BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

After reading many posts here about after-market seats, I've decided to go with the Sargent Premium Foam Conversion. It looks like those of you who have already bought one seem very happy with it.

I'll be getting the regular height seat with their standard upholstery configuration - Carbon FX inserts etc. The main problem with the stock seat is that it's uncomfortable, the other is slidding forward towards the tank while riding. Could I get some feedback from you Sargent owners on this? Does their seat solve the problem of slidding foward? Also any general comments on the seat would be welcome. Thanks.

Chris

I never had a problem sliding forward - but I had the low seat. The Sargent doesn't change that on the low seat, it's still low and I still don't have a problem sliding forward.

The "bucket" in the Sargent seat is located a bit further back than the stock seat. This to me is a good thing - more squirm room when my butt starts to hurt (arthritis is a pisser..)

My only complaints on the Sargent:

1 - They used regular steel staples to fasten the cover. These go into a cloth edging on the cover, which gets wet when you ride in the rain, or the bike sits out overnight. The staples have started to rust. Stainless or monel staples would be a much better idea. You might ask them about this - I'd be interested in their answer.

2 - The foam insert they used (at least on the low seat) doesn't quite go down to the edges of the seat on the sides, leaving a somewhat lumpy looking area right above the bottom edge of the seat. Not a problem functionally, and you'd have to study it to notice it - but once you do.. it's obvious.

3 - They don't suggest the heated seat option more strongly. If I was to have one made today by them I'd for sure opt for the heated seat. Heated butt is a great thing on a 30F day riding. I ended up making a heating pad for mine that goes on top of the seat, but having it in the seat would have been a much better idea. Unless you live in Florida or lower Texas - go for the heating element.

deilenberger wrote:I never had a problem sliding forward - but I had the low seat. The Sargent doesn't change that on the low seat, it's still low and I still don't have a problem sliding forward.

The "bucket" in the Sargent seat is located a bit further back than the stock seat. This to me is a good thing - more squirm room when my butt starts to hurt (arthritis is a pisser..)

My only complaints on the Sargent:

1 - They used regular steel staples to fasten the cover. These go into a cloth edging on the cover, which gets wet when you ride in the rain, or the bike sits out overnight. The staples have started to rust. Stainless or monel staples would be a much better idea. You might ask them about this - I'd be interested in their answer.

2 - The foam insert they used (at least on the low seat) doesn't quite go down to the edges of the seat on the sides, leaving a somewhat lumpy looking area right above the bottom edge of the seat. Not a problem functionally, and you'd have to study it to notice it - but once you do.. it's obvious.

3 - They don't suggest the heated seat option more strongly. If I was to have one made today by them I'd for sure opt for the heated seat. Heated butt is a great thing on a 30F day riding. I ended up making a heating pad for mine that goes on top of the seat, but having it in the seat would have been a much better idea. Unless you live in Florida or lower Texas - go for the heating element.

Thanks very much for your input Don. I will definately ask about the stainless steel staples when I talk to them. Still undecided about the heated seat option as it's usually my upper body that gets cold. I may get a heated vest instead as a couple of the guys I ride with swear by them.

Chris

+1 on the heated liner, just placed my order for the new Gerbing's microwire jacket (T5 gloves will have to wait a bit, $169 is a bit much before xmas). I can hardly wait, it's been frikkin COLD...

Northernbiker wrote:[Still undecided about the heated seat option as it's usually my upper body that gets cold.

I think it would be worth while to test ride a bike on a cold day like the RT that has a heated seat before you pull the trigger. I was surprised at just how well the one on my previous R12RT kept me warm. I miss it now on the R, although we don't get too much cold weather riding here.

although we don't get too much cold weather riding here.

Hey! No-one needs to hear that right now...

Mollygrubber wrote:Hey! No-one needs to hear that right now...

My bad... Probably won't make you feel any better, but it was 38F this morning Oh, how I miss the sound of Harleys in the morning...

Oh, how I miss the sound of Harleys in the morning...

rofl - I hear you - this is a big 'BIKER' city, and those doorknobs love waking everybody up at 2:00am all summer with their 'safe' pipes.

Maybe I'll pull the exhaust off my RR and do a couple of rolling burnouts in front of the H.A. clubhouse at 5:30 tomorrow morning...

In my opinion, the Sargent seat was best purchase/upgrade I made for my R12R. Since I live in South Florida, the heat option was not needed. Well it is getting cold now, temps droppin down into the 60s now at night, brrrrrr.

Mollygrubber wrote:+1 on the heated liner, just placed my order for the new Gerbing's microwire jacket (T5 gloves will have to wait a bit, $169 is a bit much before xmas). I can hardly wait, it's been frikkin COLD...

+2 on the heated liners. I opted for the Warn-n-safe stuff. They are the best thing since sliced bread for cold weather riding. I bought my wife the heated gloves from Cycle Gear and she is a very, very happy camper now. We did a early morning group ride to a veterans home in near-freezing temperatures last weekend, and we were totally comfortable. Amazing stuff and highly recommended.


Seats: I went with the Rick Mayer seat because the stock seat positively sucked after an hour of riding. Full report with photos here:

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

i do not know how a sargent seat feels in a bmw, but i had one in my zx14..and it is just excellent!!! Go for it

I received my seat back from Sargent about 2 weeks ago and it seems fine to me but I have not had a chance to actually put on my bike to try it yet. Bike is away in winter storage in a friend's garage, I hope to get over there this weekend to put the seat back on and actually sit on it on the bike. Due to it being the middle of winter here (-14 deg and snowy) it looks like it will be a couple of months before I really have a chance to test it out.

