Corbin seat experience

[ipokebadgers]

In September of 2012 I made an appoinment to ride into Corbin's shop/factory in Hollister, CA to have a seat made for my 2007 R1200R. For years I had been reading about all of the custom seats out there and decided on Corbin because they are a two hour, twisty turny, ride from where I live. I was there when the shop opend on a Tuesday morning and they told me they didn't do ride-ins on Tuesdays. They eventually figured out that I did have an appointment and the seat was made.

The seat was made on their seat pan. They brought it out to the bike after they had glued and baked layers of different kinds of foam to the pan and had me sit on it. They trimmed some and had me sit on it again. They carved some more and then had me go for a ride to see how it felt in the short term, explaining to me there would be a breakin period. Once I told them I was ok with the fitting they had me pick the type and colors of leather for the cover. Then it was off to one of the many industrial sewing machines for a cover to be cut and sewn.

While they were doing that I put my old seat back on the bike and rode into town for some coffee. When I got back they let me wonder the warehouse facility. I got to see the whole operation and that was pretty interesting. They also have a showroom with fancy bikes with Corbin seats on them. Corbin their own cafe there but it is not open on Tuesdays.

When I finally got the seat and made payment I rode the two hours home on Highway 25. It was a great ride and the seat was pretty comfortable on the way home, more so than the stock seat. I could tell a difference after about 1000 miles of break-in and it is now an all-day seat. I now have 13k on the seat and I am happy with it.

Last month I noticed the stiching on the main part of the seat was coming unsewn. I called them about it and made another appoinment to ride in. I wanted to get it done quickly so as not to damage the seat and because I have a 2000 mile trip planned for this week. The same guy that originally fit the seat for me was there and said I had not been using enough conditioner on the leather and it had shrunk. This is the reason he gave for the stitching issue. He removed the cover and had it resewn. He wasn't completely sure it would last, however. I personaaly think they had trimmed the seam a little too much after sewing it the first time, but what do I know. If I had needed to have another cover made it would have cost me 1/2 of what a new seat costs. While I don't have a problem with that I would have been annoyed at the cover only lasting 1.5 years even though it is ridden everyday in the desert heat and lack of humidity. As it was they didn't charge me anything for the repair. I was very pleasantly surprised at that. I will make sure I keep the seat conditioned here in my desert town.

I have never tried any of the other seat makers out there so I can't compare but I am very happy with the seat Corbin made me. I have read reviews of Corbin and some people have said they are hard to work with. They were not very friendly either time I was there but I was not there to make life long friends. My butt appreciates the Corbin saddle and if my butt is happy... With the original BMW seat I would notice my behind was hurting after a couple of hours. Now, with the Corbin saddle I don't think about my backside at all.

I mostly read here at the forum but decided to share my experience with this seat hoping it might help someone else who is seat shopping.

Sean

[MTBeemer]

Between my wife and I, we have had 6 Corbins and still have 4. Annie loves both of hers on an 2011 and a 2007 F650GS. I really liked the one on my RT and the one on my FJR is superb. The one on my R12R is better than stock, but not as good as the others and I have nearly 40K miles on it. I had one for my GSPD and sold it after a month of trying to ride on it. It was unbearable. I never tried to return it to Corbin, I was able to sell it in a matter of days and took a $50 loss. I suspect if I rode into Corbin they could adjust the R12R seat just a bit and make it as good as the others. I bought the FJR seat a little over a month ago and then almost immediately went on a 3500+ mile ride. I was very pleasantly surprised that is was comfortable from the start without any break-in.

Corbins are controversial. Have heard complaints about their comfort and service. Except for the GSPD I have no real issues with comfort and they have always been easy to work with. I guess it would have been interesting to see how they would have responded to an attempt to return the GSPD seat. But I'll never know, nor care.

[lcarlson]

I've had several Corbin's, and while they are sturdy and well made, they are heavy (fiberglass) and they NEVER fit properly without some modification -- inexcusable. That said, after several hours on them, I wasn't thinking about the saddle.

A much better choice in turnkey saddles is Sargent, though.

[Oilhead]

I've had several Corbin's, and while they are sturdy and well made, they are heavy (fiberglass) and they NEVER fit properly without some modification -- inexcusable. That said, after several hours on them, I wasn't thinking about the saddle.

A much better choice in turnkey saddles is Sargent, though.

I had a Corbin on a 1998 VFR800FI I used to have; and currently have Corbins on my CBR600RR and my 900SS. They all fit perfectly without any modifications.

I have always had great experiences with Corbin, their seats are very well made (leather too unlike their "competition"), and they significantly improve the comfort over the stock seat.

I will never buy a Sargent. My personal experiences with them has been terrible.

