As I roll gently into my retirement years, I’ve taken to scouting used motorcycles on Craigslist to stock up my garage. I never know what will grab my attention and tickle my heart, and as I unearth hidden two-wheeled treasures, I’m usually delighted to inherit a rich assortment of accessories previous owners have lavished upon their bikes – now to become my next ride.
When acquiring used bikes, the one item that often requires my attention is the seat. Many riders work at lowering reach to the ground, but I’m 6 feet tall with a 31-inch inseam and grouchy hips. I like legroom. So when a newly acquired bike doesn’t fit me correctly, I head over to Legendary Best Motorcycle Seats in Ventura, California.
I’ve been using BMS for seat alterations for decades, beginning back in their Ojai days under Bill “Rocky” Mayer (BMS used to stand for Bill Mayer Saddles). Now, longtime stalwart Adrian Mercado handles the business, turning out the same quality work he’s crafted for all these years.
The personal fitting service at BMS is terrific. If you can devote a half day or so on site, Mercado and his crew will craft a custom-made seat built to your liking and personal fit while you wait. BMS also appears at rallies and other riding events across the country to provide custom services, or you can also send in your seat with your necessary personal dimensions for mail-order service.
Mercado listens to your requests, then makes suggestions based on his decades of seat-building experience. He’ll give you what you want, but I’ve learned to follow his advice, typically after some give-and-take regarding comfort versus aesthetics. The decision often comes down to a simple question: Do you want the bike to “look right,” or do you want the seat to coddle your rear end over a full day’s ride? Personally, I tend to lean toward the comfort side, but you can have it your way, exactly so.
Custom-built BMS seats absolutely transformed my new-to-me 2015 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S and 2017 KTM 690 Duke. Due to an extra-low seat at purchase, I found the Multi virtually unrideable, while the 690’s aftermarket rearsets shortened the seat/peg relationship and made things too cramped. Mercado fixed all of that, making both bikes more enjoyable – and “all mine” in the process. Nice. Problems solved.
Pricing begins at $595 to build a solo seat, pretty much in keeping with other custom seat options.
Some things never change, such as the lack of comfort delivered by a typical OEM motorcycle seat. The stock perch on my ’09 BMW F 800 GS was a butt pincher, while my Yamaha Ténéré 700’s seat, with its cool rally look, is more plank-like. It seemed okay at first, but a couple of long rides proved me wrong. The comfort solution for my BMW was a World Sport Performance Seat from Sargent Cycle Products. Hoping lightning would strike twice, I sourced one for the Yamaha, and my derriere hasn’t stopped thanking me since.
Sargent builds its seats from the bottom up, molding Poly-Tec material to fit individual motorcycle models. The new pan for my Yamaha has the same tool storage area underneath as the stock unit, and it fits perfectly to that seat’s attachment points. I only had to transfer the Yamaha’s rubber grommets and washers to the new seat for a painless installation. The World Sport is lower than the stocker by nearly an inch and weighs 0.6 lb more, likely due to a wider pan and larger padded area.
Atop the pan sits the comfort zone, a sculptured slab of Sargent’s proprietary Super Cell Atomic foam, designed to damp vibration while remaining firm and resilient. A memory foam layer molded inside that slab is said to relieve hot spots by conforming to your rear. One more comfort enhancement – a central channel much like those on some bicycle seats – takes the pressure off your nether region. Covering it all is black, UV-stabilized, marine-grade vinyl, hand sewn to a perfect fit. If my GS seat is any indication, this seat will last for many years with no care regimen other than an occasional scrub-down when it gets dirty.
Wider at the rear than the stock perch but narrowing at the front with rounded edges for better control while standing, the slightly dished seat distributes rider weight over a larger area. I found it comfortable for sitting back on highway slogs, sliding forward for the twisties, and standing on the pegs when off the pavement. The sides are grippy enough for decent control while standing, while not interfering with tossing the bike side-to-side on curvy pavement. All of this adds up to a much-improved perch for extended riding days, something I’ve appreciated on several long rides with the World Sport under my rear.
Sargent offers a host of options and upgrades to the basic model reviewed here ($369.95), starting with color-coordinated welts. I went welt-less, preferring the smoother edge look. Those who want to match up their rear seat can order a do-it-yourself rear cover, and heated seats are available for those wanting bottom-up warmth. Sargent makes the World Sport seat for a dozen brands of motorcycles, and probably yours. When my buns were burning, they put out the fire.
Sargent World Sports Performance Plus standard height seat with CarbonFX upholstery and red welt on 2019 BMW F 750 GS.
It was 1991 the last time I bought a motorcycle and settled for the OEM seat. When I sprang for a new BMW F 750 GS, it didn’t take many miles for my backside to request a seat upgrade. Now Sargent Cycle Products offers its range of World Sport Performance Plus seats for BMW’s latest range of mid-size adventure bikes (F 750 / 850 GS and GS Adventure).
The heart of these seats is Super Cell Atomic Foam, Sargent’s proprietary blend of resilience, firmness and vibration-absorption qualities. The seat foam is wider than stock and contoured to enhance lateral support and distribute pressure evenly. A central relief channel (where seat foam is strategically absent) takes pressure off your crotch and tailbone.
