New Seat?

[topwrench]

Hey Guys and Gals
I already know that I will recieve much flack about my question however, I really need to know what my options are in this matter. So if this question is really dumb please excuse my lack of motorcycle knowledge and know it is of a painful humility that I request your imput. I have a 2000 R1100RT with 73,000 miles on it and the seat is the BMW touring model. You can see a picture of my Beemer in the oilhead section around the last page. Here is my problem, Does the seat foam wear out? this year on my annual vacation which covered 3500 miles in 9 days my seat was just killing my hiney! Here are some stats from the vacation: 3 days of the vacation, I rode for 10 to 12 hours and covered around 550 miles each day. One day I covered over 600 miles in 16 hours with a couple of storms to slow us down. I ride with guys who ride cruisers so we have to stop around 140 miles, usually before that to gas up and take a break. My seat started to hurt on my vacation last year however this year it was real bad. So I asked the local dealer if the foam wears out and they said no just get a beaded seat cover. I am thinking about a custom seat like rick mayer or russell but the only time I am on the bike for a long time on a consistant basis is my annual vacation. Just so you know all the other times when I ride its not a factor at all.
Thanks Scott

 

[Rpbump]

Russell, and the Mayer brothers are known for making comfortable aftermarket seats. They are not cheap "butt" your hiney will thank you.
Ride Safe

 

[darrylri]

Use the search feature on the forum. There have been a milliion seat threads.

 

[bmw_rider]

yes the foam breaks down eventually. I have a Rich Mayer, that I put 27K on, and I found it bottoming out on my last ride. If you choose to make the investment - go Russel.

 

[TheRoss]

The foam does break down, but some of us think the stock seats are worthless even new.

I like Corbin seats, and have them on my bikes, but what's right for me may not be right for you. I have always bought the seats from individuals, saving a lot of money. If any of your riding buddies have custom seats, see if you can try them out before buying one. Then if you buy a used one and it's not right for you, you can resell it and get your money back.

 

[bikerfish1100]

yes the foam breaks down eventually. I have a Rich Mayer, that I put 27K on, and I found it bottoming out on my last ride. If you choose to make the investment - go Russel.

Rick gives a lifetime warranty on his saddles. i have about 60k on 1 of mine that he did for me, and he's rebuilt it once already.

 

[bmw_rider]

I'll be fair and reach out to him. But I have a Corbin that is just fine after 10 years and 60K miles. (Don't take that as an endorsment for Corbin it isn't - a lot has changed there since I got that saddle.)

 

[tmoyer]

Before you drop the big bucks, consider a simple sheep skin pad. It will definately help. At one point, I pulled out the horse shears and shaved down an old car seat cover. It did the trick for a while but was not as comfy as a custom seat. We have Rick Mayers on two of our bikes and we easily increased our mileage another 150+ miles per day.

As soon as my "Luv" money comes from BMW, I'll be ordering a Rick Mayer for my new bike.

 

[OfficerImpersonator]

My Rick Mayer saddle has a seam coming apart. I've got permission from the wife to go see Rich at Rich's Custom Seats, so I'll have a seat custom-made for my butt within the next couple of months

http://www.richscustomseats.com/

 

[acejones]

You need to get permission ?

 

[Jim Rogers]

Yes, the foam wears out/compresses over time. When I bought my 2000 RTP with 60k+ on the clock this past March, I had the dealer give 'Hilda' a good going over. I knew some things would need work/replacing. New cables, tires, and a 12k service cost a bit but reset the clock on everything, or so I thought. I did not consider the seat. (60k+ miles and the standard cop idle time had taken its tole. What a pain in the butt - pun intended.) Since I don't mind experimenting, I tried the beads (no joy), an airhawk (better but not what I was looking for), a seat from an 04 RT (much much better but still not just quite the 'tank full to tank full' range I am looking for). I am going to order a Russell or a Mayer. The good thing about the experiments is that I tried them. I know that a lesser cost alternative will not cut it, I can recoup some of my funds using e-bay or Craig's list and, I have a seat pan to send off while still being able to ride. Another good thing, it showed me that I really need to lose some weight. (Thanks Jeff, (Dean) for the advice.) Good Luck, whatever path you take.

 

[ANDYVH]

I have a Corbin seat on my 94 R1100RS. Though better than stock, because it has never packed down, foam wise, after some time it gets uncomfortable. But the stock seat foam can break down and flatten out more than a good quality aftermarket seat.

I have tried sheepskins, useless to me. I have tried Gel pads, useless to me. Neither one did anything to improve my comfort. I don't agree that sheepskins are cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter. I have tired a bead-seat cover with some success, mostly becuse it allowed air flow and circulation under my butt. That in itself makes a huge difference! I have not yet tried an Airhawk but that may be the eventual answer for me. I NEED airflow under the butt, period!

The other issue, is that most seats, stock ones and many aftermarket seats (like my Corbin) are not properly set up to relieve pressure on the skin over the boney extensions we all have on our pelvic bone. Over time and constant pressure on those two points, its gonna hurt!

 

[topwrench]

Hey Jim
Thanks for walking point man on this one. I have pondered the beads and the added cushion. I have a sheepskin cover right now( Alaska Leather ) But it seems to move around on my seat. Sometimes hanging to one side. I think I move around a lot while riding. I think your input has directed me in the same direction that you are going. I am going to look at the Rick Mayer more closely. Hopefully I can convince one of my sons to sell his brain on Ebay. ( Has not been used much! LOL) Well I have about a year until next "Mancation" Because of you at least I am a little ahead to the price of the seat.
Thanks for your input. Scott D.

