I'm thinking about an upgraded sadle for my 01. I'm looking at the Corbin gunfighter or the smuggler or a Sargeant. I have read both good (Karl Marsh) and bad things about Corbin, particularly fit and finnish on the smuggler. Opinions?
I have both the gunfighter and smuggler. The smuggler is nice, but it wore the paint away from the tail section in spots due to contact friction. You can't actually tell with the seat in place though. Comfort level is very high.
Actually....it really depends on Your Butt! What feels great to one person....is not right for another. The Corbin sits totally diff. from the Sargent. You need to sit on both to decide. For me....The Sargent is the best money I have spent so far! I can put in 500 mi. days with no problem. Good Luck & ride safe!
Dear OldVFRguy: You said you like the Sargeant but it depends on how you're shaped. I'm 170#, 5'9" and a "regular" butt as far as I know. I find the stock saddle comfortable and I like being able to shift around on it on long rides. Do you ever feel too constricted on the Sargeant?
Jeff, if you make a saddle choice please post your opinion. I'm considering the same and want to minimize my odds of disappointment... I'm 6 even, 175, and don't have too many gripes about the stock saddle. Thanks. :-/
JCM, I guess it is like I said...."depends on your butt". The stock seat absolutly killed me after about an hour. I'm 5'11" & 195lbs....so a fairly large butt. I personally don't feel restricted at all on the Sargent. I fit perfectly in the "sweet spot" and can go all day. Try em' all....before you buy.
JCM, I ordered a Sargent seat today. I'm 6'0" and 195 Lbs., average butt. After about an hour the stock seat caused "butt burn". I'll post after I've tried the Sargent seat. From my online research the Sargent seat seemed to edge out the Cordin. Greg
I have had a Corbin seat on my 2001 for about 1.5 years and it is the best money I have spent. With the stock saddle my butt would get sore after about 1-2 hours, but I have done many 10 hour days and a couple of 3000 mile trips with the Corbin and still feel good at the end of a day. And I think it looks good. The best money I have spent on the VFR. Dave from Austin
Howdy, Stock seat was a wedgie machine for me and absolute torture with a passenger. The Corbin pretty much sucked for me. The finish was horrible unlike the Corbin on my Nighthawk 750 which was awesome. I sent the Corbin back for reworking and it took eight weeks to even get them to let me speak with anyone other than the receptionist. I won't get into the gruesome details, suffice to say, they kept the seat and I got a refund. Even when I tried riding with it, it was not as comfortable as the Nighthawks seat. Enter Sargent. I got one of their very first two sectioned World Sport seats for the VFR 800. The rear section had a cut in the material. They paid for all return shipping and sent me a replacement immediately, allowing me to keep the original until I got the new one. Their customer service rocks. My longest day was 760 miles on the Sargent with no problems. So the advice about each butt being different is totally on the mark. Not all Corbins are the same. You really need to sit on a VFR with a Corbin. Ideally you would get to ride it about a hundred miles or so, but unless you have a good friend with a VFR and a Corbin... Adios,
;DMy vote to the Sargent. My butt was good for 45 minutes with the stock seat. I might have mentioned in an earlier post, but I use only the front solo portion with the real cowl to hold it in place. I bought ball pins from Sargent and drilled out the stock threads so I can access the space underneath quickly without tools. With bicycle shorts underneath my leathers or ballistic nylon pants my ride time went from 45 minutes to all day.
I'm waiting for Sargent to release their seat for the 02 to see how it looks. Their web site says that will happen in March. A buddy has the Corbin gunfighter on his Triumph Sprint and he's very happy with it, but the comments here suggest Corbin's quality may be hit or miss...
I just put a new Corbin on my 2000 model, and I like it very much. The only thing is, there is a big hole in the rear of the seat for the passanger back rest. I did call Corbin and asked them about this hole, and why there was no cover over it(like the Corbin tag). There responce was that I should have bought the back rest. I then asked the question about the tag to cover the hole. The answer was that if they put a tag over the hole the rear cowel will not sit down. I do not own a rear cowel so... In my off time from the fire station, I do a little bit of upolstry, so I made a button out of leather and coverd that hole.....So my advice to others is "If you are going to order a Corbin saddle, make sure you want the back rest, or tell them at the time you place your order that you want that hole coverd.
