Comfort Air Seat Cushion – Your Backside Will Thank You

If I had known how effective the Comfort Air Seat Cushion would be, I could have saved myself the cost of Yamaha’s Comfort Seat.

For most people, the standard seat on the Tracer 9 GT is appalling. For the £167 that Yamaha charges for their comfort seat, you will get an improvement, but perhaps not as much as you would hope for.

Alternatively, you could spend around £150 and have your seat rebuilt using high-quality memory foam. Others will tell you that gel inserts are the way to go. But you are still spending a lot of money in the hope of improving something that should not have left the factory this way.

Yamaha, though, will not be fixing the problem for us, we all have to find our own answer, and I have found mine – the Comfort Air Seat Cushion. It is half the cost of the other options, and I can use it on any bike – Perfect.

Comfort Air Clarity

I’ve been bleating on about the Tracer 9 GT seat ever since I got the bike and rode 1,000 miles across Wales. So MotoHaus, the distributors for the Comfort Air Seat Cushion, kindly sent me one to try in the hopes that I’d stop my incessant moaning. MotoHaus: Objective achieved.

How Does It Work?

The base concept might sound simple, but there is more to it than simply sitting on a blow-up cushion.

When riding a motorcycle, your upper body is supported by the seat, with the weight transferring through your backside.

To be comfortable, your weight needs to be distributed in a way that doesn’t create pressure points. The problem with this requirement and riding a motorcycle is that you sit relatively still, and your weight is transferred through the same pressure points for hours.

Getting off the bike helps, as does attempting to ride in any number of contorted positions. Yet, no matter what riding position you try, it isn’t going to provide sustained relief. As soon as you get back on the bike, the same pressure points retake the load.

The key to the Comfort Air working so efficiently is the air pockets. These minimise the pressure points that lead to discomfort, and because the air pockets are interconnected, as soon as you move – even slightly – the weight distribution across your backside changes.

It might be a mental image you don’t want, but imagine having your backside subtly massaged as you ride.

Tried One – Crap

We all know this person. The person who couldn’t be bothered to read the instructions. The one who was sure the Comfort Air Seat Cushion needed inflating to its maximum pressure, which is so very wrong.

All that is needed is the thinnest layer of air. Sufficient to separate your backside from the seat.

That same person will also tell you that it is like adding an inch to your seat height. A small increase is inevitable. I could agree with a centimetre more, but not an inch.

Next, they will tell you that it doesn’t fit their bike. Most likely, this is because they didn’t bother to discover that there are three shapes of Comfort Air Seat Cushion, so be it a bobber, an adventure bike or a sports bike, simply pick the Comfort Air that best matches your saddle shape.

And finally comes my personal favourite, “It slid off”. That is class one bovine waste product. If it is installed correctly – which isn’t complicated – the seat cushion does not move.

There are two elasticated straps that lock the Comfort Air seat cushion into place and are designed to prevent the cushion from being stolen. The only way to remove the Comfort Air is to first remove the standard seat from the bike.

Added Bonus

Along with the discomfort of the Tracer’s seat, people are also complaining about sliding forward. The shape of the seat is such that you naturally migrate towards the tank. Having ridden 170 miles today on the Comfort Air, I noticed this had stopped.

As the air pockets are interconnected, the seat cushion is sculpting itself to the shape of my backside and stopping me from sliding forward.

And, if all of this isn’t enough to make you invest in one, Comfort Air offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, or to use their words … “If you’re not convinced for whatever reason simply return your Seat Cushion within 30 days for a full refund.”

We are testing another of our free motorcycle touring routes in a few days – Four Days Coast to Coast across southwest Scotland and northeast England. My backside thanks me.