Russell Day-Long

[charismaticmegafauna]

'Pierre': Is this the best aftermarket seat I could buy for comfort?

Pierre, the answer you're seeking is a 'judgement call' for most (I think?). Certainly the Russell Day-Long has been popular with the LD community but I don't know if it commands a dominant position?

'Comfort' can be a highly qualitative assessment. (for instance...) Do you like to put both feet flat on the ground at a stop (something that some R D-L users, sometimes, find hard to do)?

I'd say search the seat threads here and read the positives and negatives listed for all.... You'll then be able to make a more informed decision.

If your riding takes you frequently across many state (province) boundaries? -- then, the 'day-long' benefits may come to the fore?

Good luck.

 

[Fred W]

I will add my personal experience on a 1st gen. (disclaimer: the following may not be true on a 2nd gen or on your butt)

I had a Corbin Canyon close on my bike when I bought it used. The OP was a short guy. It was hard (uncomfortable) and pushed me into the tank. I traded my close for a non-close Corbin Canyon with some other forumite that was also short. Not sure how he made out, but the non-close was still way too hard for me and did not come close to cradling my butt as was promised by their propaganda.

Bought a stock seat on eBay for cheap. I was lucky on an auction and wanted to see how "bad" the stocker was. It was actually better than either Canyon.

Sent my stock seats to a place called... "Kno-Place" in south dakota to have gel inserts and memory foam installed. That stretched the "3 hour" stock seat to a 6 hour seat. Still... I knew there was better.

Bought a second hand Rick Mayer seat from a crash bike. It was vinyl, but a dual. Cheapo, but didn't work for me. Sold it for more than I paid.

Finally... (sort of) I sent my previously massaged stock seats to Russell. The built me a contoured front leather seat in the "half moon" pattern and recovered the rear to match. So the rear still has the memory foam and gel, under the leather. My seat is the shizzat!!! My wife now wants me to send her half back and get it contoured for her before we tackle the Canadian Maritimes next year (or so goes the plan). She doesn't know that she's going to EOM next year yet (hope she doesn't stumble on this thread till I'm ready to reveal...)

Do yourself a big, big favor. Skip the trouble. Do the Russell 1st. There is no better seat that I am aware of.

 

[Pierre]

I will add my personal experience on a 1st gen. (disclaimer: the following may not be true on a 2nd gen or on your butt)
I had a Corbin Canyon close on my bike when I bought it used. The OP was a short guy. It was hard (uncomfortable) and pushed me into the tank. I traded my close for a non-close Corbin Canyon with some other forumite that was also short. Not sure how he made out, but the non-close was still way too hard for me and did not come close to cradling my butt as was promised by their propaganda.

Bought a stock seat on eBay for cheap. I was lucky on an auction and wanted to see how "bad" the stocker was. It was actually better than either Canyon.

Sent my stock seats to a place called... "Kno-Place" in south dakota to have gel inserts and memory foam installed. That stretched the "3 hour" stock seat to a 6 hour seat. Still... I knew there was better.

Bought a second hand Rick Mayer seat from a crash bike. It was vinyl, but a dual. Cheapo, but didn't work for me. Sold it for more than I paid.

Finally... (sort of) I sent my previously massaged stock seats to Russell. The built me a contoured front leather seat in the "half moon" pattern and recovered the rear to match. So the rear still has the memory foam and gel, under the leather. My seat is the shizzat!!! My wife now wants me to send her half back and get it contoured for her before we tackle the Canadian Maritimes next year (or so goes the plan). She doesn't know that she's going to EOM next year yet (hope she doesn't stumble on this thread till I'm ready to reveal...)

Do yourself a big, big favor. Skip the trouble. Do the Russell 1st. There is no better seat that I am aware of.

Thanks,

Actually did the same route as you did, I could not stand the stock seat for more than 3 hours. So I went I buy a Dual Corbin , damn that seat is hard, could not stay longer than 3 hours on it, so I was back to square 1.

I sold the seat, and now I am looking for something for comfortable, I am 5'11'', 210 pounds and after all the thing I read, I thing that the Russell is the best buy I could do.

No I do not put my feet flat on the ground when I stop. My left foot is on the ground and my right one on the brake.

 

[Fred W]

Pierre,

Go for the Russell. I guess it comes down to this: do you want to ride in comfort or sit at stop lights in comfort.

Flat footing is seriously over-rated, IM (tall) O.

