Riding position

So, I need help figuring out what to do. As I've put more miles on the 1199 I'm not as happy with the riding position. I have the race seat, Rizoma rear sets. It feels as if I''m up too high and COG too forward. It's uncomfortable and I lose "fine touch" cornering and with throttle control because my weight is so far forward. For reference, I took a 2 day class with CSS and we road s1krr's all day. No problems, I had very light touch on the bars, no fatigue, very easy to move left and right on the seat. I'm removing some padding from the seat (considering Luimoto cover for the stock seat) and was considering new clip ons with higher risers. 5'11" 200lbs. The dimensions of the 2 bikes really are not drastically different, ie wheelbase, seat height, length, rake/trail. Any thoughts?

this guy's a genius with seats.

Rich's Custom Seats

He interviewed me on the phone after I filled out a questionaire. and he recontoured the seat on my shiver, put the original cover back on and couldn't tell it from factory.

The newer era ducs seem to all be designed for the seats to cant forward pushing your nuts into the tank. I think if you got the seat recontoured to push you back slightly and possible drop the seat height a bit too.this might help.

I'd also suggest the tech spec (on the bmw I used at codes school last year) and is wonderful stuff as you can grip the tank much more effectively.

You could also try lowering your pegs slightly.


THis site; Motorcycle Ergonomics shows the seating position between the two is very close. The knees are bent 2 degrees more on the pani.

anyway just some thoughts.

Also the one other thing, we rode the beemers at code school for 20 minute intervals, and I found no issues with fatigue, ditto with the pani on the track. But we didn't ride the bmw for longer periods so wouldn't notice fatigue or comfort issues at only 20 minute periods of riding.

bronch said:

So, I need help figuring out what to do. As I've put more miles on the 1199 I'm not as happy with the riding position. I have the race seat, Rizoma rear sets. It feels as if I''m up too high and COG too forward. It's uncomfortable and I lose "fine touch" cornering and with throttle control because my weight is so far forward. For reference, I took a 2 day class with CSS and we road s1krr's all day. No problems, I had very light touch on the bars, no fatigue, very easy to move left and right on the seat. I'm removing some padding from the seat (considering Luimoto cover for the stock seat) and was considering new clip ons with higher risers. 5'11" 200lbs. The dimensions of the 2 bikes really are not drastically different, ie wheelbase, seat height, length, rake/trail. Any thoughts?

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Well, you've raised the seating surface and moved the pegs up and back while leaving the bars in place, so you've effectively rotated your body forward, and that's put more weight on your hands and left you off balance. As noted, you moved your "personal" COG (not the bike's) away from where it should be.

I'd try the stock seat for starters, just to see what getting my butt down would do, then think about the other bits. As for clipons if you do want to change them, Speedymoto makes a very nice adjustable set that should let you do whatever you need with the bars; would have a set myself if they made some with clamps big enough to fit the Marzocchis. With them, you can go from a higher, flatter bar position to lower and with more drop than stock, or even duplicate the stock position along the way. They only have a small amount of rise at the clamp, but you likely don't need much if any once you get your seat height back down.

I'm not up to speed on Rizoma rearsets so I don't know what they do to peg position relative to the stock rearsets, but in general moving your feet forward relative to your butt will take weight off your hands.

Lot of options, but basically what you're needing to do is move your personal COG rearward a bit.

I've ridden both and I find that I kind of almost have to push my ass against the rear hump to get a nice angled position where there is zero pressure down on the handlebars. similar in height and weight as you.

I think most of the problem is probably because of the gas tank. The shape of Ducati tanks basically suck. They are not wide enough at the rear to allow you to grip the tank with the proper part of your inner thigh/knee.. so its hard to support your upper body with your abs and upper thighs like you should, and you end up putting too much weight through your wrists to compensate. The taller race seat you have and the Rizoma rearsets will only make this worse. The 1198's tank was bad, and so is the 1199. They design these things to look sexy but it gets in the way of functionality. As said some Stompgrip or Tech Spec grip pads will help (Stompgrip works better but is super ugly on an 1199, Tech Spec looks okay but doesn't work as well as the stompgrip) I also have a '09 Kawi ZX-6R that has a far superior tank shape which facilitates proper body positioning, and the shape of the tank is a big part of that. Unfortunately apart from seat and rear set changes there isn't much else you can do..

bronch said:

So, I need help figuring out what to do. As I've put more miles on the 1199 I'm not as happy with the riding position. I have the race seat, Rizoma rear sets. It feels as if I''m up too high and COG too forward. It's uncomfortable and I lose "fine touch" cornering and with throttle control because my weight is so far forward. For reference, I took a 2 day class with CSS and we road s1krr's all day. No problems, I had very light touch on the bars, no fatigue, very easy to move left and right on the seat. I'm removing some padding from the seat (considering Luimoto cover for the stock seat) and was considering new clip ons with higher risers. 5'11" 200lbs. The dimensions of the 2 bikes really are not drastically different, ie wheelbase, seat height, length, rake/trail. Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

I had the same issue, Check your Rider Sag, I adjusted mine now i feel more "in the bike" than "on top". I originally set my rider sag with the weight of full gear which is fine for the track which was a mistake.

