thinking of putting a custom Corbin seat on my VFR800; looking to change seated position and riding posture; I'm 5'6" and I wanna drop the saddle a bit, and get a little more upright for longer trips. anyone in the same boat? how did you address it? cheers, Don.
HeliBars or Convertibars will get you more upright, and there are kits to drop the pegs a little too. (Converti-Bars are the best but more expensive). I replaced the stock seat (which I really didn't find all that bad in the end) with a Saddleman Kit (includes the foam w/gel inserts and seat cover). It's very comfortable - I have the touring version which does not allow for use of the solo cover unless you shave the pillion down. I left mine be since I tour with the solo cover off. It's easier for the large marine bag I put between myself and my trunk. Slap an MRA Vario Touring screen on there while you're at it. Don't get too upright or you'll regret the buffeting and wind noise from your head being too high up over the windscreen. That'll make you more tired / sore than anything. I'm 6'0" and go on long trips constantly. I commute almost an hour daily each way on the highways as well. I also work out almost daily and keep good posture / loose arms / grip on the bike.
I bought my VFR with a Corbin seat on it. I wasn't crazy about it originally, since it was very tall and wide, so I had to keep most of the preload out of the suspension in order to get my feet on the ground. I ended up taking some power tools to it and reshaped it into something that resembles the Sargent seats. So I'd go with a Sargent and helibars. Oh, and as Jeff mentioned, the MRA vario touring screen is the best money I've ever spent. It is so much better than the competition.
I bought my bike new off the showroom floor. I decided quickly to improve the ride and bought a Corbin seat. While it was very comfortable, I didn't like the higher ride it gave me. I bought a "Sargent World Sport Performance Seat" (big name so it's got to be better, right?). I compared those with the OEM seat and ended up keeping the Sargent which I'm still using daily. The Sargent seat is a lower sit than the Corbin for sure. You can see in the photos below, the cowl fit a lot better on the Sargent. Corbin Seat Sargent World Performance Seat I also went with the GenMar Risers. They were an easy install and did the job. Like Jeff said above, you start sitting more in a upright position, you end up getting out into the wind, so I also added a Zero Gravity Double Bubble Windscreen. There are a lot of windscreen options though. My VFR with the Zero Gravity Double Bubble
Thanks for the great feedback guys. The guy I bought my bike from was a tall dude so he upgraded to a custom wind screen; sitting a little upright it keeps me out of the wind. Ironically, he had a sergeant seat on it but sold it not too long before I bought the bike, doh! I had been advised that the Corbin would drop the seating position lower than the sergeant, good to hear otherwise before I drop the coin..... I gotta get some photos of her uploaded, but right now she's still hibernating under wraps... cheers Don
One note on Corbin seats ... every single one I've ever own felt rock hard. If you have someone in your area with one, try it out first. What end of Canuckistan are you in?
Thanks Jeff, good to know, I'm in southern Ontario, the land of icy winters.... shouldn't be long now, we've had a couple good rains most of the winter slime is off the roads; they just gotta get the sweepers out there to get rid of the sand....that and 10 deg C + and be rollin' on
