I know, I know, but my butt hurts.

I know it's been discussed a bunch in the forum but, I'm looking for a good seat for my 04' R1150RT. I have read about almost all the choices except I have seen no feedback on the Cee Bailey seats. I have had Corbins that felt good and I had a Russel for this bike and sold it because of the sides which made footing the bike at a stop difficult (I'm 6' 0 with a 32" inseam). So, has anybody tried the Cee Bailey seat? I'm leaning towards a Sargent right now and plan on pulling the trigger pretty soon so I have something better than the stock plank for riding up to the Rally.

Funny enough the BMW comfort seat worked very well for me . The 05 LT seat on the other hand was a disaster and I had me a Rick Mayer seat built. He is not the quickest in turn-around-times but his seat is very comfy and worth the wait.
You will get plenty of responses, as each of us have different 'final drive' and will have different experiences with seats.
What works for one person may not work for someone else.

Check out the vendor list for the National in Vermont to see if the seats you want will be there. Then ride up on your sore ass and try before you buy.

Fred

I also have the BMW comfort seat and think it is great. For those really long rides I will throw on an Alaskan Leather sheepskin, but I really don't have to have it. I guess I'm lucky. Or have the right shape for this particular seat.

I agree with the statement "try before you buy". I had a Corbin once that I did not like at all, and it cost me a lot of money. And that was 15 years ago.

I am testing out a friend's CB seat right now on my 2004 RT. It is wider in front and a bit taller, but at your height that should be a non-issue. I am 5' 10" and am considering the seat for longer rides. I find the Comfort Seat fine around town and on shorter runs. In my opinion the CB seat gives me more room to move around or slide around on when riding. This is good...I feel I can get my posterior in different positions and I feel less fatigued.

I have Sargeant saddles on my R1100S and my K1200RS and find them to be pretty comfortable. The also have a low profile. I'm 5'9" tall with a 30 inch inseam so the reach is important to me. A few months ago I rode 1000 miles on the K bike and my butt survived quite well. I don't care for Corbins much. I had one on a Honda ST1100. It was fine for the first couple of years but it seemed to get hard over time.

Oldway, I second what Fred said, take your butt to the Rally on what you have and look test and feel what makes you happy then get it "CUSTOM" made for you.

There is no better way than to have the seat maker work with you and get it done right.

Note, be early, be first in line and don't procrastinate too long, Spend the a day looking and asking questions, then Get 'er done!


Doc

You will think you bought a new bike at the Rally on your way home.

The advert pics of the Cee Bailey seats look an awful lot like some private label versions of Russell/Mayer saddles...and given the logic of cut out the middle man just go to the source and have the job done right. The ordering process is thorough enough for Russell and Mayer that they do almost always get it right the first time and the times that they dont they have worked to fix it. Just a thought, this is not a slam on Cee Bailey at all, it was just that when I went through the process of selecting a saddle Cee Bailey was a consideration and it just made sense to go to the actual makers of the Russel Kotex saddle...I mean Day Long...lol

And this was why I made it clear it was not a slam on Cee Bailey. Look at the Beemer ad pics for their seats (even the ones in the ON mag) and they come so close to the design cues of the name brands and change just enough so as to avoid lawsuits I am certain. If it works for them then so be it. That is somebody else's fight. Again, not a slam, just an observation..lol.

I am sure their final quality is as good as their other products are...very good, regardless of the design origination.

Listen to "SFDOC". Go to any custom seat builder and have a seat built to fit you. Notice the word GO........

Ordering a seat out of a catalog or by mail is insane. Your butt and your back alignment is distinctive to you. Only a custom seat builder, who fits it to you, will give you what you are looking for, comfort.

Eureka said:

Listen to "SFDOC". Go to any custom seat builder and have a seat built to fit you. Notice the word GO........

Ordering a seat out of a catalog or by mail is insane. Your butt and your back alignment is distinctive to you. Only a custom seat builder, who fits it to you, will give you what you are looking for, comfort.

Click to expand...

Great point and this is exactly why Russell and Mayer like the side view pics of you sitting in riding position on the bike, including the passenger if the passenger seat is required too, and the seat pad to be marked around your thighs to indicate where your legs rest and the weight points for comfort etc. The order forms are impressive regarding detail, well for Russell anyway and I would imagine the others are too.

It is an expensive way to go although if you plan on living on top of the bike for lengthy periods your body will thank you in the form of reduced exhaustion at the end of long days.

Rocky (BMS) Mayer

Oldway,

When I bought my '02 GS they were typical BMW seats, very soft and comfortable for only a few minutes to hours, and started placing different strains on different parts of my body. The pillion seat was a 'Narcolepsy Button' for my wife. She was sound asleep in ten minutes if the scenery did not stay interesting.

I had know idea, I saw the adds, read the reviews and heard the people talk and so when my wife and I went to the Spokane Rally '04, buying a seat was one of my priorities.

But then there were so many, I did know what I wanted. So I stood around each of the vendors tables and listened until I could start to ask the questions that needed to be asked.

It was allot more than what's your inseam, how much do you weigh, how many miles do you typically ride in a day.

Then there was materials, foam, gel-pads, leather, vinyl, other. (Gel-inserts have their unique problems based on temperature)

Then I watched, since I didn't know what I wanted I wasted a lot of time doing this. So on the last day of the Rally (well the night before) I had decided to go with BMS (Bill Mayer Saddles) Rocky and his wife Laura impressed me the most and asked me and my wife the right questions.

I had to get up awfully early on Sunday and get my seats into him (I was staying about seven-miles away in a hotel). He gave me an extra seat-pan and I strapped a pillow to it to go back and pick up my wife later (who rode back in sitting on my bike cover). But to make a long story short he worked me into his already busy day.

