Nice to join you. Thanks to the gals at SF Classic who told me about this forum. (Tiger orange buddy...) 'Course I met too many people to remember any names.
Question.... I'm really short 5'0" with a short inseam. I'm on tippy-tiptoes if I try to get both feet on the ground, and one tiptoe if I lean to one side. The owner of the shop where I bought my Buddy (125, Orange, just got it last week!) offered to 'carve' the foam on my seat in order to lower it slightly. Anyone done this? Heard of it?
Have those of you who have ridden hundreds of miles noticed any compaction in the seat?
I'm fairly comfortable with leaning. The 2 inch chunky heels on my doc martins help too.
Hi and welcome! My dealer also offered to carve the seat for me ( i am only 5'3"). I didn't have it done, but they said they have done it for many people and it works out great. I cannot speak on what the seat looks like after riding it for a bit. Maybe they stretch the material to fit the carved seat afterwards?
When you get the seat carved , suggest that they use a softer foam in the place of the carve. That way your seat retains the stock look and when you sit on it it will compact easier.
I have a very good friend who has the same problem plagueing her....4'10 and 80lbs soaking wet. I don't beleive she'd have enough meat on her bones to compress the seat Hence,she hasn't gotten a scooter yet but would really love to have one.
"Cinderella is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life"
Seat carving is pretty common, and it can make a big difference. You might also try taking it to an upholstery shop or a place that makes custom motorcycle seats.
Did you get your Buddy from SF Scooter Centre? How did you like doing business with them?
I'm 5'0" also, and I balance the Buddy on the balls of my feet (with my 2" heeled boots). I haven't noticed much compaction of the seat on mine so far, and I'm not sure that would give you any significant lowering of your seat. Usually that's pretty minimal. I've had the seat modified on other scooters and it's always helped with getting a better footing at stops. Ask the person who does yours to tack the covering back on and let you come in and try sitting on it, before they finish putting on the cover permanently. When you sit on it, make sure your fanny isn't bottoming out on the seat, in other words that you have enough padding to ride comfortably over bumps, etc. Good luck and enjoy your Buddy
Sure its done!. years ago, I had a Yamaha RD400. I installed clubman bars and rearsets on the thing and after doing so.. the stock seat heioght had me in such a crunch that it was unbearable. Solution: One carfully removes the seat cover from its gripper teath and using a nice bread knife, one excises the surplus foam and than carfully restretches and replaces the stock seat cover. I lovered mine by about 21/2 inches and the seat still looked great afterwards.
I have a Blackjack with the solo seat. Although the seat is very comfy for long rides, I too had to tip toe it at stops. I considered cutting it down so as to preserve the Blackjack black and red look, but decided against it should I ever want to return it to stock.
Ended up getting the low profile seat. I think it's nicer looking than the stock Buddy seat, and now has "Genuine" printed on the back instead of "PGO".
Most importantly, I can now almost flat foot at a stop. Can def flat foot on one foot with a lean!
Contact your local dealer and have them order the Lower seat and lower shock kit. You'll find these two items will lower your bike around 3~4". We have a customer who is 4'10" and has no problems riding her buddy.
Before the lower seat kit came out we had excellent success using an electric turkey knife to sculpt around 3" total out of the stock saddle. Usually smaller people were lighter so we didn't have to go with a different type of foam, in the few cases where we did we simply used a closed cell foam which was a little stiffer than the factory foam to compensate for the loss of thickness.
Yes, it's very easy to restretch the vinyl and staple it back down, trimming off the extra as you go.
Phil Waters
ClevelandMoto
Pride Of Cleveland Scooters
18636 Detroit Rd.
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-227-1964 www.clevelandmoto.com
pocphil wrote:Contact your local dealer and have them order the Lower seat and lower shock kit. You'll find these two items will lower your bike around 3~4"..
Since Genuine sent out the email about the lower shock kit, I've been wondering the Buddy's handling The rear is being lowered, but no change to the front fork set up. How's the handling of the scooter after the change?
Hence,she hasn't gotten a scooter yet but would really love to have one.
