Why do we pick on BMW seats?

For the years I have been on this forum, and for all the years I have been on other m/c forums, one of the most common complaints I read is about how uncomfortable BMW seats are. Several other brands seem also to collect similar complaints, but BMW seems the worst.

Is that issue really near-universal (all riders)? Or is my impression skewed by only a few riders who complain often? I really would like to hear some thoughts from this forum.

My personal experience (20 years experience and all the lower 48 several times) is that I have never changed a seat nor felt particularly uncomfortable on a seat--except for the very first trip on a new bike. Once my butt gets used to the new seat it never is an issue. I find BMW seats to be about as comfortable as anything out there, except maybe touring Harleys, which are really exceptional seats.

For me it’s because I own a BMW
The Sargent with an Airhawk is barely tolerable.
My TW-200 is no bargain either.
I have thought of a Russell Day Long butt I’m too far away for a ride in.
It’s most likely mostly my butt.....or lack thereof.
Those big HD’s do look comfy.
OM

Royce you are evidently blessed with the extremely rare and desirable preferrous-polymorphous butt. (Please do not take the ”desirable” bit the wrong way)

All butts are not the same! I don't care what brand it is.

Seat threads are almost as much fun as tire threads, but more fun than oil threads. But, I'll play. I have only had two aftermarket seats. One was only because I needed a solo seat on my K75 modified for long distance rally riding. Bill Mayer, Sr. cut down that pan and built the seat for me for the 1999 Iron Butt Rally. I had Rick Mayer build a seat for my R1150R after the stock seat wore out at just over 100,000 miles. That was cheaper than buying a replacement from BMW. My other 14 BMWs had or have stock seats.

In her 1,100,000 miles on 16 BMWs Voni has had only one aftermarket seat and that was because her R1100RSL had a Sargeant seat on it when she bought the bike. She actually likes the stock seat on Big Red, her other R1100RS better.

We have spent the past two summers traveling about on our G310GS bikes which have the original OEM seats.

Maybe BMW seats fit my personal FD just right, but the only seat issue I ever had was on my 2005 K12LT. That seat was just completely useless.
I had Rick Mayer make me one and that was money well spent. All my other bikes had good to great seats, well enough to do several 1K mile days in any of them..YMMV

Thanks for some discussion. Perhaps I do have a rare butt that does not require coddling, but I tend to believe not. Actually, like most men of a certain age, I have almost no butt to speak of. As a matter of fact, my wife calls me Mr. No-Butt.

I have test-ridden many bikes over the years that I felt had uncomfortable seats (the original Ducati Multistradas, for instance; what a torture device.) but, guess what? I did not buy any of those bikes. If a bike is not reasonably comfortable from the get-go, I move to a different brand or model. Perhaps my selection process is different than most, eh? I have never bought a bike, or car for that matter, based on "passion" or "falling in love" with the machine. My decision is practical/logical: if the machine does not "fit" me the first time I ride it, than I am not interested.

My only two "bad" experiences with motorcycle seats were one-offs. I once rode a Honda Shadow 750 from Orlando to Kansas City for a friend. He had bought the bike on e-bay and I was in Orlando on business. I turned in my return flight ticket and took delivery of his "new" purchase and rode it home to him. The experience gave me a sore butt for several days, but only because I was not used to the seat and the ride was a tad long (1,000 miles or so) for a test ride. I rode the bike several times after that and found the seat comfortable because my butt was used to it. The second experience was on my brand-new Kawasaki Nomad when I headed out on a cross-country trip the day after I bought the thing. Mistake. After the first half-day, I stopped at a bike shop and bought a Beadrider seat cover and all was great thereafter. After that first trip, I took the Beadrider off and rode the bike for three or four years on the OEM seat with no problems.

I think BMW seats are designed to look good and be a nice compromise for a commuter or police bike. Get on and off the bike every hour or so and it is ok.

