Corbin Street Triple Seat
The problems with motorcycle seats can be grouped into two categories. The first is the foam. It’s usually too soft, too thin, too hard or a paradoxical combination of all three. The other problem is shape. The seats are often shaped by designers, who are more concerned with keeping the bike’s flowing lines intact than rider’s rumps comfy. As a result, the seats slope their riders down into the tank (which reminds me of a joke I read in CityBike many years ago—how is a bad motorcycle seat like a cheap hotel? No ballroom! Bah-rump-pump!), lock them into one position, or put too much pressure on any given point. Any one of those can be worse than hard or thin foam.
So what to do? Luckily, there are suppliers of aftermarket seats, simple, drop-in solutions that can not only save your ass, har, har, but can add a dash of style and even extra comfort features. I had a chance to test two of the best-known names on my 2010 Triumph Street Triple R, which isn’t equipped with the worst seat, but like most moto-mounts, is only good for an hour or two before the butt-hurt creeps in. Let’s see how much better the aftermarket can do.
Corbin
Corbin has been a well-known name in aftermarket saddles since AMA Hall-of-Famer Mike Corbin started making them full time in 1968. Corbin’s career has been controversial—recall the Sparrow electric three-wheeler of the late ’90s—but his brilliance isn’t: Corbin and his company hold more than 70 patents, including three for the “Comfort Cell” foam used in the seats.
Corbin Street Triple Seat
You can get a Corbin seat two ways. The easiest is to just get on the phone (800/538-7035) or Internet (corbin.com) and order a ready-made or custom seat. The company makes seats for hundreds of sport, standard, cruiser, touring, dual-sport and other machines, and you can specify different colors and types of vinyl, leather, stitching, welting, covers and accessories like removable backrests (for rider and passenger) or clever built-in storage compartments.
The other way to get a Corbin is to…go to Corbin. The 82,000 square-foot factory, nestled among the artichoke fields of Hollister, offers a comfortable hang-out area where you can sit and read back issues of CityBike while you wait for your seat to be made from your exact measurements. A technician even looks at you on your bike, and then brings the pan and foam back out several times until you’re happy with the fit and feel. After that, they cover and stitch the seat.
I opted for the ready-made one. I’ve had Corbin saddles before, so I knew what to expect: perfect, easy fit (the latch is pre-installed and it fits as easily as stock) firm, supportive foam that feels hard at first and then gently molds to your tush. There are no hot spots, no sharp feeling along your thigh, and though the initial comfort level is somewhat less than a stock saddle, after an hour it’s exactly as comfortable as when you first got on—and it doesn’t change much from there. And since the foam doesn’t break down, you’re likely to have the seat until the vinyl or leather rips with little degradation in comfort.
Another advantage of the Corbin approach is its broad, supportive design, made possible by the stiff, heavy Fibertech seat pan. It does add weight to the bike (as well as a touch of seat height, which can be customized for us shorties), but it fits as nicely (nicer, says the company) as stock and makes the seat wider, longer and cups your buns nicely.
I’m very happy with the seat and know I could ride for many, many miles before needing a break. However, I’m not a fan of the tuck-n-roll stitching that makes my formerly thuggy-looking streetfighter look like a refugee from Sturgis—or Great Grandma Minnie’s dinette set. Corbin says the stitching is necessary because of the seat’s broad shape—the cover will bunch up and look funny otherwise. The seat can’t be equipped with a backrest—not enough meat on its bones—but does support the Triumph accessory solo cover.
At $419, including leather seating panels, the Corbin seat is a good value—especially considering everything but the covering is warranted for the original owner for life. The rumble-seat style cover is irritating, but only visually—you can’t see it when you’re riding, and we all know that’s what matters.
Sargent Street Triple Street
Sargent
Corbin’s just a young pup compared to Sargent’s 80-year history. Started in 1935 as an auto upholsterer, the Florida company has been re-covering motorcycle seats since the early 1990s. In 1996, the company spun off as a separate entity offering the World Sport Performance Seat.
