Tony Archer Seat

One thing that I find is literally a pain in the arse, is the seat on the Tiger. It seems fine at first. But, after about an hour of riding, or 60 or so miles I start to do the numb bum shuffle!
This is not so good on a motorcycle capable of covering big mileages in a day. And, as I am planning to go on a few long touring trips this year I needed to do something about the seat. The seat foam is too soft and compresses once it gets warm from sitting on it for a while. I would also prefer the seat profile to be flattened off, and made slightly wider in places. There is a plastic lip on the back edge of the seat, and a lack of padding on the bottom edge of the side of the seat. I can feel these bits of the seat starting to bite me after a few miles.

I knew what I wanted, and I knew the man for the job. I have used Tony Archer to reshape and cover a number of motorcycle seats in the past. His work is always top quality, and he has a way of making seats more usable for me. He has also worked he magic on a few other Tiger 800 seats with good results.

Not wanting to use the existing seat on my bike for the modifications ( so it is easier to put back to standard when it is time to sell it ), I bought a used seat from a fellow member of the Tiger 800 forum, http://www.tiger800.co.uk/index.php  and went to see Tony to discuss what I wanted him to do.

About a week later I received the seat back from Tony. It looked amazing. So, it was off with the original seat, and on with the new one. Instantly the seat looked higher, flatter, and wider in all the areas I had asked for. The seat had also been covered in a nice anti-slip tactile waterproof vinyl fabric.

 

 

 

 

The seat is instantly much more comfortable. The flatter profile of the main seating area really makes a difference. The added padding on the rear and sides of the seat help to keep me sat in a more centralised position too. There has been about an extra inch of padding added all over the seat. This means that when the new seat is in the lower setting, it  feels about the same as the original one in the higher setting. I will try it on the lower setting for a while. But , it gives me the option of a little more legroom adjustment if I need it. It could be a bit interesting when stopping at junctions etc though, as I am not the tallest of men.