Corbin or Rick Mayer

[matthew517]

I am looking to replace that medevil torture device know as the stock seat. Corbin has a heated seat for the R1150RT and I have had a corbin seat before. It was ok. I had a mustang seat for a cruiser I had and it was great all leather. Does the Rick Mayer saddle come with heat? What are the down sides to the RM? Does anyone have pictures of their RM seats they can show?

[MarkF]

There is also Bill Mayer (aka Rocky) and Sargent, too. Sargent are off the shelf while Rocky uses a molded foam core. Not sure who'e are heated. Personally, my butt has been the last thing to get cold.

MarkF

[YB in IN]

If you are looking for a reall top of the line custom seat, I'd look at Russell. They are uglier than dog crap on the sidewalk, but man are they comfy. My dad has one on his LT that I would love to sneak into his garage and steal one night. :D

[jdcoffman]

I have a Rick Mayer seat on my 2000 R1100RS my seat wasn't heated so I can't help you wit that one. If you go to mayercycle.homestead.com you can find a lot of pictures of his seats, and you get his phone number to call and ask questions. He builds seats using your stock seat frame which I supose if that is heated then your new seat would be also.
I like my seat a lot but I think I would have a lot more comfort if I would lose about 60 pounds of gutnbutt. Good luck

[kbasa]

I've got Sargents on two bikes and a Rocky on the GS. It's hard to go wrong with either one.

Forget about Corbin. I don't know many folks that think they've been treated well or recieved a good product from those guys.

[DarrylRi]

I've got two Rick Mayer seats on my R1100RS and R1150RS, and between those two seats, they have about 230,000 miles on them. He also renovated and recovered my R90S seat to look stock. I'm completely sold on his products and his workmanship.

You should call him on the phone and see if he has a way to add heat. I got a test ride on an LT when I lived in Seattle, and a heated seat is sooo much better than heated grips.

[RevWillie]

Let's see here,

I have had a prehistoric Russell seat, a Corbin,two Sargents, and currently have a Rick Mayer seat on my R1100RT.

I would have to say that my Mayer seat and the early Russell seat are my two favorites. The Sargents were OK but they never were real comfortable My Corbin did OK for a while but it wore out really fast and just didn't hold up.

Funny how every Beemer that I had ended up with a aftermarket seat! :idea

[oldcarkook]

I have a Corbin saddle on my '96 RT and I like it. I recently test flew a Russell saddle for a week or two and didn't like it, but it may be that after settling my butt in the Corbin for all these years it's just too radical an adjustment to make.

The Russell has wings on it and they provide a lot more support on the sides, and they are constructed on the stock seat pan, both of which features are very good. But I found the Russell was mashing my twins into the tank uncomfortably so I returned it.

The Corbin is built on their own seat pan which fits poorly and I have NEVER been able to run it in the highest position without the seat rocking and not being anchored properly. This is a definite drawback IMHO. But, with the sheepskin over the Corbin, it's dreamy for my riding. Also, the configuration of the Corbin is such that I can easily sit in the back seat to stretch my legs on longer rides which I like. The Russell was configured in such a way that it prevented sitting back there completely and it also didn't fit well with the stock topcase back pad I have so that actually reduced the the useable seat area by 30% or so for the passenger.

The winglets are a good idea and Russell has a strong following, but in the end my Corbin stays. I've never tried a Rick Mayer saddle but would like to some time.

[Mr. Frank]

Corbin tends to get low marks for quality control and service among BMW riders. I've had two Rick Mayer seats, and he does good work. His materials and workmanship are top notch. His website has plenty of pictures.