690e comfort
 

anybody got any ideas on better seats for long trips?

I've been kinda waiting for this one to pop up :)

The stock seat on the KTM is really pretty good if you do a lot of riding while standing up, since it does not get in your way...

I've been looking into getting the seat redone by some local places here in Germany. It seems to cost around 300€ if you give the the original. I think there's also some comfort seats available from KTM.

In the end I opted for a lower cost solution and got the small sized Airhawk cushion. I also do wear bicyclist pants when doing longer distances. Especially with those pants it's really important not to grap the cheapies as they usually have very soft cushions.

But then again I might cough up the money for a better seat sometime, but first I need a bigger tank...

See ya on the road!
buebo

Cheap & easy option is an Airhawk.

I've ridden my 950SE on a couple of 2,500 mile round trips to Spain & Italy, an Airhawk made it bearable. 70 miles on the stock seat would leave me with a sore arse & thighs when I tried to stand up, the Airhawk double that - money well spent.

muchas gracias amigos. its the airhawk for me!

Personally, I dont have experience of this seat ( I was about to buy it, but my 690 got stolen...) but I have read amazing reports about it and the the guy who makes them is very helpfull and lots of knowlegde, have a look Renazco Dual Sport Seats

Cheers

Jaska

Hi,
Just wondered how you got on with the seat. I've just bought a 690 Enduro and with a trip to Morocco planned, I'm concerned about my ass!
I ride with a friend (same bike) who has had his seat re-upholstered for about £60 - pretty good improvement but he still thinks he will invest in an airhawk as well, for the longer stretches of sitting!
Chris

If you will be riding longer streches sitting, then do something to improve the seat. Standard seat plus airhawk worked for me for a while, until the airhawk went pfffft in the the middle of nowhere. After that I went about five weeks without it. Full days in the saddle can still be done but will be rather unpleasant.

I'd suggest invest first in a proper seat, rather than in an airhawk. A seat won't go flat...

If you still need something better after that, the airhawk is an option.

Cheers Buebo, useful to know...... new seat it is then!

i recommend talking to Ray de Vries from Rayz.nl

He did my X-Challenge seat and its been perfect for standing up or sitting down. Its the best seat I have ever had and have just done 50,000km on it - over 20,000km off road. He is the only seatmaker I know that actually tours the world himself (and leads off road tours), so he knows what you need in a seat that has to double for sitting touring and stand up enduro riding.

And I think from memory he is a KTM 690e rider ! So he should know that seat very well. :thumbup1:

I can highly recommend him. In Holland they call him they European Renazco.

The question is how well is your ass accustomed to the hard seat. I use my KTM 690E for business every day (at least 4 hours per day all sumer) in addition, I use a mountain bike for physical fitness (and the seat on the bike is really hard). So I had no problems with pain in the ass. On the journey from Morocco to Senegal and back, which lasted one month, I covered some 10.000 km and the seat was no problem at all. Even if you are not accustomed to the hardness, the pain will stop after one week. In year 2000 I traveled by bicycle around Marocco. This year I finished the masters degree, so that I was not on a bicycle for five years. The first week I thought that my ass will fell off, the last 14 days, it was OK.