Cautionary Tales about Seth Laam!

[El Toro Joe]

And the only think "crazy expensive" about a Russell is what you spend on everything else why trying to avoid buying one in the first place.

Not really...I tried an RDL and was not impressed, bought a used Corbin, and got what I paid for it a couple weeks later. I paid half of what a new RDL costs for my LAAM, and am very pleased.

 

[Fred W]

And the only think "crazy expensive" about a Russell is what you spend on everything else why trying to avoid buying one in the first place.

Not really...I tried an RDL and was not impressed, bought a used Corbin, and got what I paid for it a couple weeks later. I paid half of what a new RDL costs for my LAAM, and am very pleased.

You "tried a Russell", which translates to "you bought someone else's custom made seat".

I'm not sure we should consider the opinion of anyone who thinks that a Corbin seat is comfortable. The ones that I have owned, and there have been too many, have all been instruments of maximum gluteus torture.

 

[El Toro Joe]

And the only think "crazy expensive" about a Russell is what you spend on everything else why trying to avoid buying one in the first place.

Not really...I tried an RDL and was not impressed, bought a used Corbin, and got what I paid for it a couple weeks later. I paid half of what a new RDL costs for my LAAM, and am very pleased.

You "tried a Russell", which translates to "you bought someone else's custom made seat".

I'm not sure we should consider the opinion of anyone who thinks that a Corbin seat is comfortable. The ones that I have owned, and there have been too many, have all been instruments of maximum gluteus torture.

1) I tried a RDL (before buying it)...yes, it wasn't made for me. I think I got a good enough idea, that the RDL was not going to work for me...so no loss there.

2) Where did I say the Corbin was comfortable Fred? I sold it a couple weeks after buying it, for the same money that I paid for it...no loss there.

3) The Laam works for me...so don't be a hater, because I got a seat that works for me, for half the price that you paid for your RDL.

Have a good day!

 

[gixxerjasen]

2) Where did I say the Corbin was comfortable Fred? I sold it a couple weeks after buying it, for the same money that I paid for it...no loss there.

I have to admit that on the first read through I thought you were praising the Corbin too. After another couple of reads I found you gave no opinion of the Corbin.

I do agree though, how on earth does Corbin stay in business. I've owned a few (came with bikes I bought) and got rid of them as soon as possible. And their customer service sucks too.

 

[CAJW]

The power of the internet forum to make or break a business is huge. We often forget that when we post something on the internet, especially on a forum as respected and powerful as this one, we become The Experts. We become The Truth. Let's not take that responsibility lightly.

Yet we are a forum whose purpose is the exchange of ideas and information. So just as folks can post positive experiences or endorsements, folks can also post their negative experiences or critical reviews. All information is a good thing. Let the reader decide.

Your loyalty to Seth Laam is clouding your judgement on this one a bit my friend. But no worries, you still have a hideously ugly and titanicly huge wife to go home to. Even if she really doesn't like you.

I do not know that my judgement is "clouded." I am positive that there have been some issues with Laam's customer service, there are simply too many reports for it to be a work of fiction. I can only report my own experiences as Truth.

As I hope you know, my loyalty to my friends is probably my Fatal Flaw. And I consider you to be my friend. Of course, poor judgment is another of my character flaws.

As for my "hideously ugly and titanicly huge wife", she will be wonderfully pleased to see me tomorrow morning. It will be payday Friday.

Redfish, we've never met, but I'm guessing you're one brave sumbitch!

On topic: I've dealt with former forum vendors who have been lambasted for being poor business men (Skyway & Rick Mayer), but my experience with both of them was a pleasant and professional experience. Possibly the fact that I dealt with both of them in person multiple times influenced them to stay on their best behavior or that their troubles showed up after my dealings with them. I believe I met Seth at Rick's place years ago and he too was courteous and professional.

Everyone has bad days and go through tough times, but there is always two sides to a story. I agree that these threads should remain in their entirety for others to read and form their own opinion as to which side to believe. Glad to hear the OP was contacted and that things appear to be back on track.

