Seat Discussion

lddave

Active Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2014
Messages
194
Location
Frydek,Texas
So you think Bill Meyer is a good place to do business with?
I did business the dad whom has since died . This was probably late 1998 or early 1999. If I remember right one son took over the Bill Meyer business and have hear good things about him . The other son Rocky opened a shop also, have read of not so good about him.
I have also used Mr Ed's moto in Oregon . Reminded me of a custom fitted Corbin.
 

gunner

Well-Known Member
Founding Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2010
Messages
419
Location
Lucas, TX
I had Bill Meyer build a seat for an ST1300 in 2005 and enjoyed over 100K miles on it. I rode out for the 2005 MotoGP race and went by his shop for a minor adjustment (had an appointment) and he fixed me right up. I would buy another one of his seats.

I have had Corbin, Sargent, Bill Meyer and Russell seats and all of them were pretty firm which is what you want if you plan on spending all day in the saddle. I have never had a stock seat on a motorcycle that was comfortable after 500 miles. Stock seats feel nice and soft at first but later in the day my butt was screaming Get Off! Not so with a nice firm aftermarket seat.
 
Last edited:

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
I did business the dad whom has since died . This was probably late 1998 or early 1999. If I remember right one son took over the Bill Meyer business and have hear good things about him . The other son Rocky opened a shop also, have read of not so good about him.
I have also used Mr Ed's moto in Oregon . Reminded me of a custom fitted Corbin.
Actually it’s Rocky (Bill Jr.) who has done better. The other brother, (Rick) got into trouble running up orders and being unable to deliver product making for a lot of unhappy customers. He’s now out of business.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Mondayblues

New Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2019
Messages
8
Location
Boron, CA
I have a Bill Meyer seat on my ST now. It is so much better than the stock seat. I have to say that the seat was very firm, after about 7k I went back to see Adrian and had him soften it up and it really did the trick for me. The ride in experience in Ventura was good, tried it out 3 or 4 times before he put the cover on. I am 6'4" with a 34 inseam so he made it a little taller and and he sloped the pillion so I could sit a little further back. Adrian does good work.
 

patrickg450

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2012
Messages
2,069
Location
Memphis TN
Actually it’s Rocky (Bill Jr.) who has done better. The other brother, (Rick) got into trouble running up orders and being unable to deliver product making for a lot of unhappy customers. He’s now out of business.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

So this is my dilemma........


I have heard one of them is not so nice to work with, I am trying to ensure I have the right guy before I start doing business with him.



Steve, this is so we can go to Maine BTW............
 

Mondayblues

New Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2019
Messages
8
Location
Boron, CA
Rick Meyer is not in business anymore from what I have read. Rocky is in Arizona now and Adrian is running the shop in Ventura. I did the ride in to Ventura and Adrian does good work.
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
Rick Meyer is not in business anymore from what I have read. Rocky is in Arizona now and Adrian is running the shop in Ventura. I did the ride in to Ventura and Adrian does good work.
Rocky is still some how associated, but yes Adrian has always been his seat builder, Rocky himself was more the business man as opposed to the craftsman. I think he lives in Idaho how. If you go to the shop here in Ventura there’s a big “Bill Mayer Saddles” banner in their shop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
So this is my dilemma........


I have heard one of them is not so nice to work with, I am trying to ensure I have the right guy before I start doing business with him.



Steve, this is so we can go to Maine BTW............
Should not be a dilemma as Rick is no longer building saddles at all and is not associated with BMS at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
cool, the address he told me to ship it to is in Ventura CA
Yup, just down the street from me so I did a ride-in appointment. I set everything thing up through Rocky. After I’d already had the seat done I got an email from him offering me a $100 discount. I guess he wasn’t aware I’d already bit. I kinda jokingly asked if he’d do a post purchase rebate. I’ll be damned, he sent me $100 back!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Tenman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
2,102
Location
Natchez Ms USA
my biggest concern is/are:

the height, anyone who is 5'11" or greater can do any of them, I am short
getting a $500 seat that I will have the same issues as the $150
woking with a guy who has plenty of "other customers" so why worry about me being unhappy




thx for the B-day wish Sierra1
Check out Terry's custom seats. The best $250 I've spent. He had a core seat so you can keep on riding until you get your custom seat.
 

gunner

Well-Known Member
Founding Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2010
Messages
419
Location
Lucas, TX
Patrick,

Did you pull the trigger on a new seat? if so, which one did you go with?
 

