Lamonster
SpyderLovers Founder
When I was in Daytona I stopped by and saw Mike Corbin at his shop. He's been a big fan of the Spyder since day one and has a lot of really cool products for the RS, most of them are on my RS now.
I stopped by to see if he had any plans for the RT and sure enough he had been working on a seat/saddle for the RT at his plant in Hollister CA. He was pretty excited about it and some of the features he was telling me about really got my attention. I knew the first day I rode the RT that I really wanted a backrest for those long hauls. Corbin also makes a heated seat and I know that was great on my RS and I think it's a real plus on a touring Spyder like the RT. I know the RT is pretty much maxed out on electrical power so my plans are to turn off the fog lights when I have the seat lit. I think he said the draw was 3 amps on the seat.
The other feature that I knew I would love was the fuel access door. Before I got my trailer hooked up I had my travel bag strapped across the seat. I used it as a backrest but it was a real pain when I went to get fuel. I would lift the seat and then shove my gas cap under the seat and frame to hold it up high enough to get fuel. Having a door to access my fuel would have been great for that reason alone. After telling a few other folks about that I heard a lot of support for this idea. I guess a lot of the passengers would rather not get off every time they got fuel and this door would allow them to stay put. I also ran into a guy with no legs and this was a huge deal for him every time he had to get fuel. He'll be ordering a Corbin seat if he hasn't already.
So while in Daytona I told Mike that I was planning to take a run out to San Diego anyway on the RT and that might be a good test of going out on a stock seat and coming back on a Corbin seat. That sounded good to him and I made arrangements to meet him in Hollister for a new RT seat.
I got to tell you as stock seats go the RT seat is not that bad. About the only complaint I had was the lack of a backrest and I like to be sitting into a seat more than on top of it. I felt as if I was rolling a little more than I like and believe it or not that has an effect on the handling. I posted that very same thing when I went from riding my RS with a Corbin and then riding Ron's RS with the stock seat. I couldn't believe what a difference a seat could make.
I got a room in Hollister the night before so I could be at the factory at 8am to meet Mike and get started building my new RT seat.
I wasn't the first one there and to be honest I couldn't believe how many folks were there in the middle of the week getting new Corbin seats for their ride.
This was inside the showroom.
I pulled in the shop and they got right on taking it apart to get ready for the new seat.
If you've never been to the factory in Hollister it's worth stopping by even if you don't need a seat. They have a great restaurant right there at the factory and the food was great. I used my iphone as a wifi hotspot and got caught up on my work while I was waiting for my seat to get done. You can look out from the restaurant and see them working on your ride.
They fit the seat on and then have you take it for a ride before they cover it. This is only if you go there for a custom fitted seat of course.
I've heard folks say that the Corbin seats can be hard and it takes some time to break them in. I got to tell you that this seat was not hard at all and I think what it is, is the cover is really a tight fit and that's what give it the "hard" feel at first. That's also what give it the quality look that stock seats just don't have.
One of the great things about having the seat fitted to you there is you can get it just the way you want it. On my RS I had took the stock Corbin seat and dished it out more like a tractor seat so it held me in place. That works much better for hitting the twisties hard and it locks you in so you're not moving all over the place on your seat. It's more like a bucket seat in a sports car. I had them do the same thing to the RT seat. So far everyone that's sat on it loves it. I know a couple of folks have called in and ordered the Lamonster cut on their RT seat.
While they were working on my seat I had a nice lunch with Mike and we talked about a lot of things including the Spyder. Like I said before he's a big fan of the Spyder and the the concept that BRP came up with. I think the older we all get the more this type of ride is going to be considered as an alternative to the conventional three wheelers.
I got a chance to walk a round a bit and take some pics and video.
This is where sew the material together.
This is the area where they are all put together after the upholstery is done.
Rack of backrest ready to get covered.
This is where a lot of the hardware is installed.
As you can see they make a lot of different types of seats. This is where some of the pans are stored.
There's a lot that goes on in this area. They use these fiberglass molds to form the seats and they make the pans and do painting in this part of the building.
It took all day to get done but man was it worth the wait. When I sit in this seat I just want to ride. I've had a lot of Corbin seats through the years and so far this is the best yet. This really completes the touring aspect of the RT and after spending several thousand miles in this saddle I can tell you this exceeded my expectations. The fuel door is just the coolest thing. I can pull off the highway, get fuel and get back on in 4 minutes now. I really have no need to lift the seat again and the fit to the front of the RT helps block some of the heat that was coming up in the stock seat.
When I left Corbin and headed north I was in some pretty bad wind, as a matter of fact I was in bad wind for the next 5 days and being able to lock myself in with the dished out seat and the backrest really made a difference on how the RT handled. I wasn't putting extra input into the bars because of being blown around. My longest day was just over 900 miles and I can honestly say I could have gone a lot farther than that but I was where I needed to be so I did all I could do on that run. My butt never screamed at me to get off and take a break.
I was able to show a lot of current RT owners the seat and they all loved it. I did run into a guy who had test drove the RT but had a really bad back and the stock seating just didn't work for him. After sitting on my RT with the Corbin he decided to take another test drive now that he knows that issue can be solved.
By the way if you want to know if the RT is a good touring machine just ask me. That was a 9000+ mile trip and the more miles I put on it the more I liked it. I will say about 150 miles into the trip with the Corbin seat on I really fell in love with the RT. It fit's me just right now.