 

[gixxerjasen]

He's just lucky she can't read.

 

[El Toro]

The Corbins I put on my ST1100 and my V-Strom DL1000 were great. I loved them.

The Corbins I've put on assorted K bikes and Triumphs weren't so hot.

The Russells I've put on my Rocket IIIs were excellent.

The Russells I've put on my FJRs were OK, but at my own reduced weight now, not worth the money.

The Russells I've put on my K bikes have been impossible to enjoy.

So all this seat stuff is definitely subjective, and you it's hard to find what's best without trying a bunch of different things.

I have not had dealings with Laam ... but I had dealings with Rick Mayer, and they were not satisfying. If Laam learned at this seat manufacturer, he did not have the sort of teacher that understood what it takes to be a long term success.

One of the interesting things about Russell in my experience is that Russell has changed hands at least once, and maybe more than once ... so the idea that Russell knows how to build seats must in someway be codified so that the knowledge can be passed from one owner to the next.

I did a ride in there for my K1600, and in my opinion, I got a better result when they did not take into account my subjective feelings about a seat at mid build. I would rather send them pictures and measurements and let them come up with whatever they come up with... the seats I had them build by that method were all better than the seat I had made on a ride in.

At this point, although I'm still a big guy, the loss of over 100 pounds made a bigger difference in seat comfort than the design of the seat.

I am OK on nearly any seat these days. I could barely do 200 miles comfortablly on most stock seats when I was bigger.

One of my friends who was New England Scrambles Champion quite a few times 50 years ago used to comment about the folly of doing stuff to the bike instead of to the rider. He joked that people would spend $50 (remember this was 50 years ago) to take a pound of the bike, when they were themselves 20 pounds overweight.

 

[Fred W]

@El Toro Joe - Sorry, I misunderstood your post badly. I thought that you were saying you had tried a Russel and replaced it with a Corbin, which you were happier with, and that you had got your money back on the Russell. It all makes sense now.

But you also misunderstood me, because I'm not a hater of Laam seats. I've never even sat on one. I AM a hater of Corbin seats. Had them on my 1st Gen FJR (when I bought it), tried one on a Triumph Trophy I had for a while, and had one on a BMW R65. All three of them were 1/2 hour seats for me. Even the stock FJR seat was better than any of those three Corbins, IMO.

 

[erixun]

Glad the communication got started again, hopefully your seat comes back to you the way you want it.

And on a side note, as I said before, it certainly is/was a legitamite bitch, (and its still not 100% resolved). But having heard "I will have your job or I will have your badge" so many times before, when I read the words "I'll destroy your business", it read whiny to me. You certainly have the right to spread your experience or voice your opinion, and should do so, so others can make good decisions.

Come to NAFO and I will buy you a beer. That would be a good ride to break that seat in.

 

[Pterodactyl]

All this talk about a Lamm seat kinda makes me want to join the que.

 

[ionbeam]

I would like to see and test sit a Laam. I know that a real seat test starts about 3 hours after you first get on the bike, and needs a several hours more after that to reach a meaningful conclusion. We have a local car shop (Superior Interiors) that does a lot of seat work and they do a decent job. They have *all* the foam and gel that as ever been invented and a pretty good idea how to sandwich it all together. They had us go to the foam/gel work station and go through all the possible materials and make a game plan. Then we got a personal tour of the very cool hot rods they were custom building, they do some awesome work.

I had a Corbin on both my Honda V4s. The idea that you need about 1k miles to break in a Corbin is a myth. It takes about that long for your ass to break into the seat, the cinder block seat never changes. I put a Corbin on my V-Max (slow learner, eh?) and that was totally ridiculous, both in comfort and how they handled the under-seat gas fill. It took a wonderfully uncomfortable motorcycle and made it brutal. Fortinately, after the carb/engine/exhaust work that I did Mad Max only had around a 80 mile range between fills so there was plenty of opportunity to get off and let circulation return below my belt.