I do a lot of rides that have a first day of 700+ miles. A shorter day, or longer, follows that, and that may be 3 days in a row totaling 1600+ miles. I think how the seat feels on the second day is the true test of a seat. Even with my Russell seat, my butt would like to be off the seat for a break every now and then. I cannot sit in my recliner without wanting the same. Those that say they have zero pain or discomfort after 1000 miles in a day are not made like I am! But I don't have pain, more discomfort, and that is just fine moments after I start a break.

My V strom Suzuki 1000 came with a seat so superior to any BMW seat I have had that I think I can say BMW seat comfort has little money spent on engineering in Germany.

My stock seat was OK for up to two hundred miles, usually. With any longer distance, results varied from just a literal pain in the butt to legs that did not function when I got off. That's with walking a bit at gas or rest stops every 1.5-2 hours. I swear that straddling this would be more comfortable:


All that pain went away when I bought a used RDL - I've since ridden as far as 1500 miles in 28 hours without once thinking of my butt.

Royce, do we the same wife? Mr. No- Butt! My wife says that too.

Could you run a marathon today? No, you would likely need to train for it.

Motorcycle riding is likewise an athletic endeavor requiring getting your body ready. I've several times noted my seat feels ok by the 2nd or 3rd day of an extended ride.

Here's an applicable joke (posted here many times by me, so maybe sorry)

Man and woman are both at store trying on pants. First try for both results in too tight fit.
Woman: oh, I have to lose weight.
Man: there's something wrong with these pants.

Here's another applicable story ...

https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/sunday-firesides-the-i-need-a-new-mattress-fallacy/

Personally, I can't see how an oil thread or tire thread can compare ...

royce said:

Thanks for some discussion. Perhaps I do have a rare butt that does not require coddling, but I tend to believe not. Actually, like most men of a certain age, I have almost no butt to speak of. As a matter of fact, my wife calls me Mr. No-Butt.

I have test-ridden many bikes over the years that I felt had uncomfortable seats (the original Ducati Multistradas, for instance; what a torture device.) but, guess what? I did not buy any of those bikes. If a bike is not reasonably comfortable from the get-go, I move to a different brand or model. Perhaps my selection process is different than most, eh? I have never bought a bike, or car for that matter, based on "passion" or "falling in love" with the machine. My decision is practical/logical: if the machine does not "fit" me the first time I ride it, than I am not interested.

My only two "bad" experiences with motorcycle seats were one-offs. I once rode a Honda Shadow 750 from Orlando to Kansas City for a friend. He had bought the bike on e-bay and I was in Orlando on business. I turned in my return flight ticket and took delivery of his "new" purchase and rode it home to him. The experience gave me a sore butt for several days, but only because I was not used to the seat and the ride was a tad long (1,000 miles or so) for a test ride. I rode the bike several times after that and found the seat comfortable because my butt was used to it. The second experience was on my brand-new Kawasaki Nomad when I headed out on a cross-country trip the day after I bought the thing. Mistake. After the first half-day, I stopped at a bike shop and bought a Beadrider seat cover and all was great thereafter. After that first trip, I took the Beadrider off and rode the bike for three or four years on the OEM seat with no problems.

Click to expand...

I couldn't get out of Az. and into NM on a planned trip to eastern Tenn. and my butt was on fire on my brand new 07 Nomad. I suffered through the trip, but when I got back, a Mustang seat was ordered and installed post haste. That Mustang could get me into 800 mile days with ease.

lkchris said:

… Man and woman are both at store trying on pants. First try for both results in too tight fit.
Woman: oh, I have to lose weight.
Man: there's something wrong with these pants. ...
...

Click to expand...

Maybe this discussion could extend to our rear seat pax and their comments about the comfort back there???

I rode my ‘82 R65 LS to Tennessee in June, a bike not designed for long distance hauling that I’d never ridden more than a couple of 3 hours. Starting my trip I did 4 x 900 km days in a row. How do you think that seat was?

But on my KTM’s I now have 2 Renazco seats for Mt 525, one suede and one vinyl. On my 640 Adventure I have a Renazco vinyl. I have done 15 hour days on that seat and yes it still hurts but I’d be hard pressed to try on the stocker.