Throughout the day, when he would get certain parts of something done, he would have each of us sit on the foam and cut and then wait to see if pressure areas cropped up, then he would make slight changes and also explain that that one will go away when the cover is stretched on.

My complaints about the stock seat, the front was too low and would put a strain on my back, and the foam was too soft (at least for me), I always found myself sliding up to the tank and then being stuck there. My wife well, there wasn't much to like about a GS pillion seat.

In the end, we left the Rally on a new bike. My wife being the happiest and has rarely gone to sleep again even on long rides. The only mistake I made was letting Rocky talk me into the hardest foam, itÔÇÖs great mind you if the temperatures are above 60* but I get on it sometimes at 35* and itÔÇÖs still a rock when I get to work or back home.

Whom ever you decide to go with, if they build it on-site, you will be happier than if you filled out some paperwork and send it in a box and then wait, and wait and wait. When it finally does return, I think most people are just happy to have their bike back and know that this seat is better than stock.

What they could have had was a ÔÇ£One Up, CustomÔÇØ seat made by a professional seat maker, for in some cases a ÔÇÿspecial rally priceÔÇÖ without the shipping and handling charges.

Good luck, but get started early, they may or may not have an extra seat for you to use on your bike, but if you are the first or second customer of the day chances are they might.

HTH

Doc

Pretty darned impressive to do all that is a day too. I do tend to think that folks may actually notice the real difference in the saddle rather than just being glad to have it back...

short term

Maybe for the short term you could go to a local shop for a quick fix..just enough to get to the rally in "OK" comfort, enough to hold shape and cushion for a few months. Then, at the rally, talk to a custom maker.

This last March I took my R1150R seat into a local shop for a quick fix because I felt like I was riding on two bars. For $40.00, the shop put a gel disc in my saddle. Saddle now feels much better. Turn around time was less than a week.

Like many others right now, I am looking into a new custom saddle, and I am struggling with this like others. I wish there was a standardized system of evaluating and choosing saddles, but all of us have different bodies, pressure points, and riding styles.

Perhaps, in a few years after I sell my business, I will start a new business called "Tush To Go". "Tush to go" will correctly fit a person for a custom saddle using space age technology, infrared photography, thermal sensing, and alot of beer.

Rich said:

For those really long rides I will throw on an Alaskan Leather sheepskin, but I really don't have to have it. I guess I'm lucky. Or have the right shape for this particular seat.

Click to expand...

Same for me. I slide forward on the sheepskin when braking so I stopped using it. Must be all that lanolin.

Fred

SFDOC's experience in getting a custom seat is exactly like mine, except I went to Rich's in Seattle.

One day, in and out, custom fitting, then re-fitting after two test rides.
The seat is builtup using at least three different grades of foam, a gel pad inserted, and my seat heaters relaid into the seat. I also had a back rest added, and it was well worth the money for long trips where I'm in the saddle for several hours each day. I choose leather after listening to Rich's explanations of benefits, and then selected the grade of leather, grain pattern, etc. Just watching the process of building the saddle, involving six of his employees was fascinating.

If you have any doubts about the benefits of a custom built-for-you saddle, just talk to anyone who has bought one. And, do your research by talking to different builders, they all have good information that will help your decision making process. Good Luck!

SFDOC said:

Oldway, I second what Fred said, take your butt to the Rally on what you have and look test and feel what makes you happy then get it "CUSTOM" made for you.

There is no better way than to have the seat maker work with you and get it done right.

Note, be early, be first in line and don't procrastinate too long, Spend the a day looking and asking questions, then Get 'er done!


Doc

You will think you bought a new bike at the Rally on your way home.

Click to expand...

What he said! Not all the good seat builders are at any given rally, nor are they building seats on the spot. If you can get one done that way go for it - but their main business is done by folks sending in weight, height, photos, etc. It looks to me like all the major custom seat folks can do a good job of fitting you from the right data.

Something people don't think about when it comes to seats is that height, shape, firmness, and fore/aft position all need to be setup for YOU to be the most comfortable. Most modern bikes come with a "saddle" rather than a "seat". Those are my terms, with saddle refering to a horse saddle where your butt stays in one place, and a seat being more of a long bench which allowed some fore and aft movement. A saddle can be very comfortable but needs to fit you, and that's the magic of a good custom seat builder. I got a saddle from Bill (Rocky) Mayer for my K12RS and it was the best money I've ever spent on a bike accessory.

SFDOC said:

Oldway, I second what Fred said, take your butt to the Rally on what you have and look test and feel what makes you happy then get it "CUSTOM" made for you.

There is no better way than to have the seat maker work with you and get it done right.

Note, be early, be first in line and don't procrastinate too long, Spend the a day looking and asking questions, then Get 'er done!


Doc

You will think you bought a new bike at the Rally on your way home.

Click to expand...

What the doc said! Not all the good seat builders are at any given rally, nor are they building seats on the spot. If you can get one done that way go for it - but their main business is done by folks sending in weight, height, photos, etc. It looks to me like all the major custom seat folks can do a good job of fitting you from the right data.

Something people don't think about when it comes to seats is that height, shape, firmness, and fore/aft position all need to be setup for YOU to be the most comfortable. Most modern bikes come with a "saddle" rather than a "seat". Those are my terms, with saddle referring to a horse saddle where your butt stays in one place, and a seat being more of a long bench which allowed some fore and aft movement. A saddle can be very comfortable but needs to fit you, and that's the magic of a good custom seat builder. I got a saddle from Bill (Rocky) Mayer for my K12RS and it was the best money I've ever spent on a bike accessory. Nothing beats happy buns.

FredRydr said:

Same for me. I slide forward on the sheepskin when braking so I stopped using it. Must be all that lanolin.

Fred

Click to expand...

That sounds like anti shepard behavior...