Help - new bike and uncomfortable ride

[Northernbiker]

I picked up my new R1200R on Saturday and got 2 rides in on the weekend. Due to the cold weather neither were very long - about 120 km in total. Lots of things I love about it but I'm finding the seating position uncomfortable. Coming from a F650CS with a tall seat, I assumed the tall seat on the 1200R would be right for me too. Now I'm not so sure. The first thing I noticed was arm fatigue, mainly due to having to hold my arms up straighter than I'm used to. After my second, and longer ride yesterday, in addition to arm fatigue I had a fair amount of lower back pain. Going to stop by the dealer today and see if I can get the stock seat and try that for a while to see if it corrects these problems.

I'm 6'4" with 34" inseam and I realized going to a lower seat will mean a compromise in legroom, but if I can't find a comfortable riding position all the other great things about the bike won't really matter. Any one else experience this kind of problem at first and need to switch to a lower seat? All input greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[xprof]

I'm not as tall as you (6'1", 32'" inseam), but experienced some of the same discomfort as you have. Bar-backs worked for me, eliminating the strain in the shoulders and upper arms; SW MoTech at only $50 makes for an easy and reversible fix. Also allows me to sit up straighter, which just might help with the back. And I love my Bill Mayer saddle, but that's a lot more pricey. Then again, not all bikes fit everyone. Good luck, and I hope you find a good resolution.

[MJB]

This topic has been covered many times.
I too am interested in getting a better seat.

Best thing to do is too go to the main R1200R page and shearch the topic "Seats", or better still here is a link
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=16870


I am 6'-1" with a 34" inseam.
I'm thinking about a seargent seat.

Here is a link to the Bar Back question...
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=16687&p=148023&hil ... ks#p148023

[Josh_S]

I'm 6'4 with 34" inseam. To make my r1200r perfect for me, I added MV bar backs, dropped my pegs 1.5 " (suburban machinery) and had Bill Mayes saddle works make me custom seat that raised me up, and back. It was a wee bit of work, but I can now ride all day in comfort.

[Bill Stevenson]

I have a LOT of BMW motorcycle riding over a period of almost 40 years and counting. I have never found a stock BMW seat that was comfortable. Your arm fatigue could be related to the saddle. If you need to keep pushing or pulling with your arms to stay on the seat where you want to be, then that could be the root of a very common problem. Neutral seating means your arms, shoulders, and back are not stressed and you stay relaxed. Others have mentioned this so I will just add that Bill Mayer saddles are the best I have used. There are other brands of course, and I haven't tried them all, but Bill Mayer, Jr. and his father before him have provided satisfactory seating for me since the 1970s. Depending on your personal preferences and physiology, barbacks, fairings, footpegs etc. are all interrelated. But you need to start from a firm base and that firm base is a comfortable seat that provides a neutral position. You have spent a lot of money for your new BMW, why put up with a seat that could sour you on the whole ownership experience? For a few hundred bucks you will be able to enjoy the ride much more fully. And it will allow you to sort out all of the other factors necessary to get a satisfactory fit quickly and effectively.

Bill

[thepeacebullgrunt]

I stick my balls on the gas tank as much as possible...in term of balance it feel like the bike is designed more for this position. I can release the pressure a little while cruising a long time and seat more in the back for a while, but if I try to imitate a touring bike position all the time I can also feel while riding that the bike wasn't really designed for that.

A friend really like my bike but can't buy it because he is very tall... so I suppose that beside tweaking the whole thing with custom seat and peg lowerers and such this riding position issue on the R1200R is one of its few limitations.

A good diet also help comfort on the bike... to thin your blood with veggies and a raw food diet will help a lot blood circulation in articulations and legs.

[snag]

Bill Stevenson did a post on this subject and one of his comments was about proper posture. That solved a lot of my problems and, with the help of an Airhawk I have been riding in comfort ever since. I would make sure that you are seated squarely on the seat and use your core to support your upper body first. It wont help the numb bum, but should take care of a lot of the other discomfort issues.

Doug

[ka5ysy]

Easy correction for your problems, beside the peg lowering suggestion...

Bar back / risers : Report is about half way down this post :

http://www.dualsportridersoflouisiana.c ... stcount=45


Rick Mayer Seat : WONDERFUL !

http://www.dualsportridersoflouisiana.c ... stcount=94

[Northernbiker]

Thanks all for your feedback and suggestions. I picked up the stock seat from the dealer today and can say that it is noticeably better, but still some room for improvement. Although my legs feel a bit cramped now, there was less strain on my arms, shoulders and back compared to riding with the tall seat. I can see now it was my mistake assuming that since the taller seat worked for me on the 650CS, I would also need it on the new bike.

Because of the usual distractions with trying to get accustomed to a different bike, I honestly didn't notice until tonight just how bad BMW seats are! The one on my old bike was hard and gave me numb butt but I could live with that. Today I felt like I was shifting around trying to find the right spot, only there is no right spot. It just felt like the curvature of the seat is wrong somehow, possibly too much curvature. No matter whether I moved forward or backwards on the seat, I felt like I was perched on a 2x4, not actually sitting on a seat. A after-market seat will definately be in my future, but not until my bank account has had a little time to recover from the bike purchase! Will discuss bar backs and lowering the foot pegs with the dealer this week as I know they will also improve my riding position.

Since the ride today was much more comfortable than my first 2 outings on it, what can I say but yeehaa! What a bike! Thanks again guys.

[Dan-A]

There is one guy in our local BMW club who likes the stock seat on his bike. He is one lucky and rare SOB. Maybe there are lots of German guys with butts that fit the seats BMW makes, who knows? What other reason could there be for the seats they make?