New Owner......Sore Bottom!

[KingBiscuit]

WooHoo! This past Friday, I closed the deal on a '04 R1150RT Limited Edition. The bike has only 7K miles on it and has been kept in perfect condition. I rode the bike home about 90 miles and then on Sat. put in around 160 miles. I love this bike, I hate the stock saddle. I had a Corbin on my R1150R, but I am leaning towards Russel Day Long saddle. I hear tha Mayer makes good saddles, but have never seen one. How about some feedback on which saddle you like best....constructive comments please.

 

Thanks in advance,

Dan

[OoPEZoO]

I have a sargent on my R1100RT......I've ridden it from sun up to sun down on quite a few occations......I don't have any complaints.

[VonDawg]

Changed to a Mayer saddle on my 1100RT and am very happy (happier every trip) slid forward too much as well, now with the basket weave and better foam problems are solved.

[Lawman]

Russell Day Long

[Bud]

Have a Corbin on my 97 RT. Had a Russell Day Long on my K1100LT.

Liked them both.

[Bill_Walker]

You have several choices in saddles. There are "off-the-rack" suppliers like Corbin and Sargent. You said you liked your previous Corbin, so that may be the most cost-effective solution for you. People seem to either love or hate Corbins, and if you need any customizing of it, they don't seem to do very well unless you do a ride-in. I don't know much about Sargent.

 

Then there are the Mayer brothers, Rocky and Rick. When their father, Bill, passed away, Rocky took over the business (Bill Mayer Saddles), while Rick split off and started his own saddle-making business (Rick Mayer Cycle). I gather there is some acrimony between them. AFAIK, they both build custom saddles, to order, on top of your stock seat pan. I have Bill (Rocky) Mayer saddles on both my RT (came with the bike) and V-Strom (did a ride-in), and I'm very happy with them. I have no experience with Rick.

 

There's also Rich's, in Seattle, and probably others of which I'm unaware.

 

Then there's the famous Russell Day-Long Saddle, which many Iron Butt riders (and others, of course) swear by.

 

First off, I'd recommend you take a good look at the saddle pictures on their web sites and see if you like what you see. For example, some folks feel that the "tractor seat" aspect of the Russell and Rick Mayer seats is unattractive, and may also limit your ability to move around on the bike when cornering. This isn't an issue with the Bill (Rocky) Mayer saddles.

 

If at all possible, I highly recommend doing a ride-in appointment with whatever saddle maker you choose. This really lets you get the saddle customized exactly the way you like it, without having to put up with shipping delays for each "trial-and-error" fitting. At BMW, for example, they built up my V-Strom saddle's foam, pinned it on the base, and sent me for a ride, with no cover on the saddle. I came back with some comments, so they quickly made changes and sent me for another ride, after which I found it perfect. THEN they installed the leather cover.

[KingBiscuit]

I was just out reading the Rick Mayer site. From what I read in his FAQs section, I might be better going with Russel. I'm a big guy as is my bottom. Mayer states that big guys may benifit from the "sprung" saddle. Anyone with Russel Day-Long saddle experience?

 

Thanks,

Dan

[moshe_levy]

I too had a sore bottom when I got my (new to me) '04 RT last year. Decided on a Meyer seat at about $500, and was told I had to wait a few weeks for the order to arrive. The next day, a friend of mine let me try his 14"x14" beaded seat cover, which was about $40. I did 20 hours straight that day, well over 1,000 miles, and never felt a thing. It was as comfortable as I could ever expect from an aftermarket seat. Came back and cancellled my Meyer order, and have been happy ever since (about 30k so far on it.) Just another option in the long list of things you can do to make your bottom less sore. I got mine from beadrider.com Worked for me!

 

-MKL

[Dave_in_TX]

I too had a sore bottom when I got my (new to me) '04 RT last year. Decided on a Meyer seat at about $500, and was told I had to wait a few weeks for the order to arrive. The next day, a friend of mine let me try his 14"x14" beaded seat cover, which was about $40. I did 20 hours straight that day, well over 1,000 miles, and never felt a thing. It was as comfortable as I could ever expect from an aftermarket seat. Came back and cancellled my Meyer order, and have been happy ever since (about 30k so far on it.) Just another option in the long list of things you can do to make your bottom less sore. I got mine from beadrider.com Worked for me!

 

-MKL

 

YMMV, beads work for some but for others like me, the beads were a torture device. Instead of a couple of painful pressure points, it was many painful pressure points. One the the beads are effective at, is keeping you bottom cool. The amount of ventilation they provide is suprising. They're also much cheaper than a custom seat.

