That is the problem with buying a sports classification bike and doing long[touring] distances, tourers tend to have better padding on the seats Without making drastic mods you could have the grade of foam changed in the saddle as a cheaper option

Any recommendation on makes??

Having looked into cycling shorts (fnarrr :lol: ) a bit, I suspect there's a whole lot of label snobbery about, and in reality they're all made in one of a handful of sweat-shops in Indonesia or China anyway.

(ermm.......cycling shorts, sweat-shops, no.............. [-X )

ive got a gel seat and it makes long distance riding bearable.

i found it was lower than normal seat or maybe narrower but certainly not higher as i can only reach ground with the ball of one foot on sv a higher seat would have been a no no

Well, the trip went fine. Here's what I settled for in the end:

Minutes to go before departure (having completely forgotten about the seat padding in the rush) and frantically looking under the stairs for my touring maps, I came across my girlfriend's "cushtie". It's basically a pillow sized stretchy sack, containing very fine beads. I'd not seen the point of one before; not really much use as a pillow as you tend to "sink" through the beads and end up with your head on just the fabric. Similarly they're a bit too hard (when you sit on them) for use as a household cushion.

On a bike though, it's superb. My gf's one (now mine- I've promised to buy her a new, prettier one) was black so it doesn't even look too bad on the bike. Very, very comfy - I managed an 8 hour trip with no discomfort at all. It does add about 1 1/2" to the seat height though, so shorter riders may need to consider this.

As an aside, I really liked the higher seat height. Worth it for being able to see the speedo over my expanded tank bag without leaning forwards at all, but the extra view over the top of cars etc. was superb. I also got much less cramp in my legs as a result of being perched higher up. Maybe a trailie or supermoto might be a good idea for next bike... :-k :twisted:

On the downside, I imagine it'd take a fairly long time to dry, if it got soaked. Also, after about half an hour's riding (particularly if you hang off like a loon) I found it had shifted about enough that I needed to reposition it.

I'll still look into more permanent solutions/alternatives, but for now, this is a great temporary measure and I'd recommend it to anyone who makes long trips, but not often enough to warrant the cost of a gel seat.

Ah long distance riding.

When I rode to the south of spain last year I was expecting arseacheitus (technical term) to be a problem, especially as I was too lazy to do anything about sorting extra padding.

In the end I found it was my arms and legs that ached more than anything else.

Got such a bad ache from standard seat I fell off the fence and got a corbin saddle (£150 quid ebay) -
covered 2600 miles in 9 days (UK - France - Spain) and didn't have any discomfort in the rear end, class bit of kit.

I bought a seat cover from these peeps
http://www.alaskaleather.com/index.html

Just a note following on from the above discussion.

I did a bit of searching and eventually got a pair of Lusso Coolmax cycling shorts (plenty of "best buy" recommendations etc) from
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/?source=roadcyclingUK1
(they had a discount offer on when I bought).

The pad* is bigger than in some others, which is ideal for motorcycle use. They seem well made, still pricey at £30ish but you pays your money and takes your choice. Sizing is exactly what it says, I normally take 32/33 waist but decided to go for next size up (L=33-34) so they wouldn't be tight, and they are definitely looser than you'd use for cycling but allow boxers to be worn underneath (cut down need to wash them quite so often). Cyclists wear them next to skin.......... :oops:

I've only done a few hundred miles in them so far, but both on the SV and the Deauville they are nice and comfy and so far I haven't had the "tight skin" syndrome I usually get after a couple of hours. Seems very promising. :thumbsup:

* If you haven't seen cycling shorts, they have what looks exactly like a bicycle saddle cover made of foamy stuff sewn into the seating area. Feel a bit odd to begin with but once seated on the bike they're comfy-comfy.

Re: Long trip seat "softening" needed fairly urgently!
 

Sorry to necro thread but does anyone else have a good cycling short recommendation? I've got the suzuki gel seat but still get pain :/

Re: Long trip seat "softening" needed fairly urgently!
 

Bit of an update on the original post. For the 2 years after this, I'd regularly been riding even longer distances, in the same type of textiles. I just seemed to get used to it and can ride 400 miles+, stopping only for fuel without a sore backside. I can't see myself getting a comfier seat for the SV during the SV's remaining lifespan although I might consider one on my next bike.