What about Bill Mayer Saddles?

[STWannaBe]

I have read every forum I can find on seat replacement for the 2x4 that came on my ST1300 and right now I am sold on the Russell. I have read about the Sargent, Corbin, Russell, and Rick Mayer who sounds like trouble, and everyone seems to be most satisfied with the Russell.

But, I haven't heard about anyone having a Bill Mayer saddle. I really like the smooth look of the Bill Mayer and it really looks built up on the front so to prevent sliding up againist the tank. I may be inclined to go that direction if I can find someone that has purchased one and is satisfied.

I'm 6'2" and 200 lbs. with a 34" inseam so I'm not vertically challenged (i'm becoming horizontally challenged though) and right now, I'm riding the stock seat in the highest position in the front and I still get butt burn in about an hour.

If I can't find someone who loves the Bill Mayer, I will continue down the path of the Russell, but I thought I would ask.

Thanks in advance.
:bow1:

[GRN]

We mere mortals are no longer blessed with the company of Bill, his company is now run by Rick's brother Rocky, who is as far as I have heard not the Ahole that Rick is, and a pretty good choice. Rick makes a great seat... but the transaction was riddled with chaos, confusion, and error (not the seat).

[hig4s]

We mere mortals are no longer blessed with the company of Bill, his company is now run by Rick's brother Rocky, who is as far as I have heard not the Ahole that Rick is, and a pretty good choice. Rick makes a great seat... but the transaction was riddled with chaos, confusion, and error (not the seat).

The way I understand it,, Rick worked with his father building seats before Bill died,, but Bill jr (Rocky) got the company so there is bad blood.
Rocky Mayer seats are suppose to be very good,
Russell seats a little better (the Russell day-long design was patened by Bill Mayer then sold to Russell)
Rick Mayer seats are suppose to be even better but Rick does all the work himself by hand and unless you can send a stock seat and be very patient it will not be a good experience.. I have two stock seats so plan to try Rick.

Corbin is also suppose to be very good IF you can make it there in person for a custom fit.

I also hear Rick Mayer is much easier to deal with in person and give priority to ride in bussiness.

I have no personally experience with any of this, just a compilation of stuff I've read on the different street bike boards I read.

[NCSam]

I am a totally satisfied customer of Bill Mayer. I had actually ordered my seat first from Rick Mayer because I didn't know about Bill. I will not repeat the disaster I experienced with Rick Mayer since it has been "hashed" and "rehashed" on this board and other boards - especially the MSN ST1300.US board.

I do hear that Rick makes an excellent seat only if you can do a ride-in.

Bill's seats are smooth on top and therefore more plain looking than Ricks. Bill wants to keep away from all seams possible on the top to protect it from rain. They are excellent folks to work with and are sincerely interested in your satisfaction.

I don't have any personal experience with the Russell seat but I understand that it is the best seat for touring. If you like to slide from side-to-side either for a change of seating location or, as in my case ... do a little "hanging off" on sharp twisties, the Russell will hinder much side-to-side movement.

You can't go wrong with a Bill Mayer or a Russell seat. Or for that matter - probably)?) - even a Rick Mayer seat if you do the ride-in.

My .02 worth ............. Sam

[STony G]

I have a seat made by Rocky and after 50k miles, in 2.5, years I guess you could say I'm happy with his seat. I did a ride in, so he got to see the "butt in the seat" thing. Service was excelent and his crew are very pleasent to deal with.
I needed to have the seat tweaked after 15k, I changed my riding pants, I gave him a call and he told me to come in and he would take care of the problem. I did, he did and the rest is miles and miles on the road.

My only complant, if you can call it that, is that they forgot to put back the seal that goes between the tank and the seat. If you put the seat in aft position, you can get a good deal of heat. Just make sure they remember to reattach that seal. I just fabricated something myself, not a big deal.

As soon as I can finf a few extra bucks, I'm going to have him rework the rear seat and change the cover to leather.

