Seat of Choice?

[Rolling Thunder]

Aftermarket Seat

My stock seat starts off nicely, but turns into a brick ~ 300 miles. I want to swap seats, but make the right choice since a change is expensive. The decision is hard to make though - so many choices and so many swearing by those various choices!

 

[Medicine Bear]

My stock seat starts off nicely, but turns into a brick ~ 300 miles. I want to swap seats, but make the right choice since a change is expensive. The decision is hard to make though - so many choices and so many swearing by those various choices!

PM JR (J Reviere) - he modified a stock seat for practically nothing. Looks almost like and feels almost like my Russell. He lives up on Lake Livingston.

Fred

 

[Firehawk]

Tried the Stock - More comfotable than my Corbin
Tried the Corbin - Shipped it back for a complete overhaul. This seat left my butt and back in a great deal of pain. Corbin has the seat now. I'm waiting for them to return the seat. We'll see if it's any better. If not, it will be For Sale!

 

[Firehawk]

I wonder if I am the only person that stops every hour to two to stretch my legs. In that time my butt has no problem with the stock seat. Perhaps if I rode non-stop for a full tank (what's that, 4 or 5 hours?) at a time the stock seat would not work for me anymore, but at 7600+ miles I haven't had a problem with the stock seat. I tend to ride back roads and stop at corner stores for 5 minutes or so.

I live in the same town as Sargent and tried their seat-loan program for a short ride but could not convince myself to part with $656 for it when the stocker works OK. The Sargent is a tad bit broader right under my thighs and more squared-off on the edges to get this width without widening the seat pan at that point. Since I am inseam-challenged at 30" I could possibly see the Sargent not working as well for me as what I have.

I have the seat low in the front and rear.

Dave,

I agree with your view of the Sargent. I had the same experience. The Corbin I purchased - very hard. I sent it back. See my other port in this thread. On my ST1100 I had the Saddleman / Travelcade seat & LOVED it. I called Saddleman & they said they don't make a ST1300 seat yet. They have not had enough requests. However, they did tell me that if I sent them the stock seat they would build me a seat for $200. If my Corbin comes back as bad as it was, I am seriuosly thinking about taking Saddleman up on their offer.

 

[Jefro]

"What kind of seat will work for me? I am between Sargent and Russel Day long. Any advise will be helpful."

Have a close look at the photos of both seats.
You will see that the Russell seats are shaped kinda like a tractor seat with a big pocket and side wings to give full support.
The pics of the Sargent show it to be less of a pocket and more flat but wider than stock. You should be able to move around quite a bit on the Sergant, where the Russell has a definite pocket that holds you in one position.
Both are great seats. I've always had Corbins, so I like a deep pocket with full support, so I went with the Russell for long distance comfort.
Hope this helps you some.
Jefro.

 

[Gug]

+ on the Rick Mayer. He builds an excellent seat.

 

[IndyST]

Got a Corbin on my 03. Took a while to break in but after 26k it works great. It's hard and lets me move around alot. After 4-5 hours I get out the "Pro Pad" that adds several more hours. Love the heat option too .

Mike

 

[Louie Louie]

New Seat For Charlie Brown!

Take the heated seat of the Acura TL and put it on the nice blue ST..That will solve all problems.

 

[DataHawk]

PM JR (J Reviere) - he modified a stock seat for practically nothing. Looks almost like and feels almost like my Russell. He lives up on Lake Livingston.

Has he posted somewhere on this site what he has done to the seat?

 

[Medicine Bear]

Has he posted somewhere on this site what he has done to the seat?

I believe he has. PM for more details or do a search. I believe he posted about what he did in the last month.

Fred

 

[GodFather]

Corbin no heat...love it!

 

[Trashman]

Have a Sergent put a little over 2500 miles on it but it makes my tail bone sore so I just received a new Corbin and plan on trying it for 500-600 miles then will sell one of them.

 

[Mike]

Got the Russell and really like it but have to say I will not do buisness with them again. I own my mistakes and put blame on no one so I was totally p---ed when they acussed me of cutting the seat....nope, won't buy from Russell again.

 

[Bigfish]

New to the site and a "new to me ST owner", 04 ST1300. I love the ride! Purchased from a fellow in North Carolina, drove it back to Bastrop Texas. (1403 miles!) I will say one thing, OUCH! I did 1100 miles from 0630-2400, that was last week Friday. I believe I have a pinched nerve in the rear bumper area. I say the stock seat in marginal, and will be the first thing I will modify after the bar extention. Until then I will try Mr Wicks suggestion, the rubber blocks will come out today.THANKS DAVE!

