So I ordered and received the gel pad insert from Motorcycle Dave. Looks like it is going to be a good addition to add to the comfort of the OEM seat and hopefully allow me to avoid having to buy an after-market saddle. I tend to go thru my toys at a frequent rate, so I was wondering if there would be a lazy way to get the benefits of the gel pad without making it permanent. I happen to have an Air Hawk, and I just put the gel pad inside the Air Hawk "sleeve" underneath the air bladder. While this is going to raise me up around a 1/2 to 3/4 inch or so, the pad fit in the sleeve perfectly. I will test this out and let you know how I find it.
I have no trouble tossing the Air Hawk into a saddle bag when I head indoors. This way, if I happen to sell the bike, I still have the Air Hawk with the gel pad for my next toy (maybe Spyder #4
) I have the Calsci windshield and likely ordered it a bit too tall as I tend to look thru the shield vs over it if I slouch at all in the saddle. So raising me up a bit seems to be a good side benefit.
I have been looking at the Ultimate saddles which tend to raise you up a bit and that was appealing to me as I have long legs and being a bit higher up will feel a bit better on my crappy knees. While I know that this will never feel as stable as a permanent install, I suspect that this will be a viable alternative to taking the seat cover off and carving out an area for the gel pad. If it feels to squirrely, I can always do the permanent install.
Anyone else try this with Dave's gel pad? I know there are other gel pad seat cushions out there, but Dave's seems like a quality product and a reasonable price. Since I already had the Air Hawk kicking around, it seemed worth a try.