[NormanPCN]

I would have to put myself in the unsatisfied catagory. Rocky is only 42 miles from me so I did a ride in. Multiple times in fact. I suffer from the boney butt syndrome and I am reasonalby heavy at 215. This means I am harder to please than most all others.

This is a bit long winded but I have a pedantic nature and simply saying "I don't like it" give no information.

Bill "Rocky" Mayer builds his seat from a premolded piece of foam. He has multiple densities based upon your weight. For BMW's his foam perfectly replaces the stock foam. Puts his on and is basically done. For the ST and others he has an insert in which he cuts away some of the stock foam to make room for the insert. This is more flexible since you can adjust fore/aft, up/down and tilt. When I first watch him build my saddle the following came to mind. You can make a custom saddle in two ways. Additive or subtractive. Additive means build up to shape. Subtractive means start with the premold and then custom tweak/shape that. Either one seem fine in my mind.

On my first take the seat tilt was bad and my sit bones were still hurting as much as stock. I scheduled a ride in refit. They scheduled me on a day they were leaving in the afternoon to a BMW event. I was okay with this since I was only 40 miles away. When I came back I explain my issues to Rocky about the tilt and such he did the "mismount" trick with the seat to flatten it out some and try that out. The leather cover for the seat had already been removed. I rode around like that and the seat felt more like a "seat". Since I was local we came to an agreement that I could ride around for a while with the cover off and the seat mismounted and get a longer term feel. I thought the seat was way better but needed to be even flatter. I mismounted the seat even worse, not the safest thing to do, but it told me what the seat needed to be. I was very comfortable. When I went back to Rocky he was a little miffed that I watned the seat redone even flatter, but he did do it. He said the seat angle was what I specified when first done. This is true but my only way to test/feel this was while sitting on the center stand. The bike feels way different to me in a dynamic situation verses static. Especially on a centerstand on ground that may not be level. The seat was redone and I talked about my sit bones getting too much pressure and could he dish the seat more. He said I need support. I said that part of my butt gets too much support. I marked my sit bone position on the foam and he cut an X in the foam centered over my marks. I thought that is probably one way to get a certain effect. He is the expert so I let that go. Rocky stretches the seat cover real tight and glues it to the foam. This is the thing that really make the seat not work for me.

When you streatch the cover tight you are making the effective spring rate of the foam stiffer. I rode around on Rocky's foam with the cover and was very happy. With the cover on, stretched and glued, I was very unhappy. Those X's that he cut... you could not tell where they were. The foam felt the same firmness no matter where you pressed. I had no confidence that Rocky could do anything for me so I abandoned the seat.

I currently have a Sargent which has been dished out a bit more. I was attracted to the Sargent due to many happy people and the fact the Sargent does not glue the cover to the foam. The seat as it delivered was hard on my sit bones but the neutral platform (tilt) took all pressure off my palms and collar/shoulder area. That was too good so I decided to work with the seat and get the pressure off my sit bones and that is where I am now.

Realistically with my butt and weight I probably should go with a Russell but I like freadom of movement that the Sargent gives (being able to slide fore/aft/left/right on the saddle).

[STWannaBe]

Thanks all. That makes my decision a little easier. I am going to try and place a call to Russell because I plan on trying an Iron Butt next year and I want to be ready. If I can't sit in the saddle for a long period of time, then it's all a waste of time.

Thanks again.

[GRN]

Thanks all. That makes my decision a little easier. I am going to try and place a call to Russell because I plan on trying an Iron Butt next year and I want to be ready. If I can't sit in the saddle for a long period of time, then it's all a waste of time.

Thanks again.

That may have been my choice if I were'nt so seriously inseam challenged... they add some height due to the sping platform. My olny reservation after having sat on some since, is they significantly hinder your ability to shift your :butt1: off a side during more spirited approaches to you ride. I tend to be regularly spirited :D

[805gregg]

I've had bill mayer, no good, corbin with ride in no good, now sargent works fine, sat on a russell not impressed, plus it looks like it belongs on a 50's tractor.