The problem is the seat. I've tried all three seats (stock, comfort & race). I've found that the comfort and race seat both have you sitting higher and placing more pressure on your wrist. Though the stock seat is hard it gives the better seating position where you are sitting more IN the bike with no pressure on your wrists. I took the stock seat and re-covered it with a suede material (similar to the race seat) to stop the sliding of "my boys" into the tank. I would also recommend placing "a tad" more padding on the stock seat for more comfort without raising you up too high.

I also have problems as well. I have a race seat. I just recently changed over and I was hoping race seat padding flatten little bit after little use. I am not expert enough to cut the padding like some members did.

Simply echoing other's comments; the Race seat is designed to do what it does (pushes the riders weight slightly forward) but it does provide some cushioning/grip that the stock seat lacks. I have returned to using the stock seat but had it recovered to help on the grip side of the equation and am willing to sacrifice some seat comfort for overall body happiness. Given my ergos and where my knees meet the bike, I'm going to do some research on adjustable rear sets.

I kept trading in 1199s until one fit.




Seriously though, this bike is meant for a taller ride. There is NO question in mind on that one. Having the Race Seat w/ 41T sprocket has made it much taller, luckily I can still flat foot it so I don't look like a fool. I've been looking at tank grips for awhile not and keep going back and forth. They probably would help a lot.

TransNone13 said:

I kept trading in 1199s until one fit.




Seriously though, this bike is meant for a taller ride. There is NO question in mind on that one. Having the Race Seat w/ 41T sprocket has made it much taller, luckily I can still flat foot it so I don't look like a fool. I've been looking at tank grips for awhile not and keep going back and forth. They probably would help a lot.

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Ah crap...I did not think about 41T rising it more.

I CANT flat foot even right now so I DO look like a fool.

Looks like I may have to go back to stock seat with cover and gel.

youngR said:

Ah crap...I did not think about 41T rising it more.

I CANT flat foot even right now so I DO look like a fool.

Looks like I may have to go back to stock seat with cover and gel.

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I think it's like 4-5mm, which is more than nothing if you can barely touch the ground already.

TransNone13 said:

I think it's like 4-5mm, which is more than nothing if you can barely touch the ground already.

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How does sprocket size affect the seat height?

ttkarp said:

How does sprocket size affect the seat height?

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The eccentric hub has to be rotated to account for the larger sprocket, thereby moving the axle closer to the ground. The wheelbase also increases slightly.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I have tech spec on and it does help. I didn't think of the tank shape and that might be it! It makes sense. Much easier on the bmw to support myself with my legs. Can't do much about that now, except maybe I'll put on like 4 inches of tech spec each side! I'll see how it goes with the Luimoto cover first. Zvez, thanks for the link, I will check Rich's out.

I also didn't think of the change in position with the Rizoma's. Won't go back to stock, but I might have to rethink that part and perhaps just use the stockers and put different pegs on.

I appreciate all the help, makes sense.

bronch said:

. For reference, I took a 2 day class with CSS and we road s1krr's all day. No problems, I had very light touch on the bars, no fatigue, very easy to move left and right on the seat.

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zvez said:

Also the one other thing, we rode the beemers at code school for 20 minute intervals, and I found no issues with fatigue,.

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Probably one of the most comfortable superbikes out there, at least I think so.

TransNone13 said:

The eccentric hub has to be rotated to account for the larger sprocket, thereby moving the axle closer to the ground. The wheelbase also increases slightly.

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Err, you might want to consider adjusting it back to normal ride height with the shock length adjuster after moving the eccentric. Might have missed a step there...

Steve B said:

Err, you might want to consider adjusting it back to normal ride height with the shock length adjuster after moving the eccentric. Might have missed a step there...

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I don't mind it, but I see where you're going with it. Unless you can tell me the stock measurements, I'd probably never know. Don't know how to tell where it was before.

TransNone13 said:

I don't mind it, but I see where you're going with it. Unless you can tell me the stock measurements, I'd probably never know. Don't know how to tell where it was before.

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Don't have the number, but likely the easiest way to go would be to measure a new one at a dealer for comparison if you have one handy. Quick-n-dirty way would be to have someone rock one up on the sidestand to unweight the rear wheel and measure vertically from the axle to an identifiable point on the tail so you could match it on yours. That would give you a baseline, then do that on yours or put it on jackstands to measure it. Racers typically do this even for simple chain adjustments on SSA Ducs to keep the chassis geometry stable.

I think it probably needs a bit less ride height than stock to reduce swingarm angle and jacking on the power, which would be in line with what most of the positions on the new adjustable SA pivot on the R offer.

Dropped it by 5mm. Define jacking on the power. Is that preferable to jacking off the power? This may be why I noticed slightly more rubbing on the chain, you are a hero.