Will of course post my final opinion on it after I've had some time on it. I will say however that Sargent was great to deal with. Good communication and they gave me a 10% discount due to it being a slow time for them, which kind of surprised me. When I spoke to them prior to shipping the seat off, the guy told me that while you'd expect this to be a busy time with so many of us northerners having our bikes in storage, that most people don't think of getting it done until the beginning of the riding season.

Chris

Q: Did you get stanless steel staples?

Keep us posted, I havn't owned my bike long enough to hate the stock seat (hated the low seat after 5 seconds though), but we shall see how things pan out over time.

I had a K12LT before I down sized for my R12R a couple of years ago. Used it just a couple of times to just try it in the 8 years I had the bike. I did not find it all that useful. I guess I already put out great bottom heat. Heated hand grips and a heated vest have always been the thing that kept me riding longer.

I had one on my old K1200RS and it was very comfortable and a quality product. In regards to the staples, some of them came loose near the front of the seat and scratched my paint pretty bad but it was underneath the seat area thus was not visible when the seat was on. Just beware of that possibility.

It's a tough choice, with all the good seats available, but today I ordered my first after market Sargent seat, because of all of the positive comments about it on this site. Went for the white welt, and carbonFX inserts. Heat too! I asked about the staples, if they now use stainless. I mentioning a complaint about them rusting after the bike being in the rain. I was told they are using cadmium staples, and the guy didn't think rusting staples was a major concern.
George
2007 R1200R Black w/white pinstripes
1983 R100RT
1966 R50/2 apart

The roads finally thawed out enough to take my new Sargent seat for a ride. It's noticeably cushier, with wider bum support. Will have to get used to the steep step to rear pillion - no more sliding back to stretch out. I ordered the 'low' option but it seems no lower than the standard stock seat. Perhaps my legs are getting shorter. Looking forward to longer trips this spring.

I got my standard-height Sargent seat last week but I have only put about 50 miles on it so I can't say anything about long distance comfort. I called Sargent and talked to Rudy about the stainless staples when I ordered it. He arranged for that to happen although he said they had to borrow a staple gun and staples from their marine division. He told me that they use cadmium staples also but it's not clear why they don't just use Monel or stainless. If more people ask for stainless staples maybe they'll change (Don Eilenberger might have really started something here).

The sliding forward problem is reduced but not entirely eliminated. Mine doesn't seem to have the problem with the foam not coming down to the bottom edge Don mentioned.

The vinyl on my stock seat was pretty slippery and the Sargent isn't much better. I ordered the heated seat option and the controller wasn't in the box, so make sure you look for it when the seat arrives.

You might also consider the BMW comfort seat. The BMW dealer showed it to me and it looks pretty similar to the Sargent in shape. I think he said it was around $500 but he would give 10% off. I went with the Sargent due to the comments I saw on this forum and the heat option. I haven't seen any comments by anyone who's tried the BMW comfort seat.

lynnboyd wrote:I got my standard-height Sargent seat last week but I have only put about 50 miles on it so I can't say anything about long distance comfort. I called Sargent and talked to Rudy about the stainless staples when I ordered it. He arranged for that to happen although he said they had to borrow a staple gun and staples from their marine division. He told me that they use cadmium staples also but it's not clear why they don't just use Monel or stainless. If more people ask for stainless staples maybe they'll change (Don Eilenberger might have really started something here).

Wonder if they'd like to "fix" the ones on mine. I sorta loved how THEY didn't see rusty staples being a problem (the seat isn't on their bike..) And how much more could it cost to use stainless or monel?

The sliding forward problem is reduced but not entirely eliminated. Mine doesn't seem to have the problem with the foam not coming down to the bottom edge Don mentioned.

Mine is the low seat - haven't had a sliding forward problem, didn't with the stock low seat. Is yours the normal height? That might explain the difference..

The vinyl on my stock seat was pretty slippery and the Sargent isn't much better. I ordered the heated seat option and the controller wasn't in the box, so make sure you look for it when the seat arrives.

I haven't had a problem with slippery vinyl - but mine doesn't make me slide forward. You'll love the heated seat (I love the heat pad I made for mine..)

You might also consider the BMW comfort seat. The BMW dealer showed it to me and it looks pretty similar to the Sargent in shape. I think he said it was around $500 but he would give 10% off. I went with the Sargent due to the comments I saw on this forum and the heat option. I haven't seen any comments by anyone who's tried the BMW comfort seat.

There was one person here who ordered the comfort seat and was quite happy with it. The 2010 R12R with the "touring package" may come standard with it according to my friendly local dealer. They have one on a showroom bike and it does look very much like the Sargent in shape, but felt a bit softer (dunno if this is a good thing or not - would have to take a 2-3 hour ride to tell..) It's certainly a reasonable option if you don't want heat... it is a handsome looking seat (much better IMHO than the Corbin.. and hugely better looking than a Russell.)

FWIW I had a Sargent premium foam conversion done on my old '06 F650GS. It was hands down the best upgrade to the bike that I made. I'm considering getting it done to my new R12R (that I haven't even ridden yet), but I get a $400 credit with BMW for being in the military, so I'll probably just apply that toward the Comfort Seat.

If I didn't have the BMW credit coming, I'd be doing the Sargent upgrade.