Corbin seat

[Guest Squashed Nose]

On the homepage a V11 Le Mans is shown with a Corbin Gunfighter fitted. I went into the Corbin site where it states that the seat is only for the V11S and will not fit a Le Mans. Are my eyes deceiving me?

 

It also looks as though the OEM seat hump will not fit on the rear section of the Corbin.

 

Does anybody have any information on these seats as they look mighty comfortable.

[Guest russ]

Squashed,

 

Corbin's arew good seats but they are very hard. Also, the company has had some.....er....customer service issues covered on various internet lists. I am having my LeMans seat redone by Rich Maund, who is a frequent contributor here and also a fellow Guzzi pilot. I get it back Wednesday or Thrsday, so would be happy to give you my impressions. Remember Rich's seats are made to your specs, Corbins Generally are not. Plus Rich is more affordable and you won't have to wait 6 weeks to get it.

[Guest Squashed Nose]

I appreciate your comments but I am in the UK and Rich Maund is not! Corbin stuff is readily available in the UK although I was not aware of any issues with customer dissatisfaction.

 

I'm not that unhappy with my seat on shorter trips (under 100 miles) but on the longer ones, the inside of my upper thighs get chafed and sore. I'm sure a different shaped seat would do the trick (or a gel seat but another contributor on this forum has put me off them).

 

Not only that but my Le Mans is my daily transport and I couldn't be without it (or a replacement bike) for six days, let alone six weeks. That would mean having a spare seat to use whilst mine is being customised. An expense I could well do without.

[Guest russ]

Nose,

 

I agree that the stock seat sucks! I guess you will make the best decision for you. I lioke my Corbin on the BMW but the fit is not nearly as good as the stock pan. The latch works very poorly. Just some info to help you out.

[RichMaund]

I think Corbin's seat has a good shape to it. It doesn't allow the rear cowling to be used though. But they are quite firm. Much firmer than the 100 lb. density foam I use. (Which is considered firm.) I would estimate it at 130-150 lb. density. They seem to be shaped for larger and heavier riders. Smaller and skinnier people often find them to have the step way too far aft. But porky blokes like myself, find them fine.

I have read about fit issues and customer service issues with their seats. I also see many folks like their seats. I don't care for the way they started molding their pans a few years back. Instead of a seperate molded pan attached to a molded piece of foam, they now blow the chopper glass right into the foam mold and then inject the foam chemicals all over the rough edged glass. This is what I have observed from opening up a number of them. The new glass gives me a skin rash, by the way. So I don't plan to accept any more for rebuilds!

As with most upholsterers, they will often only single stitch seams instead of double stitching them. And they don't seal the seams as I do with urethane cement to glue the threads to the fabric and help prevent moisture from getting in. That also keeps a broken stitch from spreading and ruining the cover.

I really admired Corbin's work in the 80's. Less so in the 90's and today. My opinion is they now favor style over function. I don't care for that.

I have done seats for riders in the UK. But delivery can be expensive. I had a man there ship me a seat via DHL express. Cost him about $80 USD. Our Postal Service had the best return rate. About $100 for a 20 pound package. (DHL wanted $140 to send it back!!) That was a couple years ago and the rates have risen since then. Add to that the cost of having me do the seat ($260) and it is past the price range of a Corbin.

[jtucker]

I've got a Corbin on my Monster, and I think it is quite comfortable. However, I keep hearing over and over again that Corbin's customer service can be a serious pain in the butt. Perhaps I was lucky that mine was delivered as ordered, and fit with no problems. I'm considering other alternatives for the V11S, though. For one thing, I hate the fact that the Corbin seat eliminates the ability to fit the seat cowl.

 

So, Rich, what's your backlog looking like this winter?

[TX REDNECK (R.I.P.)]