EricV

Riding, farkling, riding...
2011 Site Supporter
2012 Site Supporter
2013 Site Supporter
2014 Site Supporter
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
8,227
Location
Tupelo, MS
So you think Bill Meyer is a good place to do business with?
You are talking about Bill Mayer Saddles, a.k.a. BMS? www.billmayer-saddles.com Which means seats made by Rocky Mayer.

Well... he's a reputable business that's had some ups and downs. It's pretty much a production line process based upon what they have learned over the years. I have a friend that worked for him for a while. They have some turnover with employees. He has been around for a while and some people do like his seats. Sorting out the comments of people that spend all day on them Vs people that take shorter rides with shorter intervals between stops during rides can be a challenge. Some customer reviews are all about appearance too.

I've had two Russell Day Long seats, (FJR and S10), a Cee Bailey custom seat, (they don't do seats any more), and the Beautiful Wife has had a Cee Bailey and BMS, (F650GS2 & GSA).

The BMS seat went back three times before being sold. It was made for a short rider and height was ok, but the factory low seat was still more comfortable, even after the three re-works. It got expensive with heat being added, and that did work very well, but it just wasn't ever comfortable for more than a couple hours for my wife. Her seat on her bike, to clarify.

@Madhatter - Your butt has eyes!! :eek: I'm pretty sure your single brown eye can't tell what any seat looks like, but can tell if it's comfortable.

What are you looking to get out of the custom seat process? If you have clearly defined issues that you want to solve, you have a better shot at getting a seat you like from any custom seat maker.

If you're a larger rider, over 230 lbs or so, nothing will be as comfortable as a RDL with the heavyweight suspension. (I'm ~260 w/o gear and 5'11") If you're just looking for 3-4 hours, AND have some specific hot spots or issues that you can describe, the BMS seat might be the ticket. But, you might try your local upholstery shop first if that is the case. A lot cheaper and faster.

I'm not a fan of leather for seats. I ride in all weather and could care less about what a seat looks like, as long as it performs well. The bike is a tool to take me places, not something to show off at a bar, for me. Your needs may be different than mine. I got my RDL for the S10 after trying the Cee Bailey custom seat and two re-works from them. My wife previously had them do a seat for her and it was awesome. She just didn't think about her butt at all, regardless of it being a 2 hour ride or the 11 day Iron Butt Rally, (she finished in '11, #454). Because of that experience, I gave them a try in '12 for my S10 prior to riding in the IBR in '13. It would just collapse when the temps got over 100F and it was like riding on the seat pan. They re-worked it, same thing. Another S10 rider was curious, so I shipped him my seat to try, mainly so he could get an idea of what a custom seat was like and if that was something he wanted to do. At the time, I had paid extra to get the CB seat done quickly and shipped quickly to me originally. But after the re-work I was really not happy with it and considering just going back to Russell. The fellow S10 rider really liked the CB seat, except for the material being grippy. He ended up buying it from me for less than he could have gotten one new, so it was a win for him, not so much for me. Part of that deal was getting his stock seat so I could send it off to Russell for a RDL. No complaints with the RDL and I put over 100k on it between the '12 and '15 S10s.
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
I don't think the description about Bill Mayer Saddles is quite correct. He's had the same seat builder (IIRC his name is Adrian) for decades and Rocky is still involved. Not a lot of personnel to turn over! I didn't see anything that looked like a production line when I was there, just a small craftsman's shop. There are pictures of Adrian all over their shop walls here in Ventura, Showing him building saddles at BMW rallies, on-site, 20+ years ago.

Bill's brother Rick also had a saddle company for a while after Bill Sr. passed, but Rick turned out to be a poor businessman and created a lot of bad blood by failing to fill orders and eventually went bust. Too bad BMS saddles is still trying to live some of that down. Rocky actually ended up honoring some of, if not all, of Rick's unfilled customer orders when Rick shunt down. I did a ride-in appointment with them and am very happy with my saddle. They sent me out 2-3 times to test ride the seat before finishing and covering it.

Of course saddles are a personal thing, but a custom ride-in can avoid the back and forth adjustments.
 

EricV

Riding, farkling, riding...
2011 Site Supporter
2012 Site Supporter
2013 Site Supporter
2014 Site Supporter
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
8,227
Location
Tupelo, MS
The production line comment is based upon what I saw personally at a motorcycle event they were at, doing custom seats. That might not be the case at the shop. Lets just say I know more people that like their RDLs than I do that like their BMS seat. And I've heard Rocky tell a larger rider to go get a RDL because of his size/weight.

And yes, you're correct about Rick Mayer. He also had some that loved his seats, some that hated them.
 
Top