Did a little comparison with seats the other night while a friend and I were swapping Trail Tanks onto our supercharger sleds. Had his OEM seat, Skinz Seat, and my Arctic Cat accessory Ascender Pro seat. His sled is a 2019 Alpha while mine is a 2021. Both machines have the Arctic Cat extruded accessory running boards. Height measurements were taken by laying a straight edge across the top of the seat and measuring vertically from the running board surface up to the straight edge. This measurement was taken just behind where the upper chassis spar bracket is riveted to the top of the tunnel. Weights were taken with a Rapala 0-50lb digital fish scale. I'm 6'-2" for reference with sort of short legs for my height.
OEM seat:
Height = 18 1/2"
Weight = 5.85lb
Observations =
Skinz Seat:
Height = 17"
Weight = 5.24lb w/the little pack that comes with it and Velcro strips
Observations =
AC Accessory Seat:
Height = 19 3/4"
Weight = 7.62lb Gross weight with spar inserts, 6.21lb Adjusted weight
Observations =
TL;DR: The OEM is probably best if you are medium build and storage is important for you. Skinz is for the person that wants to do hop overs all day and rarely/never sits down. The AC accessory seat is tailored towards the big and tall crowd and requires some other form of storage on the sled.
OEM seat:
Height = 18 1/2"
Weight = 5.85lb
Observations =
- Storage area is nice
- Softest (read comfortable) foam to sit on
- I get that "falling off the back" feeling trying to sit on it
- Does not work with Trail Tank lightweight fuel tank.
Skinz Seat:
Height = 17"
Weight = 5.24lb w/the little pack that comes with it and Velcro strips
Observations =
- Firm foam makes it not as comfortable to sit on
- Virtually no room for me to sit on it without my legs being smashed into the console and chest in the handlebars (basically a place to sit side-saddle and eat a snack during the day)
- Least noticeable swinging a leg over from side to side with room to spare
- Nice gripper material on the top
- Storage bag is only big enough to fit a tool kit in and not much more
- Included screws to anchor the bottom of the seat to the frame spar feel sort of sharp across the top of the head. Might be hard on bibs in the long term.
- Works with Trail Tank lightweight fuel tank.
AC Accessory Seat:
Height = 19 3/4"
Weight = 7.62lb Gross weight with spar inserts, 6.21lb Adjusted weight
Observations =
- This seat's frame replaces the upper frame spars that go over the tank. I weighed the two OEM spars with the end inserts and they came in at 1.41lb. Subtracting that from the Gross weight is how the Adjusted weight was calculated. Full disclosure, two of the spar inserts in the seat were center drilled for weight reduction (probably 0.1lb) and I couldn't remove them. The OEM spars I weighed also didn't have the aluminum plate tying them together that comes from the factory on some machines. So I considered this a wash.
- Requires more time for install since the frame spars are being replaced.
- Firm foam similar to Skinz
- Material used for the cover is more slippery than the other two. Previous owner indicated it does get slick when there is snow on it.
- Most comfortable ergonomically for me to sit on with no "falling off the back" feel.
- Feels narrow between the knees. If you ride more with your feet on both running boards and less jumping from side to side I think this will be appreciated. Less restricting feel than the big ES seat.
- I don't hit it swinging a leg over, but my knee just clears the top with the lower part of my leg bent pretty much 90 degrees.
- Zero Storage. I may try to secure the OEM triangle tunnel bag between the seat frame and the tank as shown below.
- Works with Trail Tank lightweight fuel tank.
TL;DR: The OEM is probably best if you are medium build and storage is important for you. Skinz is for the person that wants to do hop overs all day and rarely/never sits down. The AC accessory seat is tailored towards the big and tall crowd and requires some other form of storage on the sled.
