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The stock Yamaha seat is atrocious. The shape isn’t great and the foam breaks down within 8-10 hours of you riding your new YZ. I have been going back and forth with foam shapes on the Yamaha YZ450F and come to the conclusion that the stock shape isn’t bad if you have the right foam density. Enter Seat Concepts and their complete Race 2.0 seat. Seat Concepts offers a wide variety of OEM foam replacements, wider, taller as well as comfort seat for the touring or ADV riders. Of course I was just looking for a OEM replacement foam for the 2024 Yamaha YZ450F and Seat Concepts offered to send me a complete seat to test.
The Race 2.0 complete seat uses the stock OEM height/width/shape dimensions but use their own proprietary foam for a different feel on the bike. You can choose from three different color ways and of course can just order the cover if need be. I didn’t see just a “foam” option on their site as Seat Concepts only sells complete seats or covers. They are a custom seat business hence the reason they only sell seats. For $349.99 it is about $170.00 more than just getting a seat foam and cover but then again, having a complete extra seat hasn’t hurt anyone. Having an extra seat on hand is not a bad option if you ride quite a bit and may need to repair or replace your other foam/cover.
Out of the box, the Seat Concepts Race 2.0 seat is a beauty. Installation is just like the OEM version and this seat lines up perfect. There are no gaps between the gas cap cover and the seat nor is there a gap in between the subframe and the seat pan itself. It is a clean look from top to bottom. The foam is probably the best thing about the seat. Even with the same shape as the OEM foam, this Seat Concepts foam is plush yet hard enough where my butt isn’t sinking in when I load the foam. Seat bouncing or hitting square edge doesn’t jar my back and feels nice on my rear end. I have also spent about 25 engine hours on the foam itself and I can say that it hasn’t broke down like I thought it would. Normally I can feel an aftermarket (or even an OEM foam) break down in about 10-12 engine hours (with washing the seat on the bike) but the Seat Concepts foam has been holding up fairly well after 25 engine hours. I have gone back to the Seat Concepts seat after breaking down some OEM seats and it is always a welcome feeling on my rear end. I don’t get monkey butt like I do with the stock OEM seat shape/foam which enables me to ride multiple days without an issue. The seat cover material itself isn’t the most grippy available as it does lose some of its grip feel after some time. The pleats itself are plenty enough grip for accelerating out of corners but the material of the seat is not the most grippy I’ve had. This isn’t a horrible thing however as the pleats on the seat have lasted and have given me plenty of traction under throttle. Again, I have left this seat on when washing the bike for the duration of the 25 hours so this is ALL worst case scenario. I recommend taking the seat off for every wash to save the cover as well as the foam from breaking down sooner.
Overall, I have been please with the Seat Concepts Race 2.0 seat, but it will be up to you if you want to spend the 350 bucks on a seat. I do think some models need a different foam/seat so to me this YZ450F falls into one of those that NEED it. You can check out what Seat Concepts offers and orders yours over at seatconcepts.com.
