For an inexpensive seat modification that works, try Spenser.....
Seat of Choice?
- Thread starter Mellow
- Start date
I replaced the stock seat with a custom modified gel version made by Huntington Beach Honda. The gel seat is way better.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2005
- Messages
- 9,521
- Location
- Cedar City, Utah
- Bike
- 12/04 ST 1300s
- 2024 Miles
- 000420
- STOC #
- 5901
I did a 1,200 mile weekend ride after owning my '05 ST1300 for about 4 months. That last 600 miles was pure torture!
My RDL came in a month later. Oh what a difference! I did a week long 2,600 mile ride 4 or 5 months after that and no TB at all.
Just goes to prove, not ALL
are created equal!
My butt would be ok on the stock, my biggest issue is that it leans me in to the grips and my wrists and palms take a beating. I can ride a bike leaned forward hard or I can ride straight up/back like a cruiser, but I cant do "in between" lol. I could cure that with risers I suppose and stick with the stock seat. The Corbin that is on it has a lot of wear so I suppose it is cheaper to do risers with the stock than spring for another corbinMass vs. seat for me: something around 260 these daysand previously-owned RDL. (I am ~5'10", 31 inch inseam. The health charts and my doctors agree that I "should" weigh about 175-180...)
When I was a svelte 250 or so I was on a previously-owned Sargent, which was better (for me) than stock but still made me squirmy after a few hours, and the time interval between required breaks would diminish throughout the course of a day.
OP
OP
I changed the options on this poll.. since there are several seats that someone could consider their seat of choice... for me, the Sargent was great on the ST1300.. the Rick Mayer on the VStrom.. the Super Tenere got a Laam...
What's your opinion on the Laam? That's the way I'm thinking of going with my '01 ST1100.. I need to move my butt up and back.
OP
OP
I lucked out and got a seat back when he just started, he used to do seats for Rick Mayer, and now it's hit or miss as to how soon you can get a seat done but hopefully getting better. The one on the Super Tenere has done many 1,000 mile days with no issues at all.. I wish the seat would transfer to the new Tracer.. lol
sirbike
Site Supporter
Seats, I’ve tried a few. Starting with a Concours 10 stocker, solution absolutely Corbin.
And Corbin for sure comfort on VFR700.
Corbin again on first ST1100.
Next ST1100 came with a Saddleman and it was terrible.
Somewhere in here I rode the stock seat, didn’t like it. Went to Corbin, didn’t like that, pressed into crotch. Semi numb instrument of fun, took a couple months to recover fully after a particular 680 mile day.
Tried a ratty Corbin broken at seat seams, about hard as a rock and it was great. I wasn’t quite vain enough to swap seats between commuting and long rides but I thought about it a lot. The black gorilla tape held up well.
I happened to ride and RDL for a couple weeks. Not the right fit, too close, could not extrapolate if sit area would be comfortable if it was built for me but I don’t think so and the price would be to high to find out.
Next ST1100 came with Sargent for long legs, height no problem, seat too soft, not comfortable. Went to Corbin, and it sucked, pushed into crotch, not messing with that again. Bought a new Corbin thinking used might not be the way to go. That didn’t work.
Noticed all Corbins are not alike studied every picture on eBay for a while. And I mean standard corbins. I saw one on eBay that looked like it had the right sit area contour. I missed getting that seat and happened to buy an ST1100 on eBay from the guy that bought that seat a month earlier. It was a keeper.
Meanwhile stock 5gen VFR stock seat too soft, Corbin better, liked the firmness not the fit so much. Why do they have a contour rising in the middle? Must work for some people. Next came a Sargent, better than stock, better shape than Corbin, but to soft. Cover off, add two 3mm layers of leather with prostate relief cut out, cover back on and this is the most comfortable seat that I have ever ridden.
Then comes ST1300 with stock seat, not good, get a Sargent. Sargent is better than stock but too soft. I test the leather and it is too hard. That was the perception anyway. Both ways have me fidgety.
So I slot the middle seat slot further and with the standard Sargent in the middle position up front and the low position in the back, I have a keeper.
Oh, the limit is a thousand letters not words, sorry.
And Corbin for sure comfort on VFR700.
Corbin again on first ST1100.
Next ST1100 came with a Saddleman and it was terrible.
Somewhere in here I rode the stock seat, didn’t like it. Went to Corbin, didn’t like that, pressed into crotch. Semi numb instrument of fun, took a couple months to recover fully after a particular 680 mile day.
Tried a ratty Corbin broken at seat seams, about hard as a rock and it was great. I wasn’t quite vain enough to swap seats between commuting and long rides but I thought about it a lot. The black gorilla tape held up well.
I happened to ride and RDL for a couple weeks. Not the right fit, too close, could not extrapolate if sit area would be comfortable if it was built for me but I don’t think so and the price would be to high to find out.
