Corbin or Russell?

[KingOfFleece]

FWIT-I have a seat cover business-Russell and Corbin owners are my number 1 and 2 customers and I get to try lots of seats-I hear more positive on the Russell than the Corbin. Corbin owners are about 50/50 love it/hate it in my experience. I hated mine for the 2000 miles I owned it. Russell owners are love it/like it but never hate it.

This may help for you. The other thing I hear often is that the Spencer mod (www.greatdaytoride.com) is the best bang for the buck going. Most everyone thells me that the mod works resal well for them.

My bride likes the Pro-Pad a lot and I use an Alaska Buttpad but that's for testing the waterproofness for the covers. I'm not liking or hating it-it's just there for testing.

kof

 

[Macrider]

I took a photo in the shed tonight. Its not especially good, but it shows the seat. Its in my Member Gallery album.

You can see the stretch marks on the leather. I give a seat a pretty good workout.

The Russell is the most comfortable of all the seats I've owned, and that includes 5 or 6 Corbins, 5 or 6 Sargents (two true customs based on ride in appointments), and various gel seats, high seats, low seats, long haul seats, etc. from the factories.

Hi and welcome to our forum,
I just wanted to ask you, if I want a Russell seat, Do I need to send the stock seat pan to them?
My R3T has the stock backrest and pillion.
I like the one you have in the picture but I would need the backrest as well.

 

[El Toro Rosso]

Hi and welcome to our forum,
I just wanted to ask you, if I want a Russell seat, Do I need to send the stock seat pan to them?
My R3T has the stock backrest and pillion.
I like the one you have in the picture but I would need the backrest as well.

You have to send them a stock seat or seat pan. If you send them a Corbin pan, they will work with it, but there is an upcharge for removal of the rivets, and they do not offer their buy back guarantee if the pan's not stock.

You can get them to do a backrest if you like. Everything with Russell is available - at a price. Many people wait until October when Russell tends to allow various forums to set up "group buys." The FJR Forum had a group buy nearly every year, and the Adventure Forum had group buys too. I bought mine under one of these group buy deals and got a discount of 20%, which pretty much covered the shipping back and forth to northern California.

The Russell seat is pricey, and some people swear that Rick or Rocky Mayer seats are better. Everyone has their own favorite.

FWIW, Bill Mayer (father of Rick and his brother who now compete against each other) started Day Long and when he started making foamed seats instead of sprung seats, he sold the sprung seat business to Russell.

Russell is a Mom & Pop type operation, as are both Mayers (Bill Mayer Saddles and Rick Mayer Cycle) All of these guys do their best 99+% of the time. Folks whine about their service, but anyone who whines about Russell or the Mayers has not had the full runaround from Corbin or one of the other larger corporate seat companies.

 

[friarjohn]

FWIW, Bill Mayer (father of Rick and his brother who now compete against each other) started Day Long and when he started making foamed seats instead of sprung seats, he sold the sprung seat business to Russell.

Does that mean Russell seats are sprung?

 

[El Toro Rosso]

Does that mean Russell seats are sprung?

Yes. Russell Seats are sprung. If you weigh enough, they even have an upcharge for the extra heavy spring set.

Because of the metal springs, if a Russell seat is left out in the rain, it has the potential to actually develop rust. That could lead to the discoloration that was shown in another thread where the poster was dissatisfied with Russell's service 18 months after the sale. It looked to me like rust oozing out the stitching holes .... the poster said that Russell blamed that the seat had sat out in the sun, but it looked to me more like the seat had set out in the rain.

In any event, Russell will sell you a rain cover for your seat. It is supposedly customized for your seat, but the one I ordered looked like it was a standard size, and it did not fit between the seat and the tank, so I sent it back and they gave me full credit for it. If I want to protect the seat against rain when I'm traveling, I throw a water proof cover over the whole bike.

The scuttlebutt is that because of the spring support, the Russell is especially good for very large guys, whereas the foam aftermarket seats may be better for folks of more normal proportions.

One other thing - I did not like my Russell seat at first. Then I went back and read the instructions and moved my fanny into the right position. It made a huge difference, and it further reinforced my belief that Russell really does know his business. But so do many of the other "boutique level seat manufacturers."

 

[scowherd]

IMHO I would buy an airhawk R and put the rest of the money in the gas tank

New AIRHAWK R Cruiser -60 Day Money Back Guarantee

 

[friarjohn]

The scuttlebutt is that because of the spring support, the Russell is especially good for very large guys, whereas the foam aftermarket seats may be better for folks of more normal proportions.

That's good to know. I'm of "generous proportions" myself.

I like my Corbin solo on the America, but it's pretty hard (after getting it adjusted once). I'll probably give Russell a try and get a rain cover. I need a rain cover for the America's Corbin; after 8 years and more than 40k miles the seam across the middle is starting to split at the ends. Probably try a King of Fleece cover.

 

[El Toro Rosso]

IMHO I would buy an airhawk R and put the rest of the money in the gas tank

New AIRHAWK R Cruiser -60 Day Money Back Guarantee

Been there. Done that. Waste of money for me. YMMV.

 

[mexican]

Sissies, real men ride stock seats, makes you tough

 

[HansO]

Sissies, real men ride stock seats, makes you tough

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