Jeriatric
Thinks out loud
Just did the 500 mile one way trip to Corbin to have them custom fit me for a saddle and backrest. While there, they also added a passengers backrest as well as armrests.
Rode up the day before the install and had a great day on the road. Left La Quinta at 6:30 AM and the temperature was great until around 4 PM - the last two hours of the ride. It was then that the road headed West and into the HOT afternoon sun, but twelve hours (500 miles) later I was in Hollister.
While fueling (myself) at Micky D's somewhere North of Bakersfield, met a guy who rides with his wife. They both bought RS's in 2008 and everything he had to say about his and her Spyders, and the dealer they purchased them from was all good.
Because I've had so many parts off the Spyder over the last week or two and because all the take off items at Corbin would need to be shipped home I decided to pull the trailer and take a full compliment of tools. Not that I don't have faith in my mechanical abilities. Just, it's better safe than sorry!
Rough estimate is that the Spyder got about 30 MPG on the trip up. My speed varied but was generally fifty five to sixty miles per hour, using cruise as often as conditions allowed.
Left the Motel and was at Corbin's a half hour earlier than they open (8 AM) but some of the folks who work there were already there too. To me......that's a good sign.
First thing Julio (Corbin's Showroom manager - and my installer/fitter for the day) did was to remove my saddle and drop in one of their custom saddle pans , all foamed up and ready for me to try. It was a fit (not feel) very similar to what came stock on the Spyder and we both knew that wasn't going to work.
Here's what they did to fit me. They constructed a new pan, moved the backrest mounting hardware back about an inch and a half, added about two inches of foam to the height of the saddle and finished the job by dishing the - set spot - to my liking.
The other thing different between this installation and that of someone who can use the standard design is that I'll have to remove a bolt from under the saddle to remove my backrest. Not a big deal to me. The only other option would have been that the backrest would have to have been removed and stored to prevent theft or tampering. For me, that option would have been more inconvenient.
Man am I glad they did the installation of the passengers armrests. Lots and lots of screws to remove.
My best guess going into this was that they would finish up with me around 3 PM and that I'd cruise towards home for a few hours, get a room and finish the trip the next morning. Well, I was close. It was around four something when they finished. What I didn't plan on (and had not been in any previous forecast) was what the weather channel had made me aware of the night before. It was going to be HOT HOT HOT in the desert on Thursday. Advertised at 107 degrees - in truth it turned out that it hit 115. Knowing what they advertise and the reality of desert temperatures are generally separated by a few degrees I decided to head home - that meant riding all night after a long day of mostly standing around. If you're like me, that's harder than working!
Made it home in eleven hours and got above 30 MPG. Compared to going, coming home was all down hill (relatively speaking) the trip speed was up too. I ran 65 to 70 all the way home.
All in all it was a great trip and I can't begin to tell you what a difference it is to set on a saddle (thus the Spyder) and have it feel like it fits. Position is everything!
Some say that Corbin saddles are not their cup of tea....most often I've heard that they are hard.
Here's what I noticed over the first 500 miles. The longer I sat in it the better it felt and I could feel it (over that time) giving way to let me settle down in it.
Note: The Corbin drive in experience is well worth it - if you can. Do it!
Rode up the day before the install and had a great day on the road. Left La Quinta at 6:30 AM and the temperature was great until around 4 PM - the last two hours of the ride. It was then that the road headed West and into the HOT afternoon sun, but twelve hours (500 miles) later I was in Hollister.
While fueling (myself) at Micky D's somewhere North of Bakersfield, met a guy who rides with his wife. They both bought RS's in 2008 and everything he had to say about his and her Spyders, and the dealer they purchased them from was all good.
Because I've had so many parts off the Spyder over the last week or two and because all the take off items at Corbin would need to be shipped home I decided to pull the trailer and take a full compliment of tools. Not that I don't have faith in my mechanical abilities. Just, it's better safe than sorry!
Rough estimate is that the Spyder got about 30 MPG on the trip up. My speed varied but was generally fifty five to sixty miles per hour, using cruise as often as conditions allowed.
Left the Motel and was at Corbin's a half hour earlier than they open (8 AM) but some of the folks who work there were already there too. To me......that's a good sign.
First thing Julio (Corbin's Showroom manager - and my installer/fitter for the day) did was to remove my saddle and drop in one of their custom saddle pans , all foamed up and ready for me to try. It was a fit (not feel) very similar to what came stock on the Spyder and we both knew that wasn't going to work.
Here's what they did to fit me. They constructed a new pan, moved the backrest mounting hardware back about an inch and a half, added about two inches of foam to the height of the saddle and finished the job by dishing the - set spot - to my liking.
The other thing different between this installation and that of someone who can use the standard design is that I'll have to remove a bolt from under the saddle to remove my backrest. Not a big deal to me. The only other option would have been that the backrest would have to have been removed and stored to prevent theft or tampering. For me, that option would have been more inconvenient.
Man am I glad they did the installation of the passengers armrests. Lots and lots of screws to remove.
My best guess going into this was that they would finish up with me around 3 PM and that I'd cruise towards home for a few hours, get a room and finish the trip the next morning. Well, I was close. It was around four something when they finished. What I didn't plan on (and had not been in any previous forecast) was what the weather channel had made me aware of the night before. It was going to be HOT HOT HOT in the desert on Thursday. Advertised at 107 degrees - in truth it turned out that it hit 115. Knowing what they advertise and the reality of desert temperatures are generally separated by a few degrees I decided to head home - that meant riding all night after a long day of mostly standing around. If you're like me, that's harder than working!
Made it home in eleven hours and got above 30 MPG. Compared to going, coming home was all down hill (relatively speaking) the trip speed was up too. I ran 65 to 70 all the way home.
All in all it was a great trip and I can't begin to tell you what a difference it is to set on a saddle (thus the Spyder) and have it feel like it fits. Position is everything!
Some say that Corbin saddles are not their cup of tea....most often I've heard that they are hard.
Here's what I noticed over the first 500 miles. The longer I sat in it the better it felt and I could feel it (over that time) giving way to let me settle down in it.
Note: The Corbin drive in experience is well worth it - if you can. Do it!
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