Hi-Flite USA Desert ATV Seat - - ATV at Off-Road.com
ATV & UTV »
Hi-Flite USA Desert ATV Seat
Publish date: Nov 1, 2002
By:  Dean Waters
Source: ATV at Off-Road.com




After surviving the latest desert race at Wickenberg, Arizona, we knew we had to do something about the extremely hard and abrupt seat that comes on the Yamaha Raptor. The Raptor seat is narrow and easy to maneuver on, but more than a little short on padding when you are covering rough terrain. Wickenberg had plenty of the rough stuff, and even though we only completed two laps before suffering clutch failure, we were sure wishing there was something softer back there. We contacted Hi-Flite USA in Santa Ana, California, to get one of their new desert seat kits for the Raptor. Hi-Flite has been in the business since 1978 and makes seat covers and kits for most all of the popular quads. The desert seat is made 2 - 2 1/2" thicker than the stock seat. Hi-Flite has many different seat designs and colors to choose from when ordering up a new seat. We chose black/white checkered pattern on black.
Raptor seat from the factory is very hard.
Seat pan with original cover and padding removed.
With new cover and and pad in hand from Hi-Flite, we stripped down our factory seat. A small screw driver and pliers did the trick, although it does take a little while due to the huge quantity of staples. You will notice the new seat cover is made from a much heavier material than the stock seat. If you have a good staple gun you could tackle the next step yourself. We cheated and dropped by the local upholstery shop with new cover, pad, and seat base. For $15 they stapled on the new cover while we waited.
New Hi-Flite Desert seat on Project Raptor
Hi-flite Desert seat from the rear.
 
 
Summary When you first sit on the new seat it feels like you are sitting in the clouds. It is amazing how different it feels with the extra 2" of padding. If you sit in one spot for a while you begin to sink down in the seat. It definitely felt much better on the tush, but we were not sure we were going to like that extra height. However, after only a couple short days of riding, we are already beginning to become accustomed to the taller seat. In rough whoops there is no question that the desert seat provides a softer ride. We like the look of the checkered pattern and the quality of the product is very good. Whether you want a thicker desert seat, or you just want a trick-looking seat, we don't believe you can go wrong with Hi-Flite. The Desert seat kit with foam and cover runs about $119.00.
  • Contact Information

Hi-Flite USA
3400 W. Fordham Ave.
Santa Ana, Ca 92704
Telephone 714-979-4810
www.hi-flite.com
Email

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/OffRoadDotCom
About the Author
post a comment
Please complete the form below to post your comment.
Bold = Required
Email Address Your email address will NOT be published.
Display Name appears with your comment
City
State
Country
Remember me: YesNo
Comment read our privacy policy
Note: does not support HTML
All comments submitted are subject to review, and may be delayed before posting. We reserve the right not to post comments.
Untitled Document
Sponsored Links
Off-Road Videos -
Check out over ten years of extreme 4x4 action, product testing and the Off Road Nation at play. Baja racing to rock crawling, ATVs in the sand to motorcycles in the dirt, it's all here. Rate them, share them and upload your own.
ATV Reviews -
Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Polaris, Kawasaki, Can-Am. First rides to long-term tests, check out the latest in ATVs, UTVs and Side-by-Side vehicles of every make and model. Read expert opinions and follow custom project vehicles.
Axxxtion Sports.....
Axxxtion Sports is heating things up with their 2010 Winter Heat snowmobile calendar! Simply Sexy!

Enewsletters

Stay on Top of All the Action:
Sign up for Off-Road.com's Enewsletters

Source: ATV at Off-Road.com, 11/1/2002
Click here