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Comfort help!


Ehughesrfd

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Having serious trouble getting comfortable! I've had an r1150rt for about a year now. I'm 6ft tall, 210lbs and no matter what I do I cannot get comfortable. I've tried everything from a stock seat, to a Corbin seat with a backrest, to a sergeant saddle, and an airhawk cushion as well. I always have at least problem, sometimes it's a sore butt after a short distance (idk why aftermarket seats are so hard). Oh and I have handlebar risers too.The biggest problem is back pain, currently mid to upper back, sometimes even after 10 minutes. It's gotten to the point where my bike is currently for sale which sucks because I love it. Any suggestions!? I'm desperate!

Edited by Ehughesrfd
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"Oh and I have handlebar risers too."

 

At 6ft, you may not need the risers, a slight lean could help your back. Google L/D Comfort shorts for the other problem.

 

Pat

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First off welcome to BMWST. Sorry to hear your first reaching out to this community is for a a sore but and back.

 

You may find happiness with a fully custom saddle VS the mass custom saddles from Sargent and Corbin. While the Sargent and Corbin are a big improvement over the OEM saddle, The fully custom saddles typically are better than that as they are more tailored to your needs.

 

You should gets votes for a number of the fully custom guys but this time of year you may be without a saddle for weeks unless you have extra or unused OEM saddle (seat pans) sitting around to provide to them. I have ridden on the Russell Day Long and for me it was all that and a bag of chips. Barcalounger comfortable! The custom guys need pictures of you sitting on the bike and input on height and weight. Not sure of your sure of your location but if close enough to the custom saddle builder they even can schedule you to come in for a fitting.

 

Also the RT seat bar relationship is set up to sit with your torso mostly vertical and any slouching may be a factor in back pain. Yup, if you look sort of nerdy riding the RT you are sitting on it as intended. Search on the Master Yoda riding position may help you as well.

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I had the same problem with my 09, and my 2016. I tried the Airhawk, and it helped, but what made the difference was a Russel Day Long. 500 mile days, no problem.

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elkroeger

For the back pain, one thing that comes to mind for me, is posture. We don't know that much about you, so there are a lot of questions. Me - I've got a bad back (ruptured disk). One thing the physical therapist drummed into my head was my posture. Believe me, I can slouch with the best of them! When you say mid to upper back pain, do you mean pain in your joints and spine, or more like muscle fatigue / stiffness or cramps?

 

Try sitting on the bike with your eyes closed (on the centerstand, of course). Sit in the garage and listen to the radio. With and without the riding gear. Relax. Don't open your eyes. Lean forwards and back a bit. Think about what's comfortable, and what's not so comfortable. THEN reach up and hold your arms out where that too is comfortable. Now open your eyes. Are your hands anywhere near the bars? Think about where your hands wound up (forward / aft, inside / outside, above / below) the grip area. Sitting bolt upright with your arms out in space probably isn't super realistic, or an ideal riding position, but an exercise like this can be instructive. You might see that you need to raise or lower your seat, or try some other adjustment with the grips. Have you tried the bike without the risers?

 

I've had friends struggle with their bikes - they've had neck, shoulder or arm fatigue, pain or numbness. Usually it seems that the bars are the problem.

 

Another question is you say you've had the bike for a year. Would you also happen to be a new rider, or have you been at it for some time on other bikes? New riders tend to hang on to the bars with a kung-fu grip, and that can extend all the way up the arms, and into the torso. Even a moderate grip can be fatiguing after a while.

 

Also about the seat - it's a little counter-intuitive, but a softer seat is not a more comfortable seat. I really learned that seat padding lesson when I was racing bicycles back in the day. The wrong seat, and I'm done after 2 hours (things go numb, my whole pelvis seizes up). With the right seat, and some training time - I've spent over 15 hours in the saddle. Of course my butt hurts by then. Shoot, EVERYTHING hurts. But believe me, it can't be done on a plush squishy seat.

 

My wife and I both went and had custom moto seats done at Rich's. The stock seats were terrible squishy compared to Rich's handiwork. At the time, I was commuting 1.5 hrs each way, and I was constantly sliding forward and resting on my "stuff". Numbness, fatigue, etc. drove me to get the seat done. The wife decided to have Rich do her seat too, after I raved about it (jeez, that sounds terrible!). Anyway, a year later, we spent our honeymoon riding 6000 miles. At the end of that trip, our butts felt like they were as fresh as day one! The correct shape and firmness makes all the difference.