Sargent offers a lightweight basepan made with its “CarbonTec” plastic/polymer alloy. It’s remarkably light—much lighter than the Corbin, and isn’t as flexible or cheap feeling as the stock Triumph pan. It’s also ready for the solo cowl, and you can specify custom trim colors and cover materials. Also of interest—Sargent’s “Fine Wire” heated seat upgrade ($200 for both seats, $150 for just the rider, also available as a do-it-yourself kit for $180), a one-millimeter-thick pad that sits under the cover and roasts your buns up to 125 degrees, if you need that.
The seat I received for my Street Triple ($410, $610 with heat, additional for custom welts, fabrics, etc.) was beautifully finished and as light as I expected, even with the heating pad pre-installed. It went in and fit as easily as the Corbin. The seating position isn’t as spacious, but it’s better than other Sargent’s seats I’ve owned (and also customizable). The “Atomic Foam” is dense, yet comfortable, similar to Corbin’s product, although it doesn’t seem to take as many miles to break in. It also sits a half inch lower than stock, where the Corbin adds a little height.
The heated seat is a fine thing. It wires into the battery with an included harness (with a switched wire to prevent killing your battery when the ignition is off) and draws just two amps. The 10-position controller unit can be mounted anywhere on the bike (I put mine on my left switchpod), uses a pair of up and down buttons that are easily worked with gloved hands, and remembers the heat setting when you switch it off. The pad heats up quickly and is one of those “why didn’t I have this 10 years ago” kinds of things.
You can check out the over 80 motorcycle models Sargent’s makes ready-made seats for (many more cruiser models are served by Sargent’s Mustang division) or check out the custom seat program if your ride is too old or weird at sargentcycle.com. You can also call 800/749-7328.
Sargent Do-It-Yourself Seat Heating Kit
The CIA could have replaced waterboarding with my stock Suzuki SV1000s seat as tactic for extracting info at Gitmo. I replaced the stock seat with a custom Corbin seat and now I can ride all day for several days in a row. I’m amazed at how well the sahpe and foam work for me. Since I live near the factory I rode my bike in and the shaped the foam exactly how I wanted it and let me go ride around on it to make sure and then they finished it up. They allow you to bring it back within a year to reshape the foam free of charge as long as they don’t have to alter he cover material. Amazing customer service for ride in customers in my experience.
I too tried to get a Corbin shipped to Canada. They didn’t refuse, but quoted $200 for shipping. Had to impose on a California relative to receive it. Interesting to read about how they will customize it to fit; nobody at Corbin offered any such service, and while the seat is very comfy it sits my butt at least an inch and a half lower than stock, so my butt’s gain is paid for by my knees! I’d advise future customers to be very specific and not settle for an off-the-shelf item.
I’ve had Corbins on several bikes. No issues. Customer service has been great and the seats were always delivered in a timely manner.
Corbin and Sargent’s prices are outrageous. Spencer’s will do a very high quality job tailoring your seat to your specifications, and they are inexpensive.
Spencer’s
http://greatdaytoride.com/Home_Page.php
Only about $50 to $100 depending on which mods you go for. Quite a bit less than the $400+ you’d pay for a Sargent’s or Corbin saddle.
I especially love their circa-1995 website. Let’s hope all the profits are going into better seats.
Had both on a 98 R1. Corbin was hard, Sargent was a bit softer. Both were slippery. Especially bad trying to blast off in 1st gear. Both didn’t turn the bike into a tourer but that’s probaly due to the fact that the pegs were pretty high. Corbin looked a bit better.
Will someone please explain to me why a street rider cannot be allowed to slide back on a seat for long straights and forward again for corners? The Street Triple and Duc Monster have one uncomfy place for a man to sit. They have girls seats on them. Maybe it is a European thing, like those French Flood Pants that I see on pretentious Euros in Hahvid Squair. Fix those pants and fix those seats! Or grab your Elton glasses and let’s go have some tea, shall we. “Not even,” as Robert Plant said to mixing out the airplane noise left on a Zeppelin album tape. Corbin all the way in this case!