I got the alligator print.
Love the fuel door. Best thing since sliced bread.
I stopped by to see if he had any plans for the RT and sure enough he had been working on a seat/saddle for the RT at his plant in Hollister CA. He was pretty excited about it and some of the features he was telling me about really got my attention. I knew the first day I rode the RT that I really wanted a backrest for those long hauls. Corbin also makes a heated seat and I know that was great on my RS and I think it's a real plus on a touring Spyder like the RT. I know the RT is pretty much maxed out on electrical power so my plans are to turn off the fog lights when I have the seat lit. I think he said the draw was 3 amps on the seat.
The other feature that I knew I would love was the fuel access door. Before I got my trailer hooked up I had my travel bag strapped across the seat. I used it as a backrest but it was a real pain when I went to get fuel. I would lift the seat and then shove my gas cap under the seat and frame to hold it up high enough to get fuel. Having a door to access my fuel would have been great for that reason alone. After telling a few other folks about that I heard a lot of support for this idea. I guess a lot of the passengers would rather not get off every time they got fuel and this door would allow them to stay put. I also ran into a guy with no legs and this was a huge deal for him every time he had to get fuel. He'll be ordering a Corbin seat if he hasn't already.
So while in Daytona I told Mike that I was planning to take a run out to San Diego anyway on the RT and that might be a good test of going out on a stock seat and coming back on a Corbin seat. That sounded good to him and I made arrangements to meet him in Hollister for a new RT seat.
I got to tell you as stock seats go the RT seat is not that bad. About the only complaint I had was the lack of a backrest and I like to be sitting into a seat more than on top of it. I felt as if I was rolling a little more than I like and believe it or not that has an effect on the handling. I posted that very same thing when I went from riding my RS with a Corbin and then riding Ron's RS with the stock seat. I couldn't believe what a difference a seat could make.
I got a room in Hollister the night before so I could be at the factory at 8am to meet Mike and get started building my new RT seat.
I wasn't the first one there and to be honest I couldn't believe how many folks were there in the middle of the week getting new Corbin seats for their ride.
This was inside the showroom.
I pulled in the shop and they got right on taking it apart to get ready for the new seat.
If you've never been to the factory in Hollister it's worth stopping by even if you don't need a seat. They have a great restaurant right there at the factory and the food was great. I used my iphone as a wifi hotspot and got caught up on my work while I was waiting for my seat to get done. You can look out from the restaurant and see them working on your ride.
They fit the seat on and then have you take it for a ride before they cover it. This is only if you go there for a custom fitted seat of course.
I've heard folks say that the Corbin seats can be hard and it takes some time to break them in. I got to tell you that this seat was not hard at all and I think what it is, is the cover is really a tight fit and that's what give it the "hard" feel at first. That's also what give it the quality look that stock seats just don't have.
One of the great things about having the seat fitted to you there is you can get it just the way you want it. On my RS I had took the stock Corbin seat and dished it out more like a tractor seat so it held me in place. That works much better for hitting the twisties hard and it locks you in so you're not moving all over the place on your seat. It's more like a bucket seat in a sports car. I had them do the same thing to the RT seat. So far everyone that's sat on it loves it. I know a couple of folks have called in and ordered the Lamonster cut on their RT seat.
While they were working on my seat I had a nice lunch with Mike and we talked about a lot of things including the Spyder. Like I said before he's a big fan of the Spyder and the the concept that BRP came up with. I think the older we all get the more this type of ride is going to be considered as an alternative to the conventional three wheelers.
I got a chance to walk a round a bit and take some pics and video.
This is where sew the material together.
This is the area where they are all put together after the upholstery is done.
Rack of backrest ready to get covered.
This is where a lot of the hardware is installed.
As you can see they make a lot of different types of seats. This is where some of the pans are stored.
There's a lot that goes on in this area. They use these fiberglass molds to form the seats and they make the pans and do painting in this part of the building.
It took all day to get done but man was it worth the wait. When I sit in this seat I just want to ride. I've had a lot of Corbin seats through the years and so far this is the best yet. This really completes the touring aspect of the RT and after spending several thousand miles in this saddle I can tell you this exceeded my expectations. The fuel door is just the coolest thing. I can pull off the highway, get fuel and get back on in 4 minutes now. I really have no need to lift the seat again and the fit to the front of the RT helps block some of the heat that was coming up in the stock seat.
When I left Corbin and headed north I was in some pretty bad wind, as a matter of fact I was in bad wind for the next 5 days and being able to lock myself in with the dished out seat and the backrest really made a difference on how the RT handled. I wasn't putting extra input into the bars because of being blown around. My longest day was just over 900 miles and I can honestly say I could have gone a lot farther than that but I was where I needed to be so I did all I could do on that run. My butt never screamed at me to get off and take a break.
I was able to show a lot of current RT owners the seat and they all loved it. I did run into a guy who had test drove the RT but had a really bad back and the stock seating just didn't work for him. After sitting on my RT with the Corbin he decided to take another test drive now that he knows that issue can be solved.
By the way if you want to know if the RT is a good touring machine just ask me. That was a 9000+ mile trip and the more miles I put on it the more I liked it. I will say about 150 miles into the trip with the Corbin seat on I really fell in love with the RT. It fit's me just right now.
I got the alligator print.
Love the fuel door. Best thing since sliced bread.
hyea::yes:
