Corbin seat question

[kmac]

Corbin heated seat ?

My '96 R 1100 RT has a Corbin heated front and rear seat on it. Not my favorite, but it is what it is.

 

My question is, does anyone know how the heating elements are in the seat?

 

I am thinking about shaving a few spots of the seat and recovering it and I just do not want to cut the heating element. I am guessing the heating element is a wire that runs thru the foam and heats up like a heat blanket does. I can shave the seat foam I think unless the element is near the surface. There is a huge lump right under my berries that make my nads go numb after a 100 miles or so. There is also kind of a berm around the back of the seat that is too wide or wraps around too far under my thighs. I just want to trim those spots some and do a leather/suede seat cover or something.

__________________

[tallman]

Have you looked into lowering the seat mounts?

 

Don't know about seat design, their website describes the elemenant

as built in, whatever that means.

Good luck.

[eddd]

You might be better off selling that one.

[kmac]

eddd, I can not afford to buy a new one even with selling this one. It is not terrible, just some trimming here and there. I am a do it yourself kind of guy so I can do it, I just don't want to cut a wire.

 

tallman, thanks also for the input, the seat is already on the low side for me and I do not want it any lower. I am 6'0", not TALL {man} but tall enough to want the seat up on the bike for peg room and ergos.

[kmac]

Opps forgot something...

I was wanting to trim the edges and the nut hump and then add a bit of softer foam or gel in the center before the recover, will the heater work still?

 

The seat is like a big bowl and it just does not fit my flat butt. I want to flatten it a bit.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Call Corbin and ask them.

[kmac]

I did Mitch, they are terrible. I wanted to order a set of plug ends to connect the seat to my bike, apparently the seat was installed on my bike secondhand but never hooked up to the electrical.

 

I called them back then too and they put me thru to 2 different desks and finally a woman told me there was nothing they could do if I was not the original purchaser even though I wanted to BUY a product from them...bad business.

 

This time they said we do not have any drawings for your seat because you do not have the original order details...great business plan.

[tallman]

I'd take the cover off, if you can't tell put cover back on.

 

Or try delicate inciscions to find wires and see what you find.

Foam can be bought.

Possible you'll just find the wiring placed in a pattern and you can remove foam layer/layers and replace the heating element and foam layers.

Worst case it is a type of injected foam encapsulating wires and you can slice and remove then rebuild.

Check w/an upholstery shop and maybe they have suggestion and or tools to help.

 

Good luck.

[kmac]

Thanks for the ideas.

The lowering the seat idea got me thinking. I could put the seat in the lower postion and softer pad up to where it is now and shape it more how I want, kind of a cap the seat idea.

[tallman]

See if there is enough extra trim on the seat cover to raise the height and by how much.

If the seat cover has little extra (where stapled under pan)

may not work.

Good luck.

[kmac]

Thanx tallman,

I am actually thinking of picking up a hide and making my own leather and suede seat cover. I have a leather needle and a decent sewing machine that I have sewn leather on before. I also have a cool little old hispanic fellow in my neighborhood that is an upholsterer if I think it is more than I can handle he will sew it up and stretch it on pretty cheaply.

[Peter Parts]

Opps forgot something...

I was wanting to trim the edges and the nut hump and then add a bit of softer foam or gel in the center before the recover, will the heater work still?

 

The seat is like a big bowl and it just does not fit my flat butt. I want to flatten it a bit.

 

 

Yeah, right, we all need a lot more room in that hump spot.

 

Kidding aside, the "bowl" shape is very important for the lumbar support; it provides it because of the tall curve at the back of the bowl. Don't disrupt that aspect. Best saddles are "tractor seat" shaped.

 

Ikea sells a workstation stool in that shape.

 

Ben

[kmac]

Peter,

I am not cutting out that back area, it just wraps too far around and hits up under my thighs.

 

There are alot of GS guys out there that ride LOOOONNNGGG distances with pretty flat seats.

[Peter Parts]

There are alot of GS guys out there that ride LOOOONNNGGG distances with pretty flat seats.

 

There are lot of guys out there with BAAAAAAAADDDD aches and pains and some of them no longer ride bikes because they never figured out how to make the bike fit them. And they're the smart ones. The dumb ones are still riding that way.