 

Tell us a little more about yourself: How long you've been riding (both in years and miles), typical trip distance, frequency, freeway riding, urban, canyon carving or somewhere in between? What else do you do for fun/work, in terms of exercise? And how did the eye's shut and reach for the bars experiment come out? If you've had other bikes, which one(s) did you think were most comfortable?

 

Best of luck!

Edited by elkroeger
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As an older rider, and having chronic back pain, I totally understand your issues. Back pain can be caused by a lot of things, from the spine, discs, rib facet joints, ligaments, muscles, etc. I suggest putting the sale of the bike on hold, check in with your family doc, get some tests done ( CT, MRI ) to rule out serious conditions. Then find a good physiotherapist and massage therapist. If your physio assessment does not find anything sinister going on, he'll start you on doing stretches and exercises and in a few months your back pain will likely reduce or go away completely. A good massage therapist will find any tight muscle groups/spasms and suggest specific stretches fro them. Riding involves many small muscle groups called stabilisers, and these can weaken if your lifestyle is sedentary. Be careful with meds that are muscle relaxants...they can make you drowsy or dopey.

 

Alfred

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Corbin? Why waste your money on one just buy a 2'X6". You want a comfortable seat spring for a Russell Day Long saddle and be done with it. Got one on both my bikes and no more issues. On the FJR only the front seat is a Day Long with rear seat recovered to match saves a bunch of money. Wife likes the stock FJR seat.

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Trobinson
Corbin? Why waste your money on one just buy a 2'X6". You want a comfortable seat spring for a Russell Day Long saddle and be done with it. Got one on both my bikes and no more issues. On the FJR only the front seat is a Day Long with rear seat recovered to match saves a bunch of money. Wife likes the stock FJR seat.

Hmm, I tried a Corbin once and it was exceedingly comfortable. The only issues I had was it was a bit too wide, the way the rear attached to the front wasn't well engineered, and it felt like I was riding a Goldwing. But, my butt wasn't sore at all after 2 hour commute. It all depends on the butt when it comes to seats. Riding position is another story and the bars will play a large role as well as seat position.

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My first BMW was a 1997 R1100RT which has nearly the same ergonomics as the 1150RT. I owned it for 18 months and while I loved the bike I just could not get comfortable on it. I too tried 3 seats, 2 sets of risers, etc. For me it was neck and shoulder pain. I sold it and bought a 2002 R1150GS and loved that bike! Kept it for 10 years and then traded up to a 2012 GSA. At the same time I owned a 2006 RT That I also loved. So for ME selling the 1100RT WAS the answer. I believe that some bikes just don't fit.

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That's "the sit up and beg" riding position for ya.

Yes, check MYRP.

Weight is not on your sit bones or wrists.

Find an RS or another bike with slight forward lean.

Don't say no can't it isn't how I sit, just try it. After 1500 miles should be saying no going back to sit up and beg.

Everyone is different, YMMV, but what yer doing isn't working.

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Add me to the MYRP supporters.

 

I absolutely believe it is the best and most comprehensive solution to rider comfort that I have ever found.

 

Part of the solution is also for you think about what you want and if you have the right/correct tool to achieve what you want.

 

If you want a comfortable ride that does not rely on cushy, lounge chair- like saddles, AND if you also want a ride position that is safe, offers more bike control then MYRP is likely your best approach. Certainly costs nothing too.

 

I did NOT say it was easy. I said that that doing it correctly will become habit and WILL make you a better rider while increasing your comfort level. The BAD news is that MYRP requires doing it which also implies doing something differently.

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That's "the sit up and beg" riding position for ya.

Yes, check MYRP.

Weight is not on your sit bones or wrists.

Find an RS or another bike with slight forward lean.

Don't say no can't it isn't how I sit, just try it. After 1500 miles should be saying no going back to sit up and beg.

Everyone is different, YMMV, but what yer doing isn't working.

 

+1C (c=conditional) on RS or some other bike with a more sporting rider configuration.

As long as you heed the operative word "slight" in that forward lean. It seems that as fairing wind protection is increased the slight forward lean becomes ever more slight to find a comfortable riding position My neighbors Duc916 with track bars is very comfortable with no weight on my wrists at speeds above 90 MPH with the blast of air lifting my torso. At legal speeds my wrists are done at 30 minutes.