Next ST1100 came with Sargent for long legs, height no problem, seat too soft, not comfortable. Went to Corbin, and it sucked, pushed into crotch, not messing with that again. Bought a new Corbin thinking used might not be the way to go. That didn’t work.
Noticed all Corbins are not alike studied every picture on eBay for a while. And I mean standard corbins. I saw one on eBay that looked like it had the right sit area contour. I missed getting that seat and happened to buy an ST1100 on eBay from the guy that bought that seat a month earlier. It was a keeper.
Meanwhile stock 5gen VFR stock seat too soft, Corbin better, liked the firmness not the fit so much. Why do they have a contour rising in the middle? Must work for some people. Next came a Sargent, better than stock, better shape than Corbin, but to soft. Cover off, add two 3mm layers of leather with prostate relief cut out, cover back on and this is the most comfortable seat that I have ever ridden.
Then comes ST1300 with stock seat, not good, get a Sargent. Sargent is better than stock but too soft. I test the leather and it is too hard. That was the perception anyway. Both ways have me fidgety.
So I slot the middle seat slot further and with the standard Sargent in the middle position up front and the low position in the back, I have a keeper.
Oh, the limit is a thousand letters not words, sorry.
. . . But then again, too few to mention . . .
So, with your vast experience, what would be your pick for an ST1100 with raised handlebars and highway blades for a 6'3" 235 pounder? My hips and knees start screaming at me way too soon, especially on the factory pegs.
sirbike
Site Supporter
My vast experience is with fitting recreational riders on bicycles. So I am doing some educated guessing here. I like everyone to be comfortable.
Short answer first then just lots of data to consider.
I would consider a taller saddle with emphasis on a seat that stabilizes your hips. A seating position that opens up your hip and knee joints, perhaps lower pegs. And if a taller seat is in order, then the bars should go up even more correspondingly. Test the taller seat idea using bath hand towel folded to thickness. Feel what direction your body wants to go to get comfortable. Do some stretching to open up the areas that hurt. Doesn’t have to be yoga postures, just a little stretch where you need it on a regular basis.
More data.
I used to put the back of my boot behind and above my ankle on my highway wings, otherwise I couldn’t get a good stretch.
I sat on an RDL and a top Sellerie on ST1300s. The RDL sit area was a bit soft, so I’d the I’d get crotch discomfort. TS was not comfortable. Both these saddles, keeping in mind they were built for someone else, would keep me in one position and that wouldn’t work. But I haven’t seen either that has a long seating area.
About me, my structure is such that, judging from all I’ve read, my sit bones and lack of butt padding presses my crotch against the seat harder than the average body.
33 inch inseam, still flexible, so seat to peg height not so important for me but I get it.
Note that Sargent saddles sit area is cut deeply towards the back. This gives a taller person more room and anyone more surface to move fore and aft. I can’t remember how much taper there is in the 1100 top cover but sitting further back might bring your knees slightly closer to each other in a more relaxed position for your hips.
I narrowed my 1300 fuel tank for this.
Sargent has one continuous scallop from left to right without seams and the pillowing upwards anywhere, that would lead towards fitting the widest range of widths of sit bones and flesh up to its limit and have less pressure in the crotch.
If you want more height for knee comfort, a taller saddle would be in order. Or lower pegs but that might have undesirable consequences. However, I noticed on the tall Sargent that adding more foam height made it too squishy and not as stable.
RDL suspension sounds intriguing but I’d want to know if this is a spring that absorbs initial impact then returns some of that energy back into you, or does it have damping effect. The 1100 I rode had after market suspension, so I can’t speak to the seats suspension.
I liked the suspension quality of the Sargent foam mixed with the surface firmness of the leather on my VFR800. With that said, the bike’s suspension made a bigger difference. My ST1100 Corbin got more comfortable with racetech valving in the forks and a Penske shock.
My suggestion would be a seat that has these qualities.
A structural layer on the seat pan to raise seat height.
The basic shape of the Sargent with a more upward slope towards the front of the seat.
Foam that is firm like a Corbin. If the slope has me sitting with no tendency for my sit bones to move forward of my skin thereby creating a shearing force between the two, and for you perhaps also stabilize upper body weight over the hips, a firm saddle then allows me to sit in that position without having to fidget for new positions to to get away from discomfort. It also allows me to move more easily/comfortably between positions. If I overshot the upwardness of the slope I believe that would be easily countered by the support of the rise at the back of the sit area stabilizing shearing forces.
All this would probably require some conversations and a trip to the seat builder.
And I’ve seen where a different bike is the way to go. I came to learn some of these guys on cruisers are not “cruiser types”, it’s that their body is more comfortable on them.
I can’t really pick a seat but the safest bet for me, imagining being your height and weight, would be a trip to Corbin where I could have them contour the seat the way I want at the height I want and not mess it up.
Great excuse to ride!
Or a very carefully ordered tall Corbin.
Short answer first then just lots of data to consider.
