Seat refurb?

I have a complete Corbin saddle/back rest that I bought new when I got my 2000 R1100RT about 17 years ago. As my bike is always garaged or covered it has stood up pretty well, even with 78k miles on it. However I have worn through the leather on the right side edge from dragging my leg across it mounting/dismounting and I am looking to have it recovered and maybe new foam for the drivers saddle. I think I only carried a passenger 2 or 3 times over the years as my wife would not ride with me after we had kids so the back seat is still pretty good shape. I stopped by a local Auto/boat upholstery shop that has very good reviews on Yelp with the seats today to get an estimate and was told $450 to redo it in vinyl and $600 to do leather. This just seem pretty pricey to me as I had the seat recovered on my '78 GS750 for about $150, but that was like 20 years ago so I may be totally out of touch with current costs.

I was looking at the Corbin website and it looks like I could get a complete new R11RT Front/Rear seat in black leather from them for $646. So $600 for recovering the one I have seemed a bit high. I sent Corbin an email with a estimate request to recover my seat since it was after hours...

I have the front+rear Corbin saddles with driver backrest and top case pad like shows in the pictures Here

Anyone have a suggestion of a place to recover my seats and back rests for a reasonable cost? SoCal can have ridiculous prices sometimes... With the bike being 18 years old and I ride maybe 1k-2k miles a year now, I did not want to drop $600 just for the cosmetic "fix" on the seats. I still have the stock saddle that is like new condition (been in the Corbin box in my garage since I got the new seat) but I remember it not being that comfortable and I like the Corbin backrest...

Thanks!

Luky

If you've been happy with your Corbin all these years I'd have them as first choice to recover it. Probably it will cost less than your local bid. I don't know shops in your area, but up here Rich's Saddles does that sort of thing with glowing reviews from most customers - not sure about the price, but I'd think more like a few hundred than the several hundred you were quoted.

You're not *too* far from Corbin - have you considered riding up there for an on the spot recover and possible adjustment/customization? Maybe $600 could cover the work and your trip expenses including a night in a motel...

If you've been happy with your Corbin all these years I'd have them as first choice to recover it. Probably it will cost less than your local bid. I don't know shops in your area, but up here Rich's Saddles does that sort of thing with glowing reviews from most customers - not sure about the price, but I'd think more like a few hundred than the several hundred you were quoted.

 

You're not *too* far from Corbin - have you considered riding up there for an on the spot recover and possible adjustment/customization? Maybe $600 could cover the work and your trip expenses including a night in a motel...

 

I'll second the notion of having Corbin recover it. They would know their product best and sounds like you were happy with the original version. I've ridden up there for two bikes and been happy with the service on site. Makes for a nice weekend ride if you make an appointment for a Saturday.

I had my seat completely customized at Rich's. Tear off the cover, glue down foam in places, cut out foam from other places, insert a gel pad in the main sit area, recover with leather. Also did a simple recover on the rear seat in leather to match. I think it was on the order of $700 (10 years ago).

So I'd say that a simple recover should cost WAY less than that. If you're looking at 600 clams, you might as well get a custom seat.

btw - Rich gets 5 stars. Shoot, I'd give him 7 stars on a 5 star system.

Another option if you can't find a better price, is to sell that stock seat in the box on ebay, and put the money toward the recover. Just a thought. :-)

This is peak season. The Corbin website will tell you that re-doing one of their seats is right at 75% the cost of buying new from them .it will also take at least a month this time of year. At least.

I suggest waiting until Nov-Dec-Jan THEN calling , not email to set up sending yours in for work.

I sold Corbin's for 15-16 years and have used them since 1986 and they get terrible reviews because people (not you) expect immediate service for low price during peak season.

I've been there many times and even though it's a long established worldwide company, they are really very small and do wonders with the amount of personnel they do have.

Just my 2 cents.

I have had a motorcycle seat cover replaced by a shop that done auto upholstery. A Russell Day long that was leather and all cracked and wrinkled with seams not in good shape. They said it was no problem at all. I think they take the cover off and use it as a pattern. At any rate it looked as good as the new Russell seats I have bought. Figure $200 at a good shop.

You might give these guys a try, and a bit more local. Saddlemen

Sargent will recover their own seats pretty $ reasonably. Could check with them.

Pat

Thanks for the suggestions. I sent an email to Laam seats in Redding and hopefully I will hear back from Corbin. My previous experience with Corbins customer service responding was terrible. My neighbor is a retired firefighter and Harley guy that knows a lot of riders in the area and said he would ask around. He thinks I need to try upholstery shops closer to the mexico border in a less affluent neighborhood to find a better price... He's probably right... I put the stock seat on today and it felt really weird after 17 years in the Corbin but I can get by for the summer. Tri750 is probably right and its best to wait until winter to get it done.... I was thinking $300-$350 range so the $600 really surprised me, but that is why I shop around...

I was thinking $300-$350 range so the $600 really surprised me, but that is why I shop around...

Considering when I had my Russel Day-long seat recovered on my R1100RT, it was less than $300 I would have thought the same thing.

Maybe a trip south of the border? Find an upholstery shop adjacent to a taco stand; enjoy lunch while you watch them recover your seat.

You know what would look great? Conchos.

 

You know what would look great? Conchos.

And some dingle balls on my accessory shelf! Maybe I should go for the forest green metal flake paint too?

I have not found Corbin to be remotely reasonable on recovering. Their price is the price of a new seat when I called. I took it to a local shop and paid $250. I did "shop around" between upholsters. I found an auto upholster to do it. Does it have the bells and whistles, of course not.

 

You know what would look great? Conchos.

 

And some dingle balls on my accessory shelf! Maybe I should go for the forest green metal flake paint too?

I'm not weighing in on dingle balls, but I'm also not going to say I wouldn't like a dark green metal flake paint job... so, overall, yeah - good plan!

Yeah, but Black is the fastest color....

I have not found Corbin to be remotely reasonable on recovering. Their price is the price of a new seat when I called. I took it to a local shop and paid $250. I did "shop around" between upholsters. I found an auto upholster to do it. Does it have the bells and whistles, of course not.

Thanks for that feedback. I got a card from the BMW shop counter for a local guy that does MC seats. Sent him an email today to see if he would do the recover and what he might charge... Unfortunately the Service tech called and said my idling issues were because my TB's are shot. He said $1170 for a pair of new ones... But DR pointed me in the right direction for a kit to rebuild/replace the TB butterfly shafts & bushings so I see that in my near future. Seat may need to wait a bit.