Author Topic: I think my B12.5 is going bye bye (Read 9892 times)

Red01 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 11, 2007, 04:02:25 PM »

Quote from: "Dreadnought"

Considering the seat has been available since early 06 I'd say both Corbin and Sargent have been very slow in producing their own seat.

Yes, in Canada (actually it's been since '05 with the 3G B650).

But not in the US, where both Corbin & Sargent have their offices, until this year. It did surprise me to see Corbin has a seat for the Yamaha MT-01 which has never been offered in the US, but I think that's the only non-US bike seat I saw on their site.

Also consider these guys make seats for practically anything, so their efforts are gonna go to where they think they'll make the best money first... so maybe, just maybe, they didn't anticipate the new 1250 to be such a hit. (Although, of the 3 Suzuki dealers near me, I've only seen one bike on the floor and it sat there for a month before it left, so maybe they aren't hot sellers everywhere?)

And you do know Sargent does custom seat services... that's the ONLY way they were doing 1G & 2G Bandits. So you can still send them your seat and tell them what you want them to do to it to tailor it to your needs.

SteelD · « **Reply #16 on:** July 12, 2007, 06:55:27 AM »

I think I read somewhere that even Suzuki will be offering a gel seat for this bike. Mind you, that won't help you if Suzuki in your neck of the woods is even slower than Suzuki UK to come up with accessories.

I'll do some digging and let you know.

B6mick · « **Reply #17 on:** July 12, 2007, 07:55:15 AM »

I know I have a lowly G1 bandit, surely it ain't that bad, or maybe you should change the shape of the ass's that sit upon it. Cause I reckon the lowly G1 seat the ducks gutz, 1 up or 2, and it sure as hell beats the ZRX seat hands down. I have couriered on both bikes 12 hour days, give me the bandit allday every day. My 2.5 cents worth, now I'll go and

Vlad · « **Reply #18 on:** July 12, 2007, 01:40:12 PM »

Quote from: "03banditrdr"

Quote from: "ZenMan"
??? So change the seat. ???
please tell me who's making a different seat??? cause as of now I know of no one??? I agree though under 250 miles the bike is great, around town great...but i want something I can two up on better.

A cheap piece of sheepskin from IKEA (~$30) will make a world of difference until a better looking solution is found (not necessarily better feeling too). That is by far the cheapest comfort addition to any bike and one of the most effective, albeit a little odd looking :).

And yes, 1250 bandit seat is total crap. No reason to dump an otherwise damn fine bike though.

H2RICK · « **Reply #19 on:** July 13, 2007, 01:09:33 AM »

Gentlemen, this is simple stuff. I, too, found the stock seat on my '06 (same seat as the 1250) somewhat harder than an ironing board with my boney butt on it. Sooooo.....I went to my local upholstery guruess, she sent me off to her foam supplier, I tried out a variety of densities by sitting on them in their warehouse, picked what I thought would do the job and then notified the guruess.
She took my seat, unstapled the cover, shaved the stock foam down by exactly one-half, glued on a block of the stuff I'd selected at the foam supplier's, shaped it properly, stapled the cover back on and gave it back to me. All for C$50.00......and now I can go for about 2-3 hours without numb-butt.....instead of the 20 minutes with the stock setup.
Plus the seat still LOOKS stock and everything still works with no shifting or foam degradation after a year. What's not to like ??
Ya just gotta find an upholstery place that does custom work and has lotsa foam choices.

Katamaniac · « **Reply #20 on:** July 13, 2007, 09:27:48 AM »

Quote from: "H2RICK"

Gentlemen, this is simple stuff. I, too, found the stock seat on my '06 (same seat as the 1250) somewhat harder than an ironing board with my boney butt on it. Sooooo.....I went to my local upholstery guruess, she sent me off to her foam supplier, I tried out a variety of densities by sitting on them in their warehouse, picked what I thought would do the job and then notified the guruess.
She took my seat, unstapled the cover, shaved the stock foam down by exactly one-half, glued on a block of the stuff I'd selected at the foam supplier's, shaped it properly, stapled the cover back on and gave it back to me. All for C$50.00......and now I can go for about 2-3 hours without numb-butt.....instead of the 20 minutes with the stock setup.
Plus the seat still LOOKS stock and everything still works with no shifting or foam degradation after a year. What's not to like ??
Ya just gotta find an upholstery place that does custom work and has lotsa foam choices.

I did the same thing to my wife's old B4 front seat myself. I went one step further and modified it a little to contour it to her bottom. It was real easy. All you need is an electric carving knife, a grinder and a staple gun.

Her is a tutorial on how to do the job.
http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Seats.html

ZenMan · « **Reply #21 on:** July 13, 2007, 11:59:38 AM »

Great link, Katamaniac...

Sven · « **Reply #22 on:** July 13, 2007, 12:08:32 PM »

Quote from: "Katamaniac"

I went one step further and modified it a little to contour it to her bottom. It was real easy. All you need is an electric carving knife, a grinder and a staple gun.

I bet she screamed like a Banshee!

Katamaniac · « **Reply #23 on:** July 13, 2007, 04:18:52 PM »

Quote from: "Sven"

Quote from: "Katamaniac"
I went one step further and modified it a little to contour it to her bottom. It was real easy. All you need is an electric carving knife, a grinder and a staple gun.

I bet she screamed like a Banshee!

It was really bad when we stapled her back together with the staple gun.

zaphoid42 · « **Reply #24 on:** July 29, 2007, 10:37:19 PM »

If you like to throw money at a problem, try these guys:

http://www.day-long.com/

In the summer they have a great big back log, so buy a spare stock seat and send them that (throw money).

I just got one. I have put less that 100 miles on it so far. It is stiff, so I feel a bit of seat vibration. But I believe it will be an improvement.

Raphy · « **Reply #25 on:** July 31, 2007, 05:01:44 PM »

Get an Airhawk seat cushion and keep the bandit... that's waht i did and can go day-on-end with no rear end issues

LowRyter · « **Reply #26 on:** August 02, 2007, 01:08:50 PM »

My seat cover needed to be replaced on my 98 B12 after 50k miles. It only had a couple of small tears at the front where it's drawn together towards the gas tank.

I found a local shop that reupholstered it with premium vinyl and also installed a gel pad (cost was about $100). I am big believer in the gel pad but it does have a couple of drawbacks: 1) heavy, I'll bet the seat weighs twice as much than before just because of the pad. 2) retains heat when in the sun. I keep the seat covered on summer days for sure, I sometimes even soak rag & cover the seat. Usually not a problem when I am riding, I'll just cover the seat with my riding jacket. I'm guessing the factory gel seat has some insulating foam to prevent this. Comfort is BIG improvement.

Two modifications I think every bike needs: are a gel pad seat and hard brake lines.

Having said this, there is no way that the new Connie & new Bandit are in the same class. you're comparing apples to tomato juice.

I think the Connie will be a super nice bike. I hope you enjoy it. Keep in touch & let us know how you like it.

stormi · « **Reply #27 on:** August 02, 2007, 08:29:33 PM »

Article about the concours in a local paper

leedogg · « **Reply #28 on:** August 04, 2007, 12:27:18 AM »

nice read....makes me what one even worse...the last paragraph about sums it up for me.

03banditrdr · « **Reply #29 on:** August 04, 2007, 09:20:16 PM »

Quote from: "leedogg"

nice read....makes me what one even worse...the last paragraph about sums it up for me.

yes, yes it does!!