Every Corbn I’ve ordered took FOREVER to arrive (much longer than the quoted time), and I was met with countless excuses when asking when my seat would arrive.
I have owned both seats. My first seat was for my 01 Kawasaki ZRX1200. It was a perfect fit for me and the bike. Very comfortable and nicely shaped.It was also very light. I bought a Corbin for my Kawasaki Versys about a year ago because Sargent did not have a seat available at the time. I am not happy with the seat for several reasons. It is heavy, poorly shaped, and not tolerable for more than about 2 hours. Corbin shaped the bike for sportbike ergos, so it is not dished enough for the more upright ergos of the Versys. On the positive side,the seat is a little lower than the stock seat and is made of leather. What is interesting is that I have friend with a Harley who bought a Corbin and he likes it, so it must have something to do with the particular make and model and the rider. I may sell the Corbin and buy a Sargent, as they now make one for the Versys.
The Corbin looks too dweebish. Gabe is right – I would not see it when riding, but I’d see it in my mind while riding – and every time I approached or got off of the bike. Things like that don’t matter only when there are no acceptable options. Looks like Sargent has produced a very acceptable option.
I’ve owned several Saddlemen, Sargent, and Mustang seats. No complaints about any of these manufactures. I have also modified my own, by changing the underlying foam, adding a gel-pad,and some additional foam to reshape the seat.
I’ve put both Corbin and Sargent seats on bikes I’ve owned. With Corbin seats I’ve had both good and bad results. No bad result with Sargent seats yet.
In 1990 I bought a new Honda Hawk GT (great bike-horrible seat). The first and best modification I made to that bike was a Corbin seat. It changed the bike from one you could only ride for an hour to one you could ride all day. That seat is still comfortable.
About 8 years ago I bought a Kawasaki ZRX 1200R that came with both a Corbin seat and the stock seat. I didn’t like that Corbin seat at all – it made me sit so far back that I felt fold up. Sold that seat and bought a Sargent. I’ve put 40,000 miles on that bike since and I still like the seat.
Having owned enough Corbins that I can’t remember the exact number I think I have a pretty worthwhile opinion about them. Sargent’s I’ve only owned one so I can’t say I am an expert.
Of the self Corbins have always been firm, a decade or so ago they went to just plain hard. I used to find a Corbin broke in in a 100 miles, now it is more like a few thousand miles.
Nobody can make a seat that works for everybody. If you haven’t met him Mike Corbin is a big guy, I think his seats are made more for big riders. Foam that is stiff for a 250 pounder might feel like a rock to rider 100 pounds lighter. If you can get to the factory to get your seat I highly recommend taking the time, you can get a semi-custom seat for the same price as an off the shelf unit. If you find the standard foam too stiff have the guy cut out some standard foam and add a little soft foam and shape the seat for your butt and riding position, it is worth the time.
The one Sargent I’ve had I’m about to replace with a Corbin. Since my XR is a Harley Sargent doesn’t make a pan for my seat, Sargent did a good job on a standard seat pan but the pan (like most) is too flexible to make a really comfortable seat, that isn’t Sargent’s fault. Sargent’s customer service was also great. What is Sargent’s fault is the foam in my seat is too soft for long term comfort for me.
The one guy I know who is a big Sargent fan (and doesn’t like Corbins) is average hight and very thin (he thinks getting together with a few hundred friends to run 26 miles is a fun way to spend less than three hours) and I’m tall and built more line a linebacker. I wonder if this and the long break in for Corbins is related to some of the conflicting comments on this thread. Just a theory.
Goose
Just installed my third Corbin (06 zx6r). It makes the bike 100% more comfortable and fun to ride. The same was true for my old shadow 750. Not so for the ZZR 1200 (I modified the stock seat and it was fine). I agree that Corbins don’t always fit the bike perfectly but in 2 out of 3 bikes, they are my most important accessory/ mod.
I’m 5’8, 150 lbs so weight and body-type might be a factor here…
Had a Corbin on my old K100RS for about two weeks. It was my first and will be my last Corbin. I bought it on my fathers recommendation as he swears by his on his R100RS. Not comfortable or very supportive, and certainly no better than the stock one it was supposed to replace.
