A couple of weeks ago I was out for a few days in horrendous rain and the bike was living outside in a campsite on the side stand. I noticed that I was getting water on my left upper thigh from the saddle even after it had stopped raining. If I pressed down on the stitching then water would come to the surface. After I got home it was clear that the saddle was pretty much waterlogged. Drilled a couple of drain holes in the underside plastic at the lowest point. Drained out what I could and then left it in the airing cupboard for a few days. It no longer feels wet if you push into the foam from the moulded holes but I still get a little bit of water if I press down on the stitching. Hopefully over the summer it will dry out otherwise I'll have to either bake it dry or possibly even take off the covers and dismantle the seat so it drys out completely. There is no visible damage to the seat covering so I'm assuming water is getting in through the stitching and then there is no easy way for it to evaporate out. Anyone else had this problem? I was considering using seam sealer on the stitching that you use on tent seams but that leaves a bit of residue so may look a mess. Also considering taking the cover off entirely. sealing it from the inside and putting it all back together but not sure if I'd ever get the cover to look right again. Looking for anyone with experience of waterlogged seats or stripping and rebuilding the seat. Alternatively I'll just hope that a few hot summer days will dry it out but I left it parked up in the sun for a day over the weekend and it still oozes water if you press the stitching so not sure the British summer has enough in it to sort it out!
This is another option for a seat cover. It should allow airflow to dry out a wet seat along with drainage if you're sitting on the seat and water is being pushed out. https://www.coolcovers.co.uk/
Not really looking for seat covers, wanted to know if anyone has a recommendation for seam sealer or experience of stripping and recovering the seat.
The very early bikes had porous seat covers. I thought they changed the material the following year, and not heard of anybody reporting this for years. You could try wrapping the seat in something like a microfibre cloth, then give it a good squashing, see if you can wick any more fluid out of it.
another thought, once you've dried it out how about giving it a going over with some nikwax to seal it (probably best to check a bit first to make sure it doesn't make the seat to slippery)
I've got exactly the same problem. Just bought a 2013 Pikes Peak. Went to Lakes last weekend in that horrendous weather. Obviously I knew the seat would get wet, but I went out on it on Wednesday evening and ended up with the wet thighs. Took seat off and the sponge internal is still soaked, therefore sitting on the seat squeezes it out. I'm not that bothered about any sealing etc as I don't plan on doing loads of bad weather riding. I'm more interested in any tips for getting the seat properly dried out. On a side note, I've only had the bike 2 weeks and I'm absolutely loving it. Made the move from Sportsbikes and definitely not regretting it. Although I have kept my R1
My 2016 MTSE seat is in for rebuilding so I've seen it with its cover off. The stitched seams are taped on the inside and the foam has a fairly thin (thicker than cling film) clear membrane across it to stop water getting into the foam. The membrane was broken in a couple of places after less than 10k miles so that's probably your problem.
The touring seat on my SF848 is just a covered sponge. It absorbs rainwater and the foam holds onto the water for weeks afterwards. As far as I can tell from being wet for so long it is slowly rotting the foam. I may resort to having it taken apart, refoamed and a waterproof membrane fitted.
I'm about to list a Ducati Performance comfort touring seat on ebay for the 2013 multi if interested £75 posted, perfect condition.
Here's the ebay item number, if you want it make an offer before someone bids and I will get it in the post today 143402417043 Cheers
Would you believe I looked on eBay this morning before you put that message on and saw that item. I've put an offer on now.
My 2014 has this problem. It's a bit annoying, but livable. I've changed from leather trews to all weather suit to deal with it. I'v got some scars on the pillion, but not the saddle. It seems to dry out OK so that if I use it for short dry journeys in the summer I get little seepage.