FWIW I ordered a Corbin seat for my sport last wednesday and paid $ 70 to have it the next day .I told them i wanted the basic black seat nothing special .They assured me that it was in stock and they would ship it that day.When it arrived it was black and grey two tone.I have been put on hold over a hour trying to get the seat i ordered,now they want my ph# and will call me back that was friday and I'm still waiting to hear back from them.I guess I'll be playing phone tag again today.I had my stock seat redone by Sargent and it was ok but i recently changed to superbike bars and the stock seat put me to far forward. I will probaly send my stock seat to Rich for a redo when I get the $ and he has the time.I had heard a lot of bad things about Corbin's customer service and now i can say that everything i read and hear is true!

[RichMaund]

Folks

For the first time in five years I have no real backlog. I could build a seat next week for you. For a number of years I stayed booked up 2-3 months in advance. But taking this summer off to care for my Mom while she died took me off the radar screen of the Guzzi crowd. With no one talking about the seat they just got from me on the MGCL this summer, folks stopped asking me for seat work. I usually build 2-3 seats a week. Mostly Guzzi's. That steady output and folks talking about them brought me a regular business for some years. I do no advertising and don't want to. I depend on word of mouth to bring me business. I have found that if you advertise, you get many low life customer wannabe's with stupid or unworkable projects they want built bothering you. And because they took the time to call you, they expect a free education on why their idea sucks or get mad at me because I can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. Good business begets more good business. If I stay slightly hard to reach and mostly deal with folks who heard about my seats from other customers, I find the quality of customer work increases. I get enthusiasts tracking me down with good ideas for workable projects. Much better business that way. I get a better clientele by staying low key. Business is picking up slowly. In Oct. I had only two jobs scheduled for Nov. But here I am working steadily and often on evenings and weekends because good projects keep falling into my lap just as I can do them. That has been a blessing for me as I really would rather not look for a "real" job this winter. I go back to college in Jan. and that would really hurt taking classes. (Right now I'm three classes shy of a AS degree in Eng. Supervision and certification as a CNC machine tool operator/programmer.) If business continues to pick up, I will will be booking work well in advance again.

 

But right now, just contact me if you need your Lemans seats done. I'll set up an appointment for you and it'll be rebuilt and FedEx'd back to you a couple days after I start it.

 

I can build them with a gel sheet to pad the front and the rear cowl will still drop right on. Or I can also reshape the rear for better passenger comfort, like the one I shipped today. The gel sheets are good stuff. They are solid, not liquid. And none have oozed since the bad old days when Sports Med was the manufacturer. That company used to take short cuts and not bake the two part silicone mix long enough to cure it properly. Some of their pads were known to ooze as they aged. For three years now, another company has manufactured them. That problem has never come up since they took it over. And I do glue 1 mil. plastic sheeting on the foam prior to laying the gel sheet on it. No raw gel comes into contact with foam or vinyl. Then I trim, blend and bevel the gel to match the shape of the cushion. I have built them this way for over five years. It's a proven technique. Everywhere you sit is covered with gel sheeting. No harsh edges where gel meets foam to form pressure points and bother you. I layer on another plastic sheet to lock it down to the seat and layer .5" of soft foam above that. Cushier and adds a thermal barrier to slow down the rate of heat trandsfer between you and the gel. Won't cook or freeze you that way. The seat pictured above has gel in the front. It does much to reduce pressure points and absorb shocks and vibes. Reduces the volume of the "monkey butt" you feel at the end of a long day.

I can do all black covers or with the dark gray like in the photo. No extra charge for colors, textures or Italian flag trim. All seams get double or triple stitched and sealed with urethane cement. All vinyls are heavy 32 oz. marine grade and the thread is heavy #138 poly sail making thread.

I'm an ex-Navy submariner and nuclear plant mechanic. I DO try to build them to last. Good form and function ARE style in my book.

Cost is pretty reasonable. $280 includes the seat rebuilt for solo (with cowl) or two up with gel in the front and overnight return FedEx shipping. Va. residents add 4.5% for the Guv'mint. If you wanna go crazy and gel the rear for best passenger comfort, add another $110 for the second gel sheet installation.