 

[bluejag]

Sorry we missed you at Mt washington that weekend you could have tried my 05 with the Russell.. Did you guys make it up top? Sat. was excellent but Sun. turned out kinda cloudy I honestly don't even think about the seat anymore it just is, for

me THAT comfortable.

 

[Ijuggle]

The Russell seat is terrific. Forty years of stock, Corbin etc ... they are all painful junk. Buy the Russell

 

[TCMike]

I've had my Russell for 2 weeks know. So far, so good. The real test begins next week with my trip to North Carolina and back.

 

[Shooter]

I'd gotten to the point where I was ready to sell the FJR. Mine's a first gen ('03). I otherwise have no butt or hip problems, but by the time I hit a measly 70 miles or so on the FJR, my hip joints hurt so badly that it was literally difficult -- and painful -- to walk. The bike was basically unrideable for me for anything but the shortest rides. Based on the research I did, I settled on trying a Russell to solve the problem. I talked directly with the builder and told him my problem. Roughly three weeks after sending my seat to CA, I received the finished product. I had a 1,000 mile trip planned, and only had a chance to "break-in" the seat with a hundred mile ride or so. My initial reaction was that I thought the seat was going to work. It did. The final day of the trip was 344 miles, primarily interstate. Prior to the Russell seat, there's no way on God's green earth I could have done it. Bottom line is that when I pulled in to my driveway, I honestly believe I could have easily ridden virtually unlimited additional miles. It truly made that much of a difference. The only thing I had to get used to was that I now sat higher. I only have a 31" inseam, and the wide addition to the back of the seat means I can't just put my feet down at a stop. I literally have to slide all the way forward in the seat and then do the stop. But once I got used to that, it was a non-issue.

For what it's worth...

 

[ctfjr]

. . ., I am 5'11'', 210 pounds and after all the thing I read, I thing that the Russell is the best buy I could do.
No I do not put my feet flat on the ground when I stop. My left foot is on the ground and my right one on the brake.

I'm about the same size (ok maybe 25 pounds more) - I've had the Russell for just about a month now and I couldn't be happier. With my riding boots (On Roads) I can flat foot it at stops. The big issue is the comfort on 3-4 hour stretches.

It was well worth the price!

 

[Pierre]

Sorry we missed you at Mt washington that weekend you could have tried my 05 with the Russell.. Did you guys make it up top? Sat. was excellent but Sun. turned out kinda cloudy I honestly don't even think about the seat anymore it just is, for me THAT comfortable.

Yes we did the reach the top on Friday ( was close for motorcycles on Thursday, cause of heavy wind ) , the view is INCREDIBLE, temperature was 48 degrees at the top, and we were able to see 95 miles around the top !

We had ice on the bikes Saturday morning on our way back to Montreal, but what a gorgeous week-end !

Can wait for another long ride... nest year !

By the way, if ever you go back there, we stayed at the School House Motel, for $ 79.00, it was great. The room was spotless....

 

[Scarbo]

I bought my '04 FJR last year and it already had a Russell Day Long saddle on it. It is a very comfortable seat. I took a 3 day bike trip with some friends and never got butt sore.

However, at only about 5'7" (on a good day), it bothered me that I couldn't flat foot it at stops unless I slid forward on the seat. Especially if I had a passenger riding with me.

So, I recently bought a stock seat off a '05 FJR from a board member here. It works much better for flat footing (for me) even though it's firmer that the Russell seat. And I like that I sit a little lower on the bike than I did with the Russell seat.

But I'm going to keep the R D-L seat and use it on long trips.

 

[Bill]

Next to preferred brand of oil, is there a more subjective topic to discuss than the comfort of motorcycle seats?

In the past, I've finished an Iron Butt Rally on a stock Goldwing seat and I've finished one on a Russell. I've had a Russell on my CBR1100XX and sold it after I tried a Corbin and found it to be far more comfortable on that bike. I've had a Mayer seat on a R1100GS and ended up sending it to Russell to be completely rebuilt. I've had a Corbin on a Ducati Monster and loved it.

I've tried sheepskins and I've tried beads. Loved the sheepskin ONLY on the stock Goldwing seat and hated the beads on everything that I've ever tried them on.

Finally.... on my 2006 FJR1300, I'm completely comfortable with the stock seat and have no reason to change it. However, as is true with your choice of motor oil........ you'll have to try some seats to learn which suits YOUR butt best.