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Rick Mayer vs Bill Mayer vs Russell vs other custom seats

update

Hi All,

I have had the Kontour for a few months now. But have not put many miles on it, yet.
So far I find it very cool (lots of airflow so no sticking to the seat). This is not the best in a cold climate (the seat heating can't beat the air flow) but will be good when it gets hot.
The material is mesh and very slippery with my BMW Motorrad textile pants - good and bad with that - you would have to judge for yourself. Comfort seems good, but I have not ridden it long enough in one stretch to really get a sense of that. As soon as I do a road trip, probably July, I will do another post and let everyone know how I find the seat.
Ride Safe.

Hi All,
so I've ridden a fair amount, still not long trips, on this new seat. It is comfortable. My biggest issue with it is that it is so slippery with the textile pants. With a fast stop you slide up to the tank, no matter how much you try to grip with your thighs. In cold weather, the heated seat cannot keep up with the airflow. So, comfortable to ride on, but issues with the two things mentioned. I'm glad I kept my original seat so that I can swap it out in the fall to spring weather time frame (here near the Vancouver BC region).
 
Rick Mayer works for me

Last summer (2010) I made it home in two days from Deadwood, SD. 876 day one 871 day two. Rick Mayer saddle worked for me. The summer of 2009 I did a ride in appointment early one morning. Rick was a nice guy and you could really tell he loves what he does.
 
Last summer (2010) I made it home in two days from Deadwood, SD. 876 day one 871 day two. Rick Mayer saddle worked for me. The summer of 2009 I did a ride in appointment early one morning. Rick was a nice guy and you could really tell he loves what he does.

Did you get a leather or synthetic seat?
 
Next, I am going to try sitting on a pillow laying on the frame
 
Offraod GSA1200;

Mine is a Rocky seat, out of Ojai,CA, where he lives and builds the seats. The Russell seat isn't a good offroader seat, gets into the legroom thing when standing on the pegs, but a fine fine seat by them for other bikes, including my KLT1200 a while back. My only complaint is all the seats are ROCK hard foam and it doesn't get any better with age! I told Rocky I would like the seat redone with some softer feel to it, but have not been able to get back to his shop. Its about 2 and a half years old now with no other complaints, very well made and its been very well used at 62000miles now, no obvious wear to it:). Vinyl was my choice as I picked RED as a side panel choice on the seat and leather red is an"awful"mismatch, not a close match to my red GSA. The vinyl red is perfect and shows NO discolor at this time. Rocky was hands OFF and had no input on my seat, as I watched it made by his Mexican tradesmen, whom did fine work, no complaints by me. I was however, surprised Rocky did not do the work himself, but I understand a lot of seats pass through those doors and his seat builders were "first rate":). Rick, maybe does more work, unknown???,but sounds like it here. Rocky may well do some too, unknown to me and was very friendly and a good host, as I waited/watched my seat made. My Corbins and Russell seats have all been ROCK hard but well made. BILL MAYER SR. built my R100/7 seat over 30 years ago and it is STILL my favorite all time seat at over 350000miles on it:). A WOW seat, should be in the m/c hall of fame for seats. His kids are artisans for sure, but the SR.(Dad) had it right on for comfort(to this day) for my older Airhead:). Randy
 
I have a Bill Mayer seat on my 2004 CLC. It is so much more comfortable than the BMW seat even when using an Airhawk between my butt and the BMW saddle. The heat function was retained and works 4.0. I have a spare " black CLC seat " that a fellow CLC owner can borrow to use while his/her seat is being redone by one of the above mentioned saddle makers, just PM me.
 
rick mayer saddle

I opted for the synthetic. I did'nt want to have to worry about rain storms and saddle care. Also leather increased the cost a good bit. I only had the rider part done not the passenger. He did recover the passenger seat to match the rider seat.
 
I opted for the synthetic. I did'nt want to have to worry about rain storms and saddle care. Also leather increased the cost a good bit. I only had the rider part done not the passenger. He did recover the passenger seat to match the rider seat.

Thanks for the info. Did you go to his shop or did you courier it with your measurements and pictures? This is a general question for everyone that has a custom saddle made. I'm curious if going to the shop get's a better product in the end.
 
Question in PM was...

Did you have a chance to put some miles on the Kontour yet? How do you like it and how does it compare to other seats that you may have used?
Thanx


My Answer...for those that are interested...

Just posted in the thread. Yes. Good comfort, defeats heated seating for cold weather - too much airflow, very slippery with textile pants - thrown against tank in quick stop, slide forward in slow stop. This seat should be redesigned, with some intermittent strips of material that provide resistance to slipping for the pants.
 
For me, my R1200RT's stock seat was so bad I had to stop every hour for relief. A bead rider helped some, but then I bought a used Corbin and the improvement was dramatic...last year I rode nearly 7,000 miles over the course of 14 days to and from the BMW MOA rally, including my first Iron Butt on the outbound leg and then a 1500 mile Bun Burner on the way back. My longest continuous stretch in the saddle was 233 miles, something I could -never- have done with my stock seat. My Corbin is leather...and while it's not too slippery, I have tank pads to improve the grip. Seems most aftermarket saddles are all considerably wider than stock. I think the origins of "wider is better" is apparent by looking at early tractor seat design! Do you think old-time farmers debated which tractor saddle was most comfortable? Are equestrian saddles prone to inflicting pain on their riders? That's a horse of a different color :D
 
Rich's custom Seats, up here in Washington. Went with full leather Driver & Pillion.