 

For me, the solution was an AirHawk cushion.

[Tommy_Boy]

Just got our Day-Long saddles for the RT last Friday. Only about 300 miles so far, but I can already tell a difference.

 

They said to give it 1000-1500 miles to break in, so I'll know more in a couple of weeks when we return from Wyoming.

 

We had a Russell on our previous ride, a Kawasaki Concours, and it was a great seat. No comparison to stock.

[Paul Mihalka]

I had Russell Day-Long on my '86 K75, '92 K75RT, '94 K1100LT. All covered by one and the same seat, for a total of about 400K miles, with one rebuild. Sold my '99 R1100RT with 170K, bike and saddle still going strong. My last previous bike, '02 R1150R, had a Russell. For my "new" '05 R1200GS I bought a used front seat and it is on it's way to Russell right now. Enough said.

[bmwdude]

I've been considering another seat, also.

The interesting thing is that as I have read the posts on this subject, I cannot recall people writing a description about their body make-up when they list their preferences or dislikes--and I have heard from a few people that this is a critical factor when considering a seat. Some people have said that smaller-built, leaner people do better on stock seats than heavier or overweight or, let's say it, fat people---or medium built people. I would like to see if there is any correlation between body composition and seat preference. Anybody heard of this?

I have heard raves and groans about each of the different seat builders so it is hard to ascertain which to choose. Discussions about aftermarket windshields often are accompanied by stats on a person's height or, less-commonly, torso height.

[MichiganBob]

I must be the only nut out there who finds the stock 02RT saddle fine. I did shim up quite a bit to get my nuts off of the gas tank. On those 400 plus days, I use an Alaska Leather fleece cover. Works great. Also got some LD comfort shorts to keep the H20 moving below. Happy hunting.

 

Bob

[Zot]

I must be the only nut out there who finds the stock 02RT saddle fine. I did shim up quite a bit to get my nuts off of the gas tank. On those 400 plus days, I use an Alaska Leather fleece cover. Works great. Also got some LD comfort shorts to keep the H20 moving below. Happy hunting.

 

Bob

 

I have no complaints either on the stock seat on my 2000

R 1100rt.I don't know how it can be improved upon, even for my pear shaped body.

[algover]

A word of caution: the beads and cushions also raise your seat height. Not good if you have a short inseam, as I do.

 

I have a Rick Mayer seat that I'm happy with. I keep hearing wonderful things about the Russell, ..... but I just can't get past the butt-ugly appearance.

[fatbob]

Dan:

 

I highly recommend the Russell saddle. I have one on my RT, one on my GT, and one on my Tiger. I have an old Mayer Day Long on my R90 (I bought it in '83) that is currently wearing out it's third bike and I expect it may outlast even more bikes, still feels great at 250K plus miles. I have a Bill Mayer Saddle on my Guzzi which is a real good seat, but does not give me the comfort that the "Day Long" does.

A Day Long Saddle does look like a tractor seat, but I don't care what it looks like, cause I can't see it when it is cradling my butt! Just my 2 cents, and no, I do not work for Russell Cycle Products.

 

Bob

 

[Francois_Dumas]

I for one am just jealous at all the farkling and after-market-adding some people here can do.... Nina won't let me spend any more of our money on the bike (.... I just managed to wrong out the new windshield we're going to pick up next Sat. !).

 

So I ride a stock saddle, still, after 3 years. My bum starts hurting after an hour... I get off for 10 minutes... and can do another hour.

Last year on my way back from France it was around the 9th hour that things really became hurtful. I guess 8 hours is my comfort zone.

That will be different for each and every bum of course

 

But HOW do you decide on a new saddle. Can you TRY them !!???

[tallman]

OK folks, Francois will be stateside in November.

We need a Butt tech day.

Riders with different saddles need to rendezvous and allow their seat to be inspected, and buttilized.

He's coming to the Palm Beach area, so someone need to organize a sit down, git down.

[Francois_Dumas]

Owwww... now the secret is out !

[Fugu]

KingBiscuit - as in the King Biscuit Blues hour?

 

I, too have an '04 R1150RT ltd and am not tiny. Mine came with a Sargent on it (SPAM ALERT for sale in the classifieds SPAM ALERT) and I liked it just fine - the problem was my pillion didn't like her part of the Sargent and wanted me to get a Corbin like I had on my last bike...

 

Since I liked the Corbin, too, I pretended like I was doing her a favor.

 

I don't think you can go far wrong with either. I think overall the Corbin is firmer than the Sargent but the Sargent had adequate support for me for 500 mile days. I didn't have a chance to do more than that at a stretch but I felt like I could have gone quite a bit more.