 

[oldowl446]

improved stocker

I have thrown this comment a number of times and get no come-back on it so here we go again. If you lift off the front portion of the seat you will see two rectangles of rubber slid over two small brackets that actually hold the back of the seat up. They are not necessary for the seat to be secure but do tip it up at back. I'm short so I have the stock seat in full forward and down position. With the blocks removed I don't slide forward, much more comfy..In the future I will likely put on a Sargent, but the blocks out has helped..

Dave
Thankx for the advise I removed the rubber gromets & repaced them w/ temporary rubber pads.I sit level now no forward slope, much better. Think things will improve when riser plate is installed.

 

[Blue STreak]

I think the Russell Day Long is the only seat I haven't heard anyone complain about. All the other seats, while they have lots of proponents, also have a number of people who don't like them. Russell is also, if I'm not mistaken, the only vendor to have a true money back guarantee if you're not satisfied.

I have no personal experience with the Russell, but I think I'm going to try one.

 

[Yogi]

In 12,000+ miles and a number of 400+ mile days, I have found the stock seat very comfortable. I've never had any interest in replacing it.

I'd be curious to know if other lightweight STers (I'm 135 lbs) also find the stock seat good, and likewise if heavyweight STers find it not so good.

Well I would be a Heavyweight Currently 310lb but I am trying to cut down and all I can say is I can't wait till Aug 18th for my appt with Russell to get his seat. The stock seat for myself starts hurting my tailbone at about 50 -70 miles by 150 I am doing the butt dance and looking to take a break..One of the reasons I bought the ST was for the range so for me to have to stop at 150 mile sorta defeats that purpose.

 

[dteel]

Rubber Blocks gone

Ok, on Dave's advice I pulled the rubber blocks today. I'll give the stock seat a whirl and see how it goes with this easy mod. Having just returned last Sunday from a 2700 mile ride, I'll have to admit that I was experiancing a lot of discomfort at any distance beyond 80 miles. I'm short and heavy 30" inseam 300+ lbs, but don't have the resources to try custom seats until I find a good match.

Curious if anyone has had any problems with the metal hoops breaking through plastic on the seat after removing the rubber pads? Remember I'm not a lightweight rider.

 

[JReviere]

Saddles, like the body parts which interface with them, are very personal items. Pity the poor designer who tries to make "one size fit all." It's just not possible.

Fred (Medicine Bear) rode one of my modified OEM seats while his Russell Day Long was being built, so I'll let him comment.

I have three OEM saddles, each with a different degree of modification. Two, including the one Fred rode, look totally stock. The third is one I built for myself. I added "wings" a la Russell to widen the butt pocket area and destressed the weight bearing under the midline moving the weight out to the sides. I had a local upholsterer make a new cover in a silver/gray vinyl which looks good with the Silver 03ST I ride. I rode it back from CheapSTOC, a bit over 300 mi with zero discomfort.

I saw another mod technique described the other day. I'll try it on the next OEM saddle I get.

I have a file complete with .jpgs of the modifications I have done. I'm located about 80 mi NNE of Houston, TX on the east shore of Lake Livingston.

I'll be pleased to be of aid to anyone on the forum or list. Being full time retired gives me the time to do such things.

JR
New E-mail address: jrev@cebridge.net

 

[Medicine Bear]

Saddles, like the body parts which interface with them, are very personal items. Pity the poor designer who tries to make "one size fit all." It's just not possible.

Fred (Medicine Bear) rode one of my modified OEM seats while his Russell Day Long was being built, so I'll let him comment.

After riding JR's modified seats, I've come to the conclusion that the reason the stock seat feels good (initially) and rock hard after a while, is that it's too soft. There is no real support - at least for big ol' guys like me.

JR's mod to the stock seat without changing the shape was astounding. It looked the same as stock but it sure didn't ride like it. I took it on the RTE to Woodville (about 2 hours ride each way) and, at the point the stocker wouldv'e been trying to sneak up on me, the modded seat was fine. It remained so throughout the return trip too.

The wings offer more support but the flipside is that it's harder to get a foot down when stopping. I've had my Russell for several thousand miles now and still have to "prepare" to stop. A comment someone made months ago - the big difference between stock and Russell seats were apparent the next day after a long ride. With the Russell, you feel like you're starting a brand new day - not continuing the pain from the day before.

Fred