"Best" is just so subjective. You'll hear from Mustang guys, Corbin guys, stock-seat-re-built guys, etc, etc, etc. I don't think there is a single answer. You just have to try them for yourself.
Personally, I can't say enough good things about my Corbin.
We often say there are lots of riders who swear by us and lots who swear at us. No seat is going to work for everyone. Like choosing shoes or a spouse, most people have to go through a lot of options to find what's right. While we have a pretty good track record, Corbin, LePera, Saddleman, Danny Grey, Ultimate, even Harley, have plenty of afficianados and their seats are certainly worth checking out.
Maybe the best advice is to talk to people of a similar height and build who ride a similar bike and in a similar way - if you like to ride for 500 miles, a 200-miles-tops rider won't give you the best recommendation, and if you're 6'2" the 5'5" riders won't be much help either. Even then, you'll probably get a LOT of recommendations.
"Best" is just so subjective. You'll hear from Mustang guys, Corbin guys, stock-seat-re-built guys, etc, etc, etc. I don't think there is a single answer. You just have to try them for yourself.
Personally, I can't say enough good things about my Corbin.
The big problem with buying seats, especially online, is most places won't take it back once you install it.
The Harley dealer has lots of seats stamped Demo for this purpose, so there is an advantage to going that route, but the downside is many aftermarket seats are better.
That's why I am in favor of finding a good local upholstery shop and have them rebuild your existing seat or if it is a specialized shop, have them build a seat for you which may take going through several revisions.
My OEM seat was tearing etc. a few years ago. I ended up ordering a Mustang Seat. It looked great in terms of workmanship and materials. I ordered the extra wide model. When I took it out of the box, it was wide alright. It was so wide that I knew I would be sending it back because made the rest of my bike look narrow even though I had not even installed it. Still, I put it on the carpeted floor of my bedroom and tried sitting on it. It was so hard that I decided to send it back for a refund instead of exchanging it for a medium width. Some say you need to give it time to break in, but that was too much money on a maybe in my opinion.
I ended up ordering some really nice leather from a place in Colorado and getting a local upholstery shop to recover my OEM seat. That proved to be a nightmare because the old guy took a long time and I ended up picking it from him with the work not done, went elsewhere to several towns over only to get a good laugh from that guy who turned out to be the old man's son who gave me a bit of a hard time about the leather, and I eventually found another shop and he got it done in a matter of days.
Often what looks good might not look good. Another thing is a two up seat sometimes has a comfortable rider section and a terrible passenger section. An example of this is Harley's Badlands seat.
Confused yet? It is quite normal, as this whole seat buying thing is a nightmare in my opinion and you end up losing money somewhere along the line trying to get it right.
All that being said, real leather is more comfortable than vinyl. For me, the leather eliminated hot spots and fit both the foam better and has more natural stretch to conform to my boney behind.
As for Harley two up seat seats, a lot of people like the Sundowner but some say it is too soft. A lot of people also like Harley's Hammock seat, but I think it only fits newer bikes. Like I said, the advantage of the Harley seats is being able to try out a Demo seat on your bike.
Aside from my first Corbin, which I had them make to my specifications, I have always bought pre-owned (technically not used) Corbins.
I love the fact that I've never paid more than half of retail price. They are dumped by riders who think softer is better. Well, it's not. Maybe it is for a putt to the local waterhole or ice creme parlor. Corbin seats do take some breaking in, but what you get is something you can sit on for hours. I sat on a Mustang for a while and it was better than OEM but I did not care for the position I was in. My current solo was made for someone who paid a deposit but never came back. It sits me low and back an additional 2".
By all means, check out as many seats as you can, just remember that fluffy does not equal comfort.
I rode from Pittsburgh, Pa to Daytona for bike week on an HD seat. Once I got to Daytona and checked in to the motel, i rode straight to Corbin and bought a new seat. That was about 60k miles ago. I've never needed to buy another seat.
12-29-2016 | 11:02 AM
No seat is going to work for everyone. Like choosing shoes or a spouse, most people have to go through a lot of options to find what's right. While we have a pretty good track record, Corbin, LePera, Saddleman, Danny Grey, Ultimate, even Harley, have plenty of afficianados and their seats are certainly worth checking out.
