Any negatives to a seat reduction?

[Ty2dayok]

I purchased my 02 katana about 1 month ago. Currently the seat has a small rip across the top near the tank. I plan on redoing it myself either during my spring break or sometime in early summer. Im 5'7'' and when riding the bike (particularly when backing the bike up) I have to really tip toe around (in work boots). Since I plan on redoing the seat I was thinking of cutting about an inch of foam out of the seat. It seems straight forward enough for me but I just was wondering if there are any downsides, negatives, or problems I could encounter.

Thanks in advance.

[numus]

Ya your ass is going to hurt more...

[mammut89]

how much do you weigh ?
if youre skinny and the preload of your rear shock is set too high you might be able to take it down a few notches.

you can also lower the forks about 7-10mm , but not more. It will change the properties of the steering.

but whatever you do , dont mess up the seat you will regret it.

as far as redoing the seat here is what I did:

http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=123508

[DarkFury]

Install a set of lowering links. Dont cut the foam your butt wont thank you if you do.

[steves]

Shaving the seat is a common way to get more ground clearance.

You should try to learn to ride the bike as is without changing the steering geometry though.

[numus]

Shaving the seat is a common way to get more ground clearance.

You should try to learn to ride the bike as is without changing the steering geometry though.

Rode this morning and contemplated this at the red light. Felt my seat and I am not sure there is even 1 inch of padding down there to shave off....

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

[steves]

Unless a PO has already shaved your seat, there's probably 2-4 inches of padding there.

[Kreylyn]

Gel padding vs foam works out to 1/4" padding = aprox 1" foam.

I would suggest you remove the seat cover. Acquire a gel pad of the appropriate size. Pull the padding off the seat pan. Cut out a recess in the bottom of the padding to fit in the gel pad. Put the padding with gel insert back on the seat pan and now shave down the amount you want to remove. Remember... if you want 2" gone, then 1/2" of gel pad on the bottom. (1/4" per 1") Make sure your top removal is very smooth and properly contoured/shaped. Any imperfections or cutting marks will show through when the cover is put on.

There are multiple websites devoted to proper shaping and adjustments of motorcycle seats for this modification to ensure the best comfort for the intended use. Just google a bit and you will find a lot more details with pics.

I personally would never use lowering links. There are better ways to lower a bike at the suspension that do not include making the wheel travel change so that it can hit hard parts, or provide very poor bike geometry for handling issues like lowering links do.

Krey

[Ty2dayok]

Thanks for the input guys, im currently at college so I will not be able to mess around with it for a few more weeks but ill check to see how much padding is actually there before I dig myself into a hole. I weight about 170 so im not sure if there is room to adjust anything in the rear. Ive read not to mess with the bikes suspension before and although the lowering links were reccomended ill have to pass on that idea simply because this is my first bike and I want it to be as safe and dependable as possible. mammut89 your seat came out awesome.

Ill deffinatly check out the gel padding idea too thanks for the idea and information Krey.

[expvet]

Seat reduction only looks good with a breast reduction. Oh wait, are we talking motorcyles here?

[DOCTORNITRO]

Not to mention it'll make your azz look bigger!

[Slofuze]

Hmmm...... I was thinking "Jim and the twins" might not like it when riding two up.