[deilenberger]

I've had several Corbin's, and while they are sturdy and well made, they are heavy (fiberglass) and they NEVER fit properly without some modification -- inexcusable. That said, after several hours on them, I wasn't thinking about the saddle.

A much better choice in turnkey saddles is Sargent, though.

I had a Corbin on a 1998 VFR800FI I used to have; and currently have Corbins on my CBR600RR and my 900SS. They all fit perfectly without any modifications.

I have always had great experiences with Corbin, their seats are very well made (leather too unlike their "competition"), and they significantly improve the comfort over the stock seat.

I will never buy a Sargent. My personal experiences with them has been terrible.

I'm of mixed feelings on both of them..

One of my K bikes had the BMW seat that Corbin made - it had one huge flaw.. it used a perforated vinyl cover that allowed water into the foam - which had no rain shield on it - so it would absorb the water and then work like a wet sponge for several days, dribbling it out all over the bike and my butt. The seat was almost comfortable - but not like a true custom seat. You should know that Corbin offers a no-return policy since "all our seats are custom made" (even the ones that come off the truck in a box when they attended some MOA national rallies..) If you're unhappy with your Corbin - best bet seems to be ride to their shop and complain. Doing anything else seems pretty futile from the experiences I've heard from others.

Sargent made the seat currently on my R12R - it has about 70,000 miles on it now, and it still looks good, and no sign of foam breakdown. They build it on your pan - so you know it will fit well, and it isn't terribly heavy. They replace the cover and the foam, shipping the old cover/foam back to you with the seat. Downside of using the stock pan is the front mounting points eventually wear through (I "fixed" this with metal reinforcements JBWelded and riveted to the seat pan.) Mine was built on a BMW low seat, and it wasn't much taller if any at all. It's a bit more comfortable than the BMW low seat (which apparently - and strangely - was the most comfortable of the standard seats the bikes came with.) On my K75S - I had Sargent make a seat for me (on a Corbin pan) - and it was terribly uncomfortable but nice looking. They tried to fix this several times but it never got better and eventually they said just to sell it on Ebay - so I did. That was a disappointment. They do offer a $ return policy on the R1200R seats - they'll reinstall the stock foam/cover on your pan for some amount of money, and refund you the rest.

I also tried the BMW "low" Comfort seat. Costly bugger. Wasn't any more comfortable than the Sargent modified low seat and it was taller which I didn't want - so it got sold (at a loss) to someone with a longer inseam than I have.

What's temping now - there are seats made in Europe being advertised on Ebay. Look very nice in the pics, and have options like memory-foam and gel inserts. Prices are in the $350-400 range which isn't awful. Haven't tried one yet - but would love to hear from someone who has.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/200952358562 This place has lots of styles/options available.. http://www.topsellerie.com/en-us/BMW-R- ... 2_978.html

The solution I'm using now - a FreedomAir cushion (much like an AirHawk - but improved a bit..) I still need ibuprofen every 2-3 hours, but I'm not in agonizing pain, so it's gotten a lot of miles put on it.

[lcarlson]

The Sargent saddles I was referring to was the line of sport saddles made entirely by Sargent -- what I called "turnkey". They make their own seatpans from a sturdy but lightweight plastic (usually with a small storage compartment), use proprietary foam, and their own covering materials. The saddle arrives in a box, you remove your stock seat, and click theirs into place. The two I've tried fit just like stock. I've had one on my R1150R for eleven years and it's still in great shape. It's also all-day comfortable (though not as comfortable as my Russell day-long custom saddles on my two other bikes, but it's rainproof and they're not). I tried their sport saddle on my my K12GT, but found that it didn't address the forward sloping issue of the stock saddle. Their response: thanks for trying our saddle, just return it for a full refund.

[Shakey]

I've had several Corbin's, and while they are sturdy and well made, they are heavy (fiberglass) and they NEVER fit properly without some modification -- inexcusable. That said, after several hours on them, I wasn't thinking about the saddle.

A much better choice in turnkey saddles is Sargent, though.

+1

That said, I've just ordered the Touratech seat from Kahedo.

[deilenberger]

The Sargent saddles I was referring to was the line of sport saddles made entirely by Sargent -- what I called "turnkey". They make their own seatpans from a sturdy but lightweight plastic (usually with a small storage compartment), use proprietary foam, and their own covering materials. The saddle arrives in a box, you remove your stock seat, and click theirs into place. The two I've tried fit just like stock. I've had one on my R1150R for eleven years and it's still in great shape. It's also all-day comfortable (though not as comfortable as my Russell day-long custom saddles on my two other bikes, but it's rainproof and they're not). I tried their sport saddle on my my K12GT, but found that it didn't address the forward sloping issue of the stock saddle. Their response: thanks for trying our saddle, just return it for a full refund.