 

+1 try something different as what you're doing isn't working.

Haha...Maybe try a HD Breakout with Ape Hanger bars. That will make your woes on the RT's comfort seem trivial!

 

 

 

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I had a Corbin on my 96 RT for 21 years. Best saddle I ever sat on. Someone here said the rear seat attachment wasn't well engineered. Have to agree with that.

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Having serious trouble getting comfortable! I've had an r1150rt for about a year now. I'm 6ft tall, 210lbs and no matter what I do I cannot get comfortable. I've tried everything from a stock seat, to a Corbin seat with a backrest, to a sergeant saddle, and an airhawk cushion as well. I always have at least problem, sometimes it's a sore butt after a short distance (idk why aftermarket seats are so hard). Oh and I have handlebar risers too.The biggest problem is back pain, currently mid to upper back, sometimes even after 10 minutes. It's gotten to the point where my bike is currently for sale which sucks because I love it. Any suggestions!? I'm desperate!

 

Ehughesrfd,

 

I've had back problems for about 30 years. Sometimes debilitating. I couldn't stand up, sit down, lay down, get up, walk, move, work, sleep, or watch tv, etc for days at times. What I've found is that going to the gym 3 times a week and getting on the back machines (push back type), 3 sets of 50 with 120 lb is my solution. It may not be for you, depending on the source of your pain. I'm convinced mine is musculature only, not discs, nerves, or arthritis. I've found that extreme back stretching and a vigorous rolling pin on the small of my back gives good temporary relief. When I get to the gym 3-4 times a week I can ride as much as I want 3-4 days straight, back-pain free.

 

On the pure old butt pain (pressure points under your butt bones), that's different. The Corbin on my R11S is great (and hard). The Corbin on my K12RS is not quite as good but is made better by the smallest Airhawk pillion pad. Smaller is better with Airhawk's. I have several. Keep trying different types and thicknesses of padding and in different shapes to see what works best there.

 

Good luck!!

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Ehughesrfd,

 

Don't know where ewe live. It might be worth a call to Corbin and Russel custom seat builders to ask them if you could do a couple hour test drive on their saddles. They are both in CA I believe. I just replaced my 96 with a 2018. BMW still hasn't learned how to make an arse friendly seat.

Some folks confuse hard with uncomfortable. The Corbin is hard. It is not uncomfortable. Hard is the opposite of soft. Uncomfortable is being in pain after a short two hour ride.

You may also want to refer to a great post on this site called the Master Yoda riding position. Ergonomic positioning has much to do with pain management and effective control of the bike.

Before you jog down to the gym to get in shape, consult an MD. I too suffer from a 'bad' back. I was ready to re start my neglected home exercises of leg levers and knees bent crunches. Both my physical therapist and MD said hold up there buckaroo. With my situation they strongly recommended some targeted isometrics and discouraged weight training or traditional lower back/abdomen exercises. Losing my surplus 25 lbs wouldn't hurt either.

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Hey, Red,

 

Doctors are always very skeptical of exercise; it cuts into their business too much. They have mansion and yacht payments to make!!

 

I'm just saying what works for me. And, it's the ONLY thing that works for me. It won't work for everyone but it might be worth a try. It won't cost as much as a Dr visit to tell you not to!! "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." One sure thing: sitting on the butt eating chips watching the tube WILL kill you.

 

Just sayin'....

 

 

Edited by Lowndes
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Rob Nowell

What would it take to get a decent seat on a $20k motorcycle? Seriously! Does the majority of riders actually LIKE the OEM seats on BMWs? Perhaps I just don't "get it."

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The saddle on my '14 is the Factory Low. I like it.

 

I did an Iron Butt-type ride from Wisconsin to central Colorado... 1180 miles in 18 hours on this saddle. Comfortable all the way.

 

YAMMV

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Butts are like fingerprints, no two alike. I've enjoyed my OEM seat on the 12 RT no problems 400 mile days. The OEM on the 07 RT was just a tad 'off' but I still could get 400 mile days and each gas stop at 225 miles (off the seat) was enough to get me back on the seat again.

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Rob Nowell

I have the factory low on my '16 RT and find it to be akin to a cinder block. I have to use Airhawk for most rides.

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