Had the C14 for almost a week and there is just something a little unsettling having that much bike held up by the tippy toes of one of my feet. Being cursed with a 28" inseam, the 32+" seat height was my only concern moving to the C14. I rode a C10 for 9 years and was able to work around, but the C14 is a little taller (and a lot more $$$) to be so precariously balanced.
Not a concern for the most part, but riding a lot in the dark and near year round, there are going to be times when I might not notice a touch of sand or a slick spot where my foot goes down. With a long ride coming up soon, and being a little cash strapped after getting the C14 (haven't sold the VFR yet) i didn't have the cas and didn't want to wait for a Sargent so I decided to cut the stock seat padding down to get my feet a little closer to the ground.
Bottom line, I think it turned out ok. Definitely lost some seat height, test ride today was totally comfortable on a 50+ mile check ride, and I can now easily get toes down on both feet, or my usual style of one foot down, all but heel touching and a little lean to one side.
Here are some pics of the process...
Step 1) Pull the Seat Cover back to expose the foam. Simple enough, pull the staples from the pan, and skin it back like a sausage.
Step 2) Look draw out some guides on the area to remove foam. I wanted to lower the seat as well as narrow the sides. The stock foam is THICK, lots of room to remove, it does get a little thin on the sides near the front though.
Step 3) Dig in! No turning back now. Start slicing, cutting, pulling, etc. I used a combination of knives, scissors, and clippers. The foam comes out easy enough, but I didn't have anything that would leave a smooth finish. Tried to keep symmetrical and then lots of small snips to smooth it out some.
Step 4) With the surface far from smooth, I decided to sacrifice a cotton towel as a sort of top layer to help with some of the surface 'irregularities" and smooth it out a little before putting the cover back on.
Final product before and after comparison. Sit much lower and the "nose" of the seat is considerably narrower. This lets me get a
lot more foot on the ground. The vinyl cover was stretched a bit tighter and I trimmed about 1" of fabric around the edge when I re-stapled it. You can see a little bit of "texture" to the vinyl in the picture from the towel and less than smooth foam surface underneath, not as smooth as stock or an aftermarket, but not a total eyesore.
I rode it today on a 50+ mile loop around the house, mostly back roads in the foothills, a fair amount of twisties with lots of stops for putting my foot/feet down. No problems at all, no pinching or hard spots, comfortable. I think the "uneven" surface and the cotton terry towel might even help a little by letting a little more air circulate "down there" and by not having having totally smooth foam in complete contact with totally smooth vinyl in complete contact with your backside.
Heading out for a 700 mile or so trip next week, that will be the true test...
