Modern Vespa

so I know this may be a bit strange but, here it is. Since Covid I have lost about 20 lbs, now weighting about 160, 5'10". Now I do not know if this weight loss has anything to do with this, except less padding, but now when I ride over an hour my butt hurts. I have a Vespa 300 super 2012 and prior to this the seat was great. Now since having moved to AZ and being retired I am taking a long ride at least once a week and that is when it happens. So does anybody have something I could do to make the seat better for long rides. Any info is appreciated. In case I don't have a chance I do want to wish all a Happy New Year

Get an Air Hawk cushion.

couple of things you can do.
I prefer ass beads (beadrider) over airhawk as it lets cool air flow through and I find it more comfortable. but this is IMHO only.
or you can get a pair of padded cycling shorts to wear under your pants. ! also works great
enjoy the long rides!!

Could also be that you simply need more stretching (and breaks) due to your body accumulating miles

I'm not kidding, I've found myself that my tolerance to sitting has gone worse year by year, be it a motorcycle or a car. Apparently fascias get tight easier when the body ages etc...

I don't think your weight loss would make much difference as fat bottomed riders complain about numb bum as much as the rest of us.

Air Hawk, Cycling shorts, beads, after market seats such as Corbin all help as does shifting your butt about on the seat when you start to feel the pain. Try the cheap options first such as beads and cycling shorts and see how you get on would be my advice.

Indeed loosing weight makes a butt more bony. I felt that during my own weight lost, and while excessive kilograms respawned (bakers are real monsters!), sitting became the more comfortable the more fat on my ass re-appeared.

Now I gotta become sharp-assed again.

In fact, you may not need to do anything. If you have not been riding as much for a while, it's pretty normal for most folks to find their bike seat less comfy than previously when undertaking a longer ride. Losing weight may also be a small factor. But you should find that if you ride a series of shorter rides more often for a couple of weeks or so before undertaking your longer ride, everything will fall back into the comfy range.

A few years back I became quite unwell and this stopped me riding for a couple of months. When I was able to ride again my seat felt very uncomfortable after just 35mins in the saddle. But after persisting with shorter rides and using the bike more often I quickly found I could ride very comfortably again within 3 weeks or so. I too had lost some weight but I don't think that was a big factor in any of it for me. The main thing is to ride more often as this "conditions" your body to the seat. This happens also for many of us when we get a new bike. The seat may feel uncomfortable for the first 2-3 weeks but then you realise the seat is fine. Too many folks rush out and spend a fortune on new seats and seat coverings when in fact they don't really need to do anything except ride the bike and everything will usually be fine! Good luck. Happy New Year!

No under wear/stop every 50 miles or one hour/walk around. Ride more.

The Air Hawk has a tendency to elevate you from the seat and so you often feel a little perched.

I wasn't a fan of the level of disconnection and so I stopped using one.

They work, no doubt but not for me.

appreciate all the advice. One more think at the same time I am breaking in a new bicycle seat, a Brooks, which is a hard leather that over time sort of molds to you but breaking it in can be a bit hard on the bottom. I do think that a lot is just getting used to being on the scoot for longer periods of time.

Try a thick piece of sheepskin. It's warm in winter, cool in summer, stops the arse sweating and it's very comfy.

Give one of these some thought. $10 to $15, a bit more if you buy from a reputable company like sit&fly. 1)gives you about 3/8 of a springy cushion off the seat 2)should you happen to get caught in a downpour, you stay pretty dry. The water runs off your vinyl seat while you are riding a bit above it and 3)provides good air flow to your cute parts on a hot summer day. I have a thick sheepskin on my Burgman. I've had one of these mesh covers on my Vespa, Buddy and C3. I actually prefer the mesh.

... I lost 40 kg. (88 lb.) ... now my weight is 100 kg. (220 lb.) for a height of 1.88 meters (6,16 feet).
Excuse me if the conversion calculations are flawed.

We're all different.
I have no butt at all and 6 ft 5 in tall. Motorcycle seats have rarely suited me so I go with custom Sargent or Corbin or I do my own reshaping and recovering with my HD sewing machine. Anything else just adds squirmy thickness that chafes. Gel inserts at the points of ischial tuberosities are easy to fit into the existing foam and really helped on my Suzuki SV.
My trials with sheep, beads and air were brief and led to my own mods.

Lucky are the cheeky ones!

I am 6ft, 175lbs and according to my wife and daughters, I have no arse! So, I just ride and early in season, my arse does get sore but eventually gets used to it.

However, for the cannonball, I had a Cheeky Seats cover made with some additional padding and a knock off air hawk cushion that fit under the Cheeky Seats cover. Never checked to see how well the air cushion was holding air so not sure how much that was in play. Never had butt hurt on the cannonball, so never checked it.

I thought this was going to be about a weekend in jail.

The larger the seating area, the more your weight is spread out. So, if you get a seat with a bigger seating area, you will be more comfortable.

I like a sheepskin cover - Alaska Buttpad is my weapon of choice.

those look good which scooter and which buttpad do you have?

thanks


larry

Sore Body/Sore Butt

My group's monthly Day Rides are +200 miles. With lunch and rest stops the
ride runs 7-8 hours. (age 73) I take 2 Ibuprofen. This really takes the ache
out of riding. This is the only time I take Ibuprofen.

I use the Air Hawk as suggested by JKJ-FZ6.

Stromrider is insightful, you kind of have to break in your butt again each riding season.

