• Welcome Guest! If you are already a member of the BMW MOA, please log in to the forum in the upper right hand corner of this page. Check "Remember Me?" if you wish to stay logged in.

    We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMWMOA forum provides. Why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the club magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMWMOA offers?

    Want to read the MOA monthly magazine for free? Take a 3-month test ride of the magazine; check here for details.

  • NOTE. Some content will be hidden from you. If you want to view all content, you must register for the forum if you are not a member, or if a member, you must be logged in.

seats

kthflieger

New member
Just wanted to throw this random thought out there - no -this is not another one of those dreaded "who makes a better seat" thread.
I finally figured out how to make the OEM seat that comes stock on the RT feel better! Spend an hour on the stock seat on an 800GS. To quote my daughter "OMG" ! the boys in Munich went out of their way to design a seat that looks stylish and feels like a downhill sloping 2x6! What were they thinking :banghead
 
two dollar seats

No doubt BMW builds the best bikes on the planet and the worst seat known to any butt!!!! I had a rick Mayer seat built and it works well for me, I had a Sargent seat before that and it was OK if I had it all to do again I would try the Russell day long seat,I called them first and the guy wasn't very helpful and didn't call me back,rick Mayer was very helpful and did return my calls so I had him make a seat,only thing I wish was more available other than backup is a different adjustable back rest such as the one on the Harley road king it works great and is adjustable while riding
 
after reading a lot of posts on this site and others about aftermarket seats, time lost riding because of having to send off the seat pan etc. I decided to give Seat Concepts a try. Turned out to be real straight forward. Pulled the factory cover and foam. Placed the new foam on the pan and pulled the new cover over that. Lots of staples later I had a new seat that was well fitted and feels much better than the OE seat.
So far I have two test rides, each about 2 hours long. No pain, generally comfortable, unlike the OE seat that gave me a sore tailbone and numb legs after about 30 minutes. Seat concepts was a great alternative and at least $200 less than other custom seats
 
Corbin
 

Attachments

  • Corbin.jpg
    Corbin.jpg
    66.6 KB · Views: 825
I have often wondered about OE motorcycle seats (and windshields). BMW is hardly alone in building seats that run from "just OK" to "just awful". In the sport-touring area I have had a Triumph Trophy 900 (seat awful, windshield awful), a Concours C10 (seat fair, w/s poor), a Honda ST1300 (seat just OK, w/s OK), a Yamaha FJR (seat poor, w/s good) and now a 2011 R1200RT (seat fair, w/s very good) But my question in all this is: Didn't someone ride a prototype and return with the impression that "This seat is awful - change it!" or "The windshield produces a lot of noise and buffeting - change it!" Didn't anybody listen?

I know the bean counters are fighting the engineers over every nickel but surely it can't cost a lot more, it any, to make a reasonably comfortable seat. I know that every rider's backside is different (although I have no empirical evidence of this) but surely some kind of standard shape could fit 80%. The size of the aftermarket in seats show the bike manufacturers aren't doing a good job.

The bottom line (I know, bad pun but I just had to use it) is it is easy, but not sheap, to fix the seating problem. But why should I have to on a $20,000 motorcycle?

pete
 
It seems like seat comfort is inversely proportional to looks.

There's the answer. It's all about style. The buyer can spend some more money for function. afterall , he bought a BMW; he must have more money.
I'm surprised BMW and other manufacturers don't go into the aftermarket seat company. Maybe they don't want to admit their seats are often just barely adequate.
 
Over the last six years I've had one Sargent and three Russell Daylongs. I may purchase another Sargent for my new G650GS, but for any bike I'm going to ride long distance the seat must be a Russell...:thumb
 
I have a Sergeant on my R1150R. I never really adapted to it, so it just sat in the storeroom. I just used it on a 2150 mile trip during which I did two 500 miles days back to back. I also decided to wear my bicycling shorts under my riding pants. Problem solved. It was really a pretty easy trip. For me this was the answer.
 
Simply put, the seat on the 800GS is a dirt bike seat. BMW picked the 800 to be the most off road capable, and matched the seat to the idea....
 
It seems like seat comfort is inversely proportional to looks.
The BMW Comfort seat for the RT looks way better than the original two-piece seat, yet it is supposed to be more comfortable. I have just bought one, and it IS more comfortable around town, if only because of the pad that really supports the lower back. Now, I have to go test it on the road. I cross my finger that this $700 aftermarket seat will prove its worth.
 
There's the answer. It's all about style. The buyer can spend some more money for function. afterall , he bought a BMW; he must have more money.
I'm surprised BMW and other manufacturers don't go into the aftermarket seat company. Maybe they don't want to admit their seats are often just barely adequate.

BMW do. I just bought their Comfort seat. So now, I have bought from them one R1200 RT and one Comfort seat. Good move from BM.
 
Back
Top