I've been building seats professionally for over seven years. Full time for over three of those years. I have owned a dozen Moto Guzzi's amongst my two dozen bikes over the years. I'm a life member of the MGNOC.

I doubt you'll find many seat builders with my qualifications!

OK. Infomercial mode off. Just contact me if you'd like to discuss a job.

rmaund@pinn.net

[al_roethlisberger]

Hey there SN! You don't mind if I abbreviate do ya?

 

Well, first for a little more info, here are links to the two previous threads that cover Corbin questions a bit:

 

"Old Forum" Corbin Update from Al

 

New Forum Corbin Thread

 

 

But bottom line, here's my experience and thoughts...

 

Based on various conversations with other owners that have tried to go the Corbin route, if one can not get to a local Corbin factory showroom to have the seat custom-made or fitted, you might not want to bother... or at least be very patient.

 

If you choose to order the seat via the catalog, you are likely to get a very genericized seat in both fit and finish. My experience working with the craftsman in-person was very different though. He spent several hours working with me personally, fitting and re-sculpting(added several inches to rear, and narrowed the sides) the seat until it met my personal tastes and approval.... top notch service. But with a catalog order, there's no real way to get that level of service from them short of sending the seat back and forth unfortunately.

 

Also, I have heard some horror stories regarding customer service, and again I think this is the difference between catalog orders and in-person work. That's not an excuse, but I think it's the reality.

 

When I was there at the factory, they took as much time as necessary to fit the seat to me and the bike, and in the case of my buddy who got a seat for his VFR, they spent another 2 hours reworking the pan of the seat for free when he brought it back 2 months later after finding that some Givi bag brackets were rubbing.... great customer service... and free food to boot!

 

But YMMV, and my experience is completely in the paradigm of visiting the factory direct, and I think that made all the difference.

 

Also, for whatever reason 2002+ V11 LeMans/Scura owners seem to be having issues with fit, especially in the area of latching. I know that while I was at the factory, they fiddled with mine to make it fit, although it seemed trivial. But I've seen several LeMans/Scura owners give up and return the V11 seat, and now I think Corbin is just taking a policy that the seats won't fit the new models. It's a shame, but with such low volume, I can only guess that they don't think it's currently worth their while to work out the kinks...

 

I'd give Rich's seat a thought, and even if it has to come over the pond, keep in mind that the Corbin seat has to as well ... either Florida or here in California.

 

But personally, I really love my seat

 

al

[Guest Squashed Nose]

Well, you lot have certainly done a blinding job of putting me off a Corbin. At the very least, I want to retain the seat hump as further disincentive to prospective future pillions (my next step is to remove the rear footrests!). Unfortunately, I am not in a position to afford one of Rich's makeovers, let alone the shipping costs. I guess I'll be investing in some extra padding for my thighs.

 

I live in hope (liar, you live in London!)

 

al, SN is the standard amongst my friends, please feel free to abb.

[RichMaund]

Al

That looks stunning on the bike! I'm glad they nailed it for you!

Corbin actually helped give a start building my own seats years ago. I wanted a seat for my Mille' GT. But I couldn't get to either of their factorys to get it done. They refused to do it via mail order. That was back when they were quitting the custom business for mail order work. A local builder screwed the job up and took three months to do it. Then Sargents did the same to me, but faster. I was so angry I bought the tools and did it myself. That was how I got started!

I really admire Corbins designs from the early 90's back. Your seat is the reason why. Looks like a perfect blend of function and style!

[Guest Barnapkin]

I don't know what all the griping about the seat is about. Anyone try a Ducati seat??

[Guest rrbasso]

Just a quick note, I live about a 100 miles from Corban and with all the missfits I road down there and I spent two weekends with them and there old seat pan templet was warped so they made one from my bike so hoppfully the seats now will start working they gave me one and it is hard but a lot nicer then the stock one.