Seats - What has been your salvation?

[akbeemer]

Just an update. Put 150 miles on the new to me RDL, and it is much more comfortable than the Sargent seat. I inadvertently ended up on a forest service road with gravel, embedded rocks, and potholes. Did quite a bit of standing and the RDL worked fine. I am now a fan.

Sure…. rub it in.

 

[Roy.Jackson55@aol.com]

rider Beads, 10,000 NYC Taxi drivers can't be wrong.
Why beads? Because they keep yo cooler and dryer by increasing the air flow between the rider and the saddle. Gel pads can get hot, sheep skin no good in the rain. There is a new product out there. 3D Mesh. they look to work the same way as the beeds but keep you feet closer to the ground. I do not know much about this product as I have not tried it.

 

[lawrencecarlson]

I’ve had Sargent, Corbin and RDL saddles on various bikes over the years. My take: RDL makes pretty much hands-down the most comfortable aftermarket saddles you can buy for most applications.

BUT.

Although RDL claims that after a thousand miles or so of break-in, their saddles will settle in at the same height as the stock saddle, that has not been my experience. They are invariably taller. The question is, does that make a difference to you? I had a Ducati Diavel that was naturally low enough that it did not matter. On a R1200 GT, OTOH, it made a big difference and in retrospect, I would not have bought it, although I kept it until I sold the bike.

On my current F700GS, I bought both RDL and Sargent. With the Sargent (as with the stock saddle) I can easily flatfoot the bike. With the RDL, I cannot. The higher RDL also cants me forward a bit more than I like. So, now I use the Sargent pretty much exclusively.

One more issue with the RDL — it looks like an RDL.

 

[mohler]

Love the Russel day long on my 20 f850gs. The longest I've ridden was 550 mi. and it was very comfortable.

 

[silverbadger215]

I’ve had Sargent, Corbin and RDL saddles on various bikes over the years. My take: RDL makes pretty much hands-down the most comfortable aftermarket saddles you can buy for most applications.

BUT.

Although RDL claims that after a thousand miles or so of break-in, their saddles will settle in at the same height as the stock saddle, that has not been my experience. They are invariably taller. The question is, does that make a difference to you? I had a Ducati Diavel that was naturally low enough that it did not matter. On a R1200 GT, OTOH, it made a big difference and in retrospect, I would not have bought it, although I kept it until I sold the bike.

On my current F700GS, I bought both RDL and Sargent. With the Sargent (as with the stock saddle) I can easily flatfoot the bike. With the RDL, I cannot. The higher RDL also cants me forward a bit more than I like. So, now I use the Sargent pretty much exclusively.

One more issue with the RDL — it looks like an RDL.

Ditto.

 

[paul_f]

I have a RDL on my ‘98 R1100RT and have completed several 1,000 km day rides in comfort. The Russell however is considerably taller (balls of my feet touch the pavement) than the uncomfortable stock seat, which I might add, I can flat foot.

My Russell has never been the same height as the stock seat and to add insult to injury, either the bike has become taller or I have become shorter.

Do not count on RDL eventually becoming lower. I plan on having the stock seat reupholstered.

 

[r0ckrat]

The stock seat on my '16 R1200R doesn't seem to bother me too much. Everything seems to get sore at about the same rate and requires intermittent stops to stretch when on long trips. Granted, the longest day I've put in was a measly 650 miles (1046 km), but that was in mostly 105* heat until sunset, with about 150 miles and 2.5 hours left in the day.

 

[riderr1150gsadv]

The stock comfort seat on my 1300GSA is comfortable enough not to have to change it but in order to keep cool I got the 3D mesh covers...
So far so good and I will see how it works out on my trip to CO starting tomorrow..

Air-Flow Seat Covers

Air-Flow Seat Covers™ are an innovative and highly functional solution initially designed for Motorcycles, Scooters and ATVs. However, we have evolved to accommodate a broad range of applications. Including: Jetski's, Golf Carts, Agricultural Vehicles, Aeronautical, Watercraft, Wheelchairs and...

www.air-flowseatcovers.com

 

[bigjohnsd]

My Sargent Enduro Seat is supposed to arrive on Monday

 

[pauls1150]

As long as RDL has been around, they've stated on their website why the seats are taller (buttwings) and what you can do about it: you can have it reworked twice if they didn't get it "right".

 

[bigjohnsd]

Sargent Enduro seat arrived today, was installed, and I sat on it while on the center stand, making motorcycle noises in the garage. Feels more comfortable than either the stock seat or the BMW Comfort seat. I'll put 300 miles on it tomorrow and see how my keester fares.

 

[PGlaves]

Let me tell a story. I rode the Iron Butt Rally in 1999. In preparation I installed a HD FLH trunk where the passenger seat would be. So I needed a solo seat for my '86 K75T. I sent correspondence to three prominent seat makers. I had two questions: can you build a solo seat, and should I cut if off or will you? One sent nothing. Corbin sent a catalogue. And Bill Mayer, Senior called me on the phone and said he wanted to build me a solo seat; no charge. And he later did, and that seat was my platform for the 1999 and the 2003 Iron Butt Rallies and my later 49 State Ride. Bill later sold the design to Russell Day Long and the rest is a few decades of superior seats. If I had not had that bike wiped off the Interstate by an errant motorist I might still be riding on that seat.

 

[bigjohnsd]

I gave the new seat a pretty good test today: 295 GPS-tracker miles through and around the Black Hills Interstate, highway, rural roads, gravel, two-track, twisties, and straight roads.

