CORBIN- the travelogue (Long. I mean r-e-a-l-l-y long people!)

[PeterL]

 

Today was the day for my long-delayed trip to Hollister, CA. Function and aesthetics were what I used as arguments to bring my wife around, but the whole story was that this was a last ditch effort to placate my butt, which had had quite enough of Yamaha's miserable excuse for gluteal accommodations thank you.

Hollister is at best about 3.5 hours from our home, so we rode down yesterday and stayed in a local motel. We both woke up around 2am, which while frustrating in the extreme, did make it pitifully easy to be first in line when Corbin rolled their doors up. (the guy who came in 20 minutes behind us was a bit miffed to find 'his' space taken!)

Once you're parked and settled and have confirmed the basics of what you want, they fit a 'blank' seat pan/foam unit and have you sit on and give an initial evaluation. They will then add, remove or contour the foam until you are satisfied, then you are sent out to give this a test ride. Some folks just circle the building. OK, to be fair it is a fairly big building. We went a couple of miles, around some corners and doing accel and braking tests to check it worked well in all areas. Once you are back, you discuss the experience with 'your' build rep and if necessary they will make further adjustment cycles until you are happy.

Once all that is settled, it's swatch time. No, not those execrable watches, but two big freaking bundles of samples- one bunch leather and the other vinyl. Not only colors, but textures and finishes can make this a somewhat daunting procedure. I'd used Corbins online tool to mock up my desired configuration, and other than making one slight color change when I saw the difference between screen and reality, I was good to go. Corbin also offers a plethora of stitching patterns for the seating surface. I liked the standard offering quite well and stuck with that. But I think every single Harley present went with one custom pattern or other. There was even another 2019 Tracer represented, a non-GT model, and we had some lovely discussions as we both waited to see what was wrought from our differing concepts.

Corbin not only allows but encourages you to walk through their production area. You can see the racks and racks and racks of various seat pans ready for whomever might want any particular type. Staff was kind enough to actually hunt me down when my seat was being cut and sewn so I could witness and photograph the procedure. When all was complete and we got to test-sit the finished product it was a revelation. The Tracer was not only fun, it was now *comfortable*! And I expect it will only get better as it breaks in a bit. My V-Strom saddle was just that way as well.

Our trip down was mostly slab, as we wished to hold our suffering to the minimum. Our trip home, couched as a 'test ride' was in reality an excuse to revisit roads we'd missed since moving from the Bay Area. From Hollister, we went north to Saratoga on the interstate. Saratoga spawns highway 9 which though it goes through populated areas, has lots and lots of lovely corners. Highway 9 joins up with State Route 35, known generally as Skyline Boulevard. You ride the crest of a long ridge, the Bay Area pop centers down to the east, and to the west lots of varied terrain sloping away toward Highway 1 and the Pacific. We rode through periods of sunshine, fog and clouds. The latter were enough that the pavement was positively soaked in some places!

A break was taken when 35 intersected SR 84, colloquially La Honda Road. Home since dinosaurs roamed the earth (I was one of 'em) to Alice's Restaurant. If motorcycling in the western US is viewed as a universe, Alice's is the black hole at it's center. If you've not been there yet, gravitational entropy will insure you do so eventually. After a lovely meal, eaten at a shaded picnic table in a grassy sward with a half dozen horses tied up at the periphery (they were eyeing our salad with envious eyes) and agreeing that thus far the seat felt marvelous, we went west and down to Highway 1 to spend the next hour or so cruising our way up the coast. Much fog and dampness here, but for a couple who've been trapped in 100+ degree days and single-digit humidity readings seemingly forever it felt freaking GREAT!

Getting through SF was a nightmare. It generally is, but today was extra special. I rewrote several sections of the vehicle code on the fly and we made good our escape. Once over the Golden Gate bridge things got rather boring, as a combination of long stretches of freeway and enough cars to fill it to the bursting point meant roughly 40 miles of non-stop lane splitting. Nothing new for this area unfortunately, but for 10 or so of those miles I actually fell in behind a CHP motor officer and just enjoyed the spectacle as the cars scrambled to get out of his/our way. Felt almost like cheating, but in the end I 'm OK with that.

The last hour to our home on a rural mountaintop is composed of very twisty and mostly 2-lane roads. I've been navigating this route for a decade now, so was in good position to note how much more connected I was to the bike with the new saddle. No longer searching for a proper perch, I now was very aware of how much easier it was to get the rhythm right, to hit or modify my lines as desired every time and to just -enjoy- the ride and road as never before on this bike.

 

Corbin-exterior. Ride in bay in center

We're number one!

Lots of choices

Panel discussion

Parts and more parts

Your butt goes here

Side panel construction

Mine all mine

A nice piece of tail

I rather like that

Edited July 1, 2021 by PeterL
added captions

[showmerider]

Looks good! Did it help with the downward slope of the seat any? 

