Red Dog Scooter: Mar 04, 2010 Back to the drawing board...ewww....

Remember how excited I was to have Red Dog’s saddle reworked by Rich’s Custom Seats? I don’t think anyone could do better work than his outfit but as miserable luck would have it I’ve had to ship the saddle back for a bit of rework.

Rich has a pretty good system of ensuring a proper fit to your fanny and takes extra time in his work. The day he built mine was lousy weather-wise; it rained the whole darned time. When it came time for me to do the first test ride to assess how the new saddle fit the nasty weather played hell with trying to focus on how things were. Returning to his shop from the short ride I commented that the fit and positioning felt good but the height was about the same as the stock seat.

Rich said he could give me a bit more reach to the ground by carving some of the foam off each of the forward side panels. This would allow me to close my legs together a bit more thereby effectively lowering the seat. He said there would be a risk in doing so as I might tend to slide forward when riding but we decided to chance it. When it was finished it was fairly late so I didn’t try another ride, instead I just sat on it in his workshop and it felt great. Of course I wasn’t riding it…

I headed home the next morning without taking it out for a spin, which now that I think about it I should have done so. It took me several days to work my way home as there were kids and grandkids and friends to visit in Portland. During that time Red Dog stayed put on the trailer and of course the rain continued until long after I arrived home. Eventually the weather turned nicer and I managed a couple of short 100 mile rides during which it became evident there was a problem. During normal riding I was sliding forward which resulted in my having to reposition my butt towards the back of the saddle about every 10-12 seconds. On a long ride this would wear me down quickly and after conferring with Rich’s shop it was decided to ship the saddle back to him for an adjustment. FedEx took it away this afternoon and it’s supposed to arrive at his shop early next week.

You may recall that on the way home from Rich’s shop I jack-knifed the bike trailer while backing up? I ordered the new panel from the RV dealer and it came in fairly fast. Unfortunately Winnebago only furnishes them in black primer so it’s off to the body shop next week for a paint job. Buggers, I could have had another saddle done! Ah well, it was my own fault for not paying attention.

In the mean time I’m messing around enjoying the beautiful Oregon spring weather; our flowering shrubs are nearly in full bloom, the early flowers are up and things are looking good.