The day Corbin Pacific announced they would take orders for their Pan America seats I placed my order. The configurator wasn't ready yet, nor were the pictures for the seat I wanted, but I've had a few Corbin seats and like them all. My Wall solo seat is by far my favorite.

I know many here say they like the stock seat and that it's comfortable for them. For me it's comfortable for 20-30 minutes, then it starts getting very uncomfortable. It's simply too soft to offer good support. To top it off, the seat slopes forward, pushing me to the narrow forward are against the gas tank. I suppose the designers did this intentionally to make it easier for most riders to put their legs down when stopped. I simply found it annoying.

Another disappointment with the stock seat is the ramp-up to the passenger seat. The designers could have turned it into lumbar support for the rider, but instead, it's too far back and too gentle a slop to be of any use. It's also curious why the factory did not create a heated seat option and make it standard equipment on the Special model. They gave us heated grips, a heated seat is a logical feature.

At 6' tall with a 36" inseam, the stock Pan Am seat in the high position works fine for me height-wise. If anything I'd like it to be just a bit taller to give me more legroom. And I do like the up/down adjustability.

My final gripe with the stock seat is the material itself. It's too grippy and too hot. I really don't like my ***** sweating. It's hot here in Arizona. I know they tested it here... Guys, don't tell me your ***** weren't sweating!

Reading the initial specs, I was pleased to see that Corbin went with a wider seat design. The narrow stock seat causes hot spots on my inner thighs. The passenger seat is wider, too, which will be a welcome benefit for passengers. My passenger is my dog, and the wider seat makes for greater stability for his pet carrier, which doubles as my backrest.

I ordered the seat pretty much as pictured on the Corbin website. After talking to one of the reps, who has a set with the carbon fiber "look" material on his own seat, and getting a closeup photo, I thought it would look nice with the carbon fiber on the SE exhaust. I also thought the orange trim looked pretty snazzy, so I went with that, too. I also went with the heated option on both front and rear seats.

My seat arrived after about 6-weeks. Not bad considering. However, the seat arrived without any instructions and with a minor mistake. I asked for both the Corbin logo and my personal monogram to be in medium grey. They got my monogram right but did the Corbin logo in orange. I'll put a call in to get the wiring instruction. I'm in no hurry. I'm not touching anything until H-D- gets all of my electrical and software issues sorted.

As with all Corbin saddles, this one is firm. Very firm. At first, you think it will be uncomfortable because it feels like a rock compared to the stock saddle. I'll get to that.

Installation is easy. However, it did take a few minutes to work out the angle to get the passenger seat to go in. It's a tight fit. There's a support that needs to clear the rear storage bin. Simply look as you're lowering the seat, and then give it a good shove when the support is about to touch the lip of the bin.

The materials and construction are superb. The seat pans are much heavier, as is the hardware. As a result, the seat does add a few pounds. And that's okay with me. Although I have not installed it yet, I purchased the passenger backrest. The seat pan is plenty sturdy enough to should someone leaning on the backrest. I thought this would be way more comfortable for a passenger than the silly top box pad H-D designed.

This past weekend I put about 300 miles in the saddle. On my first day, I laid down 100 miles, 70/30 dirt/street. I was initially concerned that the wider seat would get in the way of doing off-road work. The truth is, just like the stock seat, you don't even know it's there. And, standing back to admire my new accessory, I noticed how much more of the rear sub-frame you see. It's very nice-looking.



On my second day, I did a 200-mile loop around, Prescott, Jerome, Cottonwood, Sedona, Flagstaff, and Williams. It's an incredible ride full of twisties and amazing scenery. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more scenic ride. But, what started as a sunny, beautiful day, turned into a wicked hail storm coming down out of Flagstaff. It hailed so hard and so fast that the hail was collecting on I-40. All of the overpassed were packed with cars and trucks trying to duck out of the wind and hail damage. I had nowhere to stop, so I stayed on the freeway and toughed it out. I have a lot of respect for my new Karoo 3 tires.



After the 300 miles, here are my thoughts.

Corbin nailed the seating shape and position. It does not slope forward like the stock seat and it puts you in a comfortable upright position. That's exactly what I was looking for.

With my long legs, I sit back as far as possible--in the sweet spot of the seat--and the lumbar support does a pretty good job of supporting my spine. It's not as supportive as my Wall seat, but it's not bad.

It was warm enough around Cottonwood and coming back through the valleys returning to Prescott that I would have been uncomfortable on the stock seat. But, the combination of the "stealth" stitch design (the pattern in the seat), and the carbon fiber-look material made it very comfortable. Also, even though the fabric has some grip, it's easier to move around on that the stock seat.

Through the whole ride, not once was I uncomfortable and fidgeting around trying to fight off "butt burn". I wouldn't say it's broken in and ready for an iron butt ride, just yet, but I'd take it on an iron butt over the stock seat any day.

Is there anything that I don't like about the seat? Yes. Corbin decided not to make the seat adjustable. That's unfortunate because that is the only design feature of the stock seat that I feel is good about it.

More pics:

 

Great review! I have the low version of the Corbin ordered, though I'm probably about 3 weeks out from receiving it.

 

Congrats. Better lumbar support with the low seat.

 

Just hoping that my junk isn't up against the tank

 

I have 2 Corbin seats for my Ultra. Gunfighter and Dual Tourer. Love them.
What seat height did you go with? I'm 6'3" and have a 34" inseam.

 

I understand that the Corbin seats are not adjustable - but do you have any idea if the Corbin low version is higher or lower than the HD low seat in low position?

 

That's a good question...I'd be fine as long as the Corbin low is lower than the OEM standard height.

 

So you got the standard height seat? Goes in the high position on the bike? Is it cut any narrower up front to get your legs down closer to the bike?

 

Mine is getting ready to get modded by MCC this week. Should make a huge difference.

 

The Corbin configurator and before/after images do a good job of showing the differences in shape and height.