I have almost 5000 miles on the bike and have to say that I am very happy with it. I have decided to leave the bike essentially stock since I have no problem with its performance. On colder days she takes a bit longer to warm up but once up to operating temperature, she`s fine. I like the quiet--so I will leave the exhaust system alone. I have added a pair of fog lights which are just slightly bigger than the directionals. I have also changed the mirrors and replaced them with the ones used on the 10XR. Future modifications will include a Zero Gravity Touring Windscreen, a Corbin seat, HID lights, and a tail light modulator to attract attention. I also plan on installing a water temp guage, oil pressure guage, and voltmeter. I already have a tank bag, tail bag, and saddle bags for light touring. To make working on the bike easier, I got the factory shop manual and a set of stands--front nd rear. I can do all that this winter in my heated shop and wait for spring to go riding again.

Alex-

Well, it sounds like your bike will be having a Happy New Year! :)

Wish you the same!
:cheers:

Alex,

Nice "to do" list and sounds like you will have a great touring machine when spring comes.

What did you find about the 10XR mirrors that made you change?

Don

The 10XR mirrors are about an inch an a half longer than the stock mirrors. The stock mirrors gave me a great view of my arms. I did find out later that I could have solved the problem for $1.99 by going to Wal-Mart and getting a pair of stick on blind spot mirrors. You want the adjustable kind. Made a world of difference.

getting a pair of stick on blind spot mirrors.....Made a world of difference.

Isn't that the truth. I put a pair on about a week after I got my bike. Now I can get the arms out of the mirror and still see what is right behind me.

I remember about the second day I rode the bike to work I wanted to move from the left lane to the right, mirrors looked clean, looked back, checked the front again, signaled and moved over. Well hello officer - there had been a local motorcycle officer in my six and I didn't even know he was there. Glad I looked and signaled.

Have fun with your mods.

Stick on blind spot mirrors are on every car and bike I own! Get the smaller one they have a better field of vision.

Black Karma, That`s for sure. My sister bought a brand new Accord and the mirrors are worthless. Got her a set of blind spot mirrors and that solved the problem.

Sounds like some nice user mods you have planned! :thumbup:

On the Corbin seat, it really rocks :) For some of us thou, if you buy directly from Corbin theres sales tax involved(and msrp). I did allot of searching, and found jcmotors. < They had the seat made your way, shipped to your door for 210 bucks. Might want to look into them for your purchase.

Hk, Thanks for the heads up on the Corbin. My wife does canvas work and upholstery and she thinks that some good closed cell foam and a leather cover could make a good seat using the original. We`ll give it a try.

They had the seat made your way, shipped to your door for 210 bucks.

Wow I got ripped. :mad: Bought mine through my dealership cause I thought they could cut me some kind of deal.. $287

Wow I got ripped. :mad:

Don't worry, IMO anyone who doesn't ride into Corbin (they are an hour south of me in Hollister, CA) and have the seat molded to their butt is getting ripped, no matter what they paid. :D You sit there and they keep reshaping the foam (both adding more layers if needed, or shaving them down) until your butt is perfectly happy; you take short testrides around the area throughout the process to make sure. Only then do they install the cover permanently and you're on your way. No extra charge for the custom fitting, you just have to get there. I've had 2 Corbins mail-order (our first 2), and 2 done while we waited there; the latter 2 were far and away better seats. :2cents:

I've also heard you can also mail the seat back to them for reshaping of you know what you want done. Is that true?

Here's their policy (http://www.corbin.com/faq.shtml):

Can a saddle be modified to suit me?
Yes, however the Corbin saddle is designed to work perfect for about 90% of the riding population. If there is any doubt, you can provide your height, weight and inseam to your sales representative and they will provide that information to the people making your saddle. We strongly suggest that before any modifications are made, that you try riding our standard shape seat, that way, if modifications need to be made, we will have a point of reference. If you have to send a saddle back to us for modification, we will change the shape of your seat to your specification at no charge as long as we can put the same cover back onto the seat. If the changes are such that the cover cannot be reused, then we would have to charge for a new cover at cost.