Every Corbin I’ve sat on was hard as a brick but you could ride on them all day long.
My `81 MG Le Mans had a foam seat that felt like riding on a wood 2X4! 8^ ( My Corbin on the same bike is like day & night for comfort. 8^ )
Like a metal tractor seat from days gone by…hard steel, but shaped to give full support to yer butt.
Ride a GS and stand up often. Take two Tylenol after the first two or three hours, stand up more often..
I had a 2002 1150 GS, worst seat i ever sat on.
I’ve had three seats on my K1200LT BMW. The stock seat was good for about as long as it took me to ride down the block. The next seat was a Meyer seat – I forget which Meyer – it was the heavier guy, not the thin guy. It was good for about two hours. I sent it back with photos, etc., and got a lot of attitude, etc. The third seat was a Corbin. It didn’t fit well, the piping frayed in a few days and they told me I needed to ride it for a while to get used to it. Some 30,000 miles later and I still hate it. I had a local seat guy take it apart and re-build it so it’s now tolerable.
If I had spent the same $20K on a new car that I spent on a new motorcycle, for dang sure I’d not be expecting to take the seats out and replace them with aftermarket seats. Why don’t motorcycle companies get this??
I demo’d a Victory CCT last summer. By far the best stock motorcycle seat I’ve been on. I doubt that it would need to be replaced or rebuilt.
Have a Corbin for my 990 adventure, hard as a rock and slippery, sits in the box it came in! Have a Sargent on my wee Strom and 70,000 miles later it is still on my bike!
For whatever reason you got the wrong butt cover. NOt all covers work the same, even if they look good to the eye. Some are slippery and some(like mine) are not. Mine is called the ‘basket weave’ which is good for hot weather since it let’s your butt breath then too.
Put a Sargent seat on my R1150GS. The seat pan broke after about 4 years. I called Sargent and they said they would be happy to fix it for $199.00 plus shipping. I think I like the Corbin with a lifetime guarantee!!
I have two Corbin’s, the first on a Triumph Sprint and it is outstanding. It is all day comfortable and I liked it so much I bought one for my Kawasaki Versys. The Versys seat is barely if any more comfortable than the stock seat. I had to buy an Airhawk to make long trips. If looks are not your primary interest in a custom seat, buy an Airhawk and pocket the difference.
Corbins are great seats for the money, I put one on my FJR and now I can ride all day
for a week…. without being sore.
I sent my seat to HT Moto and they did an awesome job. I went from my slippery seat on my Aprila Tuono V4R, to the gripper black, added a gel insert and some custom embroidery, and I love the seat. They have a wide variety of colors, fabrics (you can even get ostrich leather) and designs. http://www.htmoto.us
I had an Indonesian made Yamaha Scorpio 250cc single, which eventually turned out to be too slow for our aggressive traffic conditions (and I’m mainly talking about woman drivers here, tailgating and pushing me off the road). I studied up on seat design by looking at web sites, and took my conclusions to a local upholsterer. He made me the equivalent of a Russell All Day saddle, which, after a couple of adjustments, worked superbly. The trouble was, the fantastic seat made me realize how incapable the bike was. I eventually sold it for a Suzuki Freewind, also with an excellent stock seat. I am just waiting for a cataract operation (provided free here in New Zealand), then I’ll be back on my bike again.
Well I’ve used both on my ’07 Road Glide. Did not care for either. Ordered a Mustang, I’m a happy boy now.
Ron,
Given that Sargent doesn’t make seats for Harleys I find your statement that had a Sargent on your Roadglide interesting, how did you get it?
For those who don’t know, if you go to Sergeant’s web site the link under Harley leads to the
Mustang web site, they seem to have divided the world into Mustang’s products for Harleys and other cruisers and Sergeant’s products for the ROW.
Goose
Corbins are good seats but somewhere along the line their prices went from about $250 on a lot of models to over $400 now. Forced me to refoam, reshape, and recover my seat myself-and the result worked just as good. Now I will repeat that process whenever I get a new bike.
