[woodboats]

Well, I have been thinking about seats lately. I can't help it, the look of the solo seat is so appealing on these Bullets, also the twin solo seats.
I do find my stock seat very comfortable so while looks are important comfort is also.
A few questions please:
How do you solo seat owners find the comfort level?
Does the solo seat end up higher than the stock one?
I f you were to pick a solo seat out now is there a perticular seat that you would choose?

I could probably search for some of these answers but what the heck.

[jest2dogs]

I like my tan Deluxe solo but would go for the premium version if I were to do over. It does not have the raised welt as does mine (can dig your leg a little). It comes with real tall springs  (5")which make it sway in the corners and with my 30" inseam it bothered the back of my leg to reach the ground. I replaced these springs with the three inch ones from CMW. Much happier camper now. And my wife likes the sprung pillion from CMW.

My tan solo seat is now two years old and is fading. (It lives under a porch roof on the North side of the house and is covered most of the lousy months, but kept at the ready all the rest of the time.)

I did not like the stock seat because it rubbed on the rear of the fuel tank and, without me adding spacers, would "oil-can" onto the rear fender denting it! Plus the motors vibration was more noticeable in my rear. The solo isolates you a great deal in this area!

-Jesse

[PhilJ]

WB, Jesse gave a lot of good info, however, from my perspective buying a seat is such a personal choice that I feel any advice given pertaining to comfort would be worthless. The reason being we are all so much individuals even similar proportioned people will have a different experience.

I have two friends who are similar build to me that like their solo seats. I bought one with my bike, after the first 600+ miles that beautiful tan deluxe occupies a treasured position on my garage floor.

I afraid the only answer is that "you play the game, you takes your chances".

Phil

[Thumper]

I got the cheaper and larger model with the springs for support that are covered by vinyl. I'd sat on someone else's and found it comfortable so I knew what I was getting into.

It was definitely worth the money. It is comfortable for the kind of riding I do. If I were to ride  over 90 miles then I think I'd look into a different set up.

Unfortunately, it does sit higher than the stock bench seat - over an inch taller.

It has a nasty habit of breaking the support springs but there is a very easy fix for that - and CMW has replaced them free of charge.

Matt

[chris-bartlett]

I have the tan Premium solo seat with 3" springs. Super, super comfy. I am however wanting to replace it with either the black one or the Old Fashioned Lycett-style Solo seat. Anyone have a comfort opinion on that one?

[Slider]

I bought one with my bike, after the first 600+ miles that beautiful tan deluxe occupies a treasured position on my garage floor.

What did you find uncomfortable about it?

[Slider]

I have the tan Premium solo seat with 3" springs. Super, super comfy. I am however wanted to replace it with either the black one or the Old Fashioned Lycett-style Solo seat. Anyone have a comfort opinion on that one?

Chris,
I'm curious about that tank rack. It attaches with suction cups, right? Can it be removed fairly easily, or do you just have to keep yanking until the cups break loose? Do they leave marks on the paint?

[chris-bartlett]

The rack It came with the bike. They're very strong suction cups, but I haven't tried to remove them yet.

[PhilJ]

I bought one with my bike, after the first 600+ miles that beautiful tan deluxe occupies a treasured position on my garage floor.

What did you find uncomfortable about it?

The confinement to one seating position when riding more than 50 miles. maybe a 100 when your fresh. The next day I couldn't go quit 50 before discomfort. When I first sat on one it was great. Keep in mind, this is how it affected me. YMMV

[t120rbullet]

I have the tan Premium solo seat with 3" springs. Super, super comfy. I am however wanted to replace it with either the black one or the Old Fashioned Lycett-style Solo seat. Anyone have a comfort opinion on that one?

I thought it was a working replica of some medieval  torture device.
Looks cool though.
My favorite seat so far has been a rock hard stock 02 seat.

[cyrusb]

I too have a lysette knock off on the floor of my garage. It never felt right even after chopping 1 inch out of the height and sectioning 3 inches out of the width. Damn that thing was big . Stock '05 seat for 3000 miles ,not so bad. It reminds me of a '72 superglide seat, and come to think of it the tank looks like the old 3 gallon superglide tank .

[Billy B.]

   I went with the Lysette style saddle after 50 or so miles with the stock seat. I agree that the stock seat is very superglidish ( can that be a word? )  making me feel like I was all scrunched up.
Many hundred miles later the cover on my seat is showing the outline of the horizontal springs in the cover. Yes it was getting a little bit uncomfortable.
 I was thinking of switching back to the stock seat when I was reading "The Big Book of Biker Movies (page 7) where I saw a picture of Marlon Brando and Mary Murphy sitting next to his Triumph in the park . The seat was the classic British Lysette styled seat with what looked to be an added layer of padding under the cover.  I had an answer to my situation. Period correct too !
I took some carpet padding from a recent honey-do job trimmed to the outline of the seat placed it over the springs and under the cover and now my comfort level is back to a better than new level. Yes the seat sits you up a little from stock but it is nothing that I cannot handle. I am sure that it will settle in time. This will do till I can have the seat professionally recovered this winter to better suit my taste.

[chris-bartlett]

Great tip Billy! Gotta photo? How tall are your springs?

[Billy B.]

Well my springs are about 3 or 3.5 inch. Metric I am sure. I saw where another member complained about the width. My seat is a "knock off" to use the term. the biggest difference I noticed right off when I recieved mine was that the lower part of the frame from the front mount to the rear corner where the spring attaches was straight, not contured like the originals. This makes the seat look gigantic from the top  instead of the neat lines of the seats shape. of course the frame is welded along with being riveted to further complicate things. The lower and top seat frames need to match. I will get around to doing this one of these days.  As for posting pictures. I don't have any right now but will see what i can do in the near future.
All this talk about motorcycles has gotten me thinking that it is time to take a ride.

[Jon]

When I purchased my old 350 the owner had fitted a Lycette style saddle and I
added a traditional "fanny pad" pillion.My second wife complained of near "clitoral
erasure" when riding pillion and I found that the saddle was very uncomfotable
on long runs and also gave an unstable feel to the handling. I fitted a genuine
RE dualseat from the late fifties which was a vast improvement.The current owner
fitted a stock Enfield India dual seat but he is shorter and lighter than me.

[Sam Simons]

Sharp looking bike,Chris!
Billy B's point is a good one......
I'm gonna have to speak up here regarding differences between 'what's shown
and what's delivered',because it's been mentioned more than once recently,and,because I'm still acquiring parts to build a replica of the Hayward's
Scrambler because of this circumstance........
I too have a Lysett 'copy',and I too don't like the straight sides of it versus what
is depicted(in the catalog) and what I see on other RE's.....It ain't the same,and it
does make a difference....
I haven't decided whether to alter the frame to mimic the traditional design,or return it
and get one from Hayward's,Watsonian,etc.,
It ain't the end of the world...but,if the 'devil is in the details',then it's important
to get exactly what you want.....in both comfort and style.

Sam in Indiana

[Spitting Bull]

The Lycett type sprung saddle is a case of style over comfort.  I'm used to it because I never owned a bike  which didn't have that type of seat.  I immediately fitted one to my Bullet.  Recently, though, my daughter has wanted to ride out with me so I put the dualseat back on.  I don't think it looks as good, but have to admit it is much more comfortable.

Tom