Kelly, My wife thinks that she can improve the original Kawa seat 100%. Having seen her past work with upholstery, boat canvas, sailmaking, etc., I have no reason to doubt her. Her plan is to take the original seat cover off, add layers of close density foam, and make a new cover in black leather (found a MC jacket at Goodwill and cut the pattern} It is beautiful leather--jacket was a Ladies small. She has three sewing machines--one being a Commercial Singer that came from one of the shoe factories we used to have here. We also have an electric staple gun that will do the job. It won`t be a Corbin, but I`m willing to bet it will be damn close.

Alex,

I hope she has the time and patience to reshape it so it will be more comfortable than the stock seat. Recovering is quite easy, but reshaping with the proper materials is where the improvement will really matter. I wish her luck and I'm hoping she'll have a good time helping you with the project. :thumbup:

Kelly, That`s for sure. She says that how you layer different density foam is the key. The foam is in half inch and one inch thicknesses and they have to be joined with a specal adhesive--sort of like laminating wood. The easy part is fitting the leather cover. Took the original seat apart. She couldn`t believe the cheap foam Kawa used. It certainly is not in keeping with the quality of the rest of the bike.

Cool... sounds like she really knows what she's doing. Who knows, this may be another cottage industry in the making if she enjoys doing this. Most 250R riders hate the seat. :)

You are fortunate to have a custom shaper in house.

Most 250R riders hate the seat. :)

I don't. Anything I can ride for 400 - 500 miles / day can't be that uncomfortable. :whistle: There are much worse seats out there in bikedom, that's for sure. :thumbup:

I don't. Anything I can ride for 400 - 500 miles / day can't be that uncomfortable. :whistle: There are much worse seats out there in bikedom, that's for sure. :thumbup:
"most" is not "all". :p

"most" is not "all". :p

True, and in this case, "most" isn't even "most". :D

I don't. I can ride for 400 - 500 miles / day can't be that uncomfortable

Hmmm wonder if that is because of the seat or the "padding" of what is sitting on the seat? Inquiring minds want to know.:rolleyes:

;) Fair point, but you should see what that padding is forced to support! :eek: It all evens out in the end, so to speak. :p

Alex, Believe it or not, I did not find the original seat to be uncomfortable--could be that I have an iron butt from riding bicycles 15 to 20 miles a day. I just mentioned to my wife that I wish the bike came with a leather saddle. She said that can easily be solved and that her version would be more user friendly. Judging the work she has done on our boat and others, it should be quite comfortable. The furthest I have gone in one day with the original seat was 600 miles.

"most" that I've heard ride for 400-500mile/day complain. I think OldGuy is on to something why you don't seem to be having a problem. :lol:

Find me a decent population of ninjette riders who put on 400-500 miles a day where the term "most" would apply, and I'll concede. :) No matter how "comfy" my own personal seat is, even a bed of nails wouldn't be that uncomfortable for 12.6 miles at a time. :fencing:

IMO, the ninjette has more padding on its seat than just about any supersport bike from any of the Japanese manufacturers, along with any of the Italian sportbike manufacturers, and the stock riding position of the ninjette works with the seat to make it as comfy as one could expect off the showroom floor. No reason it couldn't be made more comfy, as anything can certainly be improved; I just don't think this is an area where the bike really needs improvement, and if we took a look at how many ninjette owners actually take the trouble to change their seat out, I'd venture that most are perfectly happy with it. :2cents: If there is a comfort issue, I'd imagine most of it can be dealt with by posture, core-strengthening, and simply more time in the saddle.

I used to customize all of my bikes for comfort much more than my current rides (custom seats, higher bars, different pegs). Basically if I got a new bike, I'd want it to feel just like my prior bike so I would work to make it similar. What I eventually realized is that a more effective (and ultimately more cost-effective as well) option was to put on a few thousand miles to see if the differences were really causing discomfort, of they were just that, differences. Best example I can give of this was heli-bars on my ZX-12R. Got on the bike, bars felt way too low compared to what I was used to, and a month or two after I bought it I raised the bars thinking it would make me more comfortable. Rode the bike in that fashion for 2 or 3 years, selling it with 20k miles. Toward the end of my ownership of that bike, had a chance to ride someone else's 12, which had the stock clip-ons. I realized almost immediately that the stock clip-ons provided a better riding position for the bike when riding it as it needed to be ridden. And they turned out to be more comfortable as well.

