Least expensive seat cushion that works for long hours in the saddle

Air Hawks are little pricey, most other that purport to alleviate butt burn on long hauls don't work and are a waste of money.

Any members that have found their own "best" solutions for the subject without breaking the bank?

This would be for a 2012 r1200GS

Thanks

I have found that for "long hours in the saddle" the problem is more difficult that just the cover material, it is also the shape and support offered. "Long hours" means different things to diferent people as well. For some it is four hours. I have twice ridden 32 hours straight and often ride over 12 per day. That is why every time I buy a bike Russell sells a heated leather seat. It has happened eleven times in nearly thirty years. So, when I consider the price of a bike, I always factor in the Russell expense as part of the price. I don't ride bikes to endure agony.

Having said all that, the only relief I have ever gotten from a cover (while waiting for my Russell build date) was a thick REAL sheepskin cover from Alaska Leather. Air Hawk, nope. Most people over-inflate an Air Hawk, but even correctly inflated it didn't do anything for me and I didn't like the lack of connectedness of rider to machine. Bead-rider a bit of improvement. But none of that corrects the shape of the seat.

Good luck with your search.









And, reaching back to 1992...

Thanks Lee, I've ridden one sheepskin many years ago and it was a good solution on the K100rs. I'll check their webpage this morning.

I have twice ridden 32 hours straight...

Wow. That's beyond "iron butt". More like a road warrior deity

brownie0486 said:

Thanks Lee, I've ridden one sheepskin many years ago and it was a good solution on the K100rs. I'll check their webpage this morning.

Click to expand...

Someone elsewhere suggested these as a solution-- thoughts from members?

https://motoskiveez.com/

1957mpd said:

I have twice ridden 32 hours straight...

Wow. That's beyond "iron butt". More like a road warrior deity

Click to expand...

More like necessity in one case and stupidity in the other. One event in November of 2016 was when the transmission in my R100RS was knackered while I was in Maine. It was brutal to shift and I feared imminent total failure. So to avoid shifting caused by stops for traffic and construction, I hatched a plan to ride interstate overnight back to Georgia. The time stretch was caused by heavy rain through the northeast and into dense fog in Virginia (15 mph with flashers on) to no gas in North Carolina because of a gas pipeline explosion in Alabama. Comedy of errors.

The earlier event started out as an Iron Butt run and I left at 4PM planning to drive all night (escaping summer heat and traffic) and as far as I could into the next day. When I felt good the next AM (other than a groggy stretch at about 4AM) I just kept on going until late the following evening. I drove from Georgia to Council Bluffs, IA and then west the full length of Nebraska and on to Casper, WO. That one was delayed by a wreck with fatalities on I-29 that I stopped to help with. I slept the entire next day away. Someone from the motel desk came to check on me that afternoon to see if I had expired.

But, again singing the praises of a good seat, sore arse was never a cause for a stop. I just do standing knee bends occasionally for circulation.

brownie0486 said:

Someone elsewhere suggested these as a solution-- thoughts from members?

https://motoskiveez.com/

Click to expand...

More an "aid" than a "solution". I use them and they are helpful. They are more supportive than LDComfort, which I am also a fan of. Pay attention to sizing. If sized correctly (read: not too large for you) they work well. I also add a good dusting of this...

http://www.bismoline.com/buying/index.html

My wife was a hospice nurse and Bismoline was known in the trade to be the magic for helping to prevent decubitis ulcers in bed-ridden patients.

If you really want to get creepy and hard-core, this stuff helps.

https://www.bagbalm.com/tried-and-true-uses/tried-and-true-uses-cycling

https://www.bagbalm.com/shop

With the exception of the K1200LT, all stock BMW seats have been fine for me with the best seat being on my '04 RT.
The '06 Oil-head GSA was about perfect too and I only modified the mounting position of the seat on my current '17 RT as it was forcing me to slide forward but the seat itself is actually just fine.

Having tried a custom seat, sheepskin, Airhawk and Bead-rider beads, i found the latter has, and still does, work the best for me as it allows ventilation. You also need to move around on our seat a bit and change your position form time to time. Also when I stop for gas and food, I stretch and flex and it helps as well. YMMV

PS: above all stay away from cotton underwear unless you like monkeybutt..

More than you want to know, but....

Lee's suggestions address two "rider's butt" challenges - the combined effect of (1) hot spots which cannot "breathe," and (2) trapped moisture, which over time can lead to rashes, skin infection and to get really gross, boils. Road race bicyclists deal with the same challenges. Garments that pull moisture, e.g. sweat, away from the body and things like Bismoline, a talc powder containing Borax, a mildly acidic, astringent anti-fungal, can help, but clean garments and skin are equally important, especially in hot weather. (In the Tour de France and similar events, team personnel wash their rider's kit, in separate washing machines, every night, to avoid any cross-contamination. Really.) I've tried various products made by Under Armor, but so far have not been impressed by their moisture wicking performance so I'm searching for better technology. I learned a long time ago not to wear cotton anything next to my skin in the summer. It just becomes soaked and a petri dish for bacterial growth. Yuck. One benefit of sheepskin seat covers in hot weather is their ability to let air "circulate" under a rider in addition to conveying away moisture. My guess is most of ya'll already know all of this, but if it helps one person, I'm fine with that.

brownie0486 said:

Someone elsewhere suggested these as a solution-- thoughts from members?

https://motoskiveez.com/

Click to expand...

I went on a web safari looking for reviews of this product. This one is complementary and more important, specific. I'm going to give them a try because my rear end is the only thing that makes me quit riding after about 400 miles; the rest of me could ride twice that.

https://2ridetheworld.com/gear/moto-skiveez

1957mpd said:

I went on a web safari looking for reviews of this product. This one is complementary and more important, specific. I'm going to give them a try because my rear end is the only thing that makes me quit riding after about 400 miles; the rest of me could ride twice that.

https://2ridetheworld.com/gear/moto-skiveez

Click to expand...

I have two pair of these and 2 pair of their socks on order presently. Will taking them on the long trip in 3 weeks. They can only help, and I don't have need of a pad on the seat to keep track off. They can be washed by hand in a stream and dry very quickly [ overnight or even while riding in them from the reviews ].