Corbin Seats

[YamaDuck]

I see a lot of talk about how hard the Corbin seat is but I have not read anything about if it is comfortable or not. I'm a little confused I guess because if the Corbin is so hard why do you see so many Ventures with Corbin seats? I'm so confused.

[similost]

I can't explain why they are so comfortable, but I love mine. It's on my Roadstar.. Best seat I've ever had on a bike..

 

I've had others seats that were comfortable, but soft, and after a while they would start hurting you...

 

Like I said, no idea why they are so comfortable, but here's a thought, and the way it was put to me when I was trying to decide on one..

 

Ever sat in a tavern all day on a wood bar stool.. That's a hard seat.. and you had no problem sitting on it all day with any pain...

 

I gave that some thought and said Yep.. never got a sore ass on a wood seat.. so I bought mine and best seat I ever had.. My wife doesn't like it though, because there isn't much room between the backrests is the only issue I've found.

Edited April 27, 2009 by similost

[wes0778]

My first impression as I put the "Corbin" on my bike was that there is not much padding in it. The first time I sat on it I didn't notice how hard it was but that the shape an position on the bike makes it harder, with my short leggs, to get both feet flat on the ground, even though it is a lower seat height. After I rode it a little, I WAS amazed at how comfortable it is. That being said I have not made any real long rides with it yet, but it does seem to be much more comfortable than the OEM seat. But, if I am going to be running errands in town with a lot of stop and go, I put the OEM seat on.

[Riderduke]

I got my bike with both the stock "pillow"seat and a Corbin. I rode it home from Pittsburg Area on the corbin. the following weekend I rode about 500 miles on the stock seat. When I got home I put the corbin seat back on and got rid of the stock seat. I have 60,000 miles on this seat and its the best seat I have ever ridden in besides the Mustang I on my Honda ACE 1100. A 1200 mile weekend is a norm for me and I have no problems with the corbin.

My wife can only do about 200 miles in the corbin rear seat. She thinks its too hard. I will get the rear soffened up in the near future. As for me, in the summer I put on wood beads for more comfort. (monkey butt).

[jfoster]

I had the corbin on a VTX...the wife hated it, said it was to hard. I thought it was comfortable. But, for me after an hour and half my butt burned just like it did on a mustang. The corbin to me has a better mold than the mustang, kind a like riding on a horse saddle.

[Sheradan]

I thought my Corbin was a little hard when I first sat on it. It was comfortable, I just thought it would start to feel much harder as the day went on. I WAS WRONG. It's firm but never gets "hard". I would highly recommend Corbin.

[RoadKill]

I have to agree. The Corbin on my RSV definetly more comfortable than any I've rode before. Allowed me to do 600 -700 mile days up from 300-400.

[hig4s]

To each his own,, I can't stand Corbin seats, kills my behind.. I love the pillow top stock seat, and have no problem riding 500 miles or more a day on it.

[heatonmt]

OK my two cent> have had 2 sets of Corbin seats one on the first Yamaha I have ever owned 1100 Vstar bought through Yamaha but they were Corbin's just sold for more. The second for a road star bought from Corbin. After I put around 1000 miles on them and got them broke in I loved them. Now that being said, I just got a 08 road star new. first thing I did was buy a new seat of corbins for it and have had nothing but trouble with them. I call today to send them back for the 3rd time and am waiting for response. I think they will make it right. Bottom line when they are right they are a great seat.

[Condor]

I think the reason the Corbin doesn't effect your butt as much as the OEM, for some folks, is the stiffness and material allows your pants to slide on the seat if you move around a lot. With a seat that 'grabs' the pants it's your skin that's doing the sliding on the pants material, and you get MB. For those that don't move around a lot while riding long distance I can see where a soft seat might be more comfortable. I'm always moving around on a long ride... knees...back...carpal etc., and the Corbin feels great.

[tsigwing]

I've got the Corbin Dual Touring on my 05 RSTD and on my last long summer trip I would at fuel stops I would either put on or take off my bead seat. After 1 1/2-2 hours on either my butt was ready for a change. The beads can be changed very quickly.