 

Glad to see you are intent on making the bike fit you better even if you don't seem to care for my post.

 

Ben

[kmac]

I appreciated your post Peter. I was not arguing with your comments. LOTS of people hate the Corbin seat. It is probably the most hated aftermarket seat out there. Occasionally someone likes it, but it is BAD for me.

 

I have a backrest that supports my lumbar and that bowl ridge causes alot of discomfort, something has to change.

 

I have usually been fine on comfort with seats that have no bowl shape in the butt making a lumbar support. Most have a step in the seat where the pillion jumps up some but not all. The Renazco seats are not bowls and and people travel RTW with those on GS/GSA.

 

I was just saying that THIS bowl seat does NOT fit my shape so I am modifying it. If I end up making too flat and loosing support I will change it back, that is the cool part about foam, it is easily shaped with an electric carving knife {thanks and sorry honey, I destroyed a 25 yr old wedding gift on my cafe seat and tail section I built}

[kmac]

I am not doing this blind btw, I have done a few bits of upholstery in my life. I had a shop reupholster my '49 Studebaker seat but I hated the seating postion of the stock back

so I went and bought a sheet of plywood and some egg crate foam from my local Army Navy store and ripped the seat apart and rebuilt the whole thing, now the seat and leg room is great and way more comfy.

 

Thanks for all of the input.

[Skywagon]

kmac...sounds like you already started, but if not too far along..just ride to the corbin site in your state...Hollister I believe. When I lived in CA I rode my R100RT there and had them make me one while I was on it....I know you don't need them to do the work, but I suspect if you show up one of the seat makers will show you all you need to know...

[r77toy]

Once Corbin has your money, they never want to hear from you again.

[Peter Parts]

I hope there was no fog when I said I am glad to see you addressing the problem. For sure, there are few one-size-fits-all solutions in ergonomics.

 

But there are general principles that are sensible to remember. One principle is that you have to keep the two upper and the lower curves in your spine curving right - not too much and not too little. Ordinarily, a support just north of your bum (and definitely south of most "back rests" which do more harm than good on a bike) will benefit your lower (lumbar) curve.

 

For some folks (like me), a tractor seat form (like a Corbin) is honky-dory.

 

I do however wonder why you say Corbin is "the most hated" supplier. I'd guess they are the biggest bike saddle supplier by far. I suppose you can be both. They've been helpful to me over last two saddles, even sending free stuff.

 

Personal note: I bought a spare stock saddle and about $150 worth of foam, visco-elestic-NASA stuff, glue, etc. to re-make my saddle. Then I found a Corbin for my model that had been abandoned at a dealer. If nothing else, having breathing leather (rather than plastic) is a major comfort factor.

 

Ben

[kmac]

Peter you are one of very few folks that I have heard that from. They have not even given me the time of day in 2 attempts at BUYING something from them.

They are a HUGE aftermarket seat maker....usually and I believe in this case, TOO big.

 

Very few people here and on ADV like the Corbin saddle on BMWs. It may be great on a Ninja or something but it SUCKS on my bike and I am not alone in feeling like that.

 

I have talked to 4 different people there at Corbin "customer service" and I have had NO customer service.

 

I would ride stock way before I would ever buy another Corbin seat.

 

What you say it should do to the curve in a back is exactly what my problem is. The hump up under my modest sack forces me to roll my hips back curving my spin the wrong way.

 

Thanks for your help offerings but gutting this thing or buying a different seat are my options now.

[Heck]

FYI- With Corbin, showing up in person is the way to get things done...They are usually pretty helpful to a live body instead of over the phone, especially if you go during the week. (Tue-Fri). The place is pretty busy on Saturdays as far as ride ins go. They rebuilt my seat 4 times....Each time, we thought it was right, however after a few weeks in the saddle, the seat turned back into a rock. I finally sold the seat and had Rick Mayer build one for me. No other problems. I know most folks hate the customer service aspect of Corbin- for me, the hate was about the seat itself. It's a great looking seat, but as far as comfort goes, especially LD comfort, Not so much.

As always, YMMV but if you insist on keeping the seat, make an in person visit to try to get it to fit you...