I have a heated corbin and the heat is about as good as a fart.
Don’t exaggerate. Two farts, minimum … after Mexican food.
I have had the best luck with Ride-In custom work by Rick Mayer. Fortunately both Rick and Corbin are a days ride away. Out of 10 or so Corbin, Rick Mayer and one Sargent I would rate all of them significantly better than stock BMW, Honda, Aprilia and Suzuki seats. The question is, WHY don’t bike mfgs spend another $20 or less to improve their seats? The huge aftermarket for seats screams for a fix.
Q: “The question is, WHY don’t bike mfgs spend another $20 or less to improve their seats?”
A: because we would cry about having to pay a $40 increase in the price of the motorcycle, but the $400 price of an aftermarket seat we won’t cry about.
I’ve had a Corbin seat on my `81 Moto Guzzi Le Mans for over 20 years. About 10 years ago it needed a new cover. No problem. Took it to Corbin near Hollister and they recovered it with a better looking seat than new, even asking what cover I preferred. I had my seat maxde @the factory prior, having them raise the foam an inch to give memore leg room at no extra cost.
Corbin foam is sprayed on and carved to shape, then covered. It isn’t soft but I can ride 800 mile days with it. Corbin’s technique is to spread your body weight around for comfort, not cushiness.
I bought a used Corbin seat for my Suzuki on ebay. It’s all day comfortable for me too. But now I just get an Airhawk seat for comparable comfort when needed.
My MZ used bike has a stock seat w/gel pads under the cover. It works for 800 mile days too.
I have owned and sold both brands.
Corbin seats look nice and they have good ideas. Corbin bike fit and customer service are terrible. I have never had a good experience with them.
Sargent seats look OK and fit the bike perfectly. Customer service is great. They have warranty recovered several seats that were years old. Never had any problems and have sold over 30 of them.
My experience is virtually the same as Mark’s, but my opinion is that Sargent make really nice looking seats and that form follows function with them. The people at Sargent are some of the nicest and most professional I have ever met in the motorcycle industry.
I’ve had good luck with Corbin customer service. But then again, it’s been several years since I did business there.
The fact that aftermarket seats are such a large industry proves that the motorcycle manufacturers are missing an opportunity to use seat comfort to differentiate their offerings. I’d like to see journalists who review bikes do more to emphasize seat comfort in reviews and comparisons because to many riders all-day comfort is just as important a deciding factor as performance.
To add to that, I find most motorcycle manufacturers do an unacceptably poor job designing seats. There’s something wrong when I can ride my racing bicycle with its tiny, narrow seat comfortably for hours but I’m squirming after 30 minutes on my VStrom with the stock seat.
” The seats are often shaped by designers, who are more concerned with keeping the bike’s flowing lines intact than rider’s rumps comfy.”
re: “The fact that aftermarket seats are such a large industry proves that the motorcycle manufacturers are missing an opportunity to use seat comfort to differentiate their offerings.”
did you look in their accessory catalogs…?
They say you either have a Corbin butt or you don’t. I don’t. My best experience has been with Russel Day Long or Rick Mayer (who has made most of my bike’s seats). I hear his brother does a good job too. Rick has a great shop in Northern California, right between highways 36 and 299 (great roads). You can ride in, get him to make you a seat, go for a 300 mile insanely twisty ride (or hit some dirt) and get him to make any customizations you might need afterwards. He also does mail order business. I ride 400 miles to get his seat in person though, it’s worth it.
I’ve had a Corbin Saddle on my last three bikes, currently have one on my 03 Suzuki SV1000 N. The stock seat is complete crap after 30 minutes of riding. The Corbin is a little lower than stock but fits me just fine. I can ride all day on it. I have always been impressed with the product materials, fit and construction. I looked into a Sargent on my previous SV650 N but it was higher than stock and that didn’t make sense to me. Maybe my next bike won’t need one….but I doubt it.
Ask yourself this–if you had a business for 40 years, and people were posting negative comments about stuff that happened to them 10 years ago or longer, regardless of whether you’ve improved or not in the interim, would you feel you were treated fairly?
