Sargent Low seat

[waltroman]

I rode to Ohio over the weekend ( 280 miles ) and it was clear to me, especially on the trip back that the stock seat has to go. I am OK with the stock seat on the low position but wondered how the low seat compares to the regular Sargent.

[Geekmaster]

My RT that I bought late last fall came with the regular Sargent, which I really liked on the few rides that I rode on it.  Over the winter, I sent it into Sargent and they "re-did" the seat at the low version.  Actually, since it's a different base plate, they basically gave me a brand new seat at a discounted price.

 

Anyway, I've been riding for about 800 miles on the Sargent low seat and have found it very comfortable - longest ride has been about 1½ to 2 hours so far.  The one thing that surprised me is that it didn't seem to provide a much lower seating position.  In other words, it seemed like my feet weren't much (if any) lower than with the regular Sargent seat.  I can't explain it, and I don't have the regular Sargent seat to compare.  I guess I could compare against the original BMW regular seat, but as I said, the Sargent low seat is very comfortable for me.

[92Merc]

I would say that'll depend on your in-seem.  My wife has a 30" in-seem.  She had a BMW low.  I bought her a Sargent low.  Much more comfortable than BMW low. For my wife, she couldn't quite reach the ground well on stock seat, so low was needed.

 

I have a 32" in-seem.  I ride her RT from time to time.  While I can do short trips on her low seat, it's too low for me.  My knees are bent too much.  On a long haul, my knees would be done.

 

Just a little comparison.

[waltroman]

Thanks for the input, 32" inseam here also. Going to stick with Sargent standard. By the way I added Knight Design low pegs and a Puig touring shield and the bike will gobble some HWY miles. For some reason I am more comfortable using cruise control on this bike than any other bike I have owned. I always felt when on cruise I was giving up some control.

[alegerlotz]

2 hours ago, 92Merc said:

I would say that'll depend on your in-seem.  My wife has a 30" in-seem.  She had a BMW low.  I bought her a Sargent low.  Much more comfortable than BMW low. For my wife, she couldn't quite reach the ground well on stock seat, so low was needed.

 

I have a 32" in-seem.  I ride her RT from time to time.  While I can do short trips on her low seat, it's too low for me.  My knees are bent too much.  On a long haul, my knees would be done.

 

Just a little comparison.

 

When riding her bike, you can probably put her low seat in the high position and get by with it.  I have a 32" inseam and I use a standard Sargent seat in the high position on my RT.

[BobW03]

I have a Sargent regular height with my stubby 29" inseam. I have never owned a bike that I can flat foot and have learned over the years to slide over or toes only on both sides when stopped. But the Sargent seat is so much better then the factory seat.

[92Merc]

39 minutes ago, alegerlotz said:

 

When riding her bike, you can probably put her low seat in the high position and get by with it.  I have a 32" inseam and I use a standard Sargent seat in the high position on my RT.

And then I'll forget her seat in the high position.  She tries to ride next and will barely reach the ground, drop the bike, and blame me!

No thanks.  I'll endure a little knee pain for that short ride.  :-)

[Octane]

I have the Sargent low seat on my 2017 RT.  It is significantly more comfortable than the stock RT seat because it is wider where it counts.  My inseam is 29" and in the low position, I can easily reach ground on the balls of both feet.  It is also easy to slide slightly left and stop with just my left foot down.  Typically, I leave it in the low position for daily riding but raise it to the high position when touring long distances.  This gives the knees a little more room to flex.

[Randyjaco]

I had a Sargent low seat on my 17Rt. After 3 weeks I sent it back.  They do honor their satisfaction guarantee. The seat was more comfortable than the stock seat, but not $400 worth.  Your results may differ, so it's worth a try.

[alegerlotz]

FWIW, my Sargent seat took a few thousand miles to break in.  I have them on my R1200RT (over 30K miles on the seat now) and on my RNineT (about 3K miles now) and had the same experience where some break-in time was needed.

 

This might get you thinking whether or not the stock seat would break in and be comfortable as well.  IMO, the answer is no, because the stock RT seat always pitched me toward the fuel tank, and it wasn't as wide as the Sargent, so it didn't provide the distributed support.

[waltroman]

Just following up, bought a heated Sargent regular seat and it does sit slightly lower than stock. I have not many miles on yet. It works out great because I can add my Butt Buffer gel pad if I want to switch up.