Out in the country on an extended ride, I plan to stop every 50 miles or 1 hour for a
rest stop. I usually stop at a full service station - allows for fuel, hydration, and taking
a pee.

When I was young - ride forever no pain. Lately, taking it easy.

Bob Copeland
Minnesota

I have used one on each of my GTS, my BV350, and my Aprilia SC300. Contact Alaska Leather about the best fit for the GTS. They used to have a specific shape that fit well, but now only do it to special order. I ordered a replacement a couple of years ago. Took a few extra days to get it, but it fit fine and cost about the same.

The years go by for everyone, what do you want to do with it?

for me the first hour is ok then it starts to get sore, i do try to lift off the seat from time to time and that helps, but I think the answer will be some sort of butt pad, but so many options I guess I need to research a bit more, thanks for all the info. As far as gaining weight I think I am better at the lower weight and now being retired I think I can maintain it. Anyways happy riding and all be safe

Pain is good. It keeps you awake during those long rides.

If your seat would be similar to a liberty, here's a thread about wet molding a sheepskin cover
As a practical matter, it's not very difficult to stitch your favorite attachment method to the sheepskin
Sheep Skin Liberty Seatcovers
I added a yoga mat cut to size for additional padding & to reduce the transition between drivers seat & passenger seat increasing legroom
I built one for my MP3 too,

If I try to do it here, then the police stop me and they blow me into a bag ...
But if it works why not?

My butt pain is a direct result of my deteriorating L4/L5 discs. Physical therapy/stretching helps a bit, OTC painkillers help a bit, a spinal shot helped a bit, and an air seat/gel seat helps a bit.

Aging (as opposed to getting old) eventually gets us all. Good luck.

as I always say, "If you get up in the morning and have no pain......you must be dead."

Get yourself an AirHawk. I got mine from Amazon and after trying various sizes I got the one that works. You will get use to it after time. I didn't think I would like it but I do and can ride in complete comfort. Don't give up on the AirHawk it will work. You do sit a bit higher and at first I wasn't happy with that but now I am use to it!

This is my Vespa GTS 300 with the AirHawk on the seat. It's fantastic!!!

I started using an Airhawk on my Piaggio Fly. That seat would get uncomfortable after about 30 mins.

When I got my GTS, I found the stock seat a bit better. But I would still have a lot of discomfort after about 60-75 minutes. I changed the setup on my GTS to include the Airhawk, mounted underneath a quilted seatcover from Cheeky Seats. This setup flattens the the seat, effectively removing the hump and allowing me to shift easily on the seat and change my riding position. It was also super-plush and made it comfortable enough for 8-10 hour riding days with no issues.

Crazy,

You are one creative kind of guy. Very impressive solution.

Bob Copeland
Frost Bite Falls Minnesota

Many feel a need to modify everything on their scooters.

I have found that my preference is to keep them the way they were built.

I think that Piaggio and Yamaha know what they are doing.

As for the seat, the standard seats on my GTs have served me well.

Many long days, as long as 19 hours, and no problem ever.

It is not that I have an Iron Butt at all, because my Honda NC700X caused much pain after a few hours.

But the Vespas and the Xmax have given me no issues ever regarding seat comfort.

I believe largely due to the excellent seating position and lack of vibrations.

Bill

Yup, making bikes to a certain price point. Money matters more to them than quality.

That is quite an attitude for a post on a Vespa forum.

For what it is worth, I am still riding on the original seat that came on Rocket.

16+ years and 101,000 miles.

Seems like a quality seat to me.

Bill

I love my Vespa as i have my previous two.

But I'm also aware of Piaggio's priorities ...

This past summer while on vacation, we rented some Yamaha Wave Runners and I was blown away at how comfy the seats were. I think they were gel filled, wide and grippy.

I can certainly understand using a different cover material for a marine application, but I'm thinking motorcycle manufacturers should maybe point to wave runners as a baseline comparison.

Congrats on the weight loss. That's a significant accomplishment.
I think for most people who are into riding and want to ride more/adventure more, it is a never ending quest to get comfortable so your rear end is not the/a limiting factor. At least I know that is a goal for me.
I've researched this for myself and have employed several/many suggestions given on this forum.
I have a GTS 300 2016. I was also a competitive cyclist and coach for many years so I know what it is like to have to break in your bottom every year/season so you ride for many many miles and not have your rear end be your problem.
I got incremental progress with each of the changes. I started initially with stock seat and regular pants. Whit that setup, I started feeling not so happy after about 40 min of straight riding.
Swapped stock seat to the "Touring" Seat. Big difference to swap out the soft squishy seat with the firmer Touring Seat. Added probably 20 more min. Wore good biking shorts under my riding pants. Seams make a difference so I have moto pants now with decent D30 armor..also riding jeans with D30 low profile armor when I don't want to look so motorcyclish. So all that got me to about 1hr 20 ok. Then I added the airhawk. I do keep i minimally inflated as everyone on this forum suggested...and that gets me to about when I ought to fuel up and then keep going. All this is from bits of advice from this forum and it works for me. Enough so that when I picked up a 2012 LX150ie for "going to town" I replaced the squish seat with the "Touring" model for for that scoot. HUGE huge difference in ride for that bike. The quest will continue. Thanks everyone for the advice over the ages.

so I went with the Alaska Leather, but it arrived after I had made my long ride today so not tested yet, but so far just sitting on it feels good. As many have said the more I ride the harder my butt gets. Did about 60 miles on the Vespa today, then 20 miles on the bike, so far so good, not sore till end of bike ride and now sitting on couch feels ok


larry