Well, if I had that business, I’d just thank my lucky stars that factory seats are as crappy as they are, always have been and likely always will be… excepting the Aprilia Futura seat I previously mentioned.
To answer another way, I think most readers here are capable of filtering information. But I agree with what may be your premise: Don’t use the internet to condemn unfairly.
🙂
As a business owner, one has to accept that past actions, good or bad, will be stuck to the reputation of the company for a very long time. That is just the way it is, and that is the reason concepts like branding, quality management and customer service even exist.
Consumers have to weigh a company and its products not only by current successes and failures, but by their experience gained from past successes, mistakes and actions taken to make things right. That kind of historical information is valuable to buyers and is the reason that many businesses mention, as does this article, a “doing business since” date as an implication of experience in making products (an by extension suggesting a quality result). A 10-yo criticism or praise is perfectly fair so long as it is taken in context.
Some years back I tried to purchase a Corbin seat on sale from Corbin’s web site. The web bot accepted my order, but the next day I got a phone call from Corbin, to tell me they had to cancel my order as they do not ship to Canada because they had made a deal with two major Canadian MC parts distributors, giving them exclusive rights to sell Corbin products in Canada. So I contacted both distributors, and was told in each case that I could only order my seat through one of their dealers, and oh, by the way, the price of the seat would be more than double what it was on Corbin’s web site.
The local dealers I contacted were not overly interested in ordering the seat, telling me it would take 3 months to arrive, but I had to pay in advance. I got back to Corbin, and asked if they would ship to a US address, and they said no problem. Fortunately I had somebody in the US I could have Corbin mail it to, and they could forward it to me, so I paid two shipping fees, but still saved a pile of dough over buying it in the True North, Strong and Free, and I had the seat within a few weeks.
The point of this story, if you have not gotten it already, we Canadians have a long history of getting ripped off by our own wholesalers and retailers, who will corner the market on all the stuff we want to buy, and then sell it to us at inflated prices This is why Canadians cross the border to do their shopping. I don’t know if Corbin still has their arrangement with the Canadian MC parts monopolists, but if they did, it would be an instant deal breaker for me. I buy bike stuff mail order from the US and am always amazed at how good the service is over there compared to many (but not all) Canadian mail order operations. It is also why you won’t see many tears in my eyes when yet another large Canadian retail chain bites the dust.
10 years ago I bought a beautiful R1100RS with a Sargent seat on it. It had 22,000 miles on it and now has 103,000. The seat has held up very well. I don’t know that it is better or worse than stock but I can do about 3 hours non stop in reasonable comfort. That said it is not uncommen to see after market seats on Beemers.
With propper ergonomics a seat doesn’t need to be replaced, or fancy. Put the pegs below the hips. Reach a little to the handle bars. Your weight can be evenly distributed, taking some of the weight off your rear. That’s why dual purpose bikes are so popular now. The weight distribution is great.
re: “With propper ergonomics a seat doesn’t need to be replaced, or fancy.”
same could be said for suspension, but because every bike and rider combination is different, there’s an aftermarket industry for that too. so in the spirit of the phrase, “there’s an ass for every seat”…? conversely it stands to reason, there’s a “seat” for every “ass”.
The stock Street Triple seat is horrendous. (Ditto Kawasaki Ninja 650) It sits you on the inside edge of your sit bones with your feet up under you, pushing you into the tank. We are meant to either sit “Indian style” on the ground or on a flat surface. In many cases the ground itself has some give to it. Why do they make rock hard curved seats that force the rider over the front wheel instead of flatter ones which give the rider a choice, like a moto crosser? Duc Monster? Horrible! For 10+ grand I cannot get a good seat? Sat on the new Tuono V4 and it was very nice. My Nighthawk 750 Corbin was hard as a rock, very heavy and the leather so tight and thin that it got holes in it in no time from just leaning it against the back of my car. What kind of “leather” is that? Best ride I ever took. Bone stock BMW R1100R. Miles and miles. Harley Fat Boy was also good stock.
