Front seats reviews: BMW OE, Sargent, Wunderlich

[zoltan]

The low seat on the 1250GS was perfect however the low seat for the RS is very low:760mm. So the search is out for something that my bum would love. I am 5'9, 29" inside leg and 72Kg.
I had the opportunity to try the Sargent Regular which is 780mm. (pic 5&6)

R1200R Motorcycle Seat 2015 Front Seat Only

The Wunderlich Comfort seat which is 800mm (pic 7&8)

Wunderlich ACTIVE COMFORT seat R1200R LC/RS LC,1250R/RS front LOW VERSION

www.nippynormans.com

The OE standard seat at 820mm (pic 3&4)
Best for comfort Sargent nice hard seat, the seat is wide and has a kind of a canal in the middle of the seat to accommodate your balls. Clever. You can flat foot, but is wide at the front as well. Will be sending the seat back and get the tall seat which is 823mm.
Wunderlich strikes a balance in the middle of the pack, narrow at the front and wide at the back but I like my seat hard. If you are 5'7"-5'8" is perfect, you can flat foot the bike. The seat is for sale.
BMW OE is ok, soft. Has a kind of dome in the middle of the seat, my thigh is not supported, the S &W both have good thigh support.
All 3 seats are well made but W&S made extra effort. I the end of the day the Sargent wins...for me.
Some pictures:
First pic from left to right: S, W, OE.

 

[rovert57]

I cannot understand how bike manufacturers don’t seem to be able to make decent seats anymore
over the last 20 years I’ve had a busa ,blackbird and now the gsa and all the seats have been crap.

 

[Morety]

I agree. I think back to the sumptuous saddles on sports tourers of the 1980's and the perfectly positioned bars. My FJ1100 was one of the most comfortable long haul bikes that I ever owned. These days, with each BMW purchase comes the "BMW Tax", inevitably leading to further expense on replacement saddles and bar risers unless you spec them from new as "options". It should be standard to configure your bike and have it supplied to fit properly. They have the parts variety to do this. I appreciate that they have to accommodate for a large variety of shapes and sizes but things like peg heights have crept up, and many are too rear-set on sports tourers, saddles are badly designed and bars too forward and low for most (it seems). The likes of Sargent and touratech do make good seats but at what price? I have paid less for a sofa than for the latest sargent touring seat!

 

[zoltan]

The likes of Sargent and touratech do make good seats but at what price? I have paid less for a sofa than for the latest sargent touring seat!

If you look at the link Sargent is around 20% more expensive than OE and W about the same price.

Original Motorcycle seat | BMW Motorrad

Order your original BMW Motorcycle Seat. Low, High, Comfort, Rally, Heated Seat... Best Price. 2 years BMW warranty. 14 day returns.

bmw.europe-moto.com

 

[Morety]

£380 rider seat only (Sargent) V's £260 factory oem (plus import duty and carriage). Must admit, I like the look of the Sargent offerings. High seat still fine for my 30" inseam and allows more leg stretch. How did you find the W seat in terms of leg room?

 

[landmarkjohn]

Very happy with my Russell Day Long on a GS. I have Sargent also but Russell trumps it by some margin. You have to send them your original seat.

 

[zoltan]

£380 rider seat only (Sargent) V's £260 factory oem (plus import duty and carriage). Must admit, I like the look of the Sargent offerings. High seat still fine for my 30" inseam and allows more leg stretch. How did you find the W seat in terms of leg room?

W is spot on, flat footed the bike. However I like the seat flat. The W is flat but you have to shuffle towards the back of the seat. I assume if my backside would be bigger the seat would fit me. I guess we are all different.

 

[Morety]

I may give the W one a go. I like the legroom the higher sport seat gives but it's too squishy and the wrong shape so tends to be uncomfortable on anything over a 40 minute ride for me.

