I was searching around for pre-made aftermarket (shorter) seats for the GS500 2001+ and stumbled across this on the Corbin Website.
I don't know if any one would want to partake, but seems like it would be pretty sweet to me.
http://www.corbin.com/free_gear.shtml
They're in Hollister, CA. If I weren't in Phoenix, I'd be emailing them to find out all about it. :icon_mrgreen:
Sorry if this is a re-post of old info. I did a search here and didn't find this mentioned.
Cam
too bad I am in texas... I would let them have my bike for free gifts...
just the cost of a seat would be worth doing it...
I so want their gunfighter seat.....
man, that list is saweeeyeet. maybe you could trip, oopsie, and mix up their keys ? ;)
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Wow my GS looks REALLY different!
:cheers:
so close yet so far, plus i need my bike pretty much everyday :laugh:
email sent........... :laugh:
This is a bit old. We have been trying to get someone in Cali to get their bike there to create a seat pan so we East Coasters can get a corbin seat for 2001+ I spoke to Corbin a couple of years back and they said they just need a bike and they can make it. This would be really awesome if you send your bike to them Importbabe. :icon_mrgreen:
-Anti 8)
I wonder if they could work with just a seat instead of the whole bike, or if they need the whole thing?
I've put an Alasaka Leather sheepskin on mine and it improved comfort a bit, but there's only so far a sheepskin can improve stuff.
I asked Corbin a while back about sending them just the seat and they said NO, they need the whole bike. They told me they could do a custom in 4 hours if I could drop by, (which is hard when you're 1000 miles away) but they didn't mention anything about leaving the bike for a freebie. Last time I looked, the GS500F wasn't even on their "Wanted" list, but I do see it there now. I think they'd need it for more than a few hours though, so a trip there would have to include some non-riding days even if they'd commit to doing it a.s.a.p., . . . otherwise I'd change my travel plans this year to include a road trip down there!
It'd be cool to get the FIRST seat. :icon_mrgreen: :icon_mrgreen:
Other than that it'd be great to get a comfy seat that's just a BIT lower... you know? I'm having a local cobbler put in 1/2 '' on my boots (ala the girl in the pink and her boots in the gallery) - only they are desert camo - not pink ;)
Cam
I saw this today on craigslist.
http://columbus.craigslist.org/mcy/634339606.html (http://columbus.craigslist.org/mcy/634339606.html)
I guess he rode all the way out from Columbus, Ohio.
that does seem like a really good offer Corbin is making. too bad i'm in ohio. oh, and don't have a bike either. that's a downer. :laugh:
I knew a guy who would make a seat off a pan or a seat or any damn thing. essentially he can take off the cover, get high density foam cut into the same shape put it on or do a lot bigger medium density foam put it in a plastic wrap bag, suck it flat with a vacuum cleaner, put the cover back on and then slip the bag from under it and have the foam fill into the seat. Essentially he can do it all, including a seat out of a canvas type material that doesn't have any wrinkles with the stock seat pan and foam.
OK fine, I'll wait till it comes back to me and then decide. But he was great for the seats he did already.
I can get anyone who is interested in touch with him.
Cool.
Buddha.
Maybe I can take my vacation time, ride out to cali , stay over for a few days and ride back in a newly gifted seat.. humm.... I do have 7 days off this year.... 2 to cali, 2 to texas, leaves 4 days.. guess Ill check with corbin for dates and see if I can match into vacation time....
:thumb:
Success! I emailed them a year ago after my first touring trip, then again this week after seeing this post, and I finally called them today. I'm scheduled for Monday morning. Ride in (I'm an hour away), do 3-5 hours of homework or reading, and then ride back with a new seat. And then we can FINALLY have some nice seats for the '01+ bikes. The 01 and 02's, at least, are pretty terrible for long distance.
Quote from: sanjay on April 08, 2008, 03:20:50 PM
Success! I emailed them a year ago after my first touring trip, then again this week after seeing this post, and I finally called them today. I'm scheduled for Monday morning. Ride in (I'm an hour away), do 3-5 hours of homework or reading, and then ride back with a new seat. And then we can FINALLY have some nice seats for the '01+ bikes. The 01 and 02's, at least, are pretty terrible for long distance.
damn it, stomped on again. I got an email from them too.... im in the future plans
Sanjay -
NICE!!! Let us know how the seat comes out for you and I'll be on the list for one too!!
:cheers:
Quote from: ImportBabe on April 08, 2008, 05:11:19 PM
damn it, stomped on again. I got an email from them too.... im in the future plans
Sorry! We could both show up at the same time and finagle 2 free seats :)
What did they say in the email? Are they planning to make more GS500-specific stuff?
Quote from: sanjay on April 08, 2008, 08:38:09 PM
Quote from: ImportBabe on April 08, 2008, 05:11:19 PM
damn it, stomped on again. I got an email from them too.... im in the future plans
Sorry! We could both show up at the same time and finagle 2 free seats :)
What did they say in the email? Are they planning to make more GS500-specific stuff?
asked me what day of the week I could come.....thats all
Argh. Drove down there this morning (1 hour away) and found out it actually takes 2-3 weeks for the R&D guys to fit a seat for production. I thought one day was pretty quick, but I confirmed with the guy that it was for a free seat. They said the 1 day, 4-5 hour deal was for custom jobs and it would cost 300-something. Oh well. So I'm taking it back down on Saturday and after 2-3 weeks they'll finish making the molds and start building seats.