Our household is divided, I love my RDL driver seat but my pillion does not like her RDL so she had Superior Interior rework the OEM seat for her use. Along the way we had a Rick Mayer seat-set which was better than stock but not as good as the RDL. The Mayer seat foam started giving up after a couple of years and now is a leather cover over a seat pan with a few foam crumbles in between.

 

[snackbauer]

I've done 1 SS1k (moonshine lunch run) on the stock seat and while I thought it was ok, since I had nothing to compare it with, it really wasn't ok at all. I had butt pain followed by numbness during the ride. Then some mild discomfort for several days after. I just figured that was normal at the time.

I've since done 2 SS1ks (another moonshine and then a TOH in Tennessee) on the Laam seat, no pain or numbness during the rides, and no discomfort after the rides.

So that was 16+ hours of riding with stops only for gas and go. I'm very happy with the Laam seat, and was treated very well by Seth during the purchase. He asked the right questions regarding my posture (old man), riding position (a little closer to the tank than normal), and expectations, and he built a perfect seat for me.

I've seen complaints and it seemed to me most were regarding delay of reworks. I wonder if ride-in customers are getting priority and the reworks are getting pushed back because of it. Hope he figures out how to make everyone as happy as I am with his product and service.

 

[FXRS]

I got a little dizzy catching up on this thread (too much skiing & snow blowing).

However, somewhere in there, I think the original poster was also asking about the vinyl covers.

I had a great experience with Seth for my '14 ES last winter. He recommended the carbon fiber look style vinyl top versus the basket weave style vinyl which was also listed on his web site as a material style choice. He said there had been some feedback that the basket weave style is a bit more slippery compared to the carbon weave texture.

It really depends on rider preference and riding style. I come from an active roadrace background so really like to move around on my seat - side to side, front to back, throw a knee out etc but at my initiative not because the seat is too slippery. Heck, I don't even wax the gas tank on my race bikes so I can have a good solid grip, let alone touch my seat.

I'm extremely happy with my choice of the carbon fiber vinyl top for the FJR!!

 

[exskibum]

Bugnatr said:

I am in the service business and learned many years ago to stay in touch with your customers, make that phone call / e mail before you go home. Trouble begins when communication breaks down and never take on more work than you can handle.

Absolutely agree (esp. in my past service business/profession), and . . .

As a past customer of Doug's, let me add that he also does an exceptional job of killing spiders and ants!

 

[wheatonFJR]

I got a UPS notification. Seat is shipped

 

[Redfish Hunter]

I got a UPS notification. Seat is shipped

It's gonna suck. Uncomfortable, slippery, and ugly.

I sincerely hope not. I hope you are as happy with yours as Pop and I are with ours.

 

[wheatonFJR]

I'm not worried.

 

[Bounce]

I do agree though, how on earth does Corbin stay in business.

They have a big following amongst the show-and-shine groups. They can make some pretty seats that help owners win bike shows. A lot of those folk trailer their rides on longer trips.

 

[escapefjrtist]

I got a UPS notification. Seat is shipped

Good for you Mark! I've got two LAAM seats in my garage and couldn't be happier.

Hoping yours works as well.

--G

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

I had a Corbin on my last bike. Looked great. Better than stock. But still wasn't a huge fan of the Corbin's comfort or lack there of. When I bought my used 08 FJR, it came with the stock seat, Yamaha touring seat, and a Corbin. I've left the Corbin on as I feel it's the best of the three. Still your typical Corbin. Ass fits nice in it, but hard as a rock. I've done 800 mile days on it without too much discomfort. I would imagine a RLD or Laam would be better.

I sat on Joe's Laam at a lunch meetup in Tideoute, PA. Felt great! I'm sure it would be much more comfy than my Corbin. Corbin folks say that their saddles are like a saddle for a horse. You have to break them in. Moreover, you have to break your butt in and ride a lot. I've never figured out how you break a Corbin in since there is little to no cushion. I think I just broke my butt in.