I agree. I own a 2010 Street Triple and the seat is a torture device. I’ve owned many Sargents before and a few Corbins, so I bought a Sargent for the Street Triple, yet still wasn’t satisfied. Bought a Corbin, and it is a clear winner for comfort. Frankly it has too much fancy stitching on it, the fit is a little off, and the seat pan looks like it was molded by a 10-year old. But my butt has never been happier on this bike, that’s all that matters.
Thanks. I will mention that to my friend who loaned me the Street for a test ride. Today I go look at a Bonneville built by http://www.cb750cafe.com/ – How the heck did that get out here in the Northeast? Here it is, complete with a stock seat that is not bad at all, having test ridden one before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB_V4sD7Fec
Has anyone had experience with Cee Bailey’s seats. I have their windscreen on my Concours and it works very well.
I’ve had three or maybe four Sargent seats. The last one is still on my ’96 Trophy. I sent it back twice because I still slid forward into the tank. After getting it back the second time I wrote a letter and in response I got a call from Mark Todd, the GM.
He personally redid the saddle a third time at no shipping or additional charge. He went the extra mile. The saddle came back a marvel of placement engineering, no more slidding, and it is a delight.
I was and am definately convinced for Sargent. But you might want to hold its ass to the fire.
Sorry…both are out-gunned by Bill Meyer saddles…ask any serious beemer-phile and they’ll give you the skinny. Custom built based on measurements and pics of you on/off the bike…most comfortable saddle I’ve ever had, for both short hops and all-day affairs.
I believe that’s Mayer. At least that’s how his brother Rick spells it.
I spent considerable time on the phone with Sargent to get the seat for my FJR just right and ended up with a seat that is far from perfect. It is better than the ’06 stock seat was– especially visually– but the only relief I’ve found is an inflatable seat pad. Sargent took way longer than expected to do the work as well because I ordered (according to them) about a week later than optimum and they were bound up with orders from Daytona Bike Week. Things might be better now; that was six years ago.
Poor factory seats is one thing that keeps me from buying another new bike. My Aprilia Futura seat was and is still comfy after twelve years and 70k miles. What’s wrong with manufacturers? Don’t they ride the bikes they build? Worst Seats award has to go to Harley-Davidson, IMO.
re: “My Aprilia Futura seat was and is still comfy after twelve years and 70k miles.”
just coincidence.
re: “What’s wrong with manufacturers?”
what’s wrong with the motorcycle consumer…?
(problem solving 101)
see, when you’re looking for the root cause of an issue (with the end goal of correcting it), it’s CRITICAL the right questions are asked starting out. failing at this means failing at everything thereafter.
Seats can make a huge difference to long term comfort but can also bring on the dreaded buyers remorse if the seat does not conform well to your to the keaster so its a bit of a shot in when ordering one.My advice would be to try and ride one of each brands offerings over a somewhat extender ride before putting your money on the table.
When I first got my Corbin seat for my R750/6 BMW, I wondered what breed of ash they used for the padding. They believe that the seat and you butt become familiar with each other, and the initial discomfort is outweighed (no pun) once you have adapted. I believe them, not a bad seat, but look around and you may do better.
It’s been YEARS since I’ve last owned a Corbin seat, but my last experience with them tells me that their customer service would have to increase by a major order of magnitude to merely “Suck.” It’s a shame, because when I first bought a Corbin saddle decades ago, the seat AND the service was wonderful.
I’ve had several Corbins (one I bought new, the other two on used bikes that I bought) and didn’t like any of them. The seat pan weighs much more than the stock seat pan and take some fiddling to lock into place. They aren’t waterproof so when riding in the rain they soak up water through the seams as well as the leathers. They also tend to to be lower than stock but wide and very firm so your legs get splayed out, and depending on the shape they can also dig into your inner thighs. Not a pleasant riding experience.
The Sargent seat I had on my 1100GS was brilliant. Weighed about the same as the stock seat and fit just as perfectly, and was very comfortable. I’ll be going with a Sargent for my Super Tenere.