Corbin seat review.
08-13-2007, 05:40 PM
#1
Member
Squid
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Oregon
Posts: 34
Corbin seat review.
Okay, here is my two cent review of the Corbin seat........
After many years of wanting one I finally parted with the cash and ordered one straight from the factory. For any future buyers here is what I can pass on.
1. Their site advertisement for the "Gunfighter/lady" saddle is somewhat miss leading. It leads you to believe that you get the back rest, although uncool to look at on the bike, gains you brownie points with the ol' lady after long rides.
Come to find out it is "not" included with the seat (after revisiting the site you can come to that conclusion digging through the detail tabs during purchase.. my bust).
2. Their return policy sucks for the customer; if you find flaws or are unhappy with the product you are stuck. They will only "rework" the product should there be any flaws/fit-up problems and send it back to you. Catch being: should the rework require recovering the saddle you get charged for the recovering. That is bogus if you ask me.
3. Lead time; I was actually surprised that the saddle showed in two weeks after order. I have been told by others that they waited an eternity for theirs. The seat actually showed up even before what I was told by their customer service gal, so cudos to them for that.
4. Packaging; the packaging was a bit ratty, in fact the box had come open during shipping which always has me wondering before I open it ..."hmmmm what's gonna be missing?"
5. Quality; I was a bit disappointed in the cover quality, not the quality of the materials used but the craftsmanship of assembly. There are missed rivetings on the underside and a loose (not tight fitting) area on the top side of the saddle between the driver and passenger.
6. Fit up; well let me say they are not joking in their instructions that the seat will be difficult to install at first. If you are even slightly mechanically challenged or just plain retarded forget it, call Corbin or a friend who has dealt with it for help. What I ran into was the following:
a) the base forming was lumpy and interfering with the seats ability to latch as it cocked the rear latch to the side. this was easy enough to fix with a file, but should the customer have to deal with this???? Next they place a sticker on the bottom that says "mounts okay" which leads me to believe that they do fit up on fixturing at the plant for initial set up prior to shipping. Well time for them boys to check and adjust the fixture; their initial set up was "way" off.
b) next there was no way I was going to be able to get the seat cowling on due to the amount of pressure that is needed to get the seat to latch (when adjusted properly), I tried then took it off as I envisioned screwing up the cowling. They say that this is due to the rubber stops on the bottom and that after break in the seat will latch "in a snap". I hope so, as I usually like to have the seat cowling on.
c) the instructions; what instructions...... there really isn't a whole lot to putting a seat on, but they could provide some better hints as to things you will need to swap or not for the bike that the seat is intended. The instructions generic at best. Again if you are retarded or impatient you will have problems.
All in all I would rate the seat "okay", I was hoping for better at the price, but it is still better than stock. I have about 200 miles on it, and it does make quite a difference in comfort (and it is not broken in by any means). I am hoping that after break in that more adjustments to the rear latch can be made to get the front latched by the tank better.
Would I buy again? I would probably look into what other options are out there before doing so. Unfortunately I had heard so many good rants and raves by others that I did not look anywhere else. Live and learn....
After many years of wanting one I finally parted with the cash and ordered one straight from the factory. For any future buyers here is what I can pass on.
1. Their site advertisement for the "Gunfighter/lady" saddle is somewhat miss leading. It leads you to believe that you get the back rest, although uncool to look at on the bike, gains you brownie points with the ol' lady after long rides.
Come to find out it is "not" included with the seat (after revisiting the site you can come to that conclusion digging through the detail tabs during purchase.. my bust).
2. Their return policy sucks for the customer; if you find flaws or are unhappy with the product you are stuck. They will only "rework" the product should there be any flaws/fit-up problems and send it back to you. Catch being: should the rework require recovering the saddle you get charged for the recovering. That is bogus if you ask me.
3. Lead time; I was actually surprised that the saddle showed in two weeks after order. I have been told by others that they waited an eternity for theirs. The seat actually showed up even before what I was told by their customer service gal, so cudos to them for that.
4. Packaging; the packaging was a bit ratty, in fact the box had come open during shipping which always has me wondering before I open it ..."hmmmm what's gonna be missing?"
5. Quality; I was a bit disappointed in the cover quality, not the quality of the materials used but the craftsmanship of assembly. There are missed rivetings on the underside and a loose (not tight fitting) area on the top side of the saddle between the driver and passenger.
6. Fit up; well let me say they are not joking in their instructions that the seat will be difficult to install at first. If you are even slightly mechanically challenged or just plain retarded forget it, call Corbin or a friend who has dealt with it for help. What I ran into was the following:
a) the base forming was lumpy and interfering with the seats ability to latch as it cocked the rear latch to the side. this was easy enough to fix with a file, but should the customer have to deal with this???? Next they place a sticker on the bottom that says "mounts okay" which leads me to believe that they do fit up on fixturing at the plant for initial set up prior to shipping. Well time for them boys to check and adjust the fixture; their initial set up was "way" off.
b) next there was no way I was going to be able to get the seat cowling on due to the amount of pressure that is needed to get the seat to latch (when adjusted properly), I tried then took it off as I envisioned screwing up the cowling. They say that this is due to the rubber stops on the bottom and that after break in the seat will latch "in a snap". I hope so, as I usually like to have the seat cowling on.
c) the instructions; what instructions...... there really isn't a whole lot to putting a seat on, but they could provide some better hints as to things you will need to swap or not for the bike that the seat is intended. The instructions generic at best. Again if you are retarded or impatient you will have problems.
All in all I would rate the seat "okay", I was hoping for better at the price, but it is still better than stock. I have about 200 miles on it, and it does make quite a difference in comfort (and it is not broken in by any means). I am hoping that after break in that more adjustments to the rear latch can be made to get the front latched by the tank better.
Would I buy again? I would probably look into what other options are out there before doing so. Unfortunately I had heard so many good rants and raves by others that I did not look anywhere else. Live and learn....
08-13-2007, 06:23 PM
#2
Senior Member
MotoGP
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Way Out West
Posts: 2,547
Way back when, I ordered a Corbin seat for my then nearly new '83 Interceptor. The thing they sent me had ugly discoloration blotches and some actual pin holes in the leather cover.
They wouldn't exchange it. I sent it back to them anyhow. I sent that shipping reciept, along with signed statements from a couple of people attesting to the poor quality, to the credit card company requesting they remove the charge from my account.
I got to keep my money and Corbin got to keep their seat.
They wouldn't exchange it. I sent it back to them anyhow. I sent that shipping reciept, along with signed statements from a couple of people attesting to the poor quality, to the credit card company requesting they remove the charge from my account.
I got to keep my money and Corbin got to keep their seat.
08-20-2007, 03:21 PM
#3
Senior Member
SuperBike
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Buffalo, NY
Posts: 1,572
I picked up my Corbin off of ebay and it fits well, could be a bit better but it serves the "more comfort" purpose. This was my 2nd, the first one I bought for my '92 Nighthawk 750 was also good fitting.
08-20-2007, 11:08 PM
#4
Senior Member
Superstock
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 277
Hi Tucknroll, i think you might have pick up someone else unwanted seat (it take more than 2 weeks to get one) and Corbin custom seat well know for a lots unsactify Public Relations, they re market for HD and Cruisers not Sport bike. You should have order Sargent i used to own Sarg seat before IMO it looks and feel as good except i was tip toes while seating on the bike because the seat didnot make for me i pick up from friend dealership w/deal when i purchased my Suzu. I m not affiliate w/none of those companies
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