This isn't a screed with the point that nobody should ever change anything, that's not it at all. It's just that change just for change's sake isn't necessarily an improvement, and taking some time to get used to things may have us realize that some things really may be perfectly fine as is.

That's the point... most don't even put that much mileage in during a day and they complain about the seat. How can you say that because you put more miles and don't mind the seat, your view reflects "most" of the 250 owners? :p

When I switched to the Corbin, I immediately noticed a more comfortable seating position and rider comfort. see??? :asshat:

sounds like old fart rationalization... and I should know. :D

Find me a decent population of ninjette riders who put on 400-500 miles a day where the term "most" would apply, and I'll concede. :) No matter how "comfy" my own personal seat is, even a bed of nails wouldn't be that uncomfortable for 12.6 miles at a time. :fencing:

IMO, the ninjette has more padding on its seat than just about any supersport bike from any of the Japanese manufacturers, along with any of the Italian sportbike manufacturers, and the stock riding position of the ninjette works with the seat to make it as comfy as one could expect off the showroom floor. No reason it couldn't be made more comfy, as anything can certainly be improved; I just don't think this is an area where the bike really needs improvement, and if we took a look at how many ninjette owners actually take the trouble to change their seat out, I'd venture that most are perfectly happy with it. :2cents: If there is a comfort issue, I'd imagine most of it can be dealt with by posture, core-strengthening, and simply more time in the saddle.

I used to customize all of my bikes for comfort much more than my current rides (custom seats, higher bars, different pegs). Basically if I got a new bike, I'd want it to feel just like my prior bike so I would work to make it similar. What I eventually realized is that a more effective (and ultimately more cost-effective as well) option was to put on a few thousand miles to see if the differences were really causing discomfort, of they were just that, differences. Best example I can give of this was heli-bars on my ZX-12R. Got on the bike, bars felt way too low compared to what I was used to, and a month or two after I bought it I raised the bars thinking it would make me more comfortable. Rode the bike in that fashion for 2 or 3 years, selling it with 20k miles. Toward the end of my ownership of that bike, had a chance to ride someone else's 12, which had the stock clip-ons. I realized almost immediately that the stock clip-ons provided a better riding position for the bike when riding it as it needed to be ridden. And they turned out to be more comfortable as well.

This isn't a screed with the point that nobody should ever change anything, that's not it at all. It's just that change just for change's sake isn't necessarily an improvement, and taking some time to get used to things may have us realize that some things really may be perfectly fine as is.

All I'm saying, is that if ninjette owners are truly unhappy with the seat, they are unfortunately in for a lifetime of unhappiness with just about any sportbike seat on the market. Since Corbin isn't selling ninjette seats by the thousands, and every ninjette (pre-gen or 2nd-gen) I've ever seen on the road still has its stock seat, I find it a stretch that most owners are unhappy with the seat. You were, hence the Corbin upgrade.

Turns out the OP in this thread isn't unhappy with the seat comfort anyway, they just thought it would be neat to have a leather seat, and I can certainly grok that.

*pipes up* My seat was changed out after the first 2000ish miles.. My poor little butt couldn't take it anymore, there's no "natural" padding back there anyways. :(

*pipes up* My seat was changed out after the first 2000ish miles.. My poor little butt couldn't take it anymore, there's no "natural" padding back there anyways. :(

:whistle:

:whistle:

There's 2, you're well on your way to most... :rotflmao: ;)

I didn`t have a problem with the stock seat. I had just wished it was leather. Wife says,"No sweat--we can do that". We take the original cover off and recover. She says that the closed cell foam she has in stock is of a much higher quality and will conform better to the rider`s anatomy. (All seats need a break in period)The foam she has is of different densities and she layers the foam just like you would laminate wood. These layers are all glued together--which is how you get the shape. The seat that came with the bike is a good design and can be made better with a different grade of foam.