Need new seat!!!!

[gene]

I took wife out on first long ride today,she lovedit except for sore but ,mine too. Need opinions on Rick Mayer custom daul seat.Would prefer custom over off the shelf. Stock seat is good for about 45 minutes before the pain starts both of us were miserable after an hour in saddle. We decided to stop every 30 minutes or so. Wife says we need new seat, never argue with a great wife!!!

[Carl_T]

Especially when good Wife is SO right!

[GRN]

I am in the process of getting a seat from Rick, have had great feedback from folks who have them (as opposed to Corbin or Sgt. which seem to be mixed love or hate relationships). Russell also has a very favorable following, from what I know, which may be off, their spring based seat was originally designed by Bill Mayer, Rick's Dad. Rick stands by his work, and will even buy it back if you're not happy with it... hard to go wrong. Are you able to do a "drive in"? I don't have the time to do a 7K mile ride there and back, so I'm taking my chances with a "mail in". Good luck, and here's to happy butts :capwin:

...................................... :04biker:

[Marshal_Mercer]

I took wife out on first long ride today,she lovedit except for sore but ,mine too. Need opinions on Rick Mayer custom daul seat.
<SNIP>

I love mine. If practical, do a "ride-in" so that you both can be fitted for the new seats. Tell Rick exactly what you want. He'll do a great job for you. My wife actually flew in and met me in Redding.

Be sure to dress the way you normally would to ride, and have the front seat height in the position you will use. These do make a difference.

Call several days before your build date, then call the day before and the morning of. Things happen.

Marshal

[Gug]

I have a Rick Mayer seat on my bike. I can't say enough about it. It has a pocket to sit in if you like but still allows movement forward up to the tank so your not stuck in one position. Rick's father Bill did sell the rights to Russell. It's a great seat!

[Kennedy]

Yes I am slowly starting to realize the stock seat is only good for around 2 hours at a time. Shame on Honda for building the finest touring machine on the road and then adding that poor seat.

[GRN]

Yes I am slowly starting to realize the stock seat is only good for around 2 hours at a time. Shame on Honda for building the finest touring machine on the road and then adding that poor seat.

Yup... but as bad as it is, for me it's still an improvement over my ST11 "bench".

[Givey51]

Last year Rick Mayer ran a special on his website for St1300 seats about $50 off. I signed up for it late in February. He immediately billed my credit card which his ad said he would do. However he never did deliver a seat. I ordered one off the shelf from him as I did not want to waste any riding time. Good thing I did it this way as I waited till October before cancelling the order. He did immediately remove the charge with my credit card company and was very cordial over several emails. I elected to spend more money and go with Russell. They gave me a production date and met it and returned the seat to me on schedule. Only possible complaint I have with the Russell is that it is a taller seat and I had to drop to middle adjustment on seat. Have taken 4 80 miles rides on it and never had to squirm once. Am doing a 1k ride to the Honda Hoot in June so will know more then.

PS: I don't think Honda has ever built a decent stock seat, but they do have to fit the masses on their seats.

[Keith_UK]

gene - you and the missus are in good company. The stock seat was causing my SO and me a lot of grief. 60 miles, or just over an hour or so and butt burn sets-in bad for us on the stocker.

So, a few days ago I bought an Airhawk air cushion/pad in the hope that it would resolve this irritating problem. I was a bit cynical about this purchase, as I've read good, bad, and indifferent reports about the Airhawk 'solution'.

The first 120 mile ride-out on the Airhawk was completed this afternoon; about an hour ago in fact.

The Airhawk cushion/pad definetely works for me. After 3 hours in the saddle my butt feels strangely 'normal'. But as I say, it's clearly not a universal solution, as it doesn't suit everyone's natural ergonomics.

KEITH (UK)

[basco]

I've gone 36k on a stock seat and not a problem and don't plan on getting a new one. Try dropping the legs or standing up for a while. I know while 2 up would be difficult.

[wb5tty]

I went with the Sargent Seat because it works well and is still adjustable like the stock seat. I think I got mine for $549 plus shipping. The Sargent Seat is a major improvement over the stock seat.

[Gug]

Yes I am slowly starting to realize the stock seat is only good for around 2 hours at a time. Shame on Honda for building the finest touring machine on the road and then adding that poor seat.

