Seating

[kamuter]

Having had my LT for 3 weeks now, I've discovered the seat sucks on rides over 2 hours. I primarily bought the bike for long distance, Iron Butt type rides, and I now know this seat won't make the distance with me on it. Does anyone have any thoughts on after market seats such as Bill Mayer or Corbin? My last scooter was an Ultra Classic with a much more comfortable ass rest. Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated.

[Stoker100]

For the money these babies cost they should have a good butt rest. If you like the way the seat looks you could have a gel pad put in for a ver reasonable price
larry

[kamuter]

The Gel Pad is an option, but I also don't like the vinyl covering. You can't slide or move your ass without lifting yourself up. I'm a sensative guy, I like leather close to my bottom.

[Stoker100]

Hum?

[kamuter]

I didn't say it didn't look nice.

[Crossroads]

I agree with you. I can't figure out why, if the M/C manufacturers insist on building a lousy seat they put electric heating in it. I would try Russel to see if they have a seat for you.

[DarrellM5]

Here are a few tips:

1. Never ride with your wallet in your back pocket.
2. Get one of the beaded seat covers from Walmart and modify it to fit your seat. This allows airflow between the seat and your butt and will keep you a lot more comfortable. Should cost about $8.00.
3. Get a gel or air pad as well and alternate between the beads, the bare seat and the pad on trips.
4. Get some of the bike riding underwear or some others without seams on the back to eliminate hot spots. Walmart sells a good pair.

Hopefully these tips will help.

[billybiker]

I think the seat is great. We've done whole days touring with only minor discomfort. Not quite as good as the car seat but not bad for a bike. Maybe you just need to get some time in the saddle!!

[dsorrel]

I have just completed a border to border (1651 miles in less than 24 hours) on my stock seat. Everyone is built different. Stopping for fuel evey 2 to 3 hours was enough for me. I wore the under armor and put my wallet somewhere else. I wore a BMW savanna II suit. All of this made the differnce. Jeans are bad for me on a long trip because of the seam. I am not sure how the search will work in the new forum format. Wait a little and maybe someone can point you in the right direction for a search. This is a wealth of information on seats and preferences in this forum, somewhere.

[Ranger6]

Custom seat is the way to go. Several options out there including one of our very own on this forum. I have a Rick Mayer and it's made all the difference in the world to me...all day comfort.

[gsd]

Corbins have always been too hard for me. I wish Sargent made a seat for the LT...I loved their seat that I had on my K12RS. Currently have the plush seat from BMW and rather like it so far.

[harryg]

I've had my new LT for 8 weeks and the seat seems to be worse now than when it was new. Going around France next week and looked for an alternative. Tried the old sheepskin cover seems better but looks naff.

[Dean_BMW]

My first long ride on my LT was pure misery. I raised the seat... that helped a lot. Someone in the forum suggested that I keep riding, that my feelings about the stock seat would change. Sure enough, now I love the stock seat. After I rode from Trinidad, CO to Shawnee OK with only two stops (and no pain), I realized that the seat couldn't be that bad. Now I ride for hours with no pain at all. I do think the addition of highway pegs also helps.

[Steve_R]

Custom seat is the way to go. Several options out there including one of our very own on this forum. I have a Rick Mayer and it's made all the difference in the world to me...all day comfort.

Silly Ranger6, What would you know about comfort?? :p

[jpalamaro]

Kontour seat on my KLT . . . excellent! kontourseat.com

[hig4s]

Over on another board for all types of bikes there was a thread awhile back about seats.. the general consenses on places to get seats were.

Bill Mayer saddles very good (but it is not quite as good since Bill Mayer Sr passed, his eldest son now runs the business)
Russell seats some of the best. (the Day-long design was created by Bill Mayer and the patent sold to Russell)
Rick Mayer Cycle excellent seats (Bill Mayer's younger son, small shop, Rick does all the work custom by hand, but can take a looooong time)
Corbin good (but much better if you go and have on made in person)

[JetDoc]

The original seat on my LT was a real pain in the a**. I had Russell build me a custom seat, and after a short break-in period, I can truly spend the whole 'daylong' in comfort while riding the highways. It wasn't cheap, but the best investment I ever made.

Ride Safe!

JetDoc

[lanugo]

I find that the seat is much more comfortable now that I have spent so much money on the bike and farkles and now the wallet is flat.

