new diamond seat

[OLD FTS]

Just picked up our Spyder with the new custom Diamond seat- can't believe the difference! Very comfortable.
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[can-am sam]

[major911]

Great looking seat

[ARtraveler]

That is a good looking seat.

[Bob Denman]

Do you have a link for their website?

[mhoecker]

A handsome seat indeed!!

Madonna

[OLD FTS]

Do you have a link for their website?

http://www.diamondseats.com/

[Bob Denman]

Thanks!

[OLD FTS]

It's been three months and can't help talking about the custom seat that Diamond seats made us. So very comfortable. Mark does excellent work.

[bertmc]

It's been three months and can't help talking about the custom seat that Diamond seats made us. So very comfortable. Mark does excellent work.

I have had 3 Diamond seats in the last 30 years--all excellent. I talked to Mark about one for my Spyder last summer and he said he would not be fabricating his own seat pan like he does for other models. Did you have to send your seat pan? How long did it take? How much?

[pitbull]

Defiantly more details

[bertmc]

Defiantly more details

Len, remember my dark red 04 Gold Wing with the velour seat you got at the end of July --that was a Diamond seat. I think you turned it pretty quick--should have been worth another $500 on the trade!!

I realize now that the "Old Feets" probably took their bike to Mark rather than mailing the seat because they probably live in the same area near Seville, Florida. Diamond used to be in Iowa & moved to Florida in the 90's I believe. I bought my first seat for my Venture in '83 and second for my next Venture in '90. Couldn't find them for my Beemer in '99 so I bought a Corbin, but found them for my '04 Gold Wing.

Their name comes from the diamond stitching pattern that they use as standard, but they do plain or other patterns as well. The additional stitching allows more air circulation under your butt, but also absorbs more water when it rains, so you need a cover, which he supplies. The seat shape they used in the past for what they called the "Hi-Miler" was flatter and wider than most stock seats providing more support under the thighs--that's what made it best for me. Like most good custom seats the foam density and thickness is customized to your (and your passenger's) weight, height & inseam.

I'm prejudiced in my evaluation because I have not had other custom seats except the Corbin. I put about 70,000 miles average on each of the four and I much preferred the Diamonds. The Corbin, as many know, is a much firmer seat and just didn't work for me, although I liked it better than the stock. The stock Venture & Wing seats were better than most stock, but I still got TB after a few hours. I could literally ride the Diamonds all day. The seat was always my first and most valuable mod because it kept touring a pleasure.

I got the velour inserts on the Wing seat and really liked it. It was never hot in the summer and never cold in the winter. The velour held up pretty good, although was showing a slight amount of wear when I traded it to Len. It always cleaned up nice. I never had a problem with loose stitching on any of them, and there was a lot of it. I also had a driver back rest for the Wing--large and wide, very comfortable. Passenger back rests were done to match.

Pricing was comparable to other custom seats--around $1,000, give or take a couple hundred, depending on what options you got. I have heard excellent comments about service although I never needed any besides ordering, which was personal and well-done.

When I talked to Mark about the Spyder I got the impression that he is slowing down, maybe towards retirement, and was not going to invest time in fabricating seat pans for the Spyders. But he had done a number of them already and sent me pictures, which you can't access from the web site I don't believe. So if you are at all interested, give him a call at 800.722.9995. Do it soon so you can get it done during the winter.

Since I was going to have to send him my seat, I planned to wait until winter. I now have about 12,000 on the stock seat since July and have done OK. I still want a Diamond, but just haven't sent it to him yet.

Hope this is helpful to anyone interested in a new seat.

Bert

[steve635]

Man, that's a great looking seat! Whenever I have heard Diamond Seats, my mind always went to the ones they made in the 80's with the small diamond pattern all through the seat, they got great reviews but I always found them fugly. Guess I should have realized they may have made a few changes in the last 30 years.

[OLD FTS]

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[Chupaca]

Very cool, ryde on in comfort..