Seat foam

[Malibu406]

The stock seat foam on my 05 220 is great for reclining and watching a football game, comfy as all get out. But too soft and low for me. Which is funny cause my 96 ktm 360 is high and literally made of concrete.

I ordered the ceet racing tall medium seat and gripper cover for the 220 and its on its way. I will let you know any opinions. I contemplated getting the hard as others have done, but my ktm scared me into the medium density.

I also jack hammered the concrete off the ktm and am putting a lower softer seat on it!

How ironic!

[KDXGarage]

KDX Kouch :-)

Let us know how it works out.

[GOT WOODS?]

I have an 03 and I am 6'3" with ape-like arms and long legs. I am planning to go this same route before riding season. I am finally realizing (after 7 or so years....) that the bike really does not fit me in it's current state and it is finally time to do something about it. I am also planning on doing some type of bar risers, maybe bars with a higher bend, maybe lower pegs although I ride in NH with it's huge boulders, stumps, mud, etc. and not loving the thought of losing ground clearance. Are you doing their "stock" tall seat or did you ask for something taller? I was actually going to call them and ask if customization is an option as I have seen their stock tall seat and it really doesn't look all that much taller than stock, at least not for what I have in mind. Granted I have not ridden a KDX with that taller seat so maybe it is a huge difference and it would be fine. I am finally realizing that when I crash it is usually because I can't get my feet off the pegs quick enough to correct the situation because of the effort it takes to unfold my legs. If I am not in the right position I have to sort of adjust my seating position first then pull my feet off the pegs. I suppose I could solve this by going to a bike with a bigger cockpit designed for big strapping Austrians but why the heck would I ever want to do that when I have a KDX.....! :-)

Anyone else feel free to chime in with what they did to make their KDX fit their taller frame. I've done a bunch of research on this already on this site as well as others but I'd like to hear more ideas of what worked and what didn't. I'd also like to hear from people who went with the gripper seat cover as I had a friend who had a "stickier" seat cover than stock and he was not thrilled with the effort it took to slide into a slightly different seating position. Thanks in advance!

[Malibu406]

I got my tall medium seat foam today from Ceet Racing. I was shocked to find it is even SOFTER that the stck foam. So while it is 3/4” taller, I sink into the seat to essentually the same seating position. Thus I would be trapped even more in the seat. So, dont buy the medium foam. I cant even imagine what soft is, maybe it is a sack with goose feathers in it?

Im going to send it back. Maybe they screwed up? At this point Im afraid that their firm might just meet stock?

Now, for the ktm, i just put the shorter firm from ceet on it. This was an old stock item, it was nearly as hard as ktm stock. Did it age or is this what their firm is??? If so, that would probably work on the kdx.

[freeindeed]

I just saw your post.
I am 6'4" tall and I also ordered a tall seat from CEET Racing with a gripper, all black seat cover.
I ordered mine at 1 3/4" taller at the front of the seat tapering off to 1" taller at the rear of the seat.
It worked out excellently. They advised me to use hard density foam, which I did, and it is very comfortable.
It is probably expensive nowadays but feels so good on the knees and for long rides.

[Malibu406]

Thanks for your feedback. Be warned, Ceet Racing doesnt accept returns on anything. I failed to see that. So now I have a $100 piece of foam I will never use, unless I dropped 50 lbs off my 225 lb frame.

But, I made one myself by cutting the top off my old ktm seat, I traced and trimmed so it was 3/8” higher in the back, and 1 inch in the saddle. I formed the underside after slicing it off with a sharp long knife. I used a 6 inch DASander to fit the two foams together, leaving some stock around it for final shaping. Glued the two together with 3m spray adhesive. I then sanded it down to the contour I wanted.

I found out why ktm seats are so hard. There is a full length plastic plate buried in the foam about 3/4” below the seating surface. This was great because it essentually short circuit the soft kdx foam. Now the seat is perfect, not as hard as the ktm, but higher and way stiffer than kdx. Here are pics.

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[KDXGarage]

Damn, that looks good!

Great job.

Sorry that the Ceet did not work out.

[Malibu406]

Thank you

[Malibu406]

I needed to follow up on this. While the fella I spoke to at Ceet Racing said they dont do returns, we had a polite talk. I told him I missed that in the ebay add and if he could help I would appreciate. If not, I would sell it. To my surprised I got an email a few days ago and they said a new firm one is on its way. I got it today and it is what I was looking for. They didnot even ask to return the medium. But, thats not how I roll and I will ship the medium back to them.

So, yes im out $20 shipping, but so are they. Point is they are good people at Ceet Racing that made it right.

Too bad i spent so much time making my own. If anyone has a good seat pan, pm me. Im surely not gonna through the one I made away, but would like to use the foam on a second seat.

[KDXGarage]

Wow. That was very cool of them.

[GOT WOODS?]

That is great news that they worked with you on that. I'll definitely use them for my seat project.

A few questions:

-What did you use to affix the seat cover to the pan?
-How do you like the gripper? is it too sticky or just right?
-Would you go even higher with the foam, or do you think going higher with the foam would make the bike's center of gravity start to feel off?

Awesome job on that custom seat!

[Malibu406]

Well I live in Sunny PA, so havent been able to ride with new seat to give feed back.

As far as attatching seat cover, 1/4” T50 staples and 3M super spray adhesive. Also use the spray adhesive to bond the foams together.

[KDXGarage]

3M 77?

[Malibu406]

I will check and let you know

[Malibu406]

3m 90 high strength

[KDXGarage]

ok, 90

thanks!

[doakley]

Just butting in. I wouldn't use 3M 77 spray adhesive on foam products. Not recommended and it may damage the foam.

[KDXGarage]

Ah, thanks!! Somewhere around here, I have a can of 77, but haveseen 90 on the internet, just never read up on it.

[Malibu406]

We bought 3 cases of it at work. They are tequired to put a meaningless 1yr expiration date on it. So they either pay to dispose it or give it away. I had 10. Used it for seat foam, head liners, seat covers, auto carpet and padding, to layer rubber together. Its good stuff

[KDXGarage]

It sounds like you have made good use of it. I have one can of 77 that I doubt I have used in the last ten years. :-)