Custon Motorcycle Saddles by Rick Mayer
Product Manufactur/Distributor: http://www.rickmayercycle.com/
Leather is the best material for a motorcycle saddle especially if you are a long distance rider and custom motorcycle seats is the ideal solution for me. So, as soon as I got my second motorcycle, the BMW R1150GS, was natural that I order a set of new custom made seats for the bike.
And since my previous two bikes had the saddles done by Rick Mayer, I ordered it from him at the very first week with the new for me 2003 GS.
It was December and I could not go to his place to do a personal fitting so I took a lot of pictures form my self and my wife on the bike and sent the stock saddles to him in Anderson, CA. It went there and return in time, as it was promised, but for some reason neither seat was good enough and I e-mail Rick Mayer few weeks after getting the seats and made arrangements to a walk-in appointment. Note that the saddles made by Rick Mayer carry a life time warranty and it’s a big plus if you compare with some other craftsman’s that build saddles.
For my fault I only could go there now, January 2008, to do the refit and of course I choose the rainier week to do that. When I make the appointment, few months earlier, I didn’t know that I will have to deal with my server being down for the 2 days for the first time in 10 years, neither that Eliane will be in between jobs, but at the end, that was a good decision to go and move the heads in a different objectives.
On the way there we were dodging the rain and the snow and managed to get there without any drop of rain on us, but as soon as we checking the hotel in Anderson, CA, the rain starts.
Rick found time on his evening and stop by our hotel to take us for a dinner in a very nice Italian Restaurant, were we could see pictures from his recent trip to Australia, to see the MotoGP there.
Next day we had our appointment and was raining a lot. We got to Rick’s place and Seth was there to open the shop door for us where we parked our bike on a comfortable heated and dry space. Rick that was out for his morning ride, even do was 40F and raining with possibility of snow at 1000 foot, arrived few minutes later, when Seth had already removed the staples from both seats we were ready to the try out.
As soon as I seat on the bike, Rick point out the problem and start working to fix it.
The whole process toke no more then 40 minutes and I was seating on a perfect matching seat.
Probably 20 more minutes and Eliane’s seat was ready too. Few small adjustments and Seth made the final touch on both seats and we were ready to go.
The new shop Rick and Seth build there is very good. You can relax at the office, you can use your wireless computer or you can disturb their work inside the shop, and of course I was doing the last. Took many pictures on the process and ask so many questions that I guess their were ready to throw me out of there…
The practice that Rick cuts the foam and Seth manages the leather is impressive. You will be amazing just seeing those two working and just for that worth doing the walk in at his shop and I didn’t regret it.
The way back, on Friday, we got some mist but not rain and some wind too until passing Sacramento, were the weather turn out to be sunny and very pleasant to ride, even do was 40F all the day to Fresno were we slept.
The new seats proved to be good. Before, after 30 minutes we usually start ‘feeling’ the seats and after one hour we could not be seated any more. We had to stop for 5 to 10 minutes just to get some circulation on the buttocks. Now, we rode 250 miles in almost 4 hours and the seats still good as a 10 minutes ride.
So, if you are planning on riding long distance, make sure you have a comfortable saddle and I would recommend Rick Mayer’s with no doubts that he can do a great job on your bike.
To see pictures of the final job, check my accessories page at : BMW R1150GS Rick Mayer Motorcycle Seats