Problem is - they don't offer that for our bikes. They do a redo of the stock seat on the stock pan. You send them your seat and they redo it.

[sterling]

I live in Maine 2 hrs. from MA.Corbin seat headquarters. My friend is good friends with the owners. Also have purchased from them in past. My experiences (& same from others) is, their seats are WAY over rated. Their "real leather" is still questionable to me. Let's face it, it's a corporation out to make money, nothing more & it shows! Not particularly comfortable on long rides, & VERY expensive. I think most people would be way better off with a Sargent seat, although this is not meant as an ad. for them either. All in all, it's pretty sad that when you buy a VERY expensive BMW you should NOT have to start spending even more money on AFTERMARKET products! But "Frankly my dear, they don't give a Damn"!

[Catchina]

I'm happy with the comfort seat that came with my bike.

[Newportcycle]

I'm happy with the comfort seat that came with my bike.

+1, same here, very happy actually. I've had experience with both Corbin and Sargent seats and found both comfortable and well made, however not enough of an improvement that in hindsight would have dropped the money to buy. I've found the best bang for the buck came from an airhawk cushion, makes the 600+ mile days not quite so rough.

[P_Jensen]

Have purchased 2 Corbin seats for my previous bikes 1997 F650 and 2004 R1150R. The first seat I bought was a "Custom built" Sargent as there was not a factory seat for the F650. The Sargent was not much better than the stock seat, a lot of money and less than great results. I then broke down and bought a Corbin which a fellow F650 rider raved about. On the F650 the Corbin seat was a huge inprovement over the stock seat and the Sargent, all day comfortable never a problem with wanting to get back on the bike after a stop. When I bought the R1150R and the stock low seat was not great so I ordered a Corbin for it, the Corbin for the R1150R was not as good as the one on the F650. On the R1150R the biggest problem turned out to be the position of the pegs, the pegs were so high the riding position was cramping my hips. I searched for a way to lower the pegs and once I did the stock seat was fine, in fact when I did a Saddle Sore 1000 with a stock seat with a sheepskin pad and it was never a problem. On my R1200R I ordered it with the exclusive low comfort seat and have not had a problem so far. I find the riding position closer to that of the F650 than that of the R1150R. The improvements to the riding position of the R1200R vs the R1150R are huge, it is so much more capable of being all day comfortable. Seats like windshields can cost a lot of money for trial and error to find the right set-up. For comparision purposes I am 5"7" with a 30" inseam.

[Antoine31]

I had Corbins on my previous BMWs: An R1100S and a R1200GS. I think the R11 seat, which was a solo saddle, was known as "The Smuggler," but they don't seem to make it anymore. It was OK at the time and looked good, which promted me to buy another for the R12. That seat was very heavy and was difficult to get on and off. I'd say it was a poor fit. Also very hard on the backside but well-shaped. I always used a sheepskin pad with that one.

[lcarlson]

<<Problem is - they don't offer that for our bikes. They do a redo of the stock seat on the stock pan. You send them your seat and they redo it.>>

Don't know when they started, but Sargent does now make a turnkey sport saddle for the R1200R.

[lcarlson]

Sorry, my mistake. Sargent still requires your OEM seat pan.

[Acpantera]

My corbin is 7 seasons and 45,000 miles old, and just recently I have noticed discomfort a lot sooner than I remember. When I first got the seat new, it was a HUGE diff from the oem seat. After 2 hours on the oem I would get wiggle butt, the corbin would keep me comfy for 5 hours before wiggle butt set in. Now I am wondering if the foam is worn(wiggle butt setting in @2 hours), I think I am going to call corbin and see if they will replace the foam under warranty. Has any one had their corbin seat foam replaced??

[deilenberger]

My WAG is Corbin will offer to sell you a new seat. And that's all they'll offer. Since they often deny warranty on almost new seats ("every seat is custom made") chances of them covering a 7 year old one are.. well, I think you'd win the Powerball lottery before that happens.

[Acpantera]

Just got off the phone with the folks at Corbin, They still have me in their records, and if I pay for the shipping to them, they will pay for the shipping back. Their warranty is life time on the foam for the original buyer. The only problem is that it may take up to 4 or 5 weeks to get it back. so it looks like I'll be sending it off at the end of the season or at least after I ride to Indy for the GP, this worn corbin is still better than the oem.

[mogu83]

I've always received good service from Corbin (two Seats) and I'm more than satisfied with their product. However I've never had to use their warranty, I guess this puts the stories of poor and non-existent warranty service to rest.
Thanks for posting,

[SL]

My 2010 came with a Corbin and OEM seat , I use the OEM ,,,,,,,, I may sell the Corbin seat