RR Seats

[kantuckid]

Has anyone reading this tried the http://www.greatdaytoride.com modified seats? I saw the article about them in Rider magazine and there is a seat thread in MOA Forum too. I use an Alaskan sheepskin pad but need to avoid raising the seat any ,so would like to hear how it works from RR riders in particular. The MOA thread has many comments on the beads ,Airhawk, sheepskin and a few other seat issues.The older I get, the more important this becomes!

[OU812]

I had a local custom seat guy add gel pacs and cover mine with leather. Cost was high but very comfy. This looks like a great alternative and I used the Alaska buttpad with mine.

[wncbmw]

Funny - I am shipping him my seat this morning! From our email correspondence, he seems very knowledgeable. Will let you know next week! Can't beat the price if it works!

One board member had a seat redone and recommended him a while ago.

[cbesey]

I'm unfamiliar with that one but have been meaning to sing the praises of the new seat I recently had done by Rick Mayer (was waiting to take pics and still haven't gotten around to it). Suffice to say I almost want to take it off the bike every night and put it on the couch - it's the most comfortable seat I own! The width does somewhat inhibit getting a knee down in the corners (not an issue for staid ol' me) and it moved me from flat footing to the balls of my feet (preferred). The stock seat started causing problems at ~150 miles, thus far 400 on this seat is no problem.

I got only the front as I have a Rockster panel on the rear, and got it in vinyl instead of leather (I'm always wearing leathers anyway, breathability wasn't an issue). In that configuration it was a mere $150 having it done on my existing seat pan, best bang for the buck I've found for an aftermarket seat. If you're on the fence for a more expensive option, I can't recommend this one strongly enough.

Chris

[Eqyn Dad]

I had greatdaytoride do my low RR seat done over the winter. My initial thoughts are positive.

He clearly has taken the "hard and sharp" edge out of the stock seat. The initial feel is much more comfortable. It looks very stock except for a slight outline where the gel pad is and the seat "squeaks" a bit. Maybe this will go away over time.

I will be able to spend several hours on the seat this weekend so I will report further on the mod.

[kantuckid]

I am 5'9" and wear 29" inseam pants, so very interested to hear comments that come from those who are short in the leg dept as relates to various choices. I cannot afford to gain any height while improving my seat! Thanks for the replys to date.

[ktmkid]

Well guys what was the end result, did you get it done did you like it. I'm 5'10" and 31 inseam. I just spent $635 with Sargent and it's good but not what I'm looking for so I've e-mailed greatdaytoride to see what he recommends.

[RichardD]

Eric, Return the Sargents if you don't like it and try a stock standard height seat for $150 new. Ask the members of this board how many like the stock seat. There's a used one on here for $60 .......Rich

[wncbmw]

During my email exchange with the fellow at Greatdaytoride, I explained that on long trips, my knees actually gave me more trouble than my butt and asked about raising the seat height. He explained that my leveling the seat and rotating the hips back, it took some pressure off the knees. I experimented while riding and discovered that my scooting back on the seat, my knee position did improve! I just could not keep the position because the slope of the seat kept sliding my forward! So I look forward to seeing how the change works. I have done 500 mile + days on the stocker, so I anticipate it will be a good investment.

I am only doing the $50 mod to the front seat only.

His mods don't raise the height but he will lower the seat height. Email him to talk about what you need. After it comes back next week, I will take a long ride and report back!

[digga]

Those are cheap prices for seat alterations.. especially when you look at the Sargeants!!

On the website mentioned there is a pic of what they term 'flex gel' this looks very much like this product:- CrossGel
http://flexgel.com/
This Co. does a seat pad that maybe worth a try ( but not if you're a short ar*e like me)
I have tried to get one of these pads exported to the UK,(so as to have it built into a seat) but flexgel have made it uneconomical with shipping costs!!

I am currently trying to get a 'farkle' importer to ...err! .... import

Does anyone have any experience of the Crossgel product??

[Eqyn Dad]

I had the front only seat mod done (w/gel) by greatdaytoride and I finally had the oportunity to put about 3 hours on the saddle last night: I am 5'9" w/ 30" inseam, upgrade was done to the "low" rr seat with no change to height of seat for me and no change to seat OEM look.

The initial feel is noticable; the hardness of my OEM is gone and the sharp edge feel of my OEM is gone. After 3 hours, the seat did not create the hot-spot feel of my OEM seat and my squirming - due to lack of comfort - is gone. One of my issues with my OEM was the pain created in my hip joint (old age thing); that pain never occured after the 3 hour ride of last night - my hope is it does not come back.
It's definitely not the iron-butt comfort of a Sargeant or Corbin but, for the dollar and my riding schedule, the upgrade was well worth the purchase.

Thanks for everyone's valuable information on this forum.

[bluelight]

Bought the bike on the rec of a BMW fanatic. Never rode one or sat on one. Yes dumb.
Now the first time on it (I'm 6'1") I felt like a jockey on a horse and I cant tell you how
uncomfortable it was.

My next mistake was getting a Sargent seat. Problem with it was the piping on the squared top presses into your legs while riding whick is not too bad. The real problem starts when you need to stop. Now since the front of the seat is so wide and squared off you feel
a wedge prying your groin apart with your feet on the ground. The 2-3 inch elevation
does help your leg position. Seat returned.

Next I ordered the BMW high seat which is very comfortable, your groin is not pushed
into the tank, and the front is nicely rounded off and narrow so you can put your feet on the ground without feeling like there is a medicine ball stuck between your legs. Padding is much
better than the stock seat and the 3" height increase is a welcome relief for your legs (esp Knees)

On order is the bar risers, and may consider the peg relocators if Im still not happy. The
BMW high seat is what the bike should have come with for riders taller than 6', but I understand that everybody needs to put their feet on the ground at at times (like stops).
An adjustatable seat (1100r) would have made this bike more popular than it was when sold new.

[kantuckid]

The seat issue is a very personal one but it is no accident that lots of people make a living building /selling seat improvements for BMW bikes! It is good that we have our kids before I started riding this brand of bike as I have never been on a bike that played such havoc with the"family" as does the BMW OEM seat. You are one of the few that find them OK?