As a happily married woman I don’t normally get the urge to kiss anyone other than my husband. (Unless it’s Jason Statham … but can you blame me?)
But after I got both my Tracer seats back, which I recently had remodelled by Fred at A&R Pound, I wanted to smoother the poor man with kisses!
Fortunately for him, I managed to restrain myself, but the man is an abserloot darling and both me and my bum thank him lots.
I’m 5ft 6ins with an inside leg measurement of 30.5ins. I’m not one of those girls who are comfy flicking their bodies every which way, as they get a leg down ready to steady their bike. I need and want to have at least the ball of each foot down to be a happy bunny.
When I bought my MT09 Tracer back in 2015 I had it lowered, bought the lowered seat and have always ridden it with my Daytona Ladystars, which have an internal lift (and I have an additional Daytona lift in there too!). Even with all that I’m still not flat footed – the built in lift makes it look like my foot is closer to the floor but my heel is quite off the ground, but I manage much more easily – and probably have toes which can bench press loads from having to push me and the bike backwards!!
However, having lost 2 stone, my derriere has been noticing that it’s more of a plank of wood masquerading as a seat than a comfy place to plonk my substantial rump! I can tell within 5mins of when I’ve reached 50miles riding because I start fidgeting trying to get my poor bum comfy.
I’ve been riding regularly again since last Summer, and my comfort levels of handling my bike seem to have improved – to the point where out of the blue I popped the original seat back on the bike wondering if I could now cope better with a higher seat. Miraculously I was unfazed by it and happy with my feet/groundwork when wearing Daytonas – but it was still a block of wood.
(I truly love you Yamaha but why do you make seats so awful and uncomfortable???)
Fred was recommended to me by one of my ladies in the South Central group of the Evo WMCC – so off I toddled with my main seat. Fred is greatly in demand – and having got my seat back I can certainly see why.
He told me it might take up to 3 weeks but he’d do his best to get it ready as soon as possible, and true to his word the turnaround on this was remarkably much quicker.
Fred scoops out the “brick or concrete” call it whatever it feels like, replaces it with some better quality stuff and then wraps it in memory foam. He replaces the original seat cover, (or can do a different colour if you want to buy that as an extra) and all for the grand sum of £35-40.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Or in this case, in the riding, so I ventured out on a 2.5 hour trip over to Stratford-Upon-Avon, had lunch and back again. And when I got home, that’s when I thought about kissing that wonderful man!
I realized I’d forgotten to even think about my bum after the first five mins and I never noticed when we got past the 50 mile mark. That was a trip with just one petrol stop, so it was even more remarkable how comfortable I was.
I was so delighted I decided to get the lowered seat done too and Fred ensured he maintained the lower level I wanted to keep.
That way I can use it when I want to wear my new “normal” motorcycle boots. I treated myself to a pair of Falco Viky Ladies boots. Waterproof and with reinforced toe and ankle protection, they look much better with my MotoGirl and Richa jeans than the Daytonas. The jeans (a blue and a black pair) were also a recent purchase and are for attending Summer events where I want to be able to walk around in comfort without my temperature going through the roof, which it does even with textiles.
Am pleased to say the boots are not only perfect in height, with the lowered seat, but, along with the jeans, are also comfortable for walking around in after testing them out at the Ladies Day gathering at the John Bunyan.
So if you’re literally feeling the pain in your bum and your pockets won’t stretch to some big name comfort touring seats, then I can heartily recommend A & R Pound as a cost-effective alternative which delivers 100%, along with the good nature and great customer service of this small business.
By the way – I know some people think A & R Pound ceased to exist after the fire on the business estate which destroyed their premises. But I can assure you that they are very much alive and kicking, having found a niche of a cubbyhole to work out of so it’s well worth dropping by. They’re at The Baldock Industrial Estate, London Road, SG7 6NG, 01462 862704.
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