Two observations: the seat solves my first problem; it provides sufficient support per square inch of keester, no PITA after 300 miles. The seat fails to solve the other issue I have with the stock seats: the twins are still getting crushed by the tank; at every deceleration or braking, I slide forward at least half an inch. It isn't long before the twins are crushed.

I will contact Sargent and see what they might be able to do. The F bikes have a much different seat support/retention system than the R bikes; there is no way to raise the front of the seat pan as there is in the R bikes. The only solution I can see is to add more foam to the front of the seat to increase the pitch-up angle of the nose.

Still searching

 

[r0ckrat]

Work on grabbing the tank with your thighs?

 

[GTRider]

I gave the new seat a pretty good test today: 295 GPS-tracker miles through and around the Black Hills Interstate, highway, rural roads, gravel, two-track, twisties, and straight roads.

Two observations: the seat solves my first problem; it provides sufficient support per square inch of keester, no PITA after 300 miles. The seat fails to solve the other issue I have with the stock seats: the twins are still getting crushed by the tank; at every deceleration or braking, I slide forward at least half an inch. It isn't long before the twins are crushed.

I will contact Sargent and see what they might be able to do. The F bikes have a much different seat support/retention system than the R bikes; there is no way to raise the front of the seat pan as there is in the R bikes. The only solution I can see is to add more foam to the front of the seat to increase the pitch-up angle of the nose.

Still searching

That was tried on a friend’s Mayer saddle, and didn’t work- it just made the crushing more constant. I think the majority of the problem you’re describing comes from the angle of the main seating area, so you’d need to find a way to raise the nose or lower the rear of the saddle to get that angle correct. Or, remove the cover and reshape the foam so the main sitting area is not pitched forward.

When the Russell I had built for my R1100RSL arrived I thought there had been a mistake- the seating area was more flat than I expected and didn’t look to have much padding at the rear—but it worked perfectly and I did many 1000mi days on that saddle. Getting that angle correct helps with the other saddle objective, getting weight shifted off the hip joint and onto the long leg bones. Hopefully Sargent or a local can help with that, but my experience is that adding padding up front really isn’t going to help.

Best,
DeVern

 

[yosemite4]

My '23 F850GSA came with both the stock seat and a BMW "Comfort Seat". All I can say is that after two 300 mile days in a row on the "Comfort Seat" my butt took four days to recover.

I had a Seat Concepts Comfort Seat on my Suzuki and it was great at 14" in width.
I looked into the Seat Concepts solution for the F850, but it is really no wider than the "Comfort Seat" I have.

I had a Sargent seat on my '21 R1250GSA, it was also great, but much wider than their F850 offering appears to be.

I've got a wide, flat butt with little padding. I need square inches of seat to match square inches of butt more closely.

What say you?

I had a Corbin on my 2005 F650GS single. It was heavy, but the most comfortable seat ever. My first long trip was 11,000 miles, with about 700 miles of unpaved road—and heaven. Unfortunately, the Corbin eventually split on the side and the foam turned hard as a rock. I took it to the Hollister factory which revamped it while I waited, but it was never the same. I replaced it with a Rocky Mayer vinyl (RMS, now Legendary) and no complaints—really comfortable. I replaced the stock saddle on my F800GS with a Rocky Mayer and it was problematic—I would slide to the front of the bike, stopping/cornering. It was excruciating. I made many fruitless visits, including to the factory in Ventura, to have it corrected. The problem was that they cut the vinyl too close and there wasn't enough material to make corrections and Rocky didn't want to foot the expense of cutting new vinyl (overheard). Adding risers to the handlebars helped to hold me in place. When I replaced the stock seat on my F650GS twin, I didn't want a repeat of the RMS slider. I returned to Corbin, and ordered online. I was so impressed with the fit from providing a photo (attached) and the build specs. Super comfortable. Nice grippy material. Pricing from May 2024.

 

[bigjohnsd]

That was tried on a friend’s Mayer saddle, and didn’t work- it just made the crushing more constant. I think the majority of the problem you’re describing comes from the angle of the main seating area, so you’d need to find a way to raise the nose or lower the rear of the saddle to get that angle correct. Or, remove the cover and reshape the foam so the main sitting area is not pitched forward.

When the Russell I had built for my R1100RSL arrived I thought there had been a mistake- the seating area was more flat than I expected and didn’t look to have much padding at the rear—but it worked perfectly and I did many 1000mi days on that saddle. Getting that angle correct helps with the other saddle objective, getting weight shifted off the hip joint and onto the long leg bones. Hopefully Sargent or a local can help with that, but my experience is that adding padding up front really isn’t going to help.

Best,
DeVern

The only solution I can see is to add more foam to the front of the seat to increase the pitch-up angle of the nose.

We are saying the same thing.

Awaiting Sargent's response.

 

[GTRider]

Not really; adding front vs removing (lowering) rear.
Careful you don’t end up with a lump in front and the slope on the rear still pushing you into it, as happened on the Mayer I mentioned earlier.

Best,
DeVern

 

[bigjohnsd]

Haven't heard from Sargent, but a fellow F-Bike rider that lives in Gillette reached out to me. He runs the Sargent Touring seat, and we are meeting in Upton, WY in the morning for breakfast, a seat swap, and a test ride before swapping seats back!

 

[bigjohnsd]

The Sargent Touring seat does not appear to be the answer.