Seats

[budzee]

I have a 99 LTC with 30k of which 20k are mine. I was wondering how to choose an after market seat. I can't afford to buy one and decide after a few hundred miles it was not what I needed. I am 5'8" and weigh 175lbs. I have a 78 /7 that I can ride all day but 3-4 hours on the LT and my but and legs are hurting. Any suggestions?

[strsout]

I know it's what you are avoinding, but...
Rick Mayer made the seats to my bike and he is behind his product very well. If you don't like his seat, I'm sure he has a returning police. So what I would do is buy a used pam and send it to him. If you don't like he can remove the material and send you the pam back, so you can try another product...
Or even better, find a friend who has after market seat on his bike and ask for a ride...
If you are in Souther California area you will be welcome to try my bike.

[roadglide]

I have had 8 seats made for my '03 LT,and Rick Mayer is by far the best.I still have a brand new stock '05 and a custom corbin on the shelf.I live in Costa Mesa,Ca. if you want to sit on my Rick mayer.

[budzee]

Thanks to Roadglide and Strsout but i am in North Carolina.

[STARFIGHTER]

Does it hurt right where your thigh meets your butt ???
A common complaint because if you push on your seat there you'll feel the frame....they just got a little light on the foam there..............................
Rick Mayer knows this and this is the second saddle he's done for me........
That being said, all butts are different....for some ( I said "for some") a pair of bicycle shorts (padded) will do the trick..................................................
If you need the seat redone, measurements, photos......Rick will give you the needs .....and you ship the seat to him, he does his magic and ships it back........

[TMH]

I can't afford to buy one and decide after a few hundred miles it was not what I needed.
There have been some posts on other boards about auto upholstery shops who understand foam and butts, and who can do the job significantly cheaper than custom motorcycle seat companies. But although you may initially save some money going this route, you do have a higher risk of needing to re-do the job, and that can get more expensive in the long run. Maybe check around locally and see if you can find a shop that seems to have similar experience/know what they are doing.

My bike came with Rick Mayer saddles on both seats, so I was pretty lucky. My understanding of his business is that if you give him all of the requested information (measurements, photos, etc), you have a high probability of getting the right saddle for you first time out of the gate. And if it is not quite right, I believe that he will do a "re-do" one time at no charge to get things (more) perfect. Unfortunately the absolute best way to get the perfect fit is to make a ride-in appointment, but it sounds like a road trip from NC to CA is not currently in your plans!

I have also read that Rick, as he only does seats as a side business, can sometimes be difficult to communicate with, sometimes does not meet schedules the first time, and sometimes does not get seats out to the specs ordered. And this will only be getting worse now, as his busy season is beginning to hit.

Maybe if you can wait for another season (get an Alaska Leather Sheepskin Buttpad in the interim) you can meet up with some folks at the CCR and get some ideas of what you like in custom seats. Then you can go with the custom seat maker you choose, as their business is winding down for the Winter.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Tom

[dmatson]

I hated the seat on my 05' but the custom seats that I have had on other bikes always made the seat wider and taller. I am 5'9" and have short legs so a wider taller seat is not what I was looking for. I had a Kontour seat built and had it made to a plus size (stiffer and a thicker). The 05 seat is narrower to begin with and then I removed the adjustment rod from under the seat so it sits 1" lower that it did in the low position. I have done lots of 500 mi days and several around 650 with no problems.
Other builders are Bill (Rocky) Mayer, Rick's brother, he built a seat for my 950 and I love it. I also have a Sheepskin that I use sometimes and it makes a big difference. Good Luck!

[KYchris02]

I know it's what you are avoinding, but...
Rick Mayer made the seats to my bike and he is behind his product very well. If you don't like his seat, I'm sure he has a returning police. So what I would do is buy a used pam and send it to him. If you don't like he can remove the material and send you the pam back, so you can try another product...
Or even better, find a friend who has after market seat on his bike and ask for a ride...
If you are in Souther California area you will be welcome to try my bike.

i really want a rick mayer. what can one expect to pay?