I appreciate all the replies to the question of a saddle upgrade. Here is my thorough analysis of your comments: Six posters have actually ridden a Sargeant or a Corbin. Three loved the Sargeant and three loved the Corbin. However, Cryptoman reported what I've heard a bunch of times about the smuggler: the cowl over the storage fits poorly and rubs paint off the tail. Tourmeister bought a corbin and returned it because of customer service and saddle problems and then purchased a Sareant. However, when the dust settled 3 people have Corbins they love and three people have Sargeants they love. One of the Corbin critisisms that I've read in several other articles and posts at other bike sites is that the pocket is too small and you feel constricted after a while "it would fit a Watusi better than my 5'9" 165 pound butt". I haven't seen anyone raise that here. So I'm still unsure about parting with my $399. In the words of OldVFRguy "Every butt is different".
Howdy, One other thing I forgot to mention when comparing the two seats, the Sargent is a bit narrower when you put your legs down at a stop. The Corbin is fatter there and makes you have to spread you legs a little farther apart. If you are like many of the Corbin lovers, ie; 6' or taller, then this is not an issue. Also, I believe that the Corbin seat level is lower than the Sargent. So for me, the problem was that the distance from the seat to the pegs was so short that my riding pants would bunch up behind the knee and put my lower legs to sleep rather quickly. I don't have this problem with the Sargent. If you ever decide to get a backrest for either seat, they are different in their method of mounting. With the Corbin, you have the ugly hole that is not covered unless you specifically ask them to cover it. Not a real big deal. When you remove the seat, the back rest comes off with it. A few set screws are all that secures the backrest. With the Sargent, the back rest is not mounted to the seat, but rather to the rear subframe. The irony is that it mounts to the same point as the passenger grab rails. But let's face it, those rails are worthless for passengers and much better suited to strapping stuff to the bike. The Sargent back rest is much sturdier in my opinion. However, if you try to use a GIVI rack of any kind, they to mount in those same four holes on the subframe, and thus the Corbin might work better. Personally, having done lots of two up riding, the GIVI topcases make excellent back rests, even without the little pad they sell. My wife loves it. A note about cost. Depending on the material and welting, the Sargents can be had for as little as $314 here: http://shop.store.yahoo.com/azmotorsports/vfsarworspor.html On top of that, if you tell these folks that you are a member of the VFR mailing list, they will knock another 10% off the price of ANYTHING you buy from them. That gets the total price down to about $280. But if we head over to Corbin, the seat is either $399 or $399 ;-) http://www.corbin.com/honda/vfr800.html And then another $219 for the back rest. The Sargent backrest is $256 without the list discount at AZ, but it also has a small luggage rack and a storage pouch on the back of the seat. Throw in the discount and it is about the same price as the Corbin. Well, I have prattled on long enough. My wife wants to head out for some shopping and I am holding her up Adios,
Has anyone on this board tried a Russell seat? They are the choice of most LD riders but I have never seen one on a viffer.
If your refering to the Russle "Day Long" saddle, I've only seen them mounted on BMW's and nothing else. The Russle takes a bit of getting used to... at least used to looking at. http://www.day-long.com/new_pages/gallery.html Despite their ummm "look" they are extremely comfortable. I've used one for only a day riding, what else, a BMW and it was very nice. Forget about sport riding though, because it's quite a chore trying to hang off the seat with those "outriggers for your cheeks". ;D
Has anyone tried getting the stock seat re-worked with more dense padding and more breathable covering. there is a shop in my home town that can do the job for around 60 bucks. Just a thought.
Yup, you have the right Russell. Its big, ugly and expensive, Its also one of the best seats you can have under your butt when you are doing 1500 mile days. They are available for just about any bike you can name. For this upcoming rally season I'm switching from a R1100 RT BMW to a VFR. The sport of long distance riding is changing. Old fat guys on Gold Wings won't cut it anymore. It's becoming more competitive every year. The starting lines for these events are seeing more VFR's, R-1's and Blackbirds. I don't drag my knees much anymore (too domesticated) but the all around great handling, reliability and the affordability make the VFR a great choice.
Hi' I'm the guy in England who can customize your seat, have a look at my web site, if you E-mail me I can also send you some more pictures of customized VFR seats www.motorbike-seats.co.uk melboy@motorbike-seats.co.uk Melboy 8)
Hi' I'm the guy in England who can customize your seat, have a look at my web site, if you E-mail me I can also send you some more pictures of customized VFR seats www.motorbike-seats.co.uk melboy@motorbike-seats.co.uk Melboy 8)