Wow Dave, you do much better than I did on the stocker. I was good for maybe an hour or so. With the Rick Mayer seat it's now no problem. But then again I seem to like just getting off the bike every hundred miles or so just to stretch. But I can ride all day on this thing. In other words I don't mind getting back on the seat.

[MikeP1300]

Anyone have a stock seat to sell?

We have a Russell and just love it. Service is without peer. If my butt hurts it's due to other problems, not the seat. It's been soooo nice not even thinking about my butt for as long as I want to ride. My shoulders and hands are the deciding factors now. We get breaks anyway cuz the stock seat riders usually want to stop way before we feel the need.

From what I've heard Rick Mayer does a damn good job also. No experience, so no comment.

[Dave Wicks]

:04biker:

Obviously there are different levels of butt toughness. Weight, where your height makes you sit on seat..etc..My first ride on the St drove me nuts..Seat was horrible..So..Raised the front of the front half to second position..dropped back of front down..took off rubber blocks..Raised the front of the back half by 1 in. by gluing rubber unto rubber blocks..with Stealth back rest behind passenger...Wife and I rode 6 hours yesterday...Windy, warm and then cold and windy as dark came on....She never had a problem with the seat at all, nor did I....My right knee, little sore..hockey injury not bike problem...ride with Cee-Bailey and CalSci deflectors....Maybe try that be fore you spring for new seat..use money to buy Staintunes....??? :D

[Bones]

I tried a Rick Mayer seat and liked it. Then I tried to get one...different story.

Rick took my order, cashed my check, and emailed a production date. We talked by phone and confirmed that the seat would arrive in time for a long trip. His website specifically says to "resist the temptation" of contacting him for production or shipping updates, and this topic was part of our phone call, so I left him to his work.



When the seat was past due (based on the production date he'd sent weeks before) I emailed for an update. His response was that his records showed he was still waiting for payment. I had his cancelled check in my hands. He also said he wished I had followed up sooner -- this despite his emailing me production dates and his specific request to "resist the temptation" to call for updates.



I emailed back with a scan of my cancelled check and copies of his emails confirming production dates, etc., which showed no reason to assume anything other than smooth sailing for my order. I asked when he would have my seat done. He responded, "I would prefer to refund you." Apparently he didn't want my business.



He told me on the phone when I placed my order that his seat business is a part-time operation. Based on my experience, it doesn't receive his full attention. I advise anyone considering doing business with Rick to consider this. Posts on this board show that while people like his product (I for one liked the one I tried) opinions about his service are varied. In my case, Rick determined that my business goes elsewhere. Caveat emptor.

[crazykz]

The biggest isue I have heard about Rick's saddles is delivery. The LD Rider list nad quite a few people not satisfied with promised delivery times that never happened. A friend of mine ordered on and had some mix ups with delivery but he did receive his seat and is very happy with it.

So it seems they are good seats if you can actually get one. I'm not considering Rick's because of this issue and will probably go with a Russell at some point.

Curt

[kingprawnokay]

All,

My Wife and I went the expensive route, but we are both very pleased with our seats. We are both from Seattle and had Rich build us each a new perch.
The cost was around $900. :eek: It was well worth it.

www.richscustomseats.com

He will build an entirely new seat from the ground up or use your stock pan, shave the foam and build it to your specs. It takes a full day to build and you will take several test rides before getting it right, but you will be satisfied with the outcome. He definitely knows what he's doing. The seat is built to your butt.

Our seat is still the most comfortable I have sat on (after 11,000 miles). The mechanics at our local shop also agree.

[curmudgeon]

Several of you have mentioned that Rick must make a good seat because his dad sold the patent to Russell. Since Russell now has the patent Rick can't make a seat anything like the Russell. Without the spring in the seat nobody will ever be able to make a seat like Russell. You can make any kind of shape you want out of foam, different densitys of foam, gel pads, etc, and it will still be nothing like a Russell with its spring suspension. I had Rick make a seat for my ST1100 and it was better then stock, but not great. I would start squirming around 300 miles. After I had a Russell made I rode back home 660 miles with no problems. I had never been able to do that on any seat before. On my ST1100 I had a Corbin, Rich's of Seattle, Rick Mayer, an tried a Airhawk. None of them approached the comfort of the Russell. When I bought my 05 in January the first thing I did was call for a ride-in appointment with Russell. I'm very satisfied with the Russell on the ST1300, but still would have liked to try several others like the Corbin and Sargent. Too bad one can't try them all before buying.