Aftermarket Seat

Hi guys,

What is available for aftermarket seat for the SWing? The vinyl on the seats on both of our bikes is somewhat worn and looking aged from being in the sun. Want to replace it with a new one and been looking at the Corbin saddle, which looks really nice:
http://www.corbin.com/honda/hsw.shtml

Had a Corbin saddle on my '81 GL1100 many years ago and was very happy with it. What else is out there that is considered better-than-stock quality? Or what about replacement seat cover that fits over the stock foam? Or taking the seat to an upholstery shop and having it custom covered?

Russel Daylong saddles are the only other major company that does something specific for the wing saddle that I know of.
https://www.day-long.com/ Site seems to be down right now.

Lots of people use the air hawk pad, beads and other measures.

Day long is functional. I highly recommend them. Had a total of three (two BMWs and my SW) there is not a better saddle to be had. Of course, they are not inexpensive.

Jon :flower: :flower: 

The only problem with the Russell saddles is that we have to send them our seats to build the new seat on the seat pan. We might wait until winter to do that when we're not riding the bikes. As of now, we're riding them every day.

Turns out I may have found another solution.  I took my seat to a local guy that does classic car restorations and he also does upholstery work.  I wanted to check to see how much he would charge to recover it.  He looked at my seat and said, "You don't need no new seat.....I'll fix it for you......."

He cleaned my seat vinyl with what smelled like paint thinner - and which made it look REALLY bad.  Then he grabbed a can of Rustoleum Specialty Vinyl in what looks like a can of spray paint.  But it's not spray paint.  It's some sort of spray vinyl in a can.  He took the backrest off, warmed the whole seat and backrest with a heat gun and sprayed two coats of this stuff on my seat.  It only took about 30 minutes and it could be handled.

The fellow told me this stuff, once fully cured in 24 hours, is tougher and wears better than the original vinyl and it chemically bonds to the old vinyl.  It seals and repairs any small cracks that have started in the old vinyl and makes the seat look like brand new.  He said he's been using it for 9 years and some of the first seats he did with it still look like brand new.

This is what it looks like after he got done with it - he told me to not ride the bike until tomorrow and if it's sunny outside tomorrow to leave the bike sitting out in the sun to finish curing it. He charged me $40 bucks and said if I'm happy with it, bring my wife's SWing seat over and he'll do that one too.

I'm happy with it already.

That looks really good and you can't beat the price. I bet I know what you're doing tomorrow.

It's night and day difference from the way it looked before. The vinyl was dull from being in the sun. I armorall'd it and that made it look a little better but as soon as it rained the seat got spots in it and was dull again. He had some sort of "grain imprinter cloth" I'll call it that he imprinted new "grain" in the vinyl with while it was still soft and hot, so even the spots where the vinyl was worn smooth are renewed.

The whole process only took him roughly 40 minutes to complete and then it took another 30 minutes or so for the seat to cool before it could be handled. He said the vinyl coating eats into the old vinyl and bonds with it, and will cure by itself in 24 hours so it won't scuff, but heat speeds the process. The old vinyl was rather hard and had some small cracks in it here and there. It's soft and supple now, almost feels like leather.

I was a little worried that he might melt the seat pan when he did it because he had the old vinyl hot enough so it was sticky before he sprayed this ethenyl stuff in a can on it. But he knew what he was doing and didn't hurt the seat pan. If it turns out tomorrow like he said after it cures (which it is looking now like it will) I'll take my wife's SWing seat to him and have that one done too.

Wow that looks great. Let us know how it holds up and how it "feels" on your butt. What I mean by feels is that is it slippery, sticky or just feels like the original seat. It sure looks good and the price is right.

I rode the bike to work this morning, 20 miles. It pretty much looks and feels like the original seat, although the "grain" he imprinted in it is a little different than original I think. I got a backrest extension with the bike that bolts on the adjustable brackets and then the stock back rest is bolted to the top of the extension. The backrest extension has a "butt bumper" pad on it under the stock butt rest.

The vinyl on that extension matched the original before (I think). I put it on last night and the color matches perfectly but the grain is slightly different upon close examination. That's hard to say for sure because maybe the grain was slightly different before and I never noticed it and I'm just being more picky now.

