Rebuilding Corbin Saddle

[bmweerman]

I have a Corbin Saddle on my '99 RT that desperately needs to be rebuilt, or re-covered at the very least.

 

Corbin's policy is to charge 75% of the saddles current value to refurbish it. That's 450 bucks for a seat I already paid for once.

 

Has anybody ever had this kind of work done by a third party for a more reasonable fee...?

 

or am I just being unreasonable?

[TMH]

One thing that you might do is to give Corbin a call directly. I had a Corbin seat for my GS which was too low for me (the standard Corbin seat is ~1.5" lower than the stock BMW seat). I called them up and asked what it would cost to add 1-1.5" of foam back to the seat, and recover, and the price I was quoted was less than 75% of the seat cost. Just something to try.

 

Otherwise I would go to a local automotive upholstery shop, one which does custom work. Or call around and find one that has recovered m/c seats in the past and has experience. I don't believe that the cover is "as important or as difficult" as the customized foam, if you believe the hype from the seat web sites.

 

Good luck,

Tom

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

I have a Corbin Saddle on my '99 RT that desperately needs to be rebuilt, or re-covered at the very least.

 

Corbin's policy is to charge 75% of the saddles current value to refurbish it. That's 450 bucks for a seat I already paid for once.

 

That seems reasonable for what probably needs to happen to it. They can likely re-use the seat pan, but it's going to be new foam, new leather, and all the labor involved to put all those pieces together - which probably accounts for about 75% of the cost of a new saddle. Also consider the labor to dismantle the old saddle: rivets need to get drilled out and all the old stuff needs to get hacked off and discarded.

 

Could you just do the front saddle, or do both front and rear need recovering?

[Mike_F]

You might want to shop around with the local upholstery shops. Most of them should be able to do the job at a considerable savings. Just call around and let them know what you are looking for.

[bmweerman]

Thanks to everybody for the input.

 

Actually found an almost new saddle here on the board for 375 and was going to just do that...then the wife told me we needed a new laptop for the business ...so...putting the stock seats back on... Never be really sat on so they are brand new and should be fine until I can get the Corbin redone.

 

Thanks again guys

 

Cameron

[WinkJunior]

Horsefeathers! Bad enough that Corbin seats cost about $25-35 including labor to make, and sell for $450-600, but having pulled a 22 year old one that finally split open in multiple places 2 years ago (20 years is a decent run) I took it to a furniture reupholsterer (sp?) who not only said that what he thought it cost to make, but that he could redo the cover, which is, as he said "the easiest and cheapest part, esp. when they're pre-made like this" for $40-50. 75% is a rip-off. Corbin is a rip-off. I'm glad to have the stock seat back on, and I'll prolly have the Corbin fixed and then sell it for 10x or more since they don't make them any longer.

[swilson]

Never heard that 75% figure before. I took mine to them to be recovered about 6 months ago. I seem to recall paying around $300... that was for new foam on the front seat and new leather covers on both seats.

[dppeter]

If you find an upholsterer who will redo your saddle for 40-50 dollars you found a gem. At those prices he won't even make enough to buy his family food. I've been an upholsterer all my life and you just don't make a dime at those rates. With all the sewing you need to do on a corbin (yes I have one too) it would take you half a day to dismount it, make a new pattern, sew it up, and reinstall it. Heck I used to charge $100 to do straight double saddles from the sixties.

[Jerry Johnston]

I had my OEM seats recovered at a local upholsterer. I had a stiffer foam put in and supplied the leather. It cost me $200, looked beautiful but still wasn't as comfortable as the Corbin seats I had been using for the last 8 or ten years.

[StuGotz]

Cameron:

 

Duct tape that "Frankenbike" seat and be done with it...

 

MB>

[dppeter]

Corbin Saddles use closed cell foam in their construction. Most furniture upholsterers and Trim shops will stock open cell foam - that's what is used in chairs, couches, most often in boats, etc. If you take your corbin to someone and they are going to give you new foam you better make sure you get the same brand of closed cell foam that came in the saddle. The foam is what makes the saddle what it is!