On any of those machines I wear bicycle shor5s under whatever pants I’m wearing and that makes a huge difference.

I haven’t got much time on my new to me R1100 S so can’t really comment but a couple of hours on it felt fine so at this time no thoughts of going aftermarket for that bike.

I have often wondered if the LD Comfort skivvies or bicycle shorts would help......Although either one sorta negates my vision of being out for a "quick" ride.
OM

seats

Well, I have had a dozen or so seats, on airheads and now a k1600.The stock seat on my R100T was ok, but I bought and installed a Corbin because more comfort was promised. Turned out not to be so, too hard and too wide. After that, riding stock r50/5 and r100rt seats was much like the T, ok until I cut out some of the foam and made them narrower and lower (I'm a short a**). A few years ago I got a Russell day long for the T; Very comfortable but also too high and wide which made stopping somewhat of a challenge, especially 2 up.
But the K1600 stock seat was a complete torture rack. On my first ride of about 150 miles I thought it was the worst thing I had ever sat on. But I persevered and now, after year or so of riding, it suits me fine. As previously stated by lkchris, it may be an athletic (but I would say, more accurately, just a physical) activity and you really do have do it and train your body to get it used to it. If you are just going out for a 20 mile Sunday morning ride for a cup of coffee, IMHO, any old seat will do, but if you are heading from Seattle to Boston and want to do 300 plus miles a day, you either take time to get used to your seat or get a seat that suits you and is a little more comfortable and easier to live with right out of the gate. After a little while, the only difference may be that, when the time comes, you are ready to stop when you have to fuel up and take a pi** or really could have gone another 50 or 100 miles.

Sit and Stand

I truly don't think BMW pays as much engineering attention to seats as they do to the rest of the bike. I have 110,000 miles on Harleys and now about 80,000 on a 2016 R1200RT and a 2018 K1600 bagger. Both Hogs had aftermarket seats by LePera and were supremely comfortable - did 1000+ miles in one day on a 2001 Road King. The RT has a Sargent seat that is better than stock but not up to Day Long standards. I like the Bagger seat just fine and won't be changing it. The secret to long rides is comfort. When you find yourself getting antsy in the saddle change something about your position for a little while - I find it easy and relaxing to stand on the pegs like a dirt rider does, really changes the seating dynamic, blood flows quickly into your butt. This can be somewhat upsetting to others though and obviously not a choice for everyone. One of my riding buddies really used to hang back when I would do this and I asked him why? "Don't wanna run over the body" was his reply. A Wyoming State Trooper gave me a warning for it and said it amounted to reckless op in his state so you might want to stand only for a short time. A minute or so does the trick for me but your mileage may vary! I was able to do a 6 day tour in Morocco on a BMW 700, after literally 15 miles I thought the seat was a brick covered in naugahyde!

have tried several different Corbin and Sargent seats on several different BMW's....end result? yuck.

I have stock BMW seats on all my BMW's. no issues. all day comfort.

i must be BMW's ergo model as nothing else on the bikes is non-stock either. no risers, no bar-backs, no peg lowering, no tall windscreens or anything else. stock ergo's are perfect. all day. and...i only ride "S" models.

After reading this and similar threads elsewhere, it was with trepidation that I braved a 400-mile day trip on Wednesday from Yuma, AZ, to Laughlin, NV and back on my new-to-me F700GS. I had to get it registered despite the 90-95F high temperature that day.

To my delight the OEM Comfort Seat was perfectly, erm, comfortable. Whew! I was dreading another expense if it was the kind of “torture device” some others described. Just goes to show that we’re all different. The designer(s) at BMW—or their test subjects, if any—must be anatomically fairly similar to me in the posterior.

I don’t own a BMW bike yet, but do ride another brand/model that, according to the internet, has the absolute most uncomfortable seat known to motorcycles. Based on what I had read, I figured I’d have to swap the seat after buying the bike.

Turns out this seat is quite comfortable for me. I love it, no problems at all. Seat comfort really is subjective and personalized.