Rick Mayer Seat for R1200ST

[Mike]

Like a kid on Christmas Eve, I could hardly wait for the FedEx truck to show up today. When it did, this is what they brought me:

 

A new seat for the ST!

 

A closer view

 

 

Comparing the Rick Mayer seat (top) with the stock BMW seat (bottom).

 

I just came in from the garage, where I've given the Rick Mayer a test sit of a few minutes. Obviously, I won't be able to share an informed opinion until I've ridden on it a bit, but here are some initial impressions:

 

-The butt-to-seat contact patch is considerably larger (wider) on the Rick Mayer seat. It's pretty cushy foam, too, which surprised me. My initial impression is that it's going to be much more comfortable than the stock seat.

 

-The front and the rear seat are both tilted upward more in the front (than stock), which will hopefully prevent sliding into the tank under deceleration.

 

-The quality of fit and finish are absolutely top notch. I ordered this seat with vinyl basketweave, which is very nice. I'm actually a bit tired of having to constantly treat my leather seats, so I thought I'd give this a try. The waffle pattern would appear to lend itself to a fair amount of air circulation, so I don't think it will prove to be too hot. As for the fit, it uses a stock seat pan, so it snicks right into place (actually a bit easier than the stock seat did). While the seating area is considerably broader, Rick maintains the narrow width of the front of the rider's saddle, to keep it easy to flat foot. It doesn't feel any wider than stock at the front.

 

Like I said, the proof will be in the riding, but I'm exceptionally happy with this seat. The cost, with a 10% discount for prepayment was around $350. Rick's prices have gone up a bit since I ordered my seat, but it's still an exceptional deal for a custom-made saddle. Leather adds a fair amount to the price.

 

Rick actually purchased a stock BMW pan so he could do my seat on an exchange basis. So, all of you ST owners, take note: you now have the ability to buy a custom saddle for your ST and can continue riding on your stock seat until yours arrives. The lead time to production for my saddle was about two months, so I'd encourage you to act quickly if you want to place an order.

[kukari]

nice to hear you got it, now looking forward hearing your riding experience.

[R4ND0M_AX3]

Can the pan be ordered from BMW without the padding and cover? Or did he just get a whole seat and gut it?

[aussieotto]

Mike

Do you lose heat with this? Having just done a long ride where the last 3 hrs where in 4C I really like that feature.

 

Peter

[Mike]

Can the pan be ordered from BMW without the padding and cover? Or did he just get a whole seat and gut it?

 

Not sure. He just said he was ordering the "pans."

 

Mike

Do you lose heat with this? Having just done a long ride where the last 3 hrs where in 4C I really like that feature.

 

Peter

 

Peter--

 

I didn't have heat. I believe that Rick will re-install heat elements from your stock seat.

 

He has his e-mail address posted on the Rick Mayer Cycle webpage, so you may wayt to contact him directly to get the answer to these questions.

[Jake]

Bet you could've used that package a few weeks ago! Seems like Rick's old man might've left some old drawings lying around - that seat sure is starting to look like a Russell!

 

Do you find the vinyl basketweave to be a tad slippery? Looks like a great addition to the new ride.

[David]

Boss, I'm in deep pain after seeing these pictures. I believe you when you say this makes your ride less painful, but every picture you take from now on should carry the requirement that someone be sitting on that thing.

 

I absolutely love the looks of the 12ST, but I can't deal with what the bike looks like now. Please remove these pictures.

[Mike]

Dear Ex-Boss: I don't actually ride it; that gets it dirty.

 

Dear Jake: It's kinda like a mini-Russell. Seriously . . . it looks like a 2/3 Russell Day-Long. And, no, it's not slippery--it's grippy on my bippy.

[NakedRider]

After completing about a 1,600 mile trip last week this looks good to me. Currently I'm using the low seat since the shape of the standard seat just didn't fit me. At least the low seat is FLAT rather than DOME shaped. Who has a DOMED shaped butt??

 

I was really wondering what a seat from Rick would look like. I think I'm going to get one just like this. My butt was the only thing hurting after my trip.