 

I've never had a Russell. A buddy had a Mayer on a dual sport bike and it turned the bike from useless to very rideable for him and he's a big galoot as well.

[outpost22]

My RT came with a Russell (previous owner got it). I love it. We rode 2 up on a 450 mile ride yesterday of all twisties. Could not do that with a stock saddle, at least without great pain.

[Bill_Walker]

I've been considering another seat, also.

The interesting thing is that as I have read the posts on this subject, I cannot recall people writing a description about their body make-up when they list their preferences or dislikes--and I have heard from a few people that this is a critical factor when considering a seat. ...

 

Good point. Right now I'm carrying about 30 extra pounds, but the normal weight for my 5'11" frame is 165-170, so I have a fairly skinny body type. I haven't put anything longer than a test ride on a stock BMW seat, since my RT had a Bill Mayer Saddle on it when I got it. My V-Strom's stock seat caused me pain after about 50 miles. I got a Bill Mayer built and have been very happy with it. Prior to that I tried a BeadRider beaded cover, and found it very painful. I suspect it is more effective for those with moderately well padded derrieres.

 

I got a Corbin for my (former) Road King and it was pretty good, but I sent it back a couple of times to get the right seat and to try to get it to fit the bike right. I finally gave up and lived with what I had, even though it didn't fit against the tank as well as the stock seat. Corbin uses a very, very dense foam, and it sits like concrete until it gets broken in.

 

I've never tried a Rick Mayer or Russell saddle.

[KingBiscuit]

While it's true, I do like the blues, the name was given to me by my son when I started playing online games with him. He may have gotten it from the "king Biscuit Flower Hour" radio show or the blues hour either one.

 

Dan

[philbytx]

Mine came with the "comfort" seat.....been great and never needed to replace it. Perhaps I have a perfect arse

[ESchwab855]

Once again I say look at what is between your skin and the seat you are on. You could save 500.00 bucks with something as easy as different underwear and good riding pants. underarmor cost 30.00 try them and take time for your body to adjust to the feel of the new stock seat. I love the stock 1200GSA seat once I got it set right with Underarmor I will never pay for another seat just money I spend on cool stuff like Zumo 550 and super mega cool lights lol.

[xoomerite]

I suspect that the many variables mentioned all play a part. No two butts are alike, and no two riders find the same comfort in the same set of seats. I have tried bead, fur, Corbin, mayer, stock, and combinations thereof. Once my Russell came, I took it for a two hundred mile trial. It was great. Two days later, I rode a SS1000 to break it in; and was comfortable all the way.

 

I fall in the lean, noasssatall department. I could ride the stock seat for less than an hour before having to stop. Resting made it little better, because the pain returned in 20 minutes of riding.

 

I ordered my Russell, sent the pictures, seats, and the dimensions: 6-4, 185, 35 inseam; and got the most comfortable seat ever. Even better than my $900 recliner.

 

I find that it makes no limitation on positioning in corners or moving around. It makes for a great ride. I put 8,000 miles on my R12ST in the past 9 weeks.

[MichiganBob]

Seat technology is not that complicated. Sure, there are variables like weight and seating position to consider. But the bottom line is contact with the seat. I used to drive a tractor for 6 hour stretches without any problem and the seat was metal with no padding. The answer is to have the seat shaped like your behind. If your thrown forward or back by the bike's ergo's, then padding becomes important, particularly for those without "natural padding" down there. The biggest issue I have with the stock seat is how it cants your forward which puts all the pressure where it should not be. I would hope that a $500 dollar plus seat is shaped like your butt and is padded appropriately. What then is the anti-seat, those that in no way resemble your butt. My SR500 and Lemans 850 seats are horrible. Why? They are shaped like a board.

 

Bob

[bakerzdosen]

But HOW do you decide on a new saddle. Can you TRY them !!???

Well, with a custom seat, you do try them - if you ride in. When I had my custom seat done (at Rich's) I took it out for a couple of rides before it was "just right". It was better from the start, but it was improved each ride.

 

If you're doing a custom seat by mail, getting them to make an adjustment is a pretty big deal.

 

So, Francois, next time you're over here in the US, bring your seat(s).

[ESchwab855]

Missed the boat on this but how can you blame me who would have thonk I could have put padding on a plastic pan cover it in ten bucks worth of leather and sell it for 500.00 all for a bike that came with a seat in the first place. I missed out on pet rocks and now "Custom Motorcycle Seats" Dam I am dum ....lol