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[piglet]

Hi, I have finally passed both parts of my test and can at long last start riding Roy! He is a new dark green bullet...took him for the first little try last night and I think we are going to get on just great. He sounds brilliant and my first impressions on riding him are very positive.

The only thing I am contemplating changing is to possibly get the lower dual seat from here. I am obviously a new rider as have only just passed my test and can only get the balls of my feet on the floor which makes paddling the bike near on impossible and whilst it is enough when stopping, I am conscious that a slight dip in the road or slippery patch could prove to be my downfall...literally!

Has anyone on here fitted the lower seat and could you tell me if you recommend it and if you think it would make enough difference to be worthwhile?

[papasmurf]

Piglet being vertically challenged myself, a low seat also needs to be narrow at the front.
I ended up making my own.

[papasmurf]

Try again:-

http://s428.photobucket.com/user/kroazd ... g.html?o=4

[piglet]

That looks great...you've done a very good job there. Not sure I feel ready to make my own seat yet though! Did you try the one from here first or not?

[Mark M]

Hi Piglet, welcome. You don't say which bike you have but I'm guessing it's a B5? There seem to be several options in the catalogue, which one do you like the look of? Do ring Hitchcocks and talk to them if in doubt, they are really helpful on all subjects but especially accessories where applications and customer preferences are bound to need extra help. I'm not especially tall myself but I can tell you that over time, as you get more comfortable and build experience, you'll find that the need to be both feet flat on the ground will lessen. Still important though! Bear in mind that seat height alone is not the only factor, width is also important; many seats are unnecessarily wide at the front forcing your legs apart while standing, the extra width being no real use when riding. Unfortunately narrowing the seat in this way is usually a custom make but there are plenty of good seat makers out there.

REgards, Mark

[Mark M]

I must have crossed with Papa there as he makes the same point and the pic explains everything!

REgards, Mark

[papasmurf]

Piglet, I knew that I had to get a seat that was as thin as possible, it is not possible to buy a one inch thick seat contoured to the profile of the top frame. The bike also has 19 inch knobbly tyres. Idea for the cart tracks that pass for roads here in West Cornwall.

[Exile]

Here you go..






Sorry! Couldn't resist it...!!

[jefrs]

Whilst being 5'9" I only have 28" legs, which makes putting feet down need a lowered seat. There are a number of solo seats in the "Accessory Shop" which will fit a Bullet but not so many will fit the Classic because the C5 has a whopping great bracket under the seat for a rubber mount. This is not an insurmountable problem, I simply carved the excess part of the bracket off and removed the springs from the solo seat and refitted it in 'traditional' manner on nose-tongue and steel rear brackets. The Bullet B5 has 19-in wheels but the Classic C5 has 19/18, which means it's already an inch lower on the seat. The Bullet dual-seat I try-fitted was a lot taller. I have not gone to Papasmurf's extreme, I have not needed to narrow the nose to get both feet down, the refitted C5 stock solo seat does have nice padding.

Phoning Hitchcocks for advice is a good idea but there are more exotic solutions.



The point being there is always a way to do this.



I think we probably need to know exactly which model you've got?

[piglet]

Thanks for the replies so far. Roy is brand new, so a B5. I've just been having a chat with someone from Hitchcocks...asked whether the low dual seat (Indian made) or the B5 low dual seat (English made) was lower as it says the Indian lowers the height by 3cm while the English one lowers by 'a good few centimetres'. There's a big price difference so didn't want to go for the expensive one if it turned out to actually also be 3cm lower. He was very helpful and recommended I tried the cheaper one first but I don't actually know if the other one would lower it more.
The single unsprung seat looks like it would be perfect but I have promised my daughter I'll take her for the odd pootle round the quiet roads once I've got some miles in so that would mean I would also need a pillion seat later on which is fine but the pillion pads look a little precarious. Decisions decisions.