[buddy]

I never owned an Corbin untill I took the RSV. First time I sat on it was dang this thing is hard, dont know if I'd like this or not. But after awhile riding it home I noticed my back was not hurting and when I stoped to fuel up, I also notice I had no problem getting off the seat either, my body dint feel like it was tired out. Acourse my wife does not like it , Too hard for her and with her back I will have to make some adjustments. But for me its great........

 

Buddy

[James Ardrey]

I love my Corbin seat. It took about 2000 miles to break it in. I had a Mustang seat on my 97 RS and loved it with no break in time. My wife liked the Mustang better, but is satisfied with the Corbin. I now think that I like the Corbin better than the Mustang. Although everyone is built differently I believe the ergonomics of a seat is the most important aspect. The bar stool analogy supports my theory. A well designed seat strongly supports the hips. A soft seat that doesn't support the hips allowing them to sag is a major source of tailbone and back pain. Same with a hard seat that doesn't support hips will be equally uncomfortable. Most stock seats have a very flimsy frame that will break down over the course of a ride causing the hips to sag creating pain regardless of softness. The weight of an individual and build can increase or decrease these negative symptoms. Putting a quality aftermarket seat on a new bike is the first thing I do. I have never found a stock seat comfortable on 200 + mile ride. That's just me.

[Marcarl]

I think the reason the Corbin doesn't effect your butt as much as the OEM, for some folks, is the stiffness and material allows your pants to slide on the seat if you move around a lot. With a seat that 'grabs' the pants it's your skin that's doing the sliding on the pants material, and you get MB. For those that don't move around a lot while riding long distance I can see where a soft seat might be more comfortable. I'm always moving around on a long ride... knees...back...carpal etc., and the Corbin feels great.

I think you have a point here. I can get one tank full from my stock seat and then my butt aches, it's not my tail bone, it's my hip bones. Last fall 3 of went for an all day ride, it was cool and I was cool so I wore my skidoo suit most of the day. It's slippery on the outside and so I think my butt moved around some. I didn't even think of a sore butt that day. Like I said, I think you have a point. The corbins are hard so you don't sink in and saty put and the cover let's you slide a litlle from place to place. Did I say I think you have a point?

[YamaDuck]

I think you have a point here. I can get one tank full from my stock seat and then my butt aches, it's not my tail bone, it's my hip bones. Last fall 3 of went for an all day ride, it was cool and I was cool so I wore my skidoo suit most of the day. It's slippery on the outside and so I think my butt moved around some. I didn't even think of a sore butt that day. Like I said, I think you have a point. The corbins are hard so you don't sink in and saty put and the cover let's you slide a litlle from place to place. Did I say I think you have a point?

 

You have a good point here. My tail bone has never hurt me. I guess you would call them my seat bones (as Rick Butler calls them). The two pointy bones that you sit on. I guess the way I'm built the one on my right is the one that hurts.

 

I guess I will try a Corbin seat. The Venture Corbin seat I have seen gets the most positive remarks. Most Corbin seats for other bikes have a lot of negative comments. The Venture Corbin seat seem to be different. Very few negative comments. I understand that you can't get everyone to agree and that's only human nature. I appreciate everyone's help so I guess I'm going to bite the bullet and get a Corbin.

Thanks:mo money:

[mkrieg]

Do they make a Corbin for a first gen bike. My factory seat sucks on long trips. I am looking for something whether it be a corbin or a mod or something.

[sarges46]

Do they make a Corbin for a first gen bike. My factory seat sucks on long trips. I am looking for something whether it be a corbin or a mod or something.

 

 

Dont know if they still do, but they did at one time and those occassionally come up on ebay. Best to enter their site and ask em I guess.

[mkrieg]

Anybody got a link to Corbin's website?

[similost]

simple site to find... http://www.corbin.com/

 

OH.. check out the video section while there.. They have a video of a 2009 V-Max doing a burn out..