[Mike]

A brief update:

 

I took my ST out for a couple of hours on Saturday. While not an Iron Butt excursion, this still gave me something of an opportunity to assess the Rick Mayer saddle. It really is much better (for me) than the stock ST saddle.

 

First, the fore-aft angle of the seating area is corrected on the Rick Mayer saddle; it's kind of subtle, but the saddle seems to eliminate the tendency to slide forward while braking. I didn't necessarily find that that tendency of the stock saddle was uncomfortable, but it was annoying.

 

The most noteworthy change is the elimination of pressure points. The ST's stock saddle softened over a couple thousand miles of use, but despite that, it never felt right, even when I would first get on the bike. I was always conscious of the pressure points on my butt bones (please forgive me for using such complex medical terminology ). The Rick Mayer seat, having a wider, concave seating area, distributes my weight sufficiently to eliminate those pressure points. I think this is aided by the softer foam used in the top layer of the seat. I mention the softer foam because the only custom seats I've owned in the past, Corbins, are pretty darned firm when you receive them. My Corbins have taken a couple thousand miles to get broken in, and ultimately become comfortable. The Rick Mayer seat is comfortable now.

 

Based on my admittedly brief experience, I'd give Rick Mayer a thumbs up. I will reiterate what's been mentioned on these pages before--it's a small operation and I think it would be wise to keep in contact with Rick a short while before your scheduled production date to ensure that everything is on track. A short while before my production date, I was sent an e-mail, reminding me to send in my saddle. I called the customer service line to remind them that my order was being done on an exchange basis, and we did get things straightened out. In fairness, though, this was the first ST saddle they had done and this confusion may have been the result of the fact that they purchased a set of factory pans for my order, and had not previously stocked an ST pan.

 

I'd give Rick Mayer Cycle a very positive review. It being a small business, I got a lot of personalized attention (I talked to Rick a couple of times), and ended up with a high-quality saddle for an excellent price.

 

The current price for a dual (front and rear sections customized) Rick Mayer seat in vinyl is $429. With a 10% discount for prepayment, it works out to $386.10, plus shipping.

[bakerzdosen]

from another post:

Mike said: Maybe I'm delusional, but it doesn't strike me that the seat has changed the appearance of the ST very much at all. Maybe it's my poor photography skills that are at play, but the overall dimensions of the Rick Mayer are not much greater than the stock seat. Of course, as the Russell Day-Long fans say, "Beauty is in the butt of the beholder."

I figured I'd taken that other thread OT enough, so it would be better to continue in this thread... seeing as how it's dedicated to the topic.

 

Well, as most (all?) ST owners will probably agree, if you can't judge a book by its cover, you most certainly can't judge an R12ST by its photos. If you say it looks good and hasn't changed the appearance at all, well, I gotta believe you (Unless you have a trip to Utah planned for the near future because I don't have a Chicago trip coming up. ) That's not a criticism of your photography skills because I think the three photos are great in that regard.

 

I think I just like a "simpler" looking seat. Maybe these would help:

k12s

or this without the backrest is kind of what I'm looking for. Even this one is more appealing to me.

 

But with that said, I've gotta say that that's the benefit of getting a custom seat. If the look of yours isn't what I'm looking for, well, I'm quite sure that Rick Mayer or Rich's could come up with one to suit my tastes. I think I'm noticing that I like the look of leather better than vinyl... but as I said, the look of your vinyl seat is growing on me regardless, but maybe it's because I just saw my first custom color day-long in person the other day, and in comparison, your Rick Mayer seems more... um, 'subtle' now.

 

I may only be one or two long rides away from a custom seat. We'll see how my stock saddle breaks in on my trip this week.

[Mike]

Matt--

 

I want to make sure I convey my impressions as best I can. I'd hate to lead you into the purchase of a Rick Mayer seat, then have you come and hunt me down because you thought it was ugly.

 

First, the simpler look of the Russell seat you linked to is, in part, due to the fact that they seem to use less stitching in the seating area. As you can see, Rick seems to use the same stitch pattern--which is more complex than Russell's--in all of his seats:

 

 

So, that's going to be part and parcel of any of his seats. The seats with smooth leather or vinyl look a little "cleaner" to my eye, but maybe that's just the way I see it. I had decided I wanted a vinyl seat, and the waffle pattern seemed to be the better choice, to help keep things cool.