I would consider a taller saddle with emphasis on a seat that stabilizes your hips. A seating position that opens up your hip and knee joints, perhaps lower pegs. And if a taller seat is in order, then the bars should go up even more correspondingly. Test the taller seat idea using bath hand towel folded to thickness. Feel what direction your body wants to go to get comfortable. Do some stretching to open up the areas that hurt. Doesn’t have to be yoga postures, just a little stretch where you need it on a regular basis.
More data.
I used to put the back of my boot behind and above my ankle on my highway wings, otherwise I couldn’t get a good stretch.
I sat on an RDL and a top Sellerie on ST1300s. The RDL sit area was a bit soft, so I’d the I’d get crotch discomfort. TS was not comfortable. Both these saddles, keeping in mind they were built for someone else, would keep me in one position and that wouldn’t work. But I haven’t seen either that has a long seating area.
About me, my structure is such that, judging from all I’ve read, my sit bones and lack of butt padding presses my crotch against the seat harder than the average body.
33 inch inseam, still flexible, so seat to peg height not so important for me but I get it.
Note that Sargent saddles sit area is cut deeply towards the back. This gives a taller person more room and anyone more surface to move fore and aft. I can’t remember how much taper there is in the 1100 top cover but sitting further back might bring your knees slightly closer to each other in a more relaxed position for your hips.
I narrowed my 1300 fuel tank for this.
Sargent has one continuous scallop from left to right without seams and the pillowing upwards anywhere, that would lead towards fitting the widest range of widths of sit bones and flesh up to its limit and have less pressure in the crotch.
If you want more height for knee comfort, a taller saddle would be in order. Or lower pegs but that might have undesirable consequences. However, I noticed on the tall Sargent that adding more foam height made it too squishy and not as stable.
RDL suspension sounds intriguing but I’d want to know if this is a spring that absorbs initial impact then returns some of that energy back into you, or does it have damping effect. The 1100 I rode had after market suspension, so I can’t speak to the seats suspension.
I liked the suspension quality of the Sargent foam mixed with the surface firmness of the leather on my VFR800. With that said, the bike’s suspension made a bigger difference. My ST1100 Corbin got more comfortable with racetech valving in the forks and a Penske shock.
My suggestion would be a seat that has these qualities.
A structural layer on the seat pan to raise seat height.
The basic shape of the Sargent with a more upward slope towards the front of the seat.
Foam that is firm like a Corbin. If the slope has me sitting with no tendency for my sit bones to move forward of my skin thereby creating a shearing force between the two, and for you perhaps also stabilize upper body weight over the hips, a firm saddle then allows me to sit in that position without having to fidget for new positions to to get away from discomfort. It also allows me to move more easily/comfortably between positions. If I overshot the upwardness of the slope I believe that would be easily countered by the support of the rise at the back of the sit area stabilizing shearing forces.
All this would probably require some conversations and a trip to the seat builder.
And I’ve seen where a different bike is the way to go. I came to learn some of these guys on cruisers are not “cruiser types”, it’s that their body is more comfortable on them.
I can’t really pick a seat but the safest bet for me, imagining being your height and weight, would be a trip to Corbin where I could have them contour the seat the way I want at the height I want and not mess it up.
Great excuse to ride!
Or a very carefully ordered tall Corbin.
Motorcycle Dave
Vendor
You forgot MotorcycleDave's
OP
OP
Adding now.
Motorcycle Dave
Vendor
Hi Joe
How is everything there ? You still are in Texas right?
The only thing with my seats (not counting my Gel seat kits) is I make them to order
full custom on the customers seat pan kinda like Russell only I feel better because I use medical grade
foam and Gel and it is fit to your butt so you have to have your butt and your seat in my shop to be able to fit it
to you..
Dave
How is everything there ? You still are in Texas right?
The only thing with my seats (not counting my Gel seat kits) is I make them to order
full custom on the customers seat pan kinda like Russell only I feel better because I use medical grade
foam and Gel and it is fit to your butt so you have to have your butt and your seat in my shop to be able to fit it
to you..
Dave
Kinda far for me.
I love my stock seat. Love a seat that you can move around and hang off it in turns. Last year when I test rode a Goldwing that stepped seat was a no go. Keep hitting my butt when I tried to slide back. No sport type riding on that thing.
I find the stock seat pushes me forward because of the slope, and I am constantly having to lift and push back.
st11ray
2006 ST1300
Put the seat on the highest setting in the front and the middle setting in the back. You have to force the back setting a little but it will work.
Bagster with gel packs is pretty OK, it was the only option available to me in France at the time. I can ride all day without any issue.
Russel Day Long is still on my wish list though...
Terry Adcox custom seats, had one on my Wee and now the Super T. I've had good luck with them, just not a quick turn-around for most seats.
Terry & his wife Debi run/own the business...
Home | terryscustomseats
www.terryscustomseats.com
I'm not aware of any seat settings on the 1100.