We thoroughly tested the Butt Buffer motorcycle seat cushion during a 9 day, 3200-mile motorcycle trip to Sturgis 2020 on multiple bikes, including touring and non-touring models. I also tested the Butt Buffer on my Kawasaki KLR 650 while adventuring and off-road riding. 

You may think that you have the best seat on your motorcycle but I can tell you from experience that your butt will still get sore and achy if you're riding long distances and for multiple days. Additionally, many of us suffer from varying degrees of lower back pain, which can get worse during these long motorcycle road trips. Our findings were that the Butt Buffer definitely helps with both these issues.  

The Butt Buffer is a super-thin hospital-grade seat cushion made of solid and elastic materials and made in the USA. The materials used were originally developed for hospital use to prevent bedsores. And that’s why the Butt Buffer can alleviate pressure points while promoting circulation, which is super important when riding long distances. The Butt Buffer significantly reduces shock and road vibrations, helping with those back issues. 

The Butt Buffer motorcycle seat cushion is unlike those other air and gel seat pads. It won't leak if punctured and won’t freeze as gel pads will. It fits all motorcycle seats, installs in seconds, and you can easily clean the cover after removing the pad through a velcro closure. Further, the Butt Buffer is water and oil resistant and the materials used are hypo-allergenic. 

There are a couple of Butt Buffer motorcycle seat cushions to choose from: (**links to the Law Abiding Biker Store below. Support us if you appreciate all the free content we put out to help the biker community!)

• Classic Butt Buffer Seat Cushion
• Pebble Polymer Butt Buffer
  • Offers all of the benefits of the Classic, however, it also comes with a premium air-flow cover to offer enhanced air circulation to your seat cushion.

The Butt Buffer motorcycle seat cushion comes in three sizes. Small, medium, and large. Simply measure your seat and then head over to the Law Abiding Biker Store where we have the measurements, making it easy for you to choose the correct size. If you need a passenger cushion, most riders choose the small version but measure your passenger seat area for proper fitment. 

Installation of the Butt Buffer is a breeze and there are several options. Please see the video on this page for installation details. 

With the drone market booming and the technology advancing rapidly, there are many options to choose from based on your needs. As a filmmaker, I can tell you that there's nothing easy about tracking motorcycles with drones to get great cinematic footage. Like everything, it takes much practice and dedication over time. Oh, and the willingness to crash a few drones in the process. However, there are now drones that claim they will “auto track” your motorcycle and that's what I decided to test for the biker community. (see video below)

• See my motorcycle documentary films here!

Understand, there is no perfect camera, drone, or tool for filmmaking or even for a hobbyist who just wants some basic shots. The drone or tools you choose will have to fit your particular needs. 

I urge everyone to first get a drone, become licensed, and learn how to properly and safely fly a drone manually. Especially a drone you can actually get into attitude mode so you can really be in control and learn the flight characteristics. To get great cinematic shots you really must fly your drone manually so you can frame the exact shots you want and perform the maneuvers you want. No autonomous drone will get the same shots you can when manually flying. If you think you're just going to go buy an autonomous featured drone and auto-track your motorcycle and get great shots then your sadly mistaken. One big drawback to using auto-tracking is that you don't have manual control over your camera settings and you must rely on the auto features.  I'm not a big fan of that. 

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However, drones with autonomous flight features do have a place in my toolbox and are used at times. Sometimes I just need a quick shot for a YouTube video I'm working on and perfect framing is not critical. I can quickly put the drone with auto-tracking in the air and get a few basic shots without any assistance. 

I have flown a plethora of different drones over the years while making films, but for my tests I used a DJI Mavic Air 2 and a Skydio 2, both claiming to have great auto-tracking and obstacle avoidance capabilities. 

DJI Mavic Air 2 for Auto Tracking Motorcycles:

The DJI Mavic Air 2 ultimately failed during my tests while auto-tracking and eventually crashed, flying straight into the ground (see video below). I have tried auto-tracking with DJI Mavic series drones over many years and they are just plain unreliable. Sometimes they track you and most times they don't unless you're just walking. DJI Mavic series drones have trouble locking onto a motorcycle and staying locked on it. If you're lucky, you'll get it to lock on you and then get a very short clip before it loses you. This happens even in regular flight mode and while going slow. If you want to go into sport mode and track faster then you lose all obstacle avoidance. 

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However, where DJI Mavic series drones shine is in manual flight modes. I own several Mavic's and they are a dream to fly. They are very responsive and you can really fly precisely with the control you have with the controller sticks. I don't rely on the DJI Mavic series obstacle avoidance as it's not reliable or very precise. I use it as a backup system at best. 

Skydio 2 for Auto Tracking Motorcycles:

The Skydio 2 still baffles my mind at how it can auto-track my motorcycle and quite honestly I did not expect that it would be this good! It locks on my motorcycle almost every time. It did lose me once during testing while riding in the mountains with many trees.  It is rock solid and can track me at up to 36 mph without losing its superior obstacle avoidance capabilities. These avoidance systems are so far superior to the DJI Mavic and after testing I now fully trust them. It literally won't crash and goes around everything. Of course, within reason, because something very thin like a power pole wire could fool it. It can only detect items of a certain thickness. 

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The Skydio 2 was specifically designed to be autonomous and I strongly encourage you to get the additional beacon upon purchase because it is one of the reasons the Skydio 2 auto-tracks so well. Like the DJI Mavic, you are image tracked with the Skydio 2. The difference is, when the Skydio 2 loses the image track on you it then relies on the GPS signal from the beacon so it can essentially track you without seeing you at all.  The DJI Mavic does not have this capability, so when it loses the image track it stops tracking you. Without the beacon, the Skydio 2 would be relying solely on image tracking like the DJI.  I did not personally test the Skydio without the beacon in play and I would strongly encourage you to buy it as an add-on at the time of purchase. 

However, the Skydio 2 definitely lacks performance during manual flight. I got the additional controller with the Skydio because controlling any drone with only a smartphone is not a great experience and flight distance will be greatly reduced. The Skydio's controller seems like it was a bit of an afterthought and feels cheap. The sticks are not nearly as precise as a DJI Mavic controller and you just can't get the same fine flight maneuvers out of it. The Skydio is not nearly as agile in the air as the Macvic drones and flys like a tank for lack of a better description.  With that said, you can still get some manual flight shots, but you'll be a bit limited in my opinion. (see video below)

Summary:

For manual flight shots or manually tracking motorcycles, I'll stick to the DJI Mavic series drones. 

For any quick motorcycle auto-tracking shots I would choose no other than the Skydio 2 as it is so far superior to DJI in this category. I'm excited to use the Skydio 2 a bit more in my productions where it fits.