OK, I was about to order a RDL seats and read that RDL is for heavier riders. I am 170 lbs and 6'1".

The Rick Mayer seats are about $400 and the RDL are about $600. Anyone happy with the Rick Mayer seat?

I've never heard that about Russell. They do have a little different suspension for heavier riders, and charge a few $ more for it. But that's the only thing. Shorter inseams sometimes have issues with flat-footing. I'm about 185 and my RDL is the best purchase I've ever made...it has extended my riding range enormously (and made the time I'm on the bike MUCH more comfortable). If you're interested at all in the Russell, give them a call with your questions and any concerns you have...they will be very upfront with you, I guarantee. I sat in their office while there for a ride-in, and heard conversations with probably 10 prospective customers; there was no BS.

Having said that, I also had a Rick Mayer seat on my FJR and was very happy with it, too. For pure LD riding, I'd recommend the Russell. If you like moving around on the bike when riding the twisties, then you will probably be happier with the Rick Mayer. Or if your inseam is too short to let you flat-foot the bike with the RDL. Again, let the folks with Russell advise you on the suitability of their seat for your dimensions. And give Rick a call, too. He's a little harder to reach as he's more of a one-man band, but he's a good guy once you reach him.

 

I have Rick's saddle on my R1200RT:

I had one on my R1150RT.

If I get a new BMW, I will order Rick's saddle for it.

 

Saddles, oil and tires. More opinions than facts. Stick with the stock seat and go buy a good burger, call it a day.

 

I have Rick's saddle on my R1200RT:

I had one on my R1150RT.

If I get a new BMW, I will order Rick's saddle for it.

Thanks, there is a $200 difference so I am wonderign if the russel is worth it.

A little more info.

How long can you ride wihout discomfort?

Is your seat heated?

A 300 mile day hurts now, which is not acceptable.

 

I'm 5'9" weigh 155 lbs. I love my Russell. BTW, I elected to get the rider's seat only and it set me back a whopping 300 bucks.

Bob

 

I have a Rick Mayer on my 2010 RT and have been very happy with it. It is MUCH more comfortable than the OEM saddle. I've ridden all day without any problems. I don't have a really good pic of it but this will give you and idea. Mine has the front seat fitted but the rear is Rick's standard seat.

Regards,

 

OK, I was about to order a RDL seats and read that RDL is for heavier riders. I am 170 lbs and 6'1".

The Rick Mayer seats are about $400 and the RDL are about $600. Anyone happy with the Rick Mayer seat?

I have a Rick Mayer and love it and they look real nice too. I am 5'10" and 215 pounds. The Russel looks like a barbers chair to me, may be comfy but looks better on an LT or GLT not an RT IMO.

I got a special last winter and got the front rebuilt and rear recovered to match for $310.00 at Rick Mayer.

 

The stock seat is shit. I had a Rick Mayer for a yr and it was as good as a Sargent. I then went to a rd an hands down a better ride. No hot spots and very comfy.

 

The stock seat is shit. I had a Rick Mayer for a yr and it was as good as a Sargent. I then went to a rd an hands down a better ride. No hot spots and very comfy.

I just read a long thread spanning 10 years about the Rick Meyers service problems. I think that I will have to suck it up and just get the Russel Day long. Kind of sick of spending money on the BMW...

 

I just read a long thread spanning 10 years about the Rick Meyers service problems. I think that I will have to suck it up and just get the Russel Day long. Kind of sick of spending money on the BMW...

IMO, that's the right decision. Pretty simple to work out really. How far do you want or intend to ride *normally* when traveling?

I've tried several custom saddles over the years, from Ez Berg in the 70s to RDLs. The Berg saddles design appears to be what the RDL was patterned after. Bill Mayer developed a support system that is second to none, based on Ez's design, then sold it to Don Russell - thus, the Russell Day Long was born. After Don passed away, his wife Donna sold the company to its present owners. Bill Mayer Saddle is now owned by his son Rocky. I have a BMS [made by Adrian at BMS] that is a decent saddle, but not up to the challenge of full/long days in the saddle - in spite of doing a ride in and sending it back once to fix. Good for about 500 miles and looks good though. In fairness to BMS, Adrian was trying to get me closer to the ground - thus, cut the foam too thin. I think normally cut saddles from BMS would be good but again, like the Russell, tall.

I also have a Corbin one piece low saddle [5'8' with 28 in inseam]. I really like the Corbin and it's good for long days for me. Downside is, I need my fuel cell and it's on a seat pan for the rear seat.

I rarely ride in town. I normally ride straight through to where I want to go or up to about 1200 miles before I stop to sleep.

We own homes in Clovis, NM & Tucson, AZ. 600 miles doorstep to doorstep in hot weather. Often ride over on Friday and back on Sunday or Monday and taking the "motorcycle long-cut" from Tucson, [about 800mi] now and then, up US 191 from Morenci, AZ to Alpine, AZ, then 180 down to Santa Clara, NM and over to I-25 on NM 152 [look at google earth] and on home on US 60.

Anyway, the bottom line here is, IMO, the extra couple dollars you pay for a Russell will pay you back in comfort, regardless of how far you decide to ride.

 

Sorry guys but I'm pretty tough and NO saddle is as good as they say. Yep the RDL I had was more comfy than stock, and for the most part comfy as seats go, but you were not going to ride 1000 miles gas to gas without getting out of the seat. You still get hotspots and need to shift around.
So what in "MY" opinion is the big difference? How many day after day long mileage rides you can do and recover between. The RDL is VERY good for consecutive LONG days or high mileage days.
Haven't had a Meyer seat, just about everything else, but not the Meyer. With that said the RDL is good and for my money, the best option (we tend to stick with what works) and it works for me and the Mrs.

ps... my next RDL will have the velour saddle area for hot days

 

I had a RDL on my previous K1100 LT and really liked it. Very comfortable for me on long distance riding. However, I would add that my wife never liked the pillion seat. Not sure if you have an SO that frequently rides with you, but you might want to consider that before making your decision. Of course, survey's of one can be misleading.