At any rate, the seat looks beautiful sitting in the sun. I normally throw my sheepskin over it to keep the sun off it, but left it exposed to the sun today per his instructions. There is some solvents in that ethenyl stuff that takes up to 24 hours to evaporate out and he said heating it speeds it up.

Overall, I like the softness of the stock seat compared to a Russel or Rick Corbin seat and I think for long distance cruises I'll still use my piece of sheepskin that I've used for years. But I'm more than satisfied with the beauty of it at this point.

My wife, however, was looking at those leather Rick Corbin seats on the internet last night and she wants one of those with black sides, grey seating inserts and red welts on it. So even if mine turns out nice it sounds like she's got her heart set on a Corbin anyway.

What I did on my Goldwing and thought very comfortable was to have a seat cover made from shearling wool.  This company specializes in seat covers for wheelchairs and a few other medical applications. The wool is about 1 inch thick and "sheared" to a uniform cut. It is very comfortable. It cost about $220 US and was two tone and well fitted. I may do this again to fit the Swing.

warning:  Here in southern AZ it rains about 4 times a year. If your home state/ country has actual rainfall you may spend more time coving the cover with plastic to save off a wet bottom.  

The seat has been in the hot sun, rained on, ridden, spilled some cappuccino on it and cleaned that off (burnt cappuccino on your hot muffler is another issue - don't do that), strapped a gas can to the pillion and ran into town to get gas for the lawnmower, purposely scuffed it with my boot then rubbed the scuff mark out with just my hand.

It appears to be everything it was represented it would be. This is a photo of it I snapped just after I got off the bike and you can see the creases in the vinyl from sitting on it, but those go away after a few minutes when the foam and vinyl "rebounds", or whatever it does:



For only $40 bucks I remain happy with it. The real test, I suppose, is how long it lasts compared to the original. But so far it's looking good.

My wife ordered a new custom leather Rick Corbin saddle for her bike. What will probably happen is that she'll get her new saddle, I will become extremely jealous and then order one for my bike, regardless.

I have an 04 Swing that I took all the backrests off and now am in a comfortable riding position. I need my legs as straight as I can due to knee replacements. My problem now is that the slope where the backrest goes is hurting my tailbone. Thinking of getting a $15 dollar plastic chairand incorporating the seat of it into the Silverwing seat giving me a more comfortable seat and also a good backrest

Chris Olson wrote:

<>This is a photo of it I snapped just after I got off the bike and you can see the creases in the vinyl from sitting on it, but those go away after a few minutes when the foam and vinyl "rebounds", or whatever it does.<>

Looks to me like you've got a square butt, either that or, you've got too many credit cards in your wallet, Mr Olson

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

Looks to me like you've got a square butt, either that or, you've got too many credit cards in your wallet, Mr Olson

Not sure what the problem is either. But I'm getting a new Mike Corbin leather saddle for my bike with grey seat panels and black sides. My wife got one and I tried hers out, rode her bike for a half day on our latest trip. Night and day difference. Leather is 10x better than vinyl. My wife even got a new gas cylinder with her new saddle.

I would be interested in purchasing a Corbin or Day Long seat if someone has a good one for sale. I have a 2005 Swing.

I bought a Corbin a few months ago. Took a 300 hundred mile ride last Sunday with several rest stops. Not impressed!

 I've been riding m/cycles & recently my S-wing for 50 years,  hundreds of thousands of miles. In my findings there is nothing better than a sheep-skin. Get one with curly wool. Throw in on. At least try one; usually $30- $40 dollars.

Got to agree with the sheep- had mine a year now on the s wing and love it. When it got soaked in a very wet day's ride, I took it off and reall noticed the bum-ache for the trip home. Not tried the Corbin, though, so can't comment on comparison.

I use a Gel Mat (home made from a kitchen mat) to ABSORB the bumps and an Airhawk atop the Gel Mat. This combo enables me to do long day rides (have gone up to 600 miles) with no sore/aching butt (I can only go 200 miles on the stock OEM Honda seat).