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BMW Seat Technology

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I'm sitting here watching a show on CNBC about the BMW car. The story just talked about the design of the seat. A Phd runs the program and has all sorts of diagnostic tools to make the perfect seat. Considering the stock BMW motorcycle seat, I appreciate the irony. It makes me wonder how BMW designs the seat. Are European backsides that different from US types?
 
Time will tell me ...

If I am part of the don't like BMW bike seat or not.

On the rides so far, up to 600 km in a day, I have no reason to change seats. Lowered the pegs for knee pain relief, as have many others. On my yr 2000 Triumph, had the seat rebuilt to add height for knee pain, not for comfort.

I'm just over 200 pounds, but narrow in the hips and probably smaller in the buttocks than the weight would indicate. Maybe there is a cross-Atlantic thing going on. Anyone know for sure? Must be some ergonomic experts here...

Cross US and Canada trip in June - will see if I become a seat hater or not. I sure hope I continue to find it not an issue, because I sure won't be able to fix it while on the trip, will I? :bolt
 
Original seats on my R60/6, R1200 CLC, R1200RT - never a problem with any. I'm 170 lbs., skinny butt, though...big miles on all but the RT, 27,000 on that one.
 
I'm sitting here watching a show on CNBC about the BMW car. The story just talked about the design of the seat. A Phd runs the program and has all sorts of diagnostic tools to make the perfect seat. Considering the stock BMW motorcycle seat, I appreciate the irony. It makes me wonder how BMW designs the seat. Are European backsides that different from US types?

as the old saying goes, one picture is worth a thousand words.....
 

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Another seat thread...

It has got to be individual, and is probably a lot harder for BMW to get it right on the beemers than on the bimmers, and I have both.

On my R1200RT, riding the OEM seat, if I could get over 200 miles/day, I considered it a good day. I tried the Beadrider which helped some, and the Alaska leathers pad which seemed to do nothing for me. I even put the two of them together, with indifferent results. My butt hurt so much at the end of the day, I took to riding through small towns standing up just for some relief. At 6'4" and 225# w/full ATGATT, I bet that was a sight!

I went for the Russell Day-Long after long consideration. After break-in (1,000 miles) I was soon doing 400+ mile/days without a problem. After I'd ridden it for about 8000 miles, I asked for some adjustment in position. Russell asked for more photos, then turned the seat around with the adjustments in about 1.5 weeks, no charge. A good responsive company. Usually you can find a 20% off group buy on some site during the Winter.

I imagine other members will have good things to say about other aftermarket seats. Finding those who like the OEM R1200RT seat might be a rarity.

Anyway, just one opinion...:violin
 
It has got to be individual...

Boy is that correct! The stock seat on every BMW I've had was just fine, no adjustment or change needed at all.

Then I got the R12R, and the stock seat was just awful. I got a Rich's, and all's well.

:dunno
 
Boy is that correct! The stock seat on every BMW I've had was just fine, no adjustment or change needed at all.

Ditto. It's you, not the bike.

There are aftermarket seats for cars, too, just a lot more expensive.

Criticism of BMW seats is inane and boring.
 
Not my experiance..

I needed the low seat for my '12RT. What BMW supplied me with is a complete joke for a seat. There is barely any seat pan to sit on and very little padding covering that. About the thickness of the cover. It is only good for 2 hours tops. But I knew that before I ordered the bike so the only surprize was how bad the low seat really is. A Rick Mayer seat is on order.

On my 83 I kept the stock seat for about 20 years. It became unbearable so it got replaced with a Bill Mayer and is 200% better than stock.

The seats in BMW cars are very comfortable but they really have cheapened the bike seats.
 
I hear tell that as we age our behinds get more bony & less padded. Do the seat manufacturers ask the age of those they are fabricating seats for?
 
Criticism of BMW seats is inane and boring.

Not sure why you consider a factor that makes or breaks the the ride(r) inane or boring. Single most common complaint from folks about the BMW going back a long way is the unpleasant sitting experience.

I've had stock seats on two other brands so far and both stock BMW seats leave a lot to be desired. I've also owned two VWs whose stock seats were excruciating after 3 hours. Seems to be a German thing.
 
