lyric911
New member
First, the pictures:
I ordered a type 1 deluxe seat. All fabric is "sel003". Gold 3cm stitch, FZ8 logo, and tuning fork on the rear seat. I'm a tall dude, so I opted for the long seat. Also got the gel insert front and rear. I chose to let them provide the seat pans so that my stock seat would remain usable should I need to revert for some reason.
Looks: The seat is gorgeous. That's really all I can say. It looks way better than stock and way better than the Corbin. Those are the only seats I've seen in person, so I can't compare them to anything else.
The stitching on the logo and tuning forks is excellent. Time will tell how well they hold up, but for now it looks awesome.
Ordering process: Their website isn't the best, and the ordering process is a bit cumbersome because of it. The seat configurator only populates a rough drawing of the seat, so knowing what your end product will look like is a bit of a mystery unless there seats similar to your chosen configuration already on the site.
Since they are a French company, you have to pay in Euros, so be sure to check your conversion rate before you order. That number is not dollars.
Lastly, post order you really don't get any feedback on the process or when your seat will ship. Just someday 8-15 days in the future, you'll get a notification that the seat has shipped.
Unboxing: I understand why they do it. In the seat shaping process they likely have more scrap foam than they know what to do with. Unfortunately, they use it loose in the box as packing material. It's a dusty mess. The seat is wrapped in a plastic bag, but I still got the dust all over my garage.
Installation: Before the seat can be installed, you must migrate all the rubber stoppers from your stock seat to the TS seat. Not a big deal. Just have to be sure to take your time while removing and inserting them so that you don't tear them. Also have to move the rubber stoppers from the screw holes and also the sleeves that insert into them.
Once the stoppers are on, the front seat slips into position exactly like the factory seat - it's on a Yamaha factory pan after all. The hard part comes with tightening the screws. The TS seat is unbelievably less flexible than the stock seat. It makes it quite difficult to get the screws lined up and tightened. I had to use needle nose pliers in one hand and downward pressure with the other to get the screws started. Once they were started, I could then tighten with a hex key. I hope I don't have to remove this thing very frequently.
The rear seat is a little more difficult to insert than stock, but only barely. This is because the seats are butted up against each other and you have to compress the front seat to lock in the rear, which isn't required on the stock seat.
Comfort: One word. Wow. I rode for about 130 miles last night for the maiden voyage of the new seat. It was about a 65 mile trip to look at a bike and then back. On the way down, I only started to get comfortable about 10 minutes away from the destination. On the stock seat, I'd have been uncomfortable about 25 miles in - and nearly regretting the ride after about 45. On the way home, discomfort set in a bit quicker, but not by much. I'd imagine that once the seat is broken in that it'll get even more comfortable. Also, my girlfriend said, and I quote, "Your girlfriend's ass likes the new seat."
Can't think of anything else at the moment. Questions/comments?
I ordered a type 1 deluxe seat. All fabric is "sel003". Gold 3cm stitch, FZ8 logo, and tuning fork on the rear seat. I'm a tall dude, so I opted for the long seat. Also got the gel insert front and rear. I chose to let them provide the seat pans so that my stock seat would remain usable should I need to revert for some reason.
Looks: The seat is gorgeous. That's really all I can say. It looks way better than stock and way better than the Corbin. Those are the only seats I've seen in person, so I can't compare them to anything else.
The stitching on the logo and tuning forks is excellent. Time will tell how well they hold up, but for now it looks awesome.
Ordering process: Their website isn't the best, and the ordering process is a bit cumbersome because of it. The seat configurator only populates a rough drawing of the seat, so knowing what your end product will look like is a bit of a mystery unless there seats similar to your chosen configuration already on the site.
Since they are a French company, you have to pay in Euros, so be sure to check your conversion rate before you order. That number is not dollars.
Lastly, post order you really don't get any feedback on the process or when your seat will ship. Just someday 8-15 days in the future, you'll get a notification that the seat has shipped.
Unboxing: I understand why they do it. In the seat shaping process they likely have more scrap foam than they know what to do with. Unfortunately, they use it loose in the box as packing material. It's a dusty mess. The seat is wrapped in a plastic bag, but I still got the dust all over my garage.
Installation: Before the seat can be installed, you must migrate all the rubber stoppers from your stock seat to the TS seat. Not a big deal. Just have to be sure to take your time while removing and inserting them so that you don't tear them. Also have to move the rubber stoppers from the screw holes and also the sleeves that insert into them.
Once the stoppers are on, the front seat slips into position exactly like the factory seat - it's on a Yamaha factory pan after all. The hard part comes with tightening the screws. The TS seat is unbelievably less flexible than the stock seat. It makes it quite difficult to get the screws lined up and tightened. I had to use needle nose pliers in one hand and downward pressure with the other to get the screws started. Once they were started, I could then tighten with a hex key. I hope I don't have to remove this thing very frequently.
The rear seat is a little more difficult to insert than stock, but only barely. This is because the seats are butted up against each other and you have to compress the front seat to lock in the rear, which isn't required on the stock seat.
Comfort: One word. Wow. I rode for about 130 miles last night for the maiden voyage of the new seat. It was about a 65 mile trip to look at a bike and then back. On the way down, I only started to get comfortable about 10 minutes away from the destination. On the stock seat, I'd have been uncomfortable about 25 miles in - and nearly regretting the ride after about 45. On the way home, discomfort set in a bit quicker, but not by much. I'd imagine that once the seat is broken in that it'll get even more comfortable. Also, my girlfriend said, and I quote, "Your girlfriend's ass likes the new seat."
Can't think of anything else at the moment. Questions/comments?
