What a seat!

I ride a lot. I commute, I pleasure ride, and I go on long weekend trips (2500 miles between Friday and Sunday). I've been using an early 2009 seat modified by MCC, which I bought from a friend of mine. The MCC seat was lower and further back than the stock seat, and also had a much narrower nose. The guy it was modified for is 5'6", probably 230 pounds. I'm 6'2", 190 pounds. The MCC seat is comfortable, but on anything longer than a few hours, I get hotspots and pressure points, and my left leg starts to go numb. I don't hold that against MCC, the seat wasn't built for me.

I looked really hard at both the Hammock and Air Zeppelin seats, but I won't buy another vinyl seat. Leather breathes better and is more comfortable for the long haul.

I considered a Russell Day Long, but they only build seats on an existing pan. The seats I have are the crap Harley pans, and I couldn't see spending a grand to build a seat on them.

I looked at every seat out there, and most of them had a lower seating position that was farther back. I didn't really want either of those things, especially the lowering. For long range comfort, you want your knees below your hips.

I ride a C&C Squareback on the Night Train, and I love that seat. It's a work of art that is surprisingly comfortable for a low-profile seat. Given that, I ordered one of their "new" touring seats (not a Sport Tour). It shipped quickly, and as expected was a work of art. Unfortunately, it wasn't designed to work with saddlebag guards, so back it went.

I've heard mixed things about Corbins, but most of the complaints have been that they're too firm. The 'Train's C&C is all sorts of firm, so I figured I wouldn't have a problem with the Corbin.

So it showed up Friday. The seat, the rider backrest, and the passenger backrest for the tour pack. Installation took all of 20 minutes for everything. It's a beautiful seat. Not quite the craftsmanship of the C&C, but I can live with that (especially since the C&C didn't fit). The surprising thing was that the passenger backrest doesn't use the elaborate shock-mounting system that the stock one uses. It also only mounts with one screw on either side, rather than the two screws the factory rest uses. Also, the lower pad Velcros on to the tour pack, rather than using screws like the stock one. I haven't installed this piece yet, as I want to get some rubber plugs for the screw holes. At any rate, the result of this is that your passenger has about another inch of room compared to the stock backrest, and has much more arm support.

Yesterday the wife and I rode around 190 miles in 5-1/2 hours. I could have kept going. No pain, no butt burn, no numbness or tingling. I do sort of miss the adjustable backrest, but I can live without it.

Unfortunately, the wife wasn't as pleased. The firmness wasn't really the issue as much as the extra room. She found herself sliding around more than she'd prefer. I'm hoping that with a lumbar pillow she'll be fine.

At any rate, a big thumbs-up to Corbin and to Tri-State H/D who got me 20% off of the thing.

 

As for the plugs, I had a chopped box on the RG, didn't use a back pad, bought some black plastic plugs at my local TSC store, fit perfect in the holes...just a heads up.

 

I mounted my Corbin Classic solo seat Saturday. I was a bit surprised how firm it is. They say you have to break them in. I guess it's a decent cruise around town seat but I don't think I want to go on any long rides with it. At least not yet.

 

The seat looks great on your bike. I think Corbin says something like 2000 miles, but I think it's really about repetitive cycles... getting in and out of it over a period of time. After about a month (if you tend to ride frequently), your seat should start changing shape very subtly. It's never going to be a soft seat, but once it conforms to your shape a bit, it should provide you all the support you could ever hope for.

I think it's in long rides where the Corbin seats really shine. I can go for hours with absolutely no butt fatigue in the slightest. The soft seats feel good at first, but pretty soon have me squirming around trying to find a comfortable position. Even the Mustang seat I used to have was not as comfortable as my Corbin on long rides.

I don't think I'll ever have anything but a Corbin, unless someone comes up with something better, which I haven't seen yet.