Part pebbled leather part fine grain. . My bike is Black Saphhire Met. So did it Black leather with Silver Stitching, both seats still heated and have a gelpad!

Comfort ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ and looks great!

Since I could go to the shop, it is completely custom to my rear but Rich does mail order too!
 

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I have a low suspension model with a low Corbin seat--which I had built up a little bit. It is not as good as the original low Corbin because they screwed up the shape of the seat I had them put on a little bit more foam...though I like this height!

I find that seats that are really high, of course, have more foam and are comfortable; whereas seats that are lower have less foam and hard as a rock. There does not seem to be a way to find a comfortable low seat. :violin
 
Rick.Mayer Seats

Is Rick Mayer still making seats in 2019? He has made three for me and I have been really happy with them. A year or two ago I heard he was out of business, does anyone know if he is back?
Thanks
 
Is Rick Mayer still making seats in 2019? He has made three for me and I have been really happy with them. A year or two ago I heard he was out of business, does anyone know if he is back?
Thanks

I figured he would be in jail by now, for all the people he stole from that pressed charges against him. Definitely buyer beware!

Jim :brow
 
I figured he would be in jail by now, for all the people he stole from that pressed charges against him. Definitely buyer beware!

Jim :brow

Wow! That bad eh??

He made a seat for me back in 2004 and although it took a while, the result was quite spectacular, as the K1200LT back then had the most horrendous seat ever produced by BMW...
It was the first and only time I ever needed to change seats...
 
Wow! That bad eh??

He made a seat for me back in 2004 and although it took a while, the result was quite spectacular, as the K1200LT back then had the most horrendous seat ever produced by BMW...
It was the first and only time I ever needed to change seats...

The quality of his seats was never an issue. That he would take your seat base and never deliver, plus he charged up front, was the issue. I had two of his seats, and it took 6 months and a lot of emails, to get them back.

Jim :brow
 
Russell Day-Long Saddles

I recently took the plunge and had saddles made for my 2012 R1200GS. I read many posts on this and other forums and made my decision with some concern since there were so many conflicting opinions. To minimize the chance for error or dissatisfaction I elected to make an appointment for the ride-in service at Russell Cycle Products. My wife and I rode to nearby Redding, CA, spent the night and showed up at RCP in Shasta Lake first thing the next morning. They had us both sit on the bike while two of their staff took photos and asked questions. Fortunately, they had loaner saddles for us and sent us on our way for a couple of hours while they constructed our saddles. We toured Shasta Dam nearby. Upon our return, we sat on our partially finished uncovered saddles to check fit. They made several adjustments to the saddles with my wife and me getting on and off the bike several times while they took the saddles back to the shop to modify them until my wife, myself and the men who were constructing the saddles were satisfied. We picked up the saddles the next morning and they were beautiful and extremely comfortable. My wife can't stop talking about her saddle's comfort and the heating option! I am completely satisfied with my choice and I would heartily recommend Russel Day-Long Saddles particularly the ride-in option.:thumb
 
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I recently took the plunge and had saddles made for my 2012 R1200GS. I read many posts on this and other forums and made my decision with some concern since there were so many conflicting opinions. To minimize the chance for error or dissatisfaction I elected to make an appointment for the ride-in service at Russell Cycle Products. My wife and I rode to nearby Redding, CA, spent the night and showed up at RCP in Shasta Lake first thing the next morning. They had us both sit on the bike while two of their staff took photos and asked questions. Fortunately, they had loaner saddles for us and sent us on our way for a couple of hours while they constructed our saddles. We toured Shasta Dam nearby. Upon our return, we sat on our partially finished uncovered saddles to check fit. They made several adjustments to the saddles with my wife and me getting on and off the bike several times while they took the saddles back to the shop to modify them until my wife, myself and the men who were constructing the saddles were satisfied. We picked up the saddles the next morning and they were beautiful and extremely comfortable. My wife can't stop talking about her saddle's comfort and the heating option! I am completely satisfied with my choice and I would heartily recommend Russel Day-Long Saddles particularly the ride-in option.:thumb
Welcome to the forum!
I wish I was close enough to do a “drive-in” fitting.
Gary
 
I've got a Russell production date coming up in two weeks. I thrown a lot of money at other seats (used BMW "Comfort" seat, and a custom from a different vendor) and have finally arrived at trying just one more. Here's hoping the Russell will work where others haven't.
 
A few years ago I purchased my third RDL (bike changes, not due to wear). I cannot say enough good about them. My first experience was with a bike I inherited and it came with an RDL. I had to drive the bike from upstate Pennsylvania to North Carolina. I did so by making part of the trip be on the Blue Ridge Parkway. All total it was 11 1/2 hours in the saddle and I had no pain, discomfort, or soars - the saddle sold me for the rest of my riding career.
 
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