I saw reference to them in a previous post, some sort of seat cover....
Do they make ones specifically to fit the 650?

 

I beleive IPIATV.COM has them.

 

I learned a long time ago about the benifits of gel-pads when I used to ride on extra firm motorcycle seats(street bikes). I would rebuild those seats & I figured if I could do it to a MC seat, then I would do it to my 30 mile Prairie 650 seat, which I have, fixed the seat for good!
I have seen gel-pad covers that strap to the top of your seat, I think even www.buykawasaki.com has them but I wanted something better, so I took out a few knives & started the operation of fixing my 650 seat, the end result is this - Fact: I can now ride a full 105 miles, with NO sorness at all & I bet I could go another 105 miles on top of that,with the same complete satisfaction.
This is what you need to do if you do it my way;
For the Prairie 650 seat- JCwhitney carries the Raw gel-pads & JC so far has the lowest price on the raw pads(no outer cover) that I have found.
I ordered 2-Large Raw gel-pads (no outer covers)$44.98 ea.
Remove your seat,carefully remove the seat vinyl seat cover,don't tear it, you will have to put this cover back on.
Place the seat back on the 650 & lock it into place.
Take a "black" magic marker & outline the top portion of the seat that you sit on but leave at least 2 inches of the rear part of the stock seat foam intact, do not outline all the way to the very end of the seat foam, same goes for the very front part of the seat, leave a good 2 inches as well. You want to leave the sides of the stock foam alone, as this part is the shape of your seat.
Take a knife & cut along the black outline all around the seat top, cut down about 3 inches first.
Next, try to pull out the cutted area,starting at the front of the seat, with your knife helping to cut back the stock foam, try not to remove too much foam as the gel-pads are only 3/4 inch thick.
The other option here is too remove all of the stock foam from the black outline all the way to the seat bottom (base plate) this is the way I did it. Go to a surplus store and buy some chucks of firm foam, at least the length/width of your 650 seat & thickness of 1/2,3/4,1 inch and larger. Rebuild your seat from the base plate up to the top with the new foam cut to fit the opening & leave exactly 3/4" from the top of the seat, front to rear, for your raw gel-pads.
Both the front & rear part of the seat will take less foam, so you will have to layer in sections to build up the inner foam. DON'T use too soft of foam, you are better off with the firm foam.
Cut the gel-pads to fit on top of your new rebuilt seat foam, leave the clear plastic on the gel-pads, place the gel-pads into seat, be sure the gel-pads are at the correct height of the stock seat, if it is, use some duck tape to hold the gel-pads/foam in place.
Flip the seat back over, align the seat cover on the seat, be sure it is aligned correctly,(www.buykawasaki.com offers camo replacement seat vinly covers too)
Flip the seat upside down & begin to staple your seat cover back on (use 1/4",6mm T50 staples & a staple gun, start at the rear of the seat, flip the seat back over now & then, so you can remove the duck tape as needed.
Be sure to keep a close eye that the seat cover is going back on correctly & be sure to get the seat cover back on as tightly as possible.
You may need to take a pair of needle-nose plyers to finish setting in some of the staples into the bottom base plate, before you do this, recheck to be sure the seat cover is on correctly and tight.
Now go out for a test ride & enjoy your supersoft comfy all day seat.
In the hotter summer months, you can place the entire seat in your freezer overnite, put it on in the morning & enjoy a firmer cool ride till the gel-pads warm up. These gel-pads will never crack or breakdown, they just look like light green jello & have a jello feel to them.
This seat fix may look to me quite a project but it really isn't, just don't get in a hurry while doing it, take your time & the end result will be amazing & even more so for your butt.
With 2 Raw Gel-pads, extra foam, staples, camo seat vinly, this seat project cost me $145.00 VS strap on gel-pad covers (less thickness) anywhere from 50 to 75$.

 

PrairieDust: Highlifter has one for $120. Difference is night and day. Fits pretty good, adds about 8 lbs. and is spray washable.

I installed the Gel grips too. Same place for about $15.

 

Gel grips?

I have never heard of gel grips. Would'n they feel weird on your hands? I can understand a gel seat cover but you will have to tell me how the gel grips work.

 

bfb650b2, me thinks you have an excellent idea, one question though....
Did you stack the gel pads or do you just need two large ones to cover the length of the seat?
I am pretty much sold on your idea cause you wont be sitting up any higher and you wont see it, unlike a strapon.

 

I wonder what those jell packs are like to sit on when it is -40.

 

Thats an interesting observation Alltoys, might be hard on the roids. Perhaps it may be a better idea to put a thin layer of foam on top of the Gel pads.
bfb650b2, where you have already had some experience with these things, would you care to comment on what are they like in the hard core cold?

 

Answer #1- 2 Large Raw gel-pads are needed for the length and width of the P650
seat, so yes, these 2 raw gel-pads (no-outer covers) go end-to-end.
Answer #2- These gel-pads will Never harden or Freeze.
I put them in the Frezzer for 72 hours ( I think your freezer runs at -20
degress) & when I took them out (they had the same feel to them but
just cold. I tested the gel-pads in the uninstalled seat first, more or less
to test the claim that the pads would not freeze & they didn't)
I tried a layer of foam 1st on top of the gel-pads but I prefer the gel-pads
directly under the seat vinyl, I feel it gives me more comfort & support.
On extemely cold mornings I have noticed my gel-pad seat a little firmer (like the stock seat) but after some miles(10 or so),the seat softers up.
So far I have put 900 miles on this seat gel-pad fix.
The total price I have listed included a Kawasaki Real-Tree camo - vinyl seat cover, so if you use your stock seat cover, figure about $30 less.

 

bfb650b2, thanks that answers all my questions.