[meese]

i really want a rick mayer. what can one expect to pay?Look here (http://www.homestead.com/prosites-rmcycle/config.pdf) or here (http://www.homestead.com/prosites-rmcycle/prices.html).

[hschisler]

Look here (http://www.homestead.com/prosites-rmcycle/config.pdf) or here (http://www.homestead.com/prosites-rmcycle/prices.html).Ken, this is excellent information. Thanks. Although it isn't cheap (when you add in the extra cost for the LT-size seat, passenger seat, etc.), I was afraid it would cost even more.

For this type of investment I could see flying to CA (sorry, don't have that much vacation time to ride back and forth) for a "ride-in" appointment, just to get things perfect.

[WildBill]

Budzee,

Where in North Carolina are you located? I have a sister around Asheville/Pisgah Forest and get down there 4-6 times a year. If you aren't in a hurry I will stop by and let you sit on my seat made by RIck Mayer. I had about 40K miles on my stock seat before it started really bothering me. At CCR 04 (Breckenridge) I bought a custom seat from Rick Mayer. I am very happy with the seat but believe me Rick needs to take many, many lessons on customer relations. He is extremely difficult to reach (took me over 1 month to get him to respond after he already had my money and seat. He routinely fails to make promised shipping dates and doesn't inform the customer. I've heard that he does great on drive-ins and also will "fix" your seat if it isn't right, you just can't be in any sort of hurry. Also he offered a $100.00 discount at CCR. So in the end I guess the wait/frustration in dealing with Rick resulted in a very confortable seat but I really don't know if I would go back to him unless I had 2-3 months or more to wait for a seat. I now have about 20K miles on my seat and still find it very comfortable.

You might consider other options such as the Kontour Seat(?) made by a site member, which has recieved good reviews. Another option is to look at when any large rallies are in your area as most vendors offer discounts at these events. From North Carolina Mrytle Beach Bike week and the Honda Hoot in Tennessee are 2 local area events that might have a collection of seat vendors to check out. Good Luck.

WildBill

[meese]

Part of the purpose for a "ride-in" is so they can see you sitting on the bike, and so that you can give direct feedback if any adjustments are needed. But with Rick it sounds like it may be just so that you actually get your seat in a reasonable amount of time.

If you go with Bill (Rocky) Mayer Saddles (http://billmayersaddles.com/), then you can borrow my LT for the test fit. He's only 1/2 hour from me, when I'm in my home state, that is. :)

Or maybe just come to CCR with cash in hand. :)

[jwd98056]

Not wanting to leave anyone out, I had my saddle done at http://www.richscustomseats.com/ in Seattle, WA. He makes quality saddles for long distance riders as well as exotic show products. He does drive-in fittings but if you have to ship your saddle to him he asks for pictures, measurements and information about what kind of discomfort your saddle currently produces so he can get as good a fit as possible. He also stands behind his work. He also has an LT in his stable of motorcycles. There are a lot of IBA riders that ride with his saddles as there probably are for the other custom saddle makers already mentioned. They all must be doing something right.

I will echo another comment that was posted. No two butts are the same. One persons pleasure is another persons pain. I have tried many off the shelf saddle brands over my 40 years of riding and none come close tothe comfort of a custom fitted saddle. If you stay away from the exotic leathers and frills, a custom fitted saddle should not cost any more than the list price of a Corbin or other top end "one size fits most" saddle companies. My problem is I don't ever seem to be in the standard size butt group ;).

[SeaMarshal]

I live in the Seattle area and have had 3 seats done for me by Rich's; I think he has an add in the BMWON. I've sat in the saddle for 20 hours - 990 miles one day and was not sore.

Buddy of mine sent his seat to CeeBaileys and they did his up for a good cost.

A custom seat makes all the difference.

[ehancock]

Having seat problems too - if I had more $$ I would buy them all and then chose. I'm wondering if the Massachusetts or New England riders would be interested in a, "look at mine", meeting at a central location. The idea would be to let each other see and sit on custom seats, and other stuff too - like lights etc. BMWMOA has a rally in Vermont in July but I was thinking of May or June for a couple of hours. If there is enough interest (email me at edhancock@comcast.net) or post here I will try to interest a local dealer in hosting.