Suggest adding a lil more padding to the back seat softer for the fron and remove some from the sides. I hate using both feet and having my legs out like im riding a horse
I find corbin's vinyl fairly substandard. Their trademarked weaved pattern is pitifully shortlived. Vinyl IMHO should be as smooth as possible and softer the better, but I have had some very good life from a fairly tough vinyl too, and it should bead and repel water as much as it can, gravity assisted drain water in the side stand position ... :thumb: So try and see if they will do it in the same thing they use on the passenger portion. Usually a fairly textured medium tough vinyl that would last forever. I know it did on mine.
They use fiberglass for the pan which is good and their bearing points etc have these weird door stopper types to bear on the frame, and sometimes they are off at weird angles and end up tearing up the frame or themselves. They use hard foam and are otherwise very very good. Its heavy ... yea but good.
OK so git-r-done and we'll all be happier.
Cool.
Buddha.
Sanjay . . .so it was as I suspected. They said something in an email to me a while back that they needed the bike more than one day, so I was surprized they said they'd create a production seat mold in 1 day. They gave me the impression it would just be a quick custom fit if I only had it in to them for four hours. Too bad they didn't clarify that for you when you contacted them. But thanks for planning to leave your bike with them for designing the production seat, we'll all be able to benefit from your sacrifice. Good on ya! :thumb:
:icon_mrgreen:
Quote from: bval on April 14, 2008, 04:42:23 PM
Sanjay . . .so it was as I suspected. They said something in an email to me a while back that they needed the bike more than one day, so I was surprized they said they'd create a production seat mold in 1 day. They gave me the impression it would just be a quick custom fit if I only had it in to them for four hours. Too bad they didn't clarify that for you when you contacted them. But thanks for planning to leave your bike with them for designing the production seat, we'll all be able to benefit from your sacrifice. Good on ya! :thumb:
Yeah I was surprised, too, considering I'm in the business of making stuff and I would have thought they'd take longer to measure stuff for a production run. It was a cool shop, though, with both full production and custom seats being done. One of the guys showed me the room where they measure donor bikes with fiberglass layups, sanding, foam, etc. Anyway, I'll hopefully drop it off this Saturday when I'm down there for an autox, and then pick it up in 2-3 weeks. The measly 2 hours in the saddle on the highway on Monday reminded me how bad the '01 seat is...
I recently sent my seat to a couch reupholster and it came out FINE ! He added about 2 inches of foam and told me there was almost no foam in the original. He did is magic, added the foam and used the same materiel that was on the seat prior. You can obviously choose different material leather etc. but why ?
Anyways I know have a firm, comfortable seat for $80.00.0 No more sore cheeks from rides.
Quote from: videosilva on April 16, 2008, 08:04:13 AM
I recently sent my seat to a couch reupholster and it came out FINE ! He added about 2 inches of foam and told me there was almost no foam in the original. He did is magic, added the foam and used the same materiel that was on the seat prior. You can obviously choose different material leather etc. but why ?
Anyways I know have a firm, comfortable seat for $80.00.0 No more sore cheeks from rides.
Same here. I found a local foam/upholstery shop that did a similar thing for me. He had a scrap piece of 3" memory foam used for medical purposes he said he'd charge me $10 for, but if I took off the cover off the seat and brought the seat in early on a Saturday, he'd glue it, shape it, and recover it using the original cover for another 10 bucks. Twenty dollars was
too cheap and I would have no part of it, (I gave him $40 cash instead)! :cookoo: hell, the guy knew what he was doing and had the proper equipment to do a great job in about 20 minutes and I was back on the road. That was worth $40 to me even if it wasn't a big deal to him. Hey, nothing wrong with good will. He covered the entire seat (at my request) so my passenger can ride in more comfort too.
The seat turned out with a BMW overstuffed seat look and although maybe not as comfortable as a Corbin or a Hondapottamous seat, it's definitely more comfortable than it was and I just finished a 3000km trip on it. I could have kept riding for weeks yet. (but had to go back to making money instead) I also ride 70km round-trip commuting 5 days a week and it's way more comfortable for the short rides too.
Moral of the story is, you
can refit your original seat for 10% the cost of a custom job, and still have something better than stock. A Corbin would be a nice luxury, but . . .
Quote from: videosilva on April 16, 2008, 08:04:13 AM
You can obviously choose different material leather etc. but why ?
Well, you can use different seat material to make a dramatic color change. My first bike had a hosed (disintegrating, falling apart) seat cover. Rather than have it redone black, I had it redone in a dark red, which went with the paint on it - and made it different from all those other bikes with black seats. You can also have things done with stitching, etc to make it different and give it a different shape, such as the larger hump/bucket between passenger and rider on the Corbins.
And you might want to use a different cover simply due to problems with the original cover - my GS has a small cut, and that's plenty of reason to put a new cover on it (having learned that if you leave those they damage the foam underneath, given time and sun exposure).
somebady just drop your bike of this winter
Quote from: sanjay on April 15, 2008, 08:24:59 PMAnyway, I'll hopefully drop it off this Saturday when I'm down there for an autox, and then pick it up in 2-3 weeks.
So, this was back in April - they STILL have your bike ? I don't see an '01+ Corbin seat for the GS yet.
Quote from: SAFE-T on October 06, 2008, 05:50:54 PM
Quote from: sanjay on April 15, 2008, 08:24:59 PMAnyway, I'll hopefully drop it off this Saturday when I'm down there for an autox, and then pick it up in 2-3 weeks.
So, this was back in April - they STILL have your bike ? I don't see an '01+ Corbin seat for the GS yet.
Yes, any update?
Quote from: CndnMax on April 04, 2008, 07:36:50 PM
so close yet so far, plus i need my bike pretty much everyday :laugh:
Yep, +1. But I'd love to have one of their seats for my bike.
Tony