Russell daylong seat

[woodscrew]

I'm on the verge of buying a Russell daylong seat to replace my aging and uncomfortable Sargent.I'm over the way those funky butt wings look, believing them to be the source of great comfort.I'm wondering if they get in the way of hanging off during sporty interludes?

[beemerman2k]

Can't say enough about Russell saddles, but they will hinder your ability to hang off. They are, however, unbeatable when you're hanging on (that is, riding in a normal fashion).

[Bugs]

Yes, they get in the way if you do any hanging. They also get in the way if you have relatively long legs when you just come to a stop. Before I bought my RDL, I could easily flat foot on my R12RT (I have ~34 inch inseam). With the RDL installed, the "wings" push my leg forward far enough now that my shin frequently hits the rearward most backward point of the faring... and, now the only way I can flat foot the bike is to slide forward out of the "wing" area and stand up toward the tank.

 

How does it perform? I can't take sitting very long at all at work, so my experience should be calibrated for that fact alone. I went from having butt pain after ~40 miles to not having it till after 80 or so. 2X.

 

I was disappointed with the feel of the seat. I was expecting a firm seat with thick, durable feeling leather. What I got was a mushy feeling seat with very soft leather (much like the leather you might find on an easy chair for your living room). ...of course, my opinion of their product couldn't have any thing to do with the fact that they missed the date they promised my seat would be back to me 3 different times, didn't give me updates, and eventually caused me to miss the one and only long summer ride I had been planning with friends for months. I'm completely impartial.

[beemerman2k]

Yeah, you better have plenty of time when you deal with them. The seat will be second to none, but they are always overly optimistic in their time estimates.

 

I've had my Day-Long for about 45K miles now. My longest day ever on a bike, 1500 miles (Dallas, TX to Los Angeles, CA) and I had NO saddle discomfort to speak of. Incredible. I almost fell asleep while riding, but my butt was fine

[MadDuck]

I have been using daylongs for more that 20 years. Standard technique is to roll forward off the wings before attempting to put your feet down. Seat is made for all day comfort not stop and go traffic. Routinely ride out the tank again and again. They look great when you're doing about 70mph down the highway. Get a rain cover and use it as they don't like being wet.

[Beemeroil]

This is a good time to order since they have probably gone through the backlog caused by rally apearances. My last order 3 or 4 years ago was at this time of year and the turnaround time was something like 12 days.

[DogGone]

I've only had mine for about 1500 miles, but the difference is amazing.

 

My initial impression of the seat was that it was quite stiff, I guess I was expecting something softer. Once I got on, I knew this was going to be some of the smartest money I'de ever spent on the bike.

 

Although each seat/bike/rider combo is different, here are my impressions:

 

great comfort...300 miles used to be where i stopped having fun, now the 8 gal tank seems small.

 

The seat is quite a bit higher than stock...ok so I can't flat foot it anymore. My long legs are much more comfortable now.

 

Don't be in a hurry...I think it was ~2 months from order to delivery, but they told me that up front.

 

Their warrantee was the clincher for me, give it 500 miles, if you don't like it, give us a chance to fix it, if you still don't like it, you get your money back.

[270]

Production times are out about two weeks, and turn around is about a week currently.

 

FYI...

[Mike_Thompson]

I had one on my old RT and like everyone has said, the difference is amazing. Some folks like the stock seat but they must have a bit more padding back there than me because I'd hurt after more than 6 hours in the seat. It's a bit weird at first with the extra wings, but it's well worth it too. Like MadDuck states, it's for riding long periods, not stop and go. It can get a bit irritating when you're sitting in traffic, at lights, etc.

 

Turn around time 2 years ago was about 10 days. They told me it would be 3-4 weeks and it was back in a hurry. When UPS rang my door bell, I was like one of Pavlov's salivating like crazy. Good luck with it!