ST1100 Saddlemen Stealth seat

rjs987

rjs987

Robert
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Joined
Sep 25, 2009
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69
Location
West Des Moines, IA
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2022 Kymco AK 550
2024 Miles
004113
STOC #
8058
In early august I put a Saddlemen Stealth seat on my ST1100. Here are my initial impressions that I wrote in another thread in the Seats / Backrests forum:

Just put on a Saddlemen Stealth seat so thought I'd add some initial impressions related to where I am sitting on it.

First on the stocker - I found I was sitting most comfortably up close to the top shelter. My knees were just kissing the fairing. The stock seat just has a forward tilt to it or is at least level and is narrow down the sides in the front where your thighs hit it, though not so narrow across the top of the nose. I found it easiest to just slide up forward on it. I also was sitting a little more upright doing this so I was not leaning so much on my hands. I later have found that the tilt or way the seat makes you sit on it has a lot to do with that last point.

Now with the Saddlemen seat - I find I mostly ride back "IN" the seat. It is 2" wider than the stock seat at the back of the rider portion (I like the wider seat). I like the little back rest that is the result of the seat being slightly tilted back, so it really is lower back there. The nose of the seat is narrower than stock across the top of it but is wider down the sides at the front where your thighs hit it. I really don't notice this when my feet are on the pegs but only when I put my feet down on the pavement. The nose is also just a little bit taller than on the stock seat. These things combine to make it "seem" like the seat is a lot taller than it really is in the front. Yet in the back it feels lower than stock and might be slightly but hard to tell if it really is lower (based on where I am looking over my shield, which is about the same as on the stock seat). I can still flat foot from anywhere on the seat but it is just a little more difficult due to the width down the sides of the seat. It's just different than stock for getting the feet down, something to get used to (I am 5' 9", 32+" inseam, 198 lbs). I once read somewhere that it is like sitting in a bucket seat. That would be accurate. Due to the tilt or way this seat makes you sit in it I find that even though I am farther back on the seat and my knees are bit back from the fairing I am not leaning on my hands, so it is still comfortable just for that. I am still evaluating how I like having gel packs in the seat and the overall comfort but wanted to add here my thoughts about the sitting position.

Just as a side note: I do have 1.2" risers that put the handlebars up and back a little. I felt I needed that little bit since I was initially leaning hard on my hands causing pain in my wrists over time. The risers were enough to remove that pain so I could ride LD without any issues there. On my GW I was riding really straight up and maybe a little back like sitting in a soft chair. That was too much upright and my back bone couldn't take it for very long without a tall back rest for support. Even then I could only go a few hours and have to get off for a bit to rest. On my ST I am not sitting so straight up. more like sitting on the edge of a stool ready to get up. Much more comfortable and I have gone 3-4 hours with no stops and no back problems.
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Now, after having gone for a longer ride to the Davis Rally earlier this month and continued rides to work everyday I wanted to add a few thoughts.

I did read another review from a few years ago in this forum for this seat and many of my impressions mirror that review. I continue to note that I tend to sit farther back on this seat than on stock. I can still scoot up forward on it but I find it very hard to get all the way to where my knees are against the fairing since I will slip right back to at least the middle of the seat (riders portion). I find I will often let myself lean back against the slight back rest and that is fairly comfortable doing that. As I said before I can still flat foot on this seat even though it is "fatter" than stock. On the 3+ hour ride to/from the Davis Rally I noticed that while the seat did have me sitting better as noted above and more comfortably than on the stock seat I am still thinking that 4 hours would be the limit for me without getting off for a few minutes. Maybe that's due to me getting uncomfortable on ANY seat after that time. I have to get out and stretch my legs once in a while even when riding or driving in my cage. I seem to remember this was the same when I rode my Gold Wing too. So don't I don't think badly of the Saddlemen seat. I have to say that the gel packs do help but not as much as I was expecting from what I've read from others who have a gel seat. My stock seat would have me very uncomfortable sooner than the Saddlemen seat but, as I said, I was unable to ride forever on either. My wrists and back are where I noticed the most improvement in comfort. The price was right for me and it is an improvement over the stock seat. It also looks a lot better on the ST1100 than the stock seat too. Therefore I intend to keep this seat on the bike and ride it.