Sargent has added another comfort innovation. Inside the Super Cell foam, a quarter inch below the surface, resides a layer of memory foam that absorbs pressure points while retaining the Super Cell foam’s suspension qualities. Talking with Mark Todd, Sargent’s President and R&D chief, I learned that memory foam, while wondrous stuff, is notorious for wear if it’s allowed to make direct contact. Sargent’s clever design prevents such wear.
Embedding memory foam also allows Sargent to include a flexible heating element for riders who want the option of bun warming on demand. (BMW does not offer a factory heated seat option for its mid-size adventure bikes.) Sargent’s system uses conformable film and fine wire spiral wound glass core technology to create the heating element, which is adhered to the memory foam layer before it’s floated in the Super Cell foam. You can opt for rider heat only or dual zones for rider and passenger. Each heated zone draws approximately 1.7 amps (23 watts @ 13.5 volts), and rider and passenger each get a 10-step controller to set their desired toast factor independently. The controller is good looking, simple to mount, waterproof, and easily programmable for brightness and preferred direction of the heat level bar graph.
Sargent offers choices for marine-grade upholstery including CarbonFX or DTX, with or without grip zones on the front sides. (As their name suggests, grip zones are special panels that help your inner legs grip the seat…useful when riding in a standing position.) Each seat is hand-sewn, and Sargent offers lots of color options for stitching or welt to complement your bike’s livery.
Underneath is Sargent’s seat pan, which is injection molded from tough, lightweight PolyTec. Sargent now includes a compact, rechargeable, zoom-adjustable LED flashlight that stores neatly in a molded hollow in the seat pan. A USB cable for charging the flashlight is included, too.
Sargent’s heat controller is waterproof and easily programmable for brightness and the direction of the heat level bar graph. As shown, it’s mounted to the F 750 GS’s tank top trim, where it’s easy to see and adjust while riding. Sargent offers an aluminum mirror mount for the controller, although it ran into my bike’s midsize tank bag before the bars reach full lock.
Given my not-quite-towering 5-foot 7-inch frame and not-so-lengthy 30-inch inseam, I was on the fence between Sargent’s standard 32.1” standard seat height and 31.5” low version. (Lowered suspension is a whole different animal, especially for adventure bikes where ground clearance is important.)As Todd explained, high quality foam has everything to do with how a motorcycle seat treats your backside, and when you compare a standard height seat with a low seat, “the difference is all foam.”
I wanted to test the difference by the soles of my boots and the seat of my pants, and Sargent kindly provided standard and low versions for evaluation. I already put several hundred miles on BMW’s standard seat and about 1,000 miles on BMW’s low seat, and both had my backside sore within an hour and aching after a long day. BMW’s low seat in particular combines a reduction in foam with an odd shape that proved really uncomfortable.
The comfort advantage of Sargent’s standard height seat over either BMW seat was apparent even before my bike left the garage. The Sargent is both plush and supportive. Like the stock seat, my heels are off the ground at a stop, although the shape of the Sargent seat puts my feet a bit closer to terra firma than the BMW seat of the same height. From the first ride and during hundreds more miles on a mix of paved and unpaved surfaces, this seat has delivered a major upgrade in comfort. My logbook has few notes on Sargent’s standard height seat because I haven’t had any gripes. The CarbonFX upholstery looks and feels great, and it doesn’t become slippery when riding in wet conditions like some upholstery does.
Sargent’s low version drops seat height 0.6” (from 32.1” down to 31.5”). This is not as low as the 31.1” height of BMW low seat. The Sargent low seat’s support and shape provide a substantial improvement in backside comfort over the BMW low seat. With a few hundred miles behind me, the low Sargent even proved more comfortable than the standard height BMW seat, owing to better quality foam and seat shape. A day of back-to-back comparison runs, with both brands and standard and low seats, reinforced Todd’s points that high quality foam is the foundation of comfort in a motorcycle seat, and removing foam weakens that foundation.
Here’s something else worth noting: a low seat puts your feet closer to the ground by putting all of you closer to the ground. The handlebars, foot pegs and windscreen do not change location. That means your ergonomic relationship to the bike changes with a low seat. There’s a slightly higher reach to the bars, a bit more bend in your knees and a touch more wind protection as you sit lower.
So, what’s the “bottom” line? Sargent’s World Sport Performance Plus seat delivers a major improvement in comfort from BMW’s stock seat—more so with Sargent’s standard height version and its full measure of Super Cell Atomic Foam. The option for integrated heat adds another level of comfort that BMW doesn’t offer from the factory. That rechargeable flashlight is rather handy, too. Unless you are really inseam-challenged, go with the standard height version. Your backside will thank you.
Sargent includes a rechargeable LED flashlight with three settings (Hi/Lo/Strobe) and zoom optics. Serious flashlight nerds may pine for more candlepower, but it’s pretty bright and very handy. Note the hollow molded into the seat pan where the light tucks in.
Sargent World Sport Performance Plus seats for BMW F 750 / 850 GS and GS Adventure start at $499.95. www.sargentcycle.com 800-749-7328 (Toll Free US/Canada)
Bringing you the Best Motorcycle News from Around the Web!
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
