Corbin Saddle for late model Airheads

According to the Corbin website, they only offer saddles for Airheads through '84. When I contacted them directly, they could not tell me whether the '84 saddle would fit a '95, which is what I have (r100rt).
As far as I can tell, the saddle is mounted to the hinge in two places, each using two fasteners. Does anyone know whether the saddles are interchangeable between '84 and '95?

Thanks,

Scarycanary

Corbin

scarycanary said:

According to the Corbin website, they only offer saddles for Airheads through '84. When I contacted them directly, they could not tell me whether the '84 saddle would fit a '95, which is what I have (r100rt).
As far as I can tell, the saddle is mounted to the hinge in two places, each using two fasteners. Does anyone know whether the saddles are interchangeable between '84 and '95?

Thanks,

Scarycanary

Click to expand...

AFAIK, '84 models are twin rear shock and the '95 is a Mono (I used to own a '93 RT).

I put a Corbin on that bike and it never fit right, and would scrape the right side battery cover when opened, along with scuffing the rear of the tank. Corbin refused to acknowledge the problem or even fix it, so that was the last Corbin I owned. But you may have better luck.

Oh, and the seat was atrocious, comfort wise.

I went back to the stock seat with a Gel pad.

RPGR90s

Forget Corbin, if you want a good saddle take an OEM seat pan—yours or one you’ve purchased—to one of the reputable seat builders and have a saddle built to suit you. You’ll end up with a higher-quality product that works and that won’t damage other surfaces on the bike, like the rear of your tank. DAMHIKT...

My personal favorite is Russell Day-Long but there are several others who do quality work as well.

Best,
DG

The saddles DO NOT interchange. No Corbin seats "fit" the way I define it, but these wouldn't fit even if they were made correctly.

I am another Russell fan-boy...

I'm glad I asked. By the way, the OEM seat works well shape-wise and has no rips or scratches in spite of its 23 years. My only concern is that it's so smooth that it's too easy to slide back'n forth and side-to-side. Something with more texture would probably provide a better grip. I heard of Russell Day Long, will investigate and report.
Thanks

Actually they do make them for the mono-shock airheads, but the website has them buried. Not sure if this works, but try this. http://corbin.com/bmw/r80100index.shtml

That said, I’ve had the Gunfighter on my 88RS and loved it. I also had their touring seat on my RT’s, and although they were comfortable, they trapped you into one location. They also gouged the fiberglass of the seat frame. I do not recommend those.

Don't buy a Corbin

I bought my third Corbin seat two years ago. Wore out two, never had a problem.

Even after a reasonable break in period, the newest seat was very uncomfortable. After fifty miles of riding, I had pain in my left leg and numbness along with a sore butt. I contacted Corbin and was told to mark the spots I thought might be causing the problem (a seam in the seat) and they would fix it for me.

I spent a fair amount of money to ship it back to them, waited three months and got the seat back. THEY DID NOT DO A THING TO THE SEAT! Also, there was no communication via email, phone or even a note in the box as to why they did nothing but waste my money to send it back to them in the first place so they could send it back to me unchanged.

When I called the company I was told they had to change the seat design because of new glue and the offending seam was now part of the seat design. For considerable additional money, they would recover the seat with a special made cover without a seam. Of course I would have to pay to ship it back as well as pay to have it recovered.

I doctored the seat myself and am now using it but, I will never buy another Corbin product again.

Oh yes, the seat from an 84 won't fit an 85 or newer.

I read and hear these horror stories about Corbin all the time. Their customer service appears to end at point of sale. After that they don't seem to care. For this reason alone I could care less if they had the best seat on the market; I would not buy one. Dealing with bad customer service attitude and practice never ends well...

By the way, if the only problem is the texture of the seat just take it to a decent upholsterer and have them recover it with leather. Yes, you need to cover leather seats in the rain but they sure are a lot nicer to sit on all day than vinyl!

happy wanderer said:

...Yes, you need to cover leather seats in the rain but they sure are a lot nicer to sit on all day than vinyl!

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With a treatment of AquaSeal every six months or so, the leather seat will do fine if it gets wet. The custom makers generally suggest that even the vinyl seats be covered in the rain because they have sewn vs. heat-welded seams. A good leather seat is forever. Take a look at how a leather jacket will age gracefully with just a bit of care vs. a "pleather" vinyl jacket. No comparison.

RPGR90s said:

AFAIK, '84 models are twin rear shock and the '95 is a Mono (I used to own a '93 RT).

Oh, and the seat was atrocious, comfort wise.


RPGR90s

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Ditto. The Corbin I got for my '84 was too hard for the first 1000 mi., great for the next 1000 and then terrible. But they make up for it by being surly on the phone and making the base out of something that weighs as much as depleted uranium. Have somebody redo the padding and cover.

After seeing Beemerfile's picture, I decided my next move will be to give Russell a call. Thanks for the input

Russell's tend to ride better than they look, but I even like the look if you choose the right stitching pattern.



I rode this bike back from Maine to Georgia (1,385 miles) stopping only for gas, food, rest room, and two 2-hour sleepy breaks. But no "butt breaks" were needed.

beemerphile said:

With a treatment of AquaSeal every six months or so, the leather seat will do fine if it gets wet. The custom makers generally suggest that even the vinyl seats be covered in the rain because they have sewn vs. heat-welded seams. A good leather seat is forever. Take a look at how a leather jacket will age gracefully with just a bit of care vs. a "pleather" vinyl jacket. No comparison.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on Aqua Seal Lee. When I had my seat done at Rich's Custom Saddles down in WA state he showed me a bottle of Lexol which is a leather conditioner and said I should use only that. But it does not water proof the seat so he recommended a cover. They sold these as accessories but the seat had already tapped out the budget and then some and I am fortunate to have a partner who is a great seamstress. Just one of her many artistic talents that allowed me to re-purpose a redundant nylon camping bag.

I note that the Aqua Seal claims water proofing vs many other ones that say "repels water". I've found that water repelling usually means just wait a bit longer and then it will get saturated...

happy wanderer said:

Thanks for the tip on Aqua Seal Lee. When I had my seat done at Rich's Custom Saddles down in WA state he showed me a bottle of Lexol which is a leather conditioner and said I should use only that.

Click to expand...

The one I use is Liquid Aquaseal Waterproofing and Conditioner for Leather. I have used it for many years on Russell seats and riding boots. I use Lexol on automotive leather and leather furniture that does not get wet.