Ducati Monster Forum

I have recently bought a 2007 S2R 800 Monster. I love the bike, but find that the seat is fairly uncomfortable for longer rides. The contour of the seat seems to keep me pressed too far forward and you know what suffers. One custom seat manufacturer says that their seat will keep you from moving forward under braking pressure, but I feel as though I am almost on top of the tank most of the time. Perhaps it is partly due to my heighth, I am over 6 feet tall. How can I improve the ergonomics of the bike without spending $800. on a custom seat?

adjustable rearsets, clip ons and try out a sargent seat.  i may have one for sale soon.  they sit a bit taller than other aftermarket seats.

$800 is steep on a custom seat. i've had quotes for a design of my own doing for around $375 average.

I'm not sure if this is the one I remember (DP has a comfort seat for Monsters that has raised segments over its surface).

This may be a good start, check this link:

http://www.ducatiperformance.com/ducati-monster-comfort-seat-p-326.html?cPath=22_29_110 (http://www.ducatiperformance.com/ducati-monster-comfort-seat-p-326.html?cPath=22_29_110)

I think that takes comfort the other way.  I think he's looking for a remedy to keep the tush in place and not slide forward under braking.  A more contoured and firm forward portion of the seat will help that.  Imagine having a wedge of firm foam under your bits to keep you from sliding forward. . .

Also, raising the footpeg height with rearsets will only make the knee angle more uncomfortable for someone over 6 feet tall.  Did that too, on the M900.  Made it feel like I was riding with my ankles up under my butt.

ya, is it obvious now that i'm 5'8"  ;D - hahahaha. i'm always looking to tighten up and get things closer for my short extremities. 

I have an s2r 800 and am a similar height (6'). 

I'm investing in a couple tank pads to help my thighs stay on the tank and hopefully reduce some of the pressure on my junk.  :P

Most of the time, its fine - I ride daily to work ~ 40 miles.  I only noticed the seat getting uncomfortable this past weekend on my first >100 mile ride. 

you can always go for pants with a padded butt?  heh

I've had good luck with mildly reshaping stock seats so that they are dished just a bit and not slanted forward as much.  I use a belt off an old belt sander for most of the work, I'm sure there are more sophisticated means of getting the job done though.  You can also get an aftermarket seat for <$400 or a custom seat for around $400.  I'm not sure you could spend $800 on a custom seat if you tried.  A third option is to have a pro mod your seat in rougly the manner I suggest -- Spencer/Great Day to Ride will do this for not a lot of $.

There's also the Ducati touring seat. Folks like that one as well.

it seems stupid but stompgrip (and products like it) is probably the best thing for keeping you in place.

as for custom/touring seats -  it depends what riding you do. a touring seat will be more comfortable, but only while touring. track days/agressive riding will suffer as you will have a harder time sliding your butt to hang off. I would recommend a re-profiled seat to allow you to slide back further and a more forgiving foam or gel pad.

bars and pegs will again rely on the type of riding you do.

for touring you can get risers to mount the bars higher, for sport you can get clip ons. for a better bar angle at a similar height you can get something like the speedymoto tall boys which are clip ons with ~3" of rise.

rear sets are generally a sport thing (moving feet up and to the back) but depending on the ones you get you may be able to go further back but at the same height. you can also get foot pegs on an eccentric swivel that would allow for more room if you find your feet are to big to manipulate the rear brake/ gear shift.

i picked up a set of tech-spec pads for my S2R and couldnt figure out why it took me so long to get them. one of the most functional things i've ever purchased for my bike.

I just put mine on, they look pretty good.  Havent tried them out yet but it should really help me not slide forward in the seat and give me more confidence to hang off more.

I owned a sergeant on my old monster and it was just a little better than stock.  On a different bike, I used greatdaytoride.com (http://greatdaytoride.com) to replace and shape the foam in my stock seat.  You send him a bunch of pictures of you on the bike and the seat and he refoams it.   It's cheap too, probably around 100 bux with shipping.

I'm 6'4", so I definitely feel your pain. The two best things that I did to improve the riding position were: 1) buy a Sargent seat, and 2) buy a set of clipon bars.

The Sargent seat doesn't dip forward as much towards the tank, and it has a little more grip to keep you from sliding forward.

The clipons were added after the Sargent seat, and probably helped with this problem even more than the seat did. I've got really long arms, and by dropping my hand position lower my arms are now able to help to hold me back when braking hard.

Hope this helps!