(06-27-05) Is Your Seat Comfy?

[bajaraider]

stock and moderatly comfy

[keltic111@comcast.net]

replaced stock seat with mustang seat love the mustang seat put a trip to tahoe and back getting ready to go to las vegas.

[vhmike73]

Replaced my stock M50 seat (which I based my answer off), and now with the Corbin Classic Solo w/ Touring Pillion, it's VERY comfortable. Now if only I didn't tear up my hamstring...sitting anywhere hurts right now!

[Sampson]

Not happy at all with my stock M50 seat. I just ordered a Saddlemen, hopefully that will be alot better. I'm starting to think I should have gotten the C50T. Oh well, woulda, coulda, shouda.

[BagofBones]

the pervious owner of my bike decided to swap the stock tail for some kind of aftermarket one. The seat that came w/ it is pretty terrible. After an hour of sustained riding my butt starts to fall asleep. I can't stand it and am constantly moving around in it to make that feeling go away. If i had the money i'd find the stock tail and seat and swap them back on.

[dcstrng]

Both my scoots have BMS saddles by Rocky... ride comfortably as long as one can keep their eyes open...

[vulcan mojo man]

It's allot more comfortable now that I see the costs of after market seats!!

[92Notch]

I have the stock seat on mine. i'm 6' - 6' 1" and about 165lbs ... it seams real comfy to me.

[Captain Steve]

I'm in the not-so-comfy area.

I think it's more my lower back than the seat though. Gotta get a backrest.

[Tobinseats]

Hello All!
I see that many of the unhappy riders have the M50. What is the issue w/the seat...too hard or the shape?

the shape of the seat has much more to do with comfort than the amount of padding.

[bat4255]

It's not just the M50.

Any new seat requires some break-in. Everyones butt, and back and leg lenghth is a bit different. The shape is the biggest thing, then padding. I found by just adding a little padding under my upper thigh, takes some load off my butt.

[BlueMax]

My seat is ok, although I haven't spent more that 2 hours continuously riding.

[Cimco]

Yes

[Wuby The Wabbit]

I cant stand the factory yamaha seat on their race bikes (dirt of course) its like sitting on a square peice of particle board, but Im not sitting down that much except in the turns.

[BCblvd]

I really dont have more than an hour straite in my C90 seat yet, but hope to once these unpredictible rains let up here in Texas. I saw yesterday some gel modified seats that I think really look to fit my future preceived needs. That, and a rider back rest.
I did see at the BMW shop last weekend a piece of wool square maybe 18 x 18 to place over the seats, and noticed some of the bikes in the lot had those... has anyone here used those??

[650Doug]

Is my seat comfy?

Sure, for about an hour. It's still the stocker, but some "custom" types are on the "to do" list.

[Harsh Winters]

my seat is comfy now that I upgraded to a Mustang with a back rest.

[womper]

mine is comfy now since i put the corbin solo on

[dcstrng]

Thoughts on seats and saddles…

For what its worth: I’ve had chronic low-back pain for decades but still run the long-pavement as much as I can, so I tend to be picky with the saddle, even more so because for me a seatback seems awfully confining and I don’t like that strapped-in feel on a bike – especially in the daily metro traffic I must navigate... So, the long-term and long-range comfort of the seat itself is very important.

The benchmark for a bike seat is the old steel tractor seat of the WWII era – not pretty, but farm kids and their parents spent a dozen hours a day on those un-upholstered rascals in modest comfort – why, because they were stamped out to roughly approximate the human backside… Some modern bike seats mimic this style rather nicely, but for hours of comfort in the saddle, the bottom line is, the seat that fits the rider’s/pillion’s butt is the best – regardless of who makes it – and that’s all there is to seat science...

Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with the better off-the-shelf replacement seats like Mustang, Saddleman or Corbin, etc., etc., expecting these volume manufactures to anticipate the shape, form and size every rider’s butt is a tall order of itself, and getting it exactly right for the myriad rider/pillion combinations is clearly hit-or-miss at best, and can arguably be a bridge too far... in those instances I think a custom saddle (such as a Russell Day-Long or one of the Mayer brothers; Rick or Bill) is much less frustrating, less time-consuming and less expensive (by far) in the long run, and cuts down on the trial and error with the plethora a of air, fleece, gel band-aids out there... And as long as one is contemplated dropping better than $500 for a new long-pavement seat any way, I’d propose one of the custom saddles (not to be confused with a mere seat) would be a worthy consideration if/when it becomes obvious the stock buckboard ain’t delivering the goods...

But even customs aren’t necessarily a panacea and it may take a tweak or two to get perfect... But both of mine have been wonderful from the get go... Spent some time talking to Rocky (Bill) Mayer (of BMS) a couple of months back, and according to what he was telling me, the two-part seats, like he did for me on a previous bike, are far easier for the saddlery to get right for both the pillion/rider than are the one-piece seats like on my Ultra... I’ve had my previous cruisers’ seats redone into true custom saddles once I discovered them several years ago, and later my Milwaukee product... making two-up 500 mile days a breeze, and all have been capable of keeping me comfortable on solo jaunts out to 1100-1300 miles a day (and have done so several times), which is far as these geriatric bones dare go in twenty-four...

Rocky, who builds my essentially seamless leather saddles for my bikes – have slightly over 100K miles on `em, can comfortably (comfortably) do 1000 mile days – several times have knocked out 3500 miles in a four-day weekend with enough time for a Saturday night date in the middle -- sleep in the saddle and go again... there is none-better in my book, although it is fair to say there probably ain’t no such things as a perfect motorcycle saddle builder for everyone... However, any seat that won’t keep a rider comfy for as long as they can keep their eyes open is worthless for the long-range rider…

There are the usual off-the-shelf seat makers such as Mustang and Corbin, as well as the scoot manufacturers themselves – all of which seem to satisfy many riders who are more of the regional-riding persuasion... known for essentially pretty durable work... chic and generally quickly available for those who can’t wait the extra few weeks to have a custom saddle built... Not my preference, but works for many.. Almost any seat will do for local running – and these seats often have other priorities; style being paramount in many cases... and many seats are close enough to get the job done for regional runs out to about 250-350 miles, but regardless of how it is achieved, to be comfortable in 500-plus days the seat has to match the rider’s anatomy, period – when I see fleece, gel, air-bags, beads and other snake-oil solutions I just cringe – quit the band-aids and get a saddle that fits! My butt and back don’t care whether I’m on the stock seat, an off-the-shelf aftermarket or a custom, all they know is when they’re comfortable, and for serious mileage that’s all that counts as far as I’m concerned...

See:
Custom Motorcycle Seats and Touring Saddles - "Day-Long" Touring Saddles and Motorcycle Seats by Russell Cycle Products
Custom Motorcycle Seats-Bill Mayer Saddles>
Rick Mayer Cycle custom motorcycle seats

[womper]

Originally Posted by Tobinseats

Hello All!
I see that many of the unhappy riders have the M50. What is the issue w/the seat...too hard or the shape?

for me it's the tailbone area. there's almost no padding there. maybe it's the shape of my ass, but whenever i'd hit a small bump it felt like a bolt was being driven up my spine. after 20 mins of riding i needed to stop.

i put a corbin in and i rode for 1.5 hours straight with no pain at all.
i think suzuki just screwed up the M50 seat. i've got almost 3000 miles on it... if it's not broken in now, it never will be.