Touratech Comfort Seat brought from Rugged Roads.
When it comes to comfort the stock seeds is not one of the things that needs some help, and from day one I have been looking at ways to resolve this.
On my previous Africa Twin I went to a local upholsterer who replaced the foam and put three layers of memory foam to pad it out which worked really well and at a great cost (£100 for front and back). This time I wanted to go for a seat that was pre-made so I was able to keep the original, so if I ever sold the bike the seller would see and be able to decide what worked best for them.
After researching seats there are a few names that popped up and the touratech one was one of the bigger names on that list and the bonus was my local dealer rugged roads had one in stock so after a quick trip down and £450 later, my new seats was fitted and a test ride was on the way, they arranged for my old seat to be posted back to me to save me having to take it with me, I do prefer having a single seat compared to separates as this is a single seat unit. Initially, it was hard fitting the new seat on the bike, I needed a reassuring push to make it click into place.
Having the new seat fitted and plenty of free time for the day I decided to clock up 200+ miles on a trip up to Cheddar Gorge to test the seat out. First impressions were that the seat is most certainly higher than the stock seat, which was odd as the seat was a standard height version (they offer higher and lower version too), thou this wasn’t a bad thing as I do prefer being higher up, but it did mean I had to readjust my mirrors and also adjust my suspension, it also did feel firmer but also wider which made it more comfortable. After about half an hour in the seats, It started to feel a bit more natural and made the trip up a lot more pleasant and by a time I got back home it felt as I’ve been using this seat since day one of owning my bike.
After now a month or so of having the seat fitted and a few thousand miles now clocked up on it I can say its really is a large improvement over the stock version, also the cover seems more harder warning too, would I say price wise was it worth the upgrade, maybe no… having the previous version bike and having that seat upholstered the comfort is pretty close, but that only cost me £100 and a day without the bike. The touratech seat has a lot going for it over having it custom foam placed into the stock seat, being that it pre-made, a single seat unit, better looking, more hard warming, and comes with a warranty, but does come with the price, having already brought a couple of touratech items for my bike (Crash Bars & GPS Mount) it does match better for my personal taste as I do prefer to stick to what brands work and lets face it Touratech is a known brand in the adventure bike market, and having a local stockist that make sure your happy with any products from them and outstanding customer support when needed always is the piece of mind side that you know is worth the extra.
The seat is no question better than the stock, its a huge improvement but does give you a lot for your money, but if you are wanting to keep the cost down then I would say a local upholsterer could be the better solution for you for a cheap stock upgrade, I do not regret the extra money I spent on this, as said it was for other reasons I decided it was the right call for me, and I do enjoy the added comfort every time I now ride my bike.
