when I dismount .
also just slight breeze will blow if off the bike when you're not on it.
The gelpad is much heavier and stays put without straps when I get off and on
and takes a 20+ MPH gust to blow it off the bike

..L.T.A.

 

I saw those and was curious about them, I take it you like yours, can you tell me more about them from a first hand experience angle?


I'll look into those as well, thank you for the offer. I'm in Austin for now, heading West in a couple of years

 

I was having difficulty deciding on a new seat, so I grabbed an Airhawk from Amazon last week. $89+ tax.

Before I had it, at about 120-130 miles my butt was killing me. Tailbone was sore and the 'soft tissues' getting numb and aching.

Put the Airhawk on and did 200 miles last Saturday and no pain, no numbing, no aches. And I haven't really spent enough time to really dial in the air pressure. So chances are I get get it even more comfortable.

So color me a believer. And hundreds of $ cheaper than a new seat. Yes, it requires straps to secure it, but once it's installed, well, it's good to go. Haven't touched it since I put it on.

Just my $.02,
Michael

 

I tried a gel-pad several years back, don't remember the brand. It was just ok in my opinion. May have just been a lemon but it busted somehow on a trip without me noticing when it happened. I pulled in for a fuel stop, my pants were ruined and there was goop all over the seat, side, and exhaust. that was the end of gel-pads for me.

I had one of the original Neoprene Air Hawk pads and loved it after I got the amount of air right. It finally walked away and I bought a replacement which is now made of PU material. I still haven't got it dialed in just quite right, it works ok but I liked the Neoprene much better.

 

For what this is worth, I have a bizarre seat setup on my RKC.
I have a large aftermarket seat that I cut way down (as I'm short 5'7") .....then installed a gel pad in on top of the cut down foam, THEN I installed the bladder only portion of a blood pressure cuff on top of the gel. It's just a large, flat (when deflated) air bladder with a bulb to pump it up and a valve to release. Kinda like this:
BP Cuff bladder
I have some ultra thin foam padding in there between layers. I did that as I read that seat gel can get super hot in the summer sun.

I like the gel. I find it makes a noticeable, but relatively minor difference. It was a $90 sheet of the saddlemen gel. Again, it's UNDER the cover (not on top)

At times I will pump up the bladder, and find hour to hour adjusting the air pressure up or down, just kinda "depending"

Last year after the seat was cut down, but before installing the gel I had tried the bladder sittin on top of the seat for a whole summer and it worked "OK", so the 2nd time I took my seat apart, I installed it permanently INSIDE the seat. I didn't get it oriented
perfectly, (sits a smidge too far forward, so the 3rd time I have the seat apart, I'll push it more to the back....near the backrest "area" of my aftermarket seat for more support. (nearer to the small of my back/tailbone_)

I will say, it's an interesting sensation pumping yourself up on an inch of air....but I don't find it's comfortable over the long haul. After a while you can't tell you're sitting on an air bubble (maybe my butt is asleep?) and it just feels hard-ish. If you make the bubble too big, it'll frig up your balance during turns...especially slow speed manoevers. Also, for shorter riders like me....if you have it pumped way up and forget, and plant your feet at a stop sign, sometimes the road is not there, so I always remember to reach back and let air out if I am coming into a town.

My post kinda rambled on there..

I think I'll end it here.

Hope you fellas found it of some use. I really should've started my own thread bestowing the good/bad and the ugly of doing this to a seat. Maybe next summer.

 

I’m another satisfied air hawk user. I have a Harley hammock seat, but after 300 miles or so I was feeling uncomfortable. I bought an air hawk to give it a try. I just returned from a 1500 mile trip. The air hawk pad was terrific. I rode all day and was comfortable the entire time. For long trips, it’s a must have for me.

 

Just grabbed an Air Hawk, hopefully my new seat will be here before then but if not I've got plan B, maybe even plan C if I use the AH with the new seat


ETA:
Thank you all for the replies and suggestions, as I've stated before this whole bagger thing is new to me and y'all are making it a lot easier to learn