 

for the sake of economy, my experiment with a gel pad insert gave me a very good return on investment. If you have the leg reach already, get a gel pad insert off ebay and mod your stock seat. Will cost you under $100, and likely all you need.
That being said - if you got the bucks, a custom built seat (not mail order) is certainly the BMW of seats. Now you are looking at $1000 front/rear and taxes.

 

for the sake of economy, my experiment with a gel pad insert gave me a very good return on investment. If you have the leg reach already, get a gel pad insert off ebay and mod your stock seat. Will cost you under $100, and likely all you need.
That being said - if you got the bucks, a custom built seat (not mail order) is certainly the BMW of seats. Now you are looking at $1000 front/rear and taxes.

Which is more than I want to spend. I'm glad the gel insert worked for you and you didn't have the heat issues I had with a gel seat here in southern AZ. I do have an Airhawk though and plan to find out how well it works on a 2000 mile ride in a couple of weeks. The stock works fine for me around town and on short rides. Hopefully that Airhawk will solve and comfort issues on long rides. My previous bike - a Victory Vision - was comfortable without the Airhawk. I would just get sweaty after a while and the monkey butt sets in. Then life sucks. I need to remain as dry as possible and the Airhawk provides the ventilation I need.

 

Thanks, there is a $200 difference so I am wonderign if the russel is worth it.
A little more info.
How long can you ride wihout discomfort?
Is your seat heated?
A 300 mile day hurts now, which is not acceptable.

My seat is not heated. Never felt the need for that.

Don't know how far I can ride on my Rick Mayer because I haven't reached a limit yet.

Stock seat hurts me after 100 miles or even less. Really terrible saddle. A friend once asked a BMW rep why BMW doesn't put comfortable saddles on RTs. Clearly they could if they wanted to. He said it was a style matter. A comfortable saddle just isn't stylish.

The only good stock BMW saddle I have ever owned was that of the K1200LT.

 

Thanks for all of the replies. I neve3r ride in town, just out of town and long rides with my wife. Her comment, I love the bike and it is very comfortable, but my butt hurts.

I learned to deal with the seat on my SV650, but the BMW seat is just not comfortable for long trips.

Gel is not an option, the desert heat is just too much and gel heats up.

The Meyers seats seem to be a gamble, where the Russell seems to consistantly deliver so that seems to be the right choice.

I am going to0 get the vinyl seat. The Mohave desert sun will kill leather. Russell also has a new fabric that is usede on boat bimini tops that they say is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

"Sunbrella" anyone use it? I like vinyl because it is known to be durable and last.

 

I have got to wonder where this $1000 seat quote keeps coming from? I paid $650 on the last RDL which was for passenger, rider, and shipping. With the new rebuild the price tag is up to $720 with shipping. Hell Corbin off the rack cost more than that and the Sargent is $650+ off the rack. Given I have NEVER in 40+ years of riding had an off the rack seat more comfy than the RDL, I sure do not see any savings.

ps... I will be doing a complete evaluation of the TourTech high end saddles very soon, even if I have to buy one to do it.

 

"The Meyers seats seem to be a gamble"

I have to disagree with that statement. It is misguided as well as misspelled.

 

Rick Mayer has my Tuono V4 seat at the moment for a complete rebuild. Sargent wouldn't do it, so I sent it to Mr. Mayer. I'll post up my thoughts once it is installed and I have a few miles on it.

 

Archimedes, have you had a chance to put any miles on the Sargent seat you got for your RT?

 

OK, I was about to order a RDL seats and read that RDL is for heavier riders. I am 170 lbs and 6'1".

The Rick Mayer seats are about $400 and the RDL are about $600. Anyone happy with the Rick Mayer seat?

I have the rider and pillion Russell Day Long seats and a rider backrest which is awesome on long multi-day rides (although I must admit I didn't think I'd ever ride a motorcycle with a backrest...or a radio, and now I have both!). I had the seats on my '09 RT and moved them to my '12 RT, so I've put a lot of miles on them.

I am also 170lbs, 6' 2" and find the Russell seat to be extremely comfortable, though I usually ride with the stock seat when running around town with stop and go traffic. The wings on the Russell make for a lot of support on long hauls, but irritate the back of my legs when I'm putting my feet down a bunch. My wife is 130lbs and she loves the Russell pillion seat and it stays on the bike full-time for her.

It's a different comfort than what I'm used to with Corbin seats on my sportbikes, which are very hard typically, yet also very comfortable for long hauls on sportbikes. The different, yet similar long-term comfort befuddles me a bit, but they both work in their own applications so I'm not going to fight it.

As someone else mentioned, Meyer has been plagued with customer service "challenges" from time to time over the years. I owned a KTM dealership from '06-'11 and we dealt with Meyer for a while, but it got to be too problematic. We ended up using Russell for our BMW riders and some KTM Adventure riders who wanted more comfort than the stock or Gel Seat option from the manufacturer. The Russell isn't the prettiest seat in the world, but functionally it is fantastic and they nailed the design with mine and my wife's measurements and pictures submitted. Beware, you will be without your seat for quite a while, so you might think about picking up a used stock one on eBay before you send yours out!

 

Archimedes, have you had a chance to put any miles on the Sargent seat you got for your RT?

No long rides yet. Did about 75 miles on Saturday, so not long enough to really learn much more yet. I'm hoping to do a longer ride this weekend. Not sure how far yet due to the weekend heat that's coming in. I'll try to post something up on Sunday night or Monday with some pictures and my first impressions.