 

The total width and length of the front seat section that a saddlemaker has to work with on the ST isn't that great. I mention that because, as I noted in my reply to Jake, it's kind of like a 2/3 Russell. I wasn't (entirely) kidding about that; it's got roughly the same proportions, but it doesn't look nearly as big as the Russells I've seen (mostly on RTs). Because of this, it does appear to my eye to be proportional in relationship to the bike. I was actually a little concerned that I'd have an excessively wide saddle on the ST, which would look disproportionately large. If you'll scroll back up to my third photo, comparing the stock and Mayer sections, you'll see that there's not much of a change in overall dimensions. The Mayer is somewhat wider (now I wish I'd measured everything), but the main difference is that the sides of the saddle don't taper in. So, the seating area is roughly the same width (perhaps a little wider) as the width of the pan.

 

If there's anything that's markedly different, it's the degree to which the width of the front seat section narrows from the back to the front. Because the back is now wider and the front is about the same as stock, it's a more noticeably "pinched" look. I'd think that Rick could lessen that, as long as reach to the ground isn't an issue for you.

 

Hopefully this is of some help. It's definitely not the same look as the stock seat, but I think it integrates into the ST well. Maybe I'm rationalizing it, but I don't think it's a big deal. One other thing you could consider, if you ride strictly one-up, is that you can just have the front section rebuilt and have the pillion portion recovered in the same material, but retaining the same contours. That might appear a little more stock.

[Mike]

Matt--

 

One other thing that might help you visualize this:

 

Grab a ruler, then pop up to the third photo (the big one with both sets of seats). I took this photo from almost directly above the seats, so there's not much of an error in perspective. Now measure the widths on the screen. You'll see that the Mayer seats, while contoured differently, are not much wider (and maybe just a touch narrower) overall at their widest points than the stock seats. This despite the fact that, to my eye, the Mayers look wider in this photo.

 

This isn't a very scientific way to compare the dimensions, but I hope it serves to generally illustrate the point that the seats aren't really much larger overall--it's not like you've strapped a Barcalounger on top of your ST.

[bakerzdosen]

Well Mike, I haven't seen you around here for a while, so I hope you're out there riding so you can give us a long ride update on how you like your new seat.

 

Do tell.

[Mike]

Well Mike, I haven't seen you around here for a while, so I hope you're out there riding so you can give us a long ride update on how you like your new seat.

 

Do tell.

 

I've been slacking.

 

I don't have much to add at this point. I've been taking shorter rides over the past few weeks, measured in hours rather than days. The seat is definitely much more comfortable (for me) than the stock seat was. No pressure points, no achey, breaky butt. However, I have to concede that I've been doing only wee, wimpy rides.

[ben1364]

The beauty of both the Rick Mayer and the Russel Day Long saddles is that they are custom made for the buyers specific needs. I have had both designs and been equally satisfied. I don't think one could go wrong with either. I also know of some folks who have been highly satisfied with off the shelf replacement seats.

[MikeB]

I think the most ideal seat is one which you ride in to who ever makes it and be custom fitted for the new seat. This way the seat is made specifically to your bottom end. I personally did this with my Rocket at Russell's. When I sit on my Rocket, I don't know the seat is there, it is that good. I think I will have Rick build my next seat. Of course, I am only 50 miles away from either seat builder, so it is easy to drop in.

[SEATTLE_RIDER]

Last May I rode into Rick Mayer's in Anderson, CA and he did his magic on my RT. Had him do it in leather and then continued on putting another 2K on the bike during the trip. PERFECT in every way.

 

The only problem with the seat is that I sold the RT. I now have a new GSAdv and I'll be paying Rick a visit in the next couple months.........

[Pictou]

I have a Rick Meyer seat on my RT and just love it. On the stock seat I couldn't do more than about 3 hours before my butt started to burn. After a rest break it wasn't bad for something up to an hour but then the pain would start. The Rick Meyer allows me to do 12 hour days without problem. I personally think that it looks as good or better than the stock seat but maybe that's just me. Of course I have an RT which is quite a bit different looks wise from the ST.