[mkrieg]

Thanks, I found it. Looks like my bike is too old for them.

[BigBoyinMS]

My '07 RSV with the stock pillow seat is the first bike that I have been able to ride with a stock seat without butt pain. Tank fill to tank fill is no problem. But if I ever do need to change it sounds like the Corbin would be it. Maybe. It seems that I keep hearing complaints about quality and customer service since they announced they are trying to sell the company. Or has it sold already? Just hope they get back on track.

[GaryZ]

I have a Corbin on my sport bike. I put it on after owning the bike for a couple of years. The Corbin is very comfortable and I can stay in the saddle much longer versus the stock seat. I think part of the issue is rider weight and seat foam. A stock seat has soft foam that will compress over time. The heavier rider (that would be me) will compress the foam and be riding on the seat base of the soft stock seat. The Corbin seat uses "memory" foam that does not compress the same. In addition, as someone else stated, the Corbin seat is shaped differently. By the way, a Corbin seat is heavy! I think mine weighs twice the stock seat.

 

I cannot afford a Corbin for my VR at this time. However, I recently saw a thread on replacing a section of the stock seat with memory foam. This looks interesting . . .

[Condor]

Do they make a Corbin for a first gen bike. My factory seat sucks on long trips. I am looking for something whether it be a corbin or a mod or something.

 

I found mine on Ebay a few years back. Every once in a while one will show up. I checked with Corbin and they'll redo the cover for $300 bucks if you can get into one cheap. Not too bad considering just the seat for a new one for the 1stGen is around $700. I lucked out and picked up a mint one off Ebay in black, with the back rest, that must have originally been built for a taller guy for $265. Even a blind squirel will find an acorn once in a while....

[similost]

I cannot afford a Corbin for my VR at this time. However, I recently saw a thread on replacing a section of the stock seat with memory foam. This looks interesting . . .

 

I actually started on my seat last night adding a much denser foam.

 

I'm about half way though. I'm taking pictures and will write up a little something about it.. .

 

Here's basically what I"ve done so far though.. .

 

I went to Walmart and got a Coleman sleeping bag pad from their sporting section. It's about 3/4 of an inch, or maybe an inch thick, anc very dense...

 

I took my seat apart, and drew an outline of what I wanted to cut out of the seat.. basically all of the center, and leaving just enough foam to support everything.. I use an electric carving knife, then a 4" grinder to smooth it all out. What I had left is the edges, with a little in the bottom.. Think basically a bread bowl you will fill..

 

Then I started cutting pieces of the hard foam and iinserting them into the cutouts using spray adhesive.. I built up four layers on the bottom, and two layers in the back..

 

Then I put the seat back on the bike, and started carving the foam with the electric knife to fit what feels good to me... I'm just roughing it out with the knife... So far.. NICE.. good and firm like the corbin, and I can already tell it's taking the stress off my tailbone and actually putting the weight on my cheeks like it should be.. I cut a little, and try.. cut more and try.. CUSTOM FIT...

 

Tonight I'll be taking the grinder and doing the final shaping and smoothing, then I'll put the pillow top foam and cover back on...

 

It's not really a hard process at all.. just taking a little thinking before cutting.

 

WHat is nice about this way too.. if take off too much of the dense foam, I can just glue on another piece to build it back up, then sculpt it back down..

[hig4s]

I think the reason the Corbin doesn't effect your butt as much as the OEM, for some folks, is the stiffness and material allows your pants to slide on the seat if you move around a lot. With a seat that 'grabs' the pants it's your skin that's doing the sliding on the pants material, and you get MB. For those that don't move around a lot while riding long distance I can see where a soft seat might be more comfortable. I'm always moving around on a long ride... knees...back...carpal etc., and the Corbin feels great.

 

I move around a fair amount, but on any ride of distance I wear good riding pants (Tourmaster Venture) and wick dry bicycle shorts under the riding pants so my skin isn't sliding against anything.