Enduro Engineering Replacement Seat

Company: Enduro Engineering

Price: $129.95

Roost

Simple bolt-on and go!
Quality materials that last with foam that lasts longer.
Better on the butt.

Endo

Hard to know if soft is too soft until you try it.
Seat does not mesh in as tight at the rear fender as the stock seat.

What it is

Complete replacement seats for KTMs.

Enduro Engineering offers a couple of standard height replacement seats for KTMs as well as well as a tall option for those needing more height out of their ride. The complete seat comes with a replacement seat pan, EE’s rubberized foam and a more grippy seat cover. The rubberized foam is claimed to last longer, especially in wet environments. The seat is manufactured in the USA by Enduro Engineering. It’s cover is only available in black and replacement covers are available. EE claims their tall seat is 3/4-inch taller as an average.

How it works

The seat bolts right on, just like stock which is great. Having changed may seat covers and replacing foam on occasion, that task is definitely playing into the price and value of the seat. Then it comes to sitting on it. The EE foam is rubberized and definitely has a different and softer feel to it, even the stiffer of the two we tried. The seat’s shape, slightly wider and more rounded at the edged may play a little into the more cushioned feel but we really feel it is the foam that makes the difference. The seat height is not raised on the standard height seats and the wider stance is not enough to trouble those on the border of feeling the seat is compromising their ability to get feet on the ground.

At first the soft seat can feel too squishy and too soft. If fact I took it right off after testing it out and went with the standard stiffness foam for my personal bike. The standard foam feels pretty much like stock but softer initially and then not as dead when you press into the foam. Especially when compared to a seat that is going on over a year old and more so if the seat sees a lot of wet riding.

The standard stiffness seat is a large improvement over stock, which on a KTM is not hard to do. EE's foam does a good job being compliant without that initial stiffness when new or deadness when old. The cover feels like it has more rubber in its material and therefore is more grippy all the time. If there was any negative it is that the cover will also grab onto things that will tear it easier, like boots and sticks, but it resists tearing as good as any. EE also sells replacement covers ($44.95) should this happen.

So here is the funny part. For testing I threw on the soft seat knowing I wasn’t going to like it but went and rode with it anyways. And as soon as I got use to the stranger sensation of the mushy or rubbery feeling of the soft seat I started to like the cushion and not being abused by my motorcycle seat. What was bothering me was that I felt like I was moving a little bit on top of the softer foam but in actuality I was sinking in a little bit which stuck me in position when I sat down. Especially in the front of the seat where the foam is thick, you can almost sit down through choppy bumps, where I would never sit before. Stock foam with this much give would have you riding on the frame rails but I on this seat never hit them, even on the back of the seat where the foam is thin. (I hit them on the stock seat.) Now I really like and appreciate the soft seat, no matter the type of riding I’m doing. At close to 200-lbs. I’m close to a weight where I might be too heavy for this foam and could smash through it but even with a heavy backpack I didn’t.

The tall seat adds 1.25-inches in the mid of the seat and 1-inch at the back. It makes for a very flat and level platform for riders that are pushing over 6 feet and those with longer legs. It is offered in both foam densities as well. Riders reported the biggest advantage in going to the tall seat was that it was much easier to stand up, above and beyond the increased comfort of the foam and a lot of riders claimed this made them stand up more.

At $129.95 the seat is a bargain not only for the labor you’d save in changing a foam or a cover but for how well it works over stock. If there is anything to complain about is the cover does not look as tight around the rear edge as the stock seat but I’m not looking at it, I’m sitting on it.