My Sargent Seat Story...

Let me just say, thanks to this forum I have learned the Sargent seat is a very good option for the VFR, if not the best option, and I have read over and over an an aftermarket seat is a good upgrade for those who ride longer distances, so I have decided to go for it.

I contacted Sargent and so far I have been blown away by the customer service I have received from Paul. I had questions about the 2-piece seat because I don't run a passenger and I did not want to buy both seat sections, I always use the cowl. His reply was great, I could just buy the forward section. How cool!

Next came the whole material question, and Paul quickly volunteered to send me samples as they do not have good pics posted of all the material options. I received them today and shared the following thoughts/questions with him today.

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Carbon F/X and Smooth K-015 are a no way, they just don't speak to me.

This leaves me between Allante and K-02, I understand Allante is twenty bucks more, but for this conversation lets ignore that, twenty bucks one way or the other does not matter to me, I just want to get the best seat for me.

I could live with either one of the textures, but what I notice is Allante seems a bit more stretchy than K-02. Is this extra stretch a positive or a negative? Is Allante more likely to sag out of shape over time? Is K-02 going to offer less comfort because it is less stretchy? Is Allante really worth the extra twenty and if so why? Can you speak to the differences, pluses/negatives, of these two materials?
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I can't wait for his reply, and of course I'll update  with new and pics as soon as I have them

2000VFR GEN5- love it, not only yellow, but screams with gears

I bought a Sargent (lightly used) from a VFRD member and I like it. It has a faux carbon look. I do not know what material it is but it is slippery under my Aerostich. Works great with leather.

IMO. I'd go with the "less is best" for comfort as far as the stitching goes ...... Two areas to watch, bottom of butt, and inside thigh.
If you think the thigh seams will rub, then till them so the can shim out that area .........

I have the carbon fx material and also find it a bit slippery with textile - fine with leather.  I had mine modified to remove the sharp line at the edge (which dug in to the leg) and also had the blue foam shaved down and 2 progressive layers of softer foam added - WAY more comfortable - no more hot spots on the sit bones.  I should be able to go all day on it now.   I wish I could say the same for the customer service - my experience with them was lousy.  If I had it to do over I'd just use an OEM seat and have it custom built - it would have have been a better result and been cheaper.

For sure best thing I have ever done to my 07

[image: View Post]Cogswell, on 31 March 2012 - 12:04 PM, said:

I have the carbon fx material and also find it a bit slippery with textile - fine with leather.  I had mine modified to remove the sharp line at the edge (which dug in to the leg) and also had the blue foam shaved down and 2 progressive layers of softer foam added - WAY more comfortable - no more hot spots on the sit bones.  I should be able to go all day on it now.   I wish I could say the same for the customer service - my experience with them was lousy.  If I had it to do over I'd just use an OEM seat and have it custom built - it would have have been a better result and been cheaper.

How much cheaper is it just to use your own base pan?

Im thinking some day I might just ride through Florida and stop at sargeant, for customization. But with the bike nearing 100,000 miles, I dont know if I want to spend the money, unlesss only $150.

I didn't have Sargent do the mods - I found an upholstery shop locally that does custom m/c seat modification that modded my Sargent.  He's done thousands of seats - mostly cruisers, but some sportbikes too.   I would have been better off just having him mod an OEM seat from the start using the $ I paid for the Sargent.    It was enlightening having the Sargent cover off - they use a single density of blue foam all the way through which I thought is very similar to the OEM foam - maybe a bit thicker though.   At least for me, the real trick to long haul comfort is to have progressively denser foams - soft on top, mid range in the middle and firm foam on the seat pan.  That allows the foam to conform much better and eliminate the hot spots of a single density but still preventing completely compressing the foam on bumps - similar to progressive fork springs.  I also had him trim the pillion section so my seat cowl now fits easily.    Someone here posted a DIY job they did last fall on their 6th gen OEM seat which looked great - they just had to find someone to stitch up the cover - something called grip-tex.  I think he said it cost him about $150.  Having someone do the foam would probably add another hundred or so to the tab.

I couldnt take the stock seat anymore after 20,000 miles, so I made some cushioning, much improvement over stock, but I know exactly what I need in the seat to make it right.

The stock seat is too short in height(for seat to peg) and it has right angles in the crotch area, and the down angle is a bit too steep.  Ive not found anything premade that adresses all these issues, so customization is really the only way.  Really, I could put some foam under the stock foam, raising the seat height, and just shave down the Right angles in the crotch area on the stock foam and it would probably be great.

[image: View Post]Monk, on 31 March 2012 - 11:48 AM, said:

If you think the thigh seams will rub, then till them so the can shim out that area .........
Wish I'd have been aware of that when I got mine. That's the only uncomfortable part of the seat. The seams dig into my thighs.

I also find the Carbon slippery with my textiles. However it is great for moving side to side and can sit on it all day. Have done one 14 hour day riding with no problems. Just needed a stretch every now and then.

Ok, sorry, I have been away for a while, and lousy weather has not afforded me much riding opportunities in the last month

Since putting on the seat, I have done about 150-miles, and holy cow, it was indeed worth every penny

The thing I like best is the back lower butt support, the backstop shall we say

I was riding in some strong wind yesterday, a weather condition I hate by the way, and I felt so much more comfortable just by pushing myself back a little bit so I was pushed into that backstop

I went with the Allante material for $20 more, all black, and I just love it!

I'll get some decent pics tonight and get them posted, for now here is a crappy one

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[image: View Post]spud786, on 31 March 2012 - 07:50 PM, said:

I couldnt take the stock seat anymore after 20,000 miles, so I made some cushioning, much improvement over stock, but I know exactly what I need in the seat to make it right.
The stock seat is too short in height(for seat to peg) and it has right angles in the crotch area, and the down angle is a bit too steep.  Ive not found anything premade that adresses all these issues, so customization is really the only way.  Really, I could put some foam under the stock foam, raising the seat height, and just shave down the Right angles in the crotch area on the stock foam and it would probably be great.

For what it's worth...
I thought I was comfortable on the stock seat, until I got the Sargent, now I know better
For me the best part of the Sargent is the back butt stop
The VFR is, for me, a very fast bike, and I love the feeling that I'm not going to slide off the back of the bike when I get on the throttle hard
There is nothing that could have been done to the stockj seat to give me the klind of support I'm getting from the Sargent

The standard sargent seat doesnt meet my needs to be worth the money , its probably better than the stock unmodified seat though.

My vote goes to Sargent, had the Corbin for many years & did like it but compared to the Sargent (you don't know till you try both) the Corbin for me was inferior, the added bonus is the Sargent weighs about the same as the standard seat as the Corbin with it's base weighs as much as a stack of bricks. The icing on the cake is the Sargent is much cheaper, anybody who I let ride my bike comments on the seat cumfort so I'm one very happy Sargent seat owner.

Here are the better pics...

Overall look is amazing, and I love the fact that I could buy just the front, as I don't do passengers and the cowl is always on
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It just fits and looks so good, so much better than stock
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For me, the best part, the lower rear butt backstop, I just fel so much more comfortable, and that is comfortable as in comfort and safety
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I am so glad I spent the extra $20 and got the premium fabric the Allante, I just did not like the Carbon F/X, not my style, felt really thin, and it was slippery
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