[PeterL]

Ah, yep!

The last photo shows it a bit, you wind up sitting in a bit of a dish, albeit not as extreme as a Russell tractor seat. This is the stock Corbin profile, we made only minor mods and most all of those were to the perch of She Who Must Be Conveyed, but they'll do whatever you ask. Flat? Humped? Non-euclidean geometry? If you ask, they'll do their damnedest. Now, rather than sliding the fun bits into the tank constantly, this has left me with room to spare and a lot of freedom to shift about as I desire. Our return took just under six hours of saddle time, and we both felt good when we dismounted. (Wait, six hours?! Yeah, blame a lot of that on SF. The chaos on Park Presidio was truly epic. Forget 'vehicle accident', think 'meteor strike' and you might appreciate the carnage wrought upon the traffic patterns!)

 

[Clem Fandango]

Looks awesome, perfect choice on the colors! Years of reading about Corbin has led me to the conclusion that going there in person is a wonderful experience, but buying a seat from them remotely is an exercise in frustration and woe be to the person who has to send one back for modification or a refund.

[Old Bob]

I've had Corbin seats on 4 of my bikes and been happy with all of them. The last was a 2011 Ninja 1000. I would ride it for a couple of weeks, twisties, up hills , down hills, then go back to Corbin and make adjustments. It took 4 trips to make it perfect.  I lived in the Bay Area, right below Alice's, so it wasn't that long of a ride down there. Moral of the story, the people at Corbin will do whatever it takes to make you happy satisfied customer.

[Old Bob]

P.S. Do they still have the free breakfast for cutomers?

[Ride365]

Love Corbins, I'm saving up for one on mine, any mounting/fitment issues at all on bike?

[Kenny A.]

Luv that seat !!

[PeterL]

Clem: I do not know if this is any more or less true when related to all the other manufacturers and seat types out there. Each is a completely subjective experience, unique to each individual. Many riders LOVE the Yamaha "Comfort" seat, but for me it was reminiscent of the Marquis de Sade at his best. Our profile modifications at Corbin were all to my wife's seat, the driver portion I did not touch as I could find no fault needing addressing. That's not saying that it will be the same for everyone, because it just plain won't. So while I could likely have been just as satisfied with a mail-order unit from Corbin, my wife wouldn't have. That made the trip worthwhile for me. Of course, my first unit from them for my V-Strom (a decade+ ago now) needed LOTS of mods to work for me, so there is just no telling. I'm sure they do their best to evaluate feedback and optimise seat profiles for the customer base at large. But you have no guarantee where exactly on the bell curve of possibilities you may fit.

Judging strictly by the people I dealt with, from the folks on the phones to everyone on their shop floor right down to the lady cutting and sewing my panels together, each and every one seemed to be concerned with doing their job well and properly. I find that sort of commitment is much more likely to yield a satisfactory outcome than having the same tasks performed by someone who's just in it for a paycheck.

I just wanted to give folks here a look into the process as we experienced it, never to say it is the only or even the best choice for every rider. My best friend was a heartfelt and lifelong advocate for Bill Mayer Saddles, he wouldn't think of owning anything else. I now own his K1200RS with that seat as well and while it is undoubtedly well made, the profile is not optimum for me. Different bodies, different criteria. Talk to owners. Talk to manufacturers. Do your reading and make your best choice. Good luck.

Edited July 1, 2021 by PeterL

[betoney]

2 minutes ago, PeterL said:

I do not know if this is any more or less true when related to all the other manufacturers and seat types out there. Each is a completely subjective experience, unique to each individual. Many riders LOVE the Yamaha "Comfort" seat, but for me it was reminiscent of the Marquis de Sade at his best. Our profile modifications at Corbin were all to my wife's seat, the driver portion I did not touch as I could find no fault needing addressing. That's not saying that it will be the same for everyone, because it just plain won't. So while I could likely have been just as satisfied with a mail-order unit from Corbin, my wife wouldn't have. That made the trip worthwhile for me. Of course, my first unit from them for my V-Strom (a decade+ ago now) needed LOTS of mods to work for me, so there is just no telling. I'm sure they do their best to evaluate feedback and optimise seat profiles for the customer base at large. But you have no guarantee where exactly on the bell curve of possibilities you may fit.

 

This was my finding as well, just as one pair of jeans wont fit everyone, an off the shelf seat wont either.  Getting it measured, shaped and built exactly for me made all the difference. 

[hardrivn]

Just got my Corbin seat today, you have to remove the seat adjuster to get it to work in the bike correct? otherwise it wouldn't latch, was kind of hoping to have it set to the high position, but none the less feels great. I was lucky enough to find one on FB Marketplace for $250 shipped. Remembering how much I liked it on my VFR I jumped quickly and bought it. I'll provide an update in a couple of weeks after getting some good miles on it.