 

[zoltan]

I may give the W one a go. I like the legroom the higher sport seat gives but it's too squishy and the wrong shape so tends to be uncomfortable on anything over a 40 minute ride for me.

Nippy Normans do now buy, try, free return for 2 weeks, or you can have mine for less than half price

 

[Morety]

Nippy Normans do now buy, try, free return for 2 weeks, or you can have mine for less than half price

Thanks for the offer but I've got one to try and if I like it I've been offered a good deal on it but appreciate your offer anyway

 

[Morety]

Just fitted the Wunderlich standard AktivKomfort seat to mine as I didn't want to compromise leg room much. At 5'8" I can still flat foot it. Lower than sport seat which I prefer as it effectively brings bars up a little to the riding position, also relieveing neck tension a little. A far better shape with proper support. It's firm which I like, without being plank-hard. No uncomfortable convex profile that the extra padding of the sport seat gives. Extra width also means effectively little loss of leg room as the seat is wider anyway yet you can slide forwards a little to the narrower front profile and easily flat foot it. Overall, a big improvement imho over the sport seat and worth every penny. Initial findings are all positive but a few hundred miles are needed to underline that, so a long ride planned later in the week,.

 

[Morety]

Right, now I've put a few hundred miles on the Wunderlich seat and can confirm it's all day comfortable. Riding position even with bar risers is a little forward biased still but I found when cruising at the Nationals, sliding towards the back gives good coccyx support and you can get your knees snugly into the tank cut outs and the balls of your feet firmly on the pegs, leaving you well supported and generally more comfortable than the standard seat. The high seat would accentuate the lower back strain as it will push you into a more sporty rising position but the lower seat would start I think to compromise legroom too much so for me, the standard W seat was spot on. I can still get my feet on the ground by sliding forward so two up with luggage, I'd have no worries with this seat. Highly recommended. The only thing I'd do if starting from scratch again would be to fit the BMW optional GS style bars which would result in a better overall riding position, and pairing them with this seat would be perfect for me, having tried a bike with those bars.

 

[bob_mcn]

May be a little late to this but i fitted the standard seat from a R1200R to my R1200RS SE, the attached file is something i picked up from the states info when looking at the same seat problem.

 

[zoltan]

I managed to purchase the Sport Seat on eBay. www.sparkyleather.com/ took out 6mm from both sides at the front of the seat, so is rounder now and narrow. Also she created a flatter area at the front of the seat.
It's a high seat, I have more leg room and I am closer to the bars. At 5'9, 29" inside leg I can flat foot. I haven't tested the the bike yet but feels good and comfortable. We agreed that if it need extra work it will be free of charge.

 

[iainw]

I'm on my 3rd RS in 3 years, don't ask, it's a saga but I love these bikes and all have had the low seat which is perfect for me.

After my first trip to Spain on the first one I had the temp reached 38c most days and my arse was cooked, so I got a CoolCover. I found three benefits from this, it let air in and I was not as hot in these extreme temperatures. The wet bum feeling when it rains heavy because Goretex seems to feel damp when I'm sat down didn't happen, and the pressure from the edge of the seat on my thighs wasn't there, it was more comfortable.

A cheaper option than a new seat and I recommend them.

Iain

 

[Beerman]

I'm on my 3rd RS in 3 years, don't ask, it's a saga but I love these bikes and all have had the low seat which is perfect for me.

After my first trip to Spain on the first one I had the temp reached 38c most days and my arse was cooked, so I got a CoolCover. I found three benefits from this, it let air in and I was not as hot in these extreme temperatures. The wet bum feeling when it rains heavy because Goretex seems to feel damp when I'm sat down didn't happen, and the pressure from the edge of the seat on my thighs wasn't there, it was more comfortable.

A cheaper option than a new seat and I recommend them.

Iain

Lots of info here about seats. FWIW, I am...not tall. I put a low (760mm) seat on my '22 RS, and then an air cushion to bump it up a bit. Just perfect.

Beerman