[mpillis]

I hate the stock seat. LT Long distance tourer, not with that seat. Can't afford russell seat so went with beadrider and can ride several 13 hours days. It may be butt ugly but the beads work.

[old1951]

It ain't cheap, but I put a Bill Mayer saddle on my '02 LT after two years of pain and welts. It took almost 3,000 miles to break in, but I can now honestly say it was the best investment I've made to my LT. Doing 600-700 miles a day is no struggle in the rump department. The stock seat was killing me after 300 miles and I could still feel it the next morning. Now at the end of the day, once I depart the bike, it's like I've never been on the bike! The trick is have a firm seat and not a soft compressible one. Bill set mine up using the medium firm core as I wanted to do 500 mile days, day after day. Cost was about $800 with a matt leather on the passenger seat and backrest. I choked a little when I paid the bill, but I now have put about 15K on the seat and can't imagine riding any bike without such a seat. Stock seats are primarily designed for looks and style while custom seats are designed with your southern end in mind and for the specific style of riding you do. I looked at beads, gel and air filled and non of them can compare to a true custom seat. My advise is bite the bullet, go for a custom seat and enjoy the LT to it's maximum.

[heffay93]

The 05 seats are the problem. My 01 was great. Spent 28 consecutive days on it. I too am looking for a comfortable replacement. The 05 seat seems smaller and tends to push you forward a bit. Not happy with it at all.

Jimmy Sneed ><X>
Las Vegas
’05 Dark Graphite

[wneilj]

Have had my LT with the soft seat since April '05 & still can't handle more than 3 hrs. at a time. Definitely going to do something different by next summer!

[STARFIGHTER]

Butts are all different sizes and shapes.
I love the LT seat, but after about 600 miles, I get the ole' monkey butt.
Bicycle shorts seem to have fixed this.
On my RT the seat was no good for my butt so I had Rick Mayer measure my butt, photograph how I sat and build a seat.
Never think about my butt on a ride anymore. If the LT seat isn't working for you I recommend a custom seat. Russell, Rick Mayer or Bill Mayer. (they're really all they same technique of building)

[DaveDragon]

I have had Corbin and and Rick Mayer so far.
The Rick Mayer is an order of magnitude better than Corbin or Stock.

[airborneod]

I was not comfortable on mine until I relocated the front pegs and used the seat adjuster. I don't recall the name of the company that makes the peg relocators but someone here will post, they were well worth the few dollars for me.

[vtwinwilly]

Kamuter,

If you go with a custom seat, I highly recommend doing a "ride in". I'm currently running the Russell gauntlet. That is - I didn't do the "ride in", and instead opted for taking pics of me sitting on the bike, then shipping the seat in. As a consequence, I've been working on this Russell seat since April. At least that's when I placed my original order.

The seat they sent back to me needed to be broken in before they would perform any adjustments. Once broken in, I still had issues so I sent it back for adjustments. I now have it back, but it appears the seat cover was slightly damaged during the adjustment process, so It's got to go back one more time... after yet another break in period. They want to make sure it fits right before they fix the cover. That's a good thing!

Don't get me wrong. I'm not dinging Russell. They've work hard to satisfy my needs. I'm just saying that a "ride in" would have saved a bunch of time and shipping back and forth. If you decide to go the "Pics and Ship" route, just be prepared for a lengthy process.

Bill B.

[coxm]

lOOK AT OREGON AERO IF YOU WANT TO MAINTAIN THE STOCK LOOK. THEY WILL REFOAM AND RETAIN ORIGINAL COVERING AND HEAT. REALLY HELPED THE COMFORT ON MY 05.

[Diehly]

Before getting into the expense of a custom seat, I spent around $60 on Alaska Leather's sheepskin cover. At least for me, it was not a compromise, it was the fix I was looking for. This was on an '03. I too came from the plush sofa on an Ultra. The trade off is that now my lower back pain is GONE.
Good luck!

[Chretienc]

I agree with your comments, I am a 'soon to be' LT owner and have ridden a RoadGlide for the past few years. My test drive on the LT for a couple of hours immediately told me that a custom or after market seat would be in the works. When I get the bike, I will be contacting Barr Enterprises - Sunland, CA
(http://www.harleyseats.com/Bar_Enterprises_Welcomes_You.htm) and have them make a seat to match my big ass. They have several options; one with traditional padding and the other with what they call NASA foam. It is not a gel, but a 'memory' type foam that complies to the contour of your rear. Had one done on the RoadGlide and it worked wonders. I put on a lot of miles on my bikes (did a LA to Chicago run in July) and plan on doing the same with the LT, but only with another seat. I hear Corbin also does custom seats, but don't have any details other than I know they do.
Hope this helps.

