Manfred
Stuart Brogden
In September of 2024 I bought what I figured would be my last motorcycle. I’ve been riding since 1970 and this 2010 Honda NT700V was to be my first modern bike – fuel injection and something other than a flat seat. As I’ve gotten older, my butt has lost most of what padding it had years ago and I found the seat on this new Honda to be quite uncomfortable. I had used an air cushion for years and tried that on the Honda. Over 21 months and 21,440 miles, I tried combinations of several cushions – gels, cooling webs, on top of the air cushion. At best, after 2 and half or 3 hours, my butt hurt enough to be a constant distraction. No amount of time out of the saddle gave relief from the deep pain in what should be the fat part of my butt.
I made peace with paying to have my seat modified to provide better support, and looked into 5 different businesses. 2 of them were unable to make the modifications I thought I needed. Several fellow riders on the Honda NT forum (https://nt-owners.org/forums/) and Two Wheeled Texans (https://www.twtex.com/forums/) recommended Steve Gowing (https://stevegowing.com/). I got in contact with Steve and was impressed with his understanding of the problem and his experience in helping many other riders. My wife took several pictures of me sitting on my bike so Steve could see the pressure points. Steve explained what he would do and I was convinced he was the right guy.
We agreed on the first week of June, 2026 – I boxed up the seat and it arrived a couple of days before the scheduled work was to begin. Steve kept in contact with me, explaining the mods and sent the seat back to one week after work started.
I noticed right off that I was a little further back and had a nearly flat seat that didn’t slide me forward. I raised the end of my gear shift lever and pivoted my handlebars back a bit (previous owner had installed pivot risers!). A couple of rides of 2 and 3 hours impressed me – no cushion on the seat and no pain in my butt! I felt I could have ridden another 3 hours!
Over the next 3 months, I put 2,600 miles on the bike, including a ride to Lake Charles, LA which included 4 days in the saddle for 4.5 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours and 3.5 hours. Each day, when I was riding and when I ended the ride, I was not in pain and was not “bound up” – able to walk and sit and relax. This would not have been possible on the stock seat with any combination of cushions.
I don’t know how much longer I’ll be riding, but I no longer fear spending several hours in the saddle. Highly recommend Steve Gowing if your saddle is giving you grief.
The photos show the stock seat and the modified seat.
I made peace with paying to have my seat modified to provide better support, and looked into 5 different businesses. 2 of them were unable to make the modifications I thought I needed. Several fellow riders on the Honda NT forum (https://nt-owners.org/forums/) and Two Wheeled Texans (https://www.twtex.com/forums/) recommended Steve Gowing (https://stevegowing.com/). I got in contact with Steve and was impressed with his understanding of the problem and his experience in helping many other riders. My wife took several pictures of me sitting on my bike so Steve could see the pressure points. Steve explained what he would do and I was convinced he was the right guy.
We agreed on the first week of June, 2026 – I boxed up the seat and it arrived a couple of days before the scheduled work was to begin. Steve kept in contact with me, explaining the mods and sent the seat back to one week after work started.
I noticed right off that I was a little further back and had a nearly flat seat that didn’t slide me forward. I raised the end of my gear shift lever and pivoted my handlebars back a bit (previous owner had installed pivot risers!). A couple of rides of 2 and 3 hours impressed me – no cushion on the seat and no pain in my butt! I felt I could have ridden another 3 hours!
Over the next 3 months, I put 2,600 miles on the bike, including a ride to Lake Charles, LA which included 4 days in the saddle for 4.5 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours and 3.5 hours. Each day, when I was riding and when I ended the ride, I was not in pain and was not “bound up” – able to walk and sit and relax. This would not have been possible on the stock seat with any combination of cushions.
I don’t know how much longer I’ll be riding, but I no longer fear spending several hours in the saddle. Highly recommend Steve Gowing if your saddle is giving you grief.
The photos show the stock seat and the modified seat.
