Wunderlich Active Comfort Seat rider review

[madcarp]

New to the forum...Doug told me I had to post something so the new anti-spam measure won't deactivate my membership again. Here's my take on the R12R Wunderlich Active Comfort Seat...

I used to own a 04 R1150R and learned quickly from you guys that an aftermarket seat was a great way to improve comfort. I bought a Sargent, and loved it.

I bought a 2012 R1200R this past Spring I anticipated that I'd need to swap the seat 1st thing. After a couple 200mi day trips I found that the stock comfort seat was pretty nice, but it wasn't quite as comfortable as the Sargent. And my wife found riding pillion was more comfortable on the 1150r and couldn't understand why I spent so much $$ on a new bike (she doesn't ride solo, and grades my bikes solely on the basis of passenger comfort and aesthetics).

Sargent doesn't stock a seat for the R12R (you have to send them your seat pan), so I searched for alternatives. All I could find ready to ship was the Wunderlich seat, so I ordered it.

The standard height seat arrived the day before a planned trip, so I installed it right away for a test ride. It looked good, and the build quality was great. It clicked onto my bike easily and fit well. I hopped on and immediately realized it was taller than I was accustomed to, and had to tip toe it back out of the garage. I rode around Chicago for 2hrs...city streets to Lake Shore Drive, then a bout on the freeway. I liked the firmness, and liked the anti-slip material. The higher seat was great for the long stretches, but I was uncomfortable not being able to flat foot in stop-and-go city traffic -- 2/3's of my riding, often with a passenger. I decided to return it and revert to the stock seat for the next day's trip. (I should have mentioned that I'm 6'1" with a 32" inseam, and ESA was set to "Normal").

Being 6"1' I hadn't even considered getting the low seat (Wunderlich says low is 29", standard 31"), but I'm glad I went ahead and tried it. I've put about 2000 miles on it in the last month. I can flat foot in stop and go traffic without scooting forward to the tank, and there's enough peg-to-seat room to be comfortable touring. It is quite firm, but has enough padding not to create uncomfortable pressure points. The fabric keeps driver and passengers butts planted. I'm good for about 2hrs before I need to hop off and stretch.

All in all I'd recommend the Wunderlich if you don't like your stock seat, but it's not as dramatic of an improvement as it was when I swapped the R1150R's stock seat for a Sargent. It's because of this that I'm still curious so see if the Sargent conversion for the R12R will even be more comfortable to me than the Wunderlich. I'll probably send my stock seat to Sargent for a retrofit, and will report back on how they compare when it arrives.

[deilenberger]

All in all I'd recommend the Wunderlich if you don't like your stock seat, but it's not as dramatic of an improvement as it was when I swapped the R1150R's stock seat for a Sargent. It's because of this that I'm still curious so see if the Sargent conversion for the R12R will even be more comfortable to me than the Wunderlich. I'll probably send my stock seat to Sargent for a retrofit, and will report back on how they compare when it arrives.

Stock "Comfort" seat vs Sargent conversion - about a draw. The Sargent allows for a bit more fore-aft movement of your butt. Butt pain (or lack of) - roughly the same. You might look for someone with a standard R1200R seat to use for your donor pan, that way you could sell the Comfort seat if you decide you like the Sargent better. My conversion was a low standard seat to a "low" seat Sargent conversion. A bit more foam in the back of the butt pocket, but minimum nose width so my legs can reach the ground.

[madcarp]

good call, Don. Thanks for the info.

[SDMAX]

As with nearly every other R12 owner I have played the windshield game and the seat game. This past June, I rode over 4500 miles from San Diego to Washington, then ferry to Alaska, then down through Yukon and BC leaving bike for a while in Seattle.

NO SEAT PROBLEMS. Last minute purchase....the "gooder" Air Hawk with a cut out for my man junk, about 200 bucks; barely inflated it raised seat heightby about an inch, and eliminated all ass pain. ELIMINATED. "Gooder" to be contrasted with "standard" Air Hawk at about half the price.

I wouldn't use it for around town and I left it in Seattle for when I go there to pick up the bike and head to Denver and thence to Utah, Vegas and home to San Diego.

As I said, last minute, but for sure. It totally worked.