I think we complain about the seats on our BMWs because we ride them differently than we did the other brands of bikes we had before we got them. The six Asian bikes I had before I got my first BMW all had horrible seats. The worst seat I ever had was on a 84 Honda Magna V45. It was a good thing that it had a small gas tank with horrible gas mileage that caused me to buy gas every 110 miles. The 4 BMWs I had were bought to ride much longer distances and my expectations for a good seat were greater. Only 2 of the 4 BMWs I have had had stock seats on them when I got them. The 92 K75RT had a horrible seat that I replaced with a great Russell. My current R1200CLC has a stock comfortable seat on it.
 
The seat on my RT was bad, but not awful. The seat on my GS/A is a medieval torture device. I'm 6'2", 200 pounds and after about an hour the seat foam has compressed to the point that I'm hitting the seat pan over every bump in the road. That's pathetic.
 
1200gs seat was pure torture, six day 2000 mile ride ready to shoot the bike
Bill Mayer was able to fix that
One would think by the pure numbers of complaints BMW would come up with a better seat.
Funny how when my local dealer has a demo day their is usually a custom seat maker their
 
I needed the low seat for my '12RT. What BMW supplied me with is a complete joke for a seat. There is barely any seat pan to sit on and very little padding covering that. About the thickness of the cover. It is only good for 2 hours tops. But I knew that before I ordered the bike so the only surprize was how bad the low seat really is. A Rick Mayer seat is on order.

On my 83 I kept the stock seat for about 20 years. It became unbearable so it got replaced with a Bill Mayer and is 200% better than stock.

The seats in BMW cars are very comfortable but they really have cheapened the bike seats.


Went out to the garage to check my low seat. Padding the thickness of the cover? This is a huge exaggeration. I can compress the padding on my low seat anywhere and not come near bottoming out on the pan. Don't know if the seat that comes with a lowered suspension is as thin as you say, but the low seat / ESA suspension is not anywhere near cover thin. Do you have the low suspension?
 
Just a fact

No exaggeration. The major difference between the normal seat and the low seat is the amount of padding on the seat pan. The rear of the low seat sits lower because it has much less foam. You are actually sitting on the flat rear edge of plastic seat pan, about an inch of foam that squashes down to 1/2 inch and the synthethic cover which maybe is another 1/4 inch. The whole thing is as thick as my index finger once my dressed 200# is on the seat. Sure, the front of the seat has all kinds of foam but my weight does not rest there. The low seat is a cruel joke of the worst kind. Easily the worst feature of the bike.

Note I am only talking about the pilot section of the seat. The rear section is padded like a La-Z-Boy.
 
The thread title is either a joke or an oxymoron depending on your view.

My RT is the most expensive bike I've ever owned and its stock seat is no better than on my first $300 Yamaha in the early 1960s- which is to say ill designed for serious use.

Now its got Sargents front and rear- much better but not an ideal fit for me- but still OK for long days.

6 ft, 176 lbs at present....a rather ordinary height and perhaps a little lighter than many.
 
Face the facts men, seats from the manufacturer are designed for looks, not comfort. The seat is one of the most visible things on a bike. Can you imagine what the masses would say if the 1000rr came out with a DayLong with optional heavy side springs on it as standard equipment?! Comfort from a seat comes from a wide dish shape with a large area of support. ( I could mow all day on my Farmall SuperC with a METAL seat, but man was it wide and supportive!) Most custom seats are U-G-L-Y! but comfy!
 
Face the facts men, seats from the manufacturer are designed for looks, not comfort. ...Can you imagine what the masses would say if the 1000rr came out with a DayLong with optional heavy side springs on it as standard equipment?! Comfort from a seat comes from a wide dish shape with a large area of support. ( I could mow all day on my Farmall SuperC with a METAL seat, but man was it wide and supportive!) Most custom seats are U-G-L-Y! but comfy!

Good point, Mike. I think about how Prevost prepares motor coaches to customizers. Essentially they put a 5 gallon bucket behind the wheel so that the coach can be delivered to the fab shop and have the customer's choice of seats put on.

which begs a question: why bother touting the seat at all? BMW ought to put a seat on that costs next to nothing for delivery with a notice to the customer that they should expect to have a seat of their choice put on. Save the customer some $$ with the understanding that we should expect to replace it instead of a song and dance pretense.
 
The seat on my '06 RT has a rise at the front as do several other models. You've got to kind of shift yourself a little up against that rise. You may have to adjust the family jewels some. Then your weight on the seat is distributed over a larger area of your crotch. Once I discovered this it made a big difference in my ride comfort especially over long distances.
 
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