Ducati Monster Forum

 So I bought a Sargent seat because I was sick of sore butt from longer rides. When I got the seat I was blown away at the quality. It's a beautiful product. I put it on my bike and sat on it and really enjoyed the comfort ... What I didn't like was that I could now only get my toes down! I'm 5'8" and could get my feet flat with the stock seat.  I contemplated a bunch of options. I even contacted Sargent about cutting down the seat. They were very nice but said it couldn't be done. ... Honestly I don't think he understood what I needed. Because I'm short, I tend to sit close to the tank. The Sargent ads a huge hump of foam near the front. The front "nose" of the seat actually comes up about 2 inches above the indented line of the tank. The shape is intended to move you back away from the tank. Comfortable for taller riders, but for me it meant a huge reach to the bars. What to do??? This is a $365 seat!!

The remainder of the seat was great, I just needed more of a straight nose without the rise.

Sooooo .... I began to pull staples .... folded back the cover. The cover is actually atached to the foam at the rear rise of the seat, so that is as far as I could go.

There's a Saran-Wrap-like waterproof plastic over the foam that I peeled back . I then used a kitchen bread knife to shave off about 1.5 inches off the front nose of the seat. Basically I wanted the nose to meet the top of the tank at the original indent. This would give me the height I needed. I also shaved a bit off the sides ... The Sargent is wider than stock too.

After the major cuts were made I used 150 grit sandpaper to smooth everything down. This took MUCH longer than I thought. And I actually had to go back and do it again. Any bumps or waves will show through like a chick with cellulite in spandex. After I got the shape and finish looking good, I used spray adhesive to adhere Saran-Wrap over the top of the foam.

Here was the thing I didn't expect. The seat pan is made of a very strong plastic. My power staple gun would not drive staples in! I even bought the most powerful stapler I could find ... nothing, It just bent the staples over! Soooo, I called up a local upholstery shop and they offered to staple the cover back on ... I went down and met a young guy who, happens to own a Monster! He did a great job attaching the cover.

To wrap this up ... The seat is great. Looks like new. Super comfortable, and I can get alomost flat footed on the ground.

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  Good job! [thumbsup]
No way would i take a knife to a sargent seat without lots of practice.

Well done.  [thumbsup]

My dad had to do the same thing for his stock SV650 seat so my sister could ride it.  I don't think a lot of people realize that they can change the seat they have to fit them more comfortably.  If you've sat on a corbin seat how would you compare the two?  I have had a corbin seat for over a year and I've been told it needs to be broken in but the corbin is still very stiff and not as comfortable as I would expect from an aftermarket seat.

awesome!  i am thinking about tweaking my sargent too, i feel that it is too wide at the front.  it sorta pushes my legs apart and forces me to actually have to put effort into griping the tank with my knees. 

thanks for the write up, good info about re-stapling. 

Ballsy!! [clap] on a job well done.

All I can say is that you have a set of bowling balls man.  Looks really good.  Nice job.

Hmm, is that why I couldn't get my feet flat on the ground?

Yep, that settles it - that's a mod for later this summer [thumbsup]

Awesome! That's what I'm talking about. I'm actually surprised that I couldn't find more examples of seat customizing. When I looked for others who had tweaked their Corbin or Sargent, I found nothing.

Honestly, this is the same crew that will hack the arse-end of their motorcycle off without remorse. Why is cutting into a $350 seat so ballsy? Nevermind that I was chick-s*** to do it for several days before I did it  [roll]

Is your real name Norman ;D


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Just kidding - Nice work on the seat being almost 5'8" I know where you're coming from

Nice job. Very clean and it looks like it came that way.

Did you consider lowering the bike before cutting up the seat?

Personally I would cut up a seat before lowering a bike.

Definitely a ballsy move to perform surgery on a brandy new seat but it looks great and you got the seat you wanted. Great job!

I'm glad to hear it. I've got a 2000Sie with the origional seat and I SWEAR that this is the year. I was leaning toward the Sargeant seat. Now I'm leaning just a litlle further.