Riding Impressions: Corbin Gunfighter and Lady

[michael]

Riding Impressions: Corbin Gunfighter and Lady

Some background: Late last summer/early fall, I was in process of trying to find a new seat to replace the stock POS. I have test ridden two Mustangs (Nostalgic Super Tourer and Wide Duke Regal) and most recently this Corbin.
Reviews of the Mustangs are available on request.

First impression: Finally the Corbin Dual Tourer I ordered has come in. So it's down to the shop (EasyRiders in Fayetteville NC) to pick it up. I open the box and to my surprise it contains a Gunfighter and Lady seat, NOT the Dual Tourer I ordered. After about ten minutes I figure out what went wrong. The two seats are on the same page of the catalog and guess which number the shop wrote down.
You got it the wrong one.

The shop offered to send it back and make sure I got what I ordered but after waiting six weeks for this one I decided to give it a try.

The first thing that I notice about the seat is that it's deep. I mean really deep. The picture in the catalog doesn't do it justice. This is good. Looks like it will provide excellent back support. The second thing I notice is that
it's narrow. Fully two to three inches narrower than the two Mustangs I tried. for me this is bad. Anyone who has seen me in person can verify the why. I gotta big ol' butt. Third thing I notice is that a rolled seam runs right
across the seating area. This looks bad so my first impression of the seat is not good.

The Good

1) As expected back support is excellent. Couldn't really ask for any better short of a backrest. 2) This seat is comfortable. After break-in this seat has proven itself to be at least the equal of any I have ridden. The ride isn't cushy. It's firm and supportive.
3) Lateral support is excellent. In reality this is the downfall of the stock seat for me. It has absolutely zero lateral support. The Corbin cups the rider keeping the buns from trying to droop to the pavement.
4) The seat is well made. The model I have is leather with no studs. The leather appears to be top quality. The stitching is flawless. Fit on the motorcycle is excellent.
5) The seat looks good. Nice profile and lines.
6) This seat feels lower than any of the others I have tried. This is purely a subjective judgement. I did not actually make any measurements.

The Bad

1) It takes a while to break this seat in. I was forewarned that this would be the case and that the seat would be a little stiff for the first 1000 or so miles. Actually it turned out that the seat was hard as a rock when I first sat
on it. However, it progressively grew better each time I rode on it. I initially did no conditioning on the seat as I was not sure if I was going to keep it. Break-in would probably have been aided had I used some Lexol or the like to soften the leather. It took about 700 miles before I began to feel that the seat was beginning to really soften up.
2) The wife doesn't like it much. I not sure if this is because of the stiffness or because she doesn't understand why I have three seats for my motorcycle in the garage.
4) The seam across the seat. This becomes noticeable during longer rides (over 150 miles). It's not intrusive but it is noticeable.
5) It's just a tad too narrow for me. This seat would fit me better if it were an inch or two wider.
6) I have to subtract points for the logo on the side. I much prefer the subtleness of Mustang's embossed logo on the front point of the seat.

Worth the Money? A definite yes. Cost was $279. More than the Mustang Wide Duke Regal but less that the Mustang Super Tourer. The biggest negative for this seat is the break-in time. Both Mustangs I tried did not require an extended break-in. In fact they were ready out of the box. That being said I can see myself doing some serious miles in this seat. As mentioned above back and lateral support are excellent. This will probably turn out to be my seat of choice.

As always opinions expressed are my own. YMMV, FWIW, EEEAI.

Big D.