Slippery seat problem.

I have recently acquired a 2013 FJR (which I love) with a custom 'Rich's' leather seat which is quite comfortable BUT it seems too slippery. Does anyone have any solutions in safely treating the leather to make it LESS slippery so as to feel more secure on the bike. Or recommend a seat that is not that slippery that holds your arse more securely in place with more grab between your pants and the leather seat? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

BlueSky.

I have a stock seat which gets kinda slippery, so be'in the cheap bastard I am, I just wrap some of that rubber drawer/shelf liner stuff from the dollar store. It ain't purdie, but keeps me from slide'in around.

well, you might consider applying some course sandpaper to your "arse"... this is definitely the cheapest of the many possibilities..

I also have a '13 with a Rich's custom seat. As AFAIK he ONLY builds seats customized for the arse wot comes in to get one (though he will apparently build a seat based on supplied photographic information). Mine is also leather and its surface is indeed slippery. But it was made for my singularly excellent (so my wife tells me) arse, so although the leather is slippery it matters not, as my bottom fits perfectly into the pocket made for it.

Hence the problem with a custom seat that was customized for a different arse

Maybe a piece of suede leather strapped to the top of the seat would help? Such a piece probably would need non-slip treatment on the bottom (and maybe the top). There are easily found spray-on anti-slip products made for the underside of rugs and such. I don't know of any chemical that would make the seat itself less slick and would be for sure harmless to the leather seat itself.

Thanks for the replies. Seems like this might not be an easy problem to solve.

Seriously, you might try a few gentle swipes with fine-grit sandpaper -- just enough to raise some peach fuzz. Of course, you could do that to your riding pants and spare the seat.

Not so seriously ...

RichDoyle posted, in part: ... though he will apparently build a seat based on supplied photographic information ...

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I can imagine the inside of his workshop: Everywhere you look, ass photos tacked to the wall. fronts, backs, sides, underneaths ...

Add tank pads to allow your thighs to hold the tank. You can also use the rubber shelf liner between you and the seat.

Ok, you might think I am nuts but use Mink Oil. I have a Russell day long seat and after water proofing my shoes one day I decided to put it on my seat.

DAM, no more sliding. Not that I did slide that much. It just seemed to stick my Ass to the seat. Not only that it helped keep the water out and conditioned it. Any shoe place should have it. Comes in a little round can like shoe polish from the old days.

Try it and see,

Dave

It's a real Yamaha product delivered with my Star 950 Tour for saddle treatment. The description was 'doctored' for posting in a different thread.

I bet you Bust has a stock pile of that sheet. Ba,ha,ha,ha,ha

Dave

Don't get silicone overspray on the saddle. Did that a few minutes before departing for CFR several years back.
Not fun.

I was trying to find my go-to links for a leather-care comparo but they are now dead. Not looking ahead, I didn't save them as PDFs anywhere.

Bottom line was/is leather was a living thing and needed to "breath". Even now it needs to "breath" and mink oil clogs the pours. Lexol cleaner and treatment was the top finisher as it cleans and conditions without clogging the pours of the leather.

Neatsfoot oil. Conditions leather and won't make it slippery.

I've used it on saddles (like for a horse) and it works fine.

A leather seat doesn't need to "breath" , its dead. The problem with mink oil is the stuff available today contains wax...which may just make the seat more slippery.

Lexol will fix you right up. And it’s good for the seat. Will make it supple and slightly tacky.

I use Lexol and realized I hadn't treated my seat with it recently. So I did so today and it does seem to make the leather less slick. It certainly makes it look nicer. FWIW, it's what Rich recommends, the last I looked.

Mink oil was, at one time in the past, oil from the fat of a mink. Mink oil now is some synthetic concoction, often containing silicone, as a waterproofing agent, and wax. Neither if these are thing# you’d want on your seat to prevent slipping. I don’t know what oils they use in Lexol. Oil from a Lexus I guess? But it does seem to make the seat tacky, albeit for a short time.

When I had Rich do my bike seat I just had him do my seat, not the pillion. This is still the original vinyl and is far more slippery than the pilot's seat.

If treating the leather does not result in what you want perhaps you could contact Seth Laam (Laam Custom Motorcycle Seats) 530-351-5643 and discuss your concern and he can re-cover your seat with a non-slippery material. I have one of his seats with a non-slip vinyl material.

Knifemaker said:

Neatsfoot oil. Conditions leather and won't make it slippery.
I've used it on saddles (like for a horse) and it works fine.

A leather seat doesn't need to "breath" , its dead.

The problem with mink oil is the stuff available today contains wax...which may just make the seat more slippery.

Click to expand...

Despite the lack of consensus about the leather pours (breathing for releasing moisture from dew/rain/etc), Lexol is still the tits.