Up on the pegs with Russell Day Long

Currently ride my 1150GS with a Sargent saddle but considering a Russell Day Long for more comfort. I spend a lot of time up on the pegs as I ride mostly dirt roads. I remember hearing that the shape of the Russell makes it a bit difficult to stand and shift your weight front to back as you go up and down hills on the pegs. Any one have experience with this? Thanks much.

jacksson said:

Currently ride my 1150GS with a Sargent saddle but considering a Russell Day Long for more comfort. I spend a lot of time up on the pegs as I ride mostly dirt roads. I remember hearing that the shape of the Russell makes it a bit difficult to stand and shift your weight front to back as you go up and down hills on the pegs. Any one have experience with this? Thanks much.

Click to expand...

No experience with the issues you are talking about, but having gone through the process with them on two saddles (‘04 R1150R & ‘99 Triumph Thunderbird 900), I’m sure that they can accommodate your needs. If you haven’t gone through the gallery of saddles they have done, do so. There are three 1150GS’s, and a couple of GSA’s.

I had a Russell. It was fantastic on long rides and standing on the pegs was a non-issue. However, I tend to go offroad a bit. When going down steep downhills the width of the saddle caused it to dig painfully into the back of my thighs when standing with my weight shifted back. It got to the point where my thighs would ache at the end of a riding day, so I sold it and upgraded to a Rocky Mayer saddle. For me and my riding style it was a great move!

That said, if I was a pavement only rider, the Russell would have been perfect

Pete

I prefer the Day-Long, but Russell has what they call a "Sport Seat" that might fulfill your needs. There are some pictures of this seat on a 12GS on their web site.

Direct experience with multiple Russell saddles, but none on a GS. But here’s the rub: to be an effective all-day road saddle the secret is in picking up a substantial portion of the rider’s weight on the long leg bones, thus getting that weight off the bottom of the pelvis. That’s why Russell and all the rest have “wings” that extend forward and outward from where the main portion of your butt rests. That works great for sitting-down road use but when standing it leaves the wings restricting your fore/aft movement and digging into the back of your thighs. You could probably do a ride-in with Russell and have them build you a saddle with smaller wings that don’t extend as far forward and outward, but they’ll tell you right up front that the result will not be an all-day comfortable saddle. In the end, you’ll have to select which part of riding—the road or off-road—you want to prioritize. And on a road trip, a 10-minute walkaround at gas stops goes a long way toward keeping the backside happy all day.

I have both a Corbin and a stock saddle for my GS and my R80ST, and saddle selection depends upon the nature of the ride being embarked upon. That’s something you might think about if you’re considering having a Russell built on your Sargent seat base.

Best,
DG

Great help

Thank you all for that great input. I am going to stick with my Sargent after reading your thoughts.. I do most of my riding on dirt roads and am standing 90% of the time. You're right, a short walk around does the trick or resting my legs on the crash bars over the cylinders, leaning forward and stretching my lower back.