Almost forgot to mention. I am 5'9", 200 lbs, with 32" inseam.
 
"In early august I put a Saddlemen Stealth seat on my ST1100. Here are my initial impressions that I wrote in another thread in the Seats"

Give your seat time. I had my ST1300 seat modified by Rich's in Kingston Wash. He told me to give it 1000 miles before I had any adjustments. After 1000 miles I was still uncomfortable after 4 hours of riding. As with your seat, It was still an improvement over the stock seat. I didn't have the seat modified as I didn't think that I could explain to him what changes I wanted. I find now that after 10,000 miles the seat is near perfect. I can ride up to 8 hours with ease. I also have a gel pack installed. I am hoping that in time like mine, your seat will conform to your satisfaction.
 
So far I have nearly 1500 miles seat time. It is getting better than at first so I have the expectation that it will be even better after 10,000 miles as you have noticed. I bought the seat as nearly new. The guy who sold it to me received it still in the box when he bought his bike and only tried it a few miles before deciding to sell it.
 
I have a gel seat that I bought off ebay and then sent it to Saddleman for work after finding the comfort level was no better than the stock seat. They told me the foam was shot and completely rebuilt the seat on my seatpan. They then totally blew me away by not charging me anything for the rebuild! The seat is an absolute delight now. Saddlemen did a great job on mine!!!!
 
After 150,000 miles on three different ST's, the Saddleman seat is by far my favorite of the available seats. I've done many 800 - 1,000 mile days on it.
 
UPDATE:
Thought I'd provide an update after nearly 3000 miles on the Stealth saddle.
It still gets more and more comfortable the longer I ride on it. When I first put it on the bike I couldn't "see" the gel insert as I've seen in photos of some older gel saddles. But now I am just able to make out the outline of the gel insert in certain light conditions. I find I am able to set myself right in the middle of the seat squarely on the gel pack and that's the most comfortable place. Though most of my riding is the commute to work and back, only 13 miles each way, I can tell that I will be able to go farther now than I was able to with the stock seat before feeling any discomfort. I can tell that it is possible this seat is an all day ride for me. If I have a lot of places to stop on my way home I would sometimes start to feel it, not in a good way, on the stock seat. But on the Saddlemen Stealth I am as comfy at the end of a long day of many stops as when I first started out. Also, I find this seat is initially more comfortable as well than the stock seat was. Yes, the gel definitely makes a difference. I still have my stock seat in the box this seat came in and within a month it will find it's way into the attic over the garage.
 
I've got a Saddleman Stealth saddle available if anyone is interested. I haven't tried to sell it, but perhaps this review will encourage someone to look for a nice used one. I got one. Make me an offer. I'm located at 94965 (for shipping estimates).

Sorry about the thread hijack
 
dmcleane said:
I've got a Saddleman Stealth saddle available if anyone is interested. I haven't tried to sell it, but perhaps this review will encourage someone to look for a nice used one. I got one. Make me an offer. I'm located at 94965 (for shipping estimates).
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I was thinking about one?? What is a used one going for?
 
DaveM said:
I was thinking about one?? What is a used one going for?
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I really can't tell you, but I'd take $200 plus shipping (I included my zip code in case you wanted to look into various shipping charges - again 94965 is my zip). I don't know if this is high or low, but I recall paying close to 3 plus shipping when I bought it about a year ago. I put a few thousand miles on it before I came across a used Russell DL. It looks like new still, I believe. I'll have to pull it out and look at it again. If you're really interested I can take some photos and email them to you, let me know.

PM me so that we're not hi-jacking this thread. :D

--Dave
 
I won't say what I paid for mine but that is very close to it. Mine came without the bungee hooks on it but it does have the mounts for them. I use those for stuff that doesn't fit in the hard cases and keep them available all the time so I transferred them from the old stock seat to my Stealth seat and all is good there again. Fit on the bike is perfect.
 
I'm not sure what material they use for the ST seats, but I tried their seat on my KLR and although fairly comfortable, the material was completely worn out after 2 months of street use. Hopefully they use a better material for the ST seats.

Sent from my PB99400 using Tapatalk
 
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