Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Custom Corner Fitting a Gel-Pad Seat Insert.

When I first bought my America I found myself suffering from the numb-bum syndrome after as little as 100 kilometres.
Decided to fit a gel-pad and this is how I did it.

You will need:
A Gel-pad (eBay)
Some upholstery spray-glue.
A sheet of 1/2 inch foam.
An angle-grinder.
A screwdriver.
An electric stapler.

Remove seat and then remove the vinyl cover. A flat-blade screwdriver works well on the staples but take care not to damage the vinyl.



Mark out the area for the pad and remove the foam to allow the pad to sit into the foam. I also removed some of the back part of the foam to give a more 'sit-in' feel. An angle-grinder works really well to do this but take great care and remove a little at a time.

Secure the Gel-Pad with a small amount of upholstery glue then cover the whole seat pad with thin foam sheet. This foam smooths out any 'edges' when you replace the vinyl.



Stretch back on the vinyl cover and staple the edges neatly under the seat making sure that it is central to the seat and the stitching is neat around the edges.



Works really well and the difference is well worth the effort.

Gary.

Very nice job. I had a local upholstery guy do the same thing to my seat. He also shaved off an inch on the bottom and it's so comfortable, plus it's lower and that's great.

I did the same thing, but there is one major downside. The gel pad is like a heat sink in the summer. A few hours in the sun and that pad is hot enough to set your butt on fire. There is no place to park my bike in the shade at my office and rides home it's pretty brutal unless I throw something over the seat. The gel is comfortable, but I never found a way to overcome the heat issue.

If someone decides to go this route, an installation tip is to put baby powder on the gel pad during installation. The pad is real sticky but the powder takes that away.

I used a Saddleman brand pad from JC Whitney, which was a good bit cheaper than from the Saddleman site.

Good point, well made. They do get hot if left uncovered in the sun. The good thing is that really high temperatures are extremely rare in Europe.

My pad was covered in a micro-thin plastic and therefore not sticky. The seller suggested that if it needed cutting to shape use 'cling-film' to cover the 'sticky bits'

.

Here is how to keep the heat off your arse. and they will do it for you as well if you want.

http://www.knoplace.com/Gel_Pad_Installation.html

http://www.knoplace.com/index.html

Im sending my Corbin to them at the end of this season.

I need to add another layer over the gel, that would do the trick. Good reminder to me, I've been saying that for three years, than bitching about the hot seat in July...

Quote:

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Here is how to keep the heat off your arse. and they will do it for you as well if you want.

http://www.knoplace.com/Gel_Pad_Installation.html

http://www.knoplace.com/index.html

Im sending my Corbin to them at the end of this season.

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