 

[kgadley01]

Hey Guys and Gals
I already know that I will recieve much flack about my question however, I really need to know what my options are in this matter. So if this question is really dumb please excuse my lack of motorcycle knowledge and know it is of a painful humility that I request your imput. I have a 2000 R1100RT with 73,000 miles on it and the seat is the BMW touring model. You can see a picture of my Beemer in the oilhead section around the last page. Here is my problem, Does the seat foam wear out? this year on my annual vacation which covered 3500 miles in 9 days my seat was just killing my hiney! Here are some stats from the vacation: 3 days of the vacation, I rode for 10 to 12 hours and covered around 550 miles each day. One day I covered over 600 miles in 16 hours with a couple of storms to slow us down. I ride with guys who ride cruisers so we have to stop around 140 miles, usually before that to gas up and take a break. My seat started to hurt on my vacation last year however this year it was real bad. So I asked the local dealer if the foam wears out and they said no just get a beaded seat cover. I am thinking about a custom seat like rick mayer or russell but the only time I am on the bike for a long time on a consistant basis is my annual vacation. Just so you know all the other times when I ride its not a factor at all.
Thanks Scott

Here's a little different twist. have you gained much weight in the last couple of years??? up till a few years ago I never got a sore butt. then Heart surgery and all those Meds caused me to gain weight. I went from 180lbs to 245lbs kinda fast. I've now lost some of that. but my point is that my butt started hurting on longer rides. I use a Russell seat on my RT and a Diamond on the Harley. I'm now comfortable again, but it cost me over $2000.00 for both seats. I do think weight plays a part in comfort. just my .02 cents worth.

 

[JALAIMO146577]

I got 2 seats from Sargent, very nice, affordable, comfortable quick turn around and losts of options.

 

[Jim Rogers]

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am an experimenter. So, I did one more to close out the seating issue. In other posts I found while researching this seating thing, I came across two other interesting posts. One dealt with raising the seat adjusting mech on Hilda and the other dealt with, believe it or not, undergarments. The seat riser is primarily designed to eliminate the forward slope so many, including me, don't like on the RT. Understanding how it worked and the angles involved, I figured it might just transfer some of the weight from the tailbone to the thigh and might relieve some of that nasty burning sensation I was experiencing. I found a nice set of machined blocks specifically designed to do this on e-bay (dwyz250 is the seller) for under $30, and that includes shipping. The set has two 1/2" blocks, two 1/8" blocks, and the required four longer cap screws. I finally got to install and try this out today. I used only the 1/2" blocks and tried the seat in both middle and high positions. The blocks did just what I expected. Not only did this cure the sliding issue, the expected weight transfer also occurred. Was it a lot of transfer? No, not a lot. But, it did make the ride much much more enjoyable. As I have seen before, the highest seat position is a bit much. The middle position was very good; comfortable, keeps the center of gravity where I like it for control, and still gives me lots of adjustment with the windscreen (a Cee-Bailey +5.5). This was also the first time I got to ride wearing the LD Comfort (http://www.ldcomfort.com) undershorts. These things are great. A bit pricey but very comfy. The higher in back waistband and anti-ride-up leg bands keep them in place, with no seams to sit on and a bit of compression support. Now for the results. I left the house at 0715 this morning. I rode on National Park Service scenic roads, city streets, unmarked narrow back county twisties, two and four lane highways, and interstate. In almost 5 hours, I really only stopped twice and then only for about 10 minutes or so. I did not start getting uncomfortable until the last 30 minutes or so. I have completed all of the experiments; tried all of the variations on this theme I can think of. The results: with the seat riser and the LDs, I can now outdistance most of the folks I ride with. The 'tank full to tank full' distance I wanted is achievable. However, I will still get a Russell or a Mayer. Still debating which will service me best. Based on the opinions posted here and the info from their websites, it may be a coin toss.

 

[142368]

seat

Hey Guys and Gals
I already know that I will recieve much flack about my question however, I really need to know what my options are in this matter. So if this question is really dumb please excuse my lack of motorcycle knowledge and know it is of a painful humility that I request your imput. I have a 2000 R1100RT with 73,000 miles on it and the seat is the BMW touring model. You can see a picture of my Beemer in the oilhead section around the last page. Here is my problem, Does the seat foam wear out? this year on my annual vacation which covered 3500 miles in 9 days my seat was just killing my hiney! Here are some stats from the vacation: 3 days of the vacation, I rode for 10 to 12 hours and covered around 550 miles each day. One day I covered over 600 miles in 16 hours with a couple of storms to slow us down. I ride with guys who ride cruisers so we have to stop around 140 miles, usually before that to gas up and take a break. My seat started to hurt on my vacation last year however this year it was real bad. So I asked the local dealer if the foam wears out and they said no just get a beaded seat cover. I am thinking about a custom seat like rick mayer or russell but the only time I am on the bike for a long time on a consistant basis is my annual vacation. Just so you know all the other times when I ride its not a factor at all.
Thanks Scott

Get a russel day long youwill love it.........

 

[BOXERR]

I tried the Corbin, Sargent, and in the end use an Airhawk cushion. Best money I have spent, and it fits all my bikes.

 

[Zygmund]

2002 RT, Corbin, LDComfort and can do a tank of fuel NP!

 

[kgadley01]

+1 on LD Comfort!!!