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Seat Grip?


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I have been wondering if a gripper seat would help with feeling "locked on the bike" during cornering.

 

My seat is very slippery on the F4i. Although I can lock my outside leg into the tank and love my Stompgrips and rearsets, I feel like I could use some addidtional under-butt grip. I am tempted to try something like a sheet of black Con-Tact (think shelf liner) over the OEM seat cover.

 

Aftermarket seat cover options for my bike are almost non-existent. I suppose I could take it to an upholsterer, but that would probably cost a good bit.

 

The slidey seat does make transitions easier, though. Pulling back across with the leg requires almost no butt lift and it keeps the bike from getting upset.

 

 

Any ideas?

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I have been wondering if a gripper seat would help with feeling "locked on the bike" during cornering.

 

My seat is very slippery on the F4i. Although I can lock my outside leg into the tank and love my Stompgrips and rearsets, I feel like I could use some addidtional under-butt grip. I am tempted to try something like a sheet of black Con-Tact (think shelf liner) over the OEM seat cover.

 

Aftermarket seat cover options for my bike are almost non-existent. I suppose I could take it to an upholsterer, but that would probably cost a good bit.

 

The slidey seat does make transitions easier, though. Pulling back across with the leg requires almost no butt lift and it keeps the bike from getting upset.

 

 

Any ideas?

 

Something really simple and non-damaging to apply is a product made for horseback riding called Saddle Stick. It is a wax-like material that makes leather tackier, helping leather boots grip better on leather saddles. It can be used on other materials. It works great to make your bike seat less slick, and can be cleaned off if you don't like it. It's a good way to try improving the grip without making any permanent or damaging changes.

 

It looks like the stuff I have used in the past is now called Sekur-grip:

http://www.sekur-grip.com/

 

Or, you can go to a foam seat - just buy seat foam and shape it yourself, it can be cut to fit then sanded for final shaping, this is what we do for racing. It can be applied instead of your seat (if there is a decent mounting surface) or maybe you can paste it over your OEM seat. This is what I use:

http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/miscpages/foam.htm

 

Here's a tip from experience - don't use anything too abrasive to make your seat sticker - I tried a grip tape on a seat once and it abraded and damaged my leathers.

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I have a friend that used stomp grip material on the seat of her HP4 to give her more grip. She seemed pleased with the result.

 

I had a track bike for a while that had a very slippery seat and I used foam on top of an original seat base to build a new seat. It worked rather well even if it was far from being pretty.

 

IMG_7904.JPG

 

I'll second what Hotfoot says about grippy materials and leathers. This is what the "sand paper like" BMW race seat looks like after some aggressive riding with white leathers.

 

IMG_9105.JPG

 

For comparison. Here's what the race seat looks like new on a 2nd bike that did not see as much track time.

 

IMG_0637.JPG

 

The material the BMW seat is made out of does not damage your leathers as much as grip tape but just the amount of white dye left on it makes it probably not good for them in the long haul. It's pretty awesome though as it really holds you in place when you need it to.

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Well, I had remnants of a can of plasti-dip lying around and figured what the heck. I used some rubbing alcohol and a scotch-brite pad to get the seat extra clean and layered it on the front. It's almost too grippy, but I like it. Surprisingly, it's only worn through on a small part of the right side after 100 miles or so. I can only assume it was thin there. For 6 or so bucks a can I can respray it when it no longer grips. I don't really care about the looks so long as the function is there.

 

 

wJzIfBB.jpg

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