[JetDoc]

I was not comfortable on mine until I relocated the front pegs and used the seat adjuster. I don't recall the name of the company that makes the peg relocators but someone here will post, they were well worth the few dollars for me.

The peg relocators Airborneod is talking about are probably from Suburban Machinery www.suburban-machinery.com (http://www.suburban-machinery.com/). They move your pegs about 1 1/2 inches down and forward. Doesn't seem like much, but can really make a difference on those long rides.

[early1]

"KonTour"

Ditto.
Particularly good in the summer-time heat of Texas.

[dshealey]

Assuming you have the "Soft Touch" seat that seems to be on the '05s now? If so, that may be the problem. BMW had that option in the early years, but discontinued it. Most that had it liked it for short rides, but said that long ones were worse than the "Standard" seat. The '05 seat is also getting bad press for being narrower than the pre '05 ones. Seems like BMW took a BIG step backwards on the '05 as far as seat comfort, just to make the bike a little more useable for shorter riders.

I had the standard on my '01, loved it. Did 110,000 miles on it, many 1000 plus mile days, even a 10/10ths (Ten thousand miles in ten days). I thought about trying a custom seat a few times, but could not come up with good enough reason to spend the money.

If you do have the "Soft Touch, or Comfort" BMW seat, try a standard one, you may like it.

[BillyOmaha]

I agree with you. I can't figure out why, if the M/C manufacturers insist on building a lousy seat they put electric heating in it. I would try Russel to see if they have a seat for you.

I whole-heartedly concur on the Russell! Got one and would do it again.

FYI: The custom saddle makers will reuse the BMW seat heating element from the stock seat. So you do save a few bucks on that part.





.

[RonKMiller]

(they're really all they same technique of building)

Ummm, not really...

[BillyOmaha]

If the LT seat isn't working for you I recommend a custom seat. Russell, Rick Mayer or Bill Mayer. (they're really all they same technique of building)

Mostly true..... if you're a heifer like me :o , the Russell can use springs to increase the durability of the support properties. Russell uses it for riders around 220# and greater.





.

[murray]

Well the stock seat will work for some people. My seat was good for about 40 K ,at that point the foam was sacked out. I currently have a Rick Mayer seat although not perfect . When time permits I will send it back for a minor adjustment. My first impression of the seat was 100 mile break in rideing to the MD 20/20 rally felt good. Real test next 48 hrs rode over 2600miles impressed. Weekend of Sept -23 you mentioned LD rideing . I successfully completed the Triple BBG ( 4,500 Miles < 72 Hours ) . Seat impression near perfect.
Pete

[MOPMan]

Mick-O-Peg owners have found that having their feet lower (from the stock foot peg position) allows more weight to be supported by their thighs and relieves much of the "butt" discomfort. When you butt starts to bother you again, try moving your feet to this position and see what you discover. http://www.ridingiswonderful.com/ridingiswonderfulinc/id46.html

[jssomers]

Rode a BBG last year on the stock seat and as long as I took aspirin every 4 hours it was okay. Had a Russell Day Long made this year and completed a BB 3000 and it was much better but still needed the aspirin just not as often.

John
2002 LT
2003 GS

[riderup1]

I loved the seat on my 00...but the standard seat on this new 05 sucks, and I'm only 190 lbs. I might try to find a used seat on ebay from an earlier model and make it fit. I know the color wont match my dark grey color of the seat now, but if I just use it for longer trips who cares? My butt was sore after 600 miles in 24 hrs last week......that never happened in the 00 (of course the front end did'nt wobble in the 00 either.....)

[Bruce]

I have a seat from Ron. At first until I got it broken it was a little hard. But now after break in it's one of the best seats that I have ever set my butt on. About a month ago, I rode for 6 straight days in the TX Hill Country averaging about 300 miles a day without any problems. Another benefit, is the air circulation up from under the seat. My seat is not heated because that's the way I wanted it. I purhcased a non-heated seat from a member and sent it to Ron to build a seat for me. I still have my heated OEM seat and a heated Corbin as well. I know several others on this board that have had Ron build a seat for them and they all enjoy them.

Just my 2 cents worth...