Excessive vibration w/ Corbin Saddles?

slyder1217

slyder1217

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I didn't really know where this should go so if mods have a better place for it, please move it.

Anyway, I just my Corbins in on Friday and got them installed. I love the contour of the Corbin rider saddle but after a few rides on it I seem to notice a LOT of vibrations in my arse. It's quite annoying and actually very distracting. I never had that problem with the stocker and I was just wondering if anyone else with Corbins had this problem and what, if anything, you did to fix it. Thanks!
 
I suppose I do notice more vibration with my Corbin, however, not to a point annoyance or distraction. As you probably know, Corbin saddles use a firm foam and very dense base pan; relative to OEM. This likely contributes to more vibration transfer.
However, I'd hang in there. Corbin saddles take many miles to fully break in. According to their web site, the saddles full comfort isn't realized for 1500 miles.

Also, the rubber bumpers the saddle rests on are quite hard. According to Corbin, they break in letting the saddle click into place more easily. You may also notice less vibration after bumpers break in?

I've had my Corbin for about 300 miles and I wouldn't part with it for anything. Good luck.
 
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Vibration....Corbin Seats

As I had stated much earlier in my introduction, I'd came to the FZ1 forum from having owned a 98 Buell Cyclone. While it's a completly different animal with the V twin, it did have rubber vibration isolation motor mounting, and was one of the best features to come from Harley Davidson for years on the sportster derived motor'd bikes. I had the stock seat which was outstanding in the looks department, much like a 'Gunfighter' in design, and it also came with a custom Corbin seat made from leather. While the foam was noticably harder, the shape of the buttox area was wider and flatter.

This made extended distance riding much, much more tolerable. Instead of 50-60 miles before I was finding myself moving around looking for the 'sweet spot', I was able to go mabe a hundred miles, which was coming up on a refuel as the fuel capasity was rather small, but still better than the Sportster. When I first got the bike the seat appeared to already have been broken in and surely was with 13,000 on the clock. I liked the Corbin much, much more than the stock seat, though one thing I found that was paramount in it's care, was that it needed to have some sort of leather conditioner applied on a regular basis. Having some left over from previously having a Sports Car with all leather, I used this about every two or three weeks along with liquid Kiwi shoe shine to keep the 'new' look.

I'd like to get the gunfighter seat for my FZ1, as I was able to ride the Buell from San Bernardino Co. area to Logan Utah pretty much nonstop, othere than extended fuel stops, 20-30 minuates to smoke, have a beverage and walk about a bit. Then it was back to the freeway droning. I would have patience as Polestar states, and I believe is alluded to by Corbin itself. Once it is broken in, I would keep up on the leather re-nu care or you will over time find the spiderweb cracking on the areas of flex on the seat.
 
Polestar said:
I suppose I do notice more vibration with my Corbin, however, not to a point annoyance or distraction. As you probably know, Corbin saddles use a firm foam and very dense base pan; relative to OEM. This likely contributes to more vibration transfer.
However, I'd hang in there. Corbin saddles take many miles to fully break in. According to their web site, the saddles full comfort isn't realized for 1500 miles.

Also, the rubber bumpers the saddle rests on are quite hard. According to Corbin, they break in letting the saddle click into place more easily. You may also notice less vibration after bumpers break in?

I've had my Corbin for about 300 miles and I wouldn't part with it for anything. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I guess that just gives me a good excuse to get out and put some more miles on bike then! I'll give it some time and miles and see if it goes away. In the mean time, thicker pants... ;)
 
UPDATE: I've put a couple hundred miles on the Corbin and it's starting to break in. There is still a bit of vibe around 4500-4700 RPM in most gears but it is getting less noticable.
 
I have to chime in here as I also have a Corbin. Other than the back rest for my wife on her seat, I have absolutly no use for it. I have put 2600 miles on with it so far and my seat still feels like a brick. If it doesn't change in the next 30 days or so it's coming off! I don't understand how $500 worth of seat fits like this. It should be far more comfortable off the shelf for the price you pay.
As far as vibrations I really haven't noticed any yet.
 
My bike came with both Corbin and I'm currently on the OEM seat. The surface of the corbin is slick, as a whole, the seating surface slopes towards the tank. One guess on which part of my body contacts the tank...ouch. I plan to have the Corbin recovered with marine grade vinyl, and have a better pocket put on it. Or, I'll simply have the OEM saddle redone with firmer foam.

Oh, I don't recall any vibes with the C. After the 1125R, the FZ is silky smooth.
 
I don't have a Corbin on the FZ1 (have Sargent), but have had Corbin seats before on other bikes and while firm they have never been uncomfortable. However, given the shape of the FZ1 seat it's pretty hard to find a comfortable seat, at least for me. After about 2 hours on the saddle I am ready for a break!
 
When I bought my FJR (at 5K miles), it came with a Corbin seat and I also got the stock seat from the seller. After my 60 mile ride home put the stock seat on and liked it much better. The Corbin seat was too stiff for me and I liked the stock seat much better. The original owner had put on the Corbin seat at about 500 miles.
 
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