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Anyone near Hollister, CA (& need a Corbin Seat)

6K views 22 replies 7 participants last post by  Troy Abbott 
#1 ·
Corbin seat company is looking for someone with an XSR700 to build their first one. Whoever can leave their bike with them in Hollister, California for a day will get a free seat. They are actually comfortable, unlike the stock one we get. I've had 3 on different bikes, and I can't tolerate the stock one anymore, even with a sheepskin. Oh yes, my interest in this is so that one is added to their product line and actually available, so I can buy one. You can call them or find particulars on their website, Corbin.com
 
#2 ·
I'm not in CA, actually in the PNW like yourself, but just wanted to throw out there how much better the OEM accessory solo seat is over the stock one. It's got denser, memory-type foam that feels just right for me. The stock seat was horrid for me mainly due to the crappy foam, but also because I slid around on the slick vinyl top. The solo seat has a suede top (still synthetic of course).

Yamaha Sports Plaza in Oregon has great prices on OEM parts, if you order online.

Good luck!
 
#3 ·
I have the accessory solo seat and it is like a 2 x 6 pine board. Adding my old trusty sheepskin didn't help at all. I do appreciate the top is non slip, unlike the stock seat. It's hard to beat Corbin for comfort.
And yes, I also recommend Yamaha Sports Plaza.
 
#4 ·
I've been thinking about this for a while, myself. Would be a fun trip to ride down there, leave the bike, fly home, and fly back a couple of weeks later to ride the bike home. I just emailed them to ask more about timeline etc. Their website indicates they'd need the bike for 3-4 weeks, which is a long time to be without my bike right now (prime riding season in OR)... We'll see what they say. If it's just a couple of days, I'd just rent a car and go camp somewhere in the area.

This post was the kick in the pants I needed to actually take the first step and ask them for more details, so thanks!
Aaron
 
#6 ·
Well, I dropped by XSR700 off at Corbin yesterday! I rode down over the weekend and met them Monday morning. Their employees were awesome and even gave me a lift to the San Jose airport, about an hour away. I'll be flying back down in 4 weeks to pick up the bike and have them customize the new seat for me.

I will miss having the bike around but thankfully have a very busy next few weeks, and a couple of other bikes I can play around on =)

I'll take more pictures when I'm down there and hope to get a tour of their facility and process, but the production crew isn't working on Mondays so there were just a few people around when I dropped off. Here's evidence of Corbin with their first XSR700...

Aaron
 

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#8 · (Edited)
Yeah, my understanding is that they will use my bike to fabricate the custom seat tray to optimally hold their foam, then come up with the dimensions of the foam that will form the base seat (and produce this as a single molded piece). Once I come back they will take measurements, cut to foam to match my posterior, then cover it with the materials I select.

I'm sure I'll have much more info after I go to pick it up!
 
#10 ·
Well, I'm flying back down Friday to pick up my XSR from Corbin and have them finish the custom part of the seat. I'm really looking forward to it and the ride home, which will be about a thousand miles... Weather is looking good, which makes me happy since I'll be camping along the way. I will take plenty of pictures at the factory and of the new seat.

I have never picked materials for a custom seat before, but have a few ideas... also wanted to see if any of you had ideas that I hadn't considered! Per Corbin's website, they prefer vinyl for the sides because it doesn't strech, but take a look here and give me your suggestions! Keep in mind I've got the silver tank panels and will also be fitting brushed aluminum side panels to match.

My leading two ideas are:
Smoke Bomber leather top, chrome welt, and black CF vinyl for the side panels
-or-
Grey Bomber leather top, black welt, and charcoal CF vinyl for the side panels

I will of course solicit opinions from their designers as well, I feel like they just *might* have a good eye for this sort of thing...

Aaron
 
#12 ·
Well, my experience at Corbin turned out a little differently than I had expected, but I feel very fortunate because of the final outcome and Corbin's employees who took VERY good care of me, and went above and beyond to ensure I rode away happy.

Apparently, the employee who does the foam molds for the R&D dept was unexpectedly out for over a week due to medical issues, and so the mold for my seat wasn't going to be done until after my arrival. But I already had a plane ticket to fly down there and time off work to facilitate the travel. So, rather than sending me home on my stock seat and shipping me the Corbin seat, they offered to make a one-off custom seat based on my stock seatpan so I'd have something more comfortable to ride home on, and still ship me the full seat they were building for me!

Obviously I took them up on the offer, and so they made me this beautiful solo seat using their foam and covering on the Yamaha plastic pan. I opted to go for a more 'retro' style with this seat since I was going to get a second seat with a more modern design that I'd use more frequently. I will be sure to post pictures of the two-up seat as well when it arrives.

This seat is a good deal firmer than the stock foam, but provides great support and was definitely much easier on my bottom. I put more miles on per day than I'd normally ride, due to the timing of my trip, but at the end of the day, I still felt better than when I rode fewer miles on the stock seat.

The employees are Corbin were fantastic and super easy to work with. I really appreciate that they went they extra mile to help me out, even though the delays were due to something totally out of their control.
 

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#13 ·
It looks pretty good. I assume you are tall because it looks like the seating portion is more to the rear (pardon the expression). I thought it would be styled more like their XSR900 seat. So, the one they are building on their (heavy) pan will be a solo (Gunfighter) style or the dual (Gunfighter and lady? I still may go this way once I see their catalogued pics of the finished product.
Even with you being out of a bike for a while, those miles were adding up on the ride down and back up. Congrats!
 
#14 ·
I am tall - 6'3" and this is a solo seat, for sure. The one they are building for me that I hope to receive next week will be the dual/two-up /"Gunfighter and Lady" seat. My understanding is they just needed my bike to design the custom seatpan, and they should be able to make any/all of their normal styles on top of that.

Yeah I ended up doing about 1800 miles round trip, over about 30 days... I think I average 150-200 miles a week normally, so it's a good thing - I was stoked to have the excuse to take two ~900 miles trips in a month's time!

Thanks!
Aaron
 
#20 ·
Yeah, I finally got it on Saturday (about a month after I rode the bike home). It came out looking awesome! I went with the "Carbon Fiber Leather, black" for the top surfaces, black vinyl for the sides, and the chrome trim/welt.

I did have to immediately drill out 4 rivets on each side, peel back the covering, and carefully cut out part of the seatpan with a Dremel cut off wheel to fit over my sidecase / rear rack brackets. Then re-rivet the cover in place. I also had to add some spacers under the seat lock latch, and trim a little off the rear rubber pads to get the clearance necessary to lock properly. They were supposed to have made notes about my racks when they took them off and shaped the seat pan to fit, but it wasn't really a big deal to modify. Something to keep in mind though, if you run sidebags or a rear luggage rack you will have to custom fit the seat to your bike.

I haven't had it out on the road yet (too wet) but it looks great and while sitting on it in the garage it feels awesome!

Aaron
 

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