Intalled my new Sargent seat on the RT Today

[Paul De]

This week I replaced the torture rack of a seat on my '15RT with a Sargent. Didn't want to give up the pans like I did with the Russell Day-long on my last RT. Too early to say if the Sargent a solution for all day comfort yet.

 

I noticed a few quirks about the Sargent Seat.

 

-The little storage box under the seat in to narrow to store the extra rubber bumpers for using when the seat is in the high position.

 

-The skimpy few tools are now stored under the passage seat, but one of them is used to loosen the two bolts to secure the front of the passenger seat. That logical oops is not a big deal as you really only need to finger tighten the two nuts hold down the passenger seat.

 

-The heated seat leads are way too long VS the OEM and the connector is not secured to the seat pan. So I will need to take care to be sure to not get excessively long wires pinched between the frame and the seat pan.

 

Quirks aside, the fit and finish are top notch. I like how this 3rd party seat retains the OEM key latch and passenger heat switch assembly. The seat looks like it came as a factory option. Doing a test sit in the garage, my wife loved the seating position with the top box cushion and how the a Sargent cupped her butt. It seems I sit a little farther back VS the OEM saddle and does not seem to have high pressure points like the OEM seat did.

 

I will come back with a report on long ride comfort when I can get out after the damn snow melts here and the salt is washed off the road. All good so far!

[Selden]

I rode down to Jacksonville for a "fitting" at Sargent. The end result was quite comfortable, but still a little firm for my bony butt.

 

An Alaska Leather sheepskin butt pad helped, but I still wasn't satisfied, and I ended up gluing a layer of memory foam to the underside of the sheepskin. My source of materials was a memory foam mat from Target. After cutting to size, I peeled off the upper layer of cloth, and chamfered the edges with a bench grinder. The lower side of the mat has a non-slip fabric. Bliss. It's like having a good pair of hiking boots that fit well, but are better with thick wool socks.

[Bob H.]

Excellent replacement for the stock BMW seat and reasonable price , I currently have over 42,000 miles on my Sargent seat and it still performs like when it was new.

[Paul De]

Thanks for the input. Hoping that my bony butt isn't quite a bony as Selden's and that I don't have to do added padding. I had thought about that approach with the stock seat but wanted to retain the clean seat look.

 

Sucks to be me right now with 1-3 inches of snow expected today in my corner of the universe. No chance to ride for a while. Especially sucky for me since a week ago today it was 71 F sunny and I was riding...on my stock seat Grrr. As soon as I can get out again I'll update on how it works for me and more importantly, the Sargent seat WAF.

[reg26]

Funny thing about the Sargent seat. When I sit on it it doesn't really feel comfortable and it's definitely not uncomfortable but I can sit on it for hours on end and then all of a suddenly realize that hey, I have no seat fatigue and just keep going. Never had a seat like it before.

[TEWKS]

No ride time, how about picture time? Did you do anything special regarding side panel colors or piping ?

 

Pat

[jswisc]

My bony butt seems to tolerate the stock seat ok. I sent you a pm Paul De. I live close and would like to see the seat.

[Paul De]

I'll attach a picture, but I was a very boring in my choice as I wanted it to look OEMish. So it is an all black World Sport with std DTX insert, top stitched seams (no welt) with integrated heat...Yawn!

 

I'll send a picture from home later, right now have 5 minutes between a string of conference calls.

[roadriderg]

I have the Sargent also and have put 5000 miles on it so far. I like the fit and finish they do look good.

Not as comfortable as my Russell seat on my last bike,but it will do. I still carry a emergency airhawk just in case, but have not had to use it yet. My wife likes the back seat but still uses the airhawk over it. The seat is a little firm for her. But at least she is comfortable,(Yeah!).

 

The tool box as stated above does not fit the seat wrench so I keep it in one of the front storage bins. This wrench is not only for the seat but the oil filler cap as well.

 

 

[rickmoen]

Just wondering if your Sargent seat was standard (stock) height or the low seat. I had one in the past and it was very nice.

[Paul De]

Std height seat.

 

With a 32" inseam I expect I can flat foot with a sturdy sole boot. But I'm not uncomfortable if I can't touch my heals down, like it was with my Russell on my '99 RT. I did a fair bit of time on dirt bikes where I got comfortable with picking one side to go tippy toe to the ground.

 

Pix still on the do list, just got too late to manage to take it today

[bmwdavid]

Paul, I was wondering if you chose the newer world performance plus version and if not, why? Think I agree with opting out of the welt for the stitching. Would like to see some pics.

[Paul De]

I went with the original materials. I talked to Sargent and the newer plus seat has grippy panels facing the rider's inner thigh. I get the concept if I was putting a seat on a GS where you could be riding in the standing position off road, but on the RT not so much. Although I do get all my weight on the pegs sometimes on the RT, my knees and thighs don't engage that part of the seat when riding frisky.

 

My first experience riding on a R bike was a /5 in the mid 70's and I was quite a monkey on the seat blasting the corners...influenced by Reg Pridmore I guess. Still like to slip around on the seat a little in the twisties so grippy panels were not important to me.

[Paul De]

Well I was hoping for some sun, so the pix on the bike are a bit flat...but then thy wouldn't be found in LIFE magazine anyway would they.

 

 

[Paul De]

And a pic of the Sargent installed...the OEM look I was going for.

 

[TEWKS]

Yes, a very OEM look which I didn't think would appeal to me but that, looks really nice!

Hope the comfort level is much improved for you.

 

 

 

Pat

[gordiet]

Not to change the subject but....did you remove the graphics on your bike. If you did please tell me what you did to get the job done.

GT

[TEWKS]

Not to answer for Paul but let me answer for Paul. The rear pannier (graphics attached to) is off the bike in this picture and the front graphics are just out of sight.

 

Now I know the pannier graphics are cleared over so removing them would be a complete repaint. The fairing may or may not be cleared over. I say that because I was able to purchase them for my 2014. The pannier graphics were not available because they were cleared over. Not being able to purchased them is silly. A minor tip over scratch is no longer repairable,.

 

Pat