• Can't post after logging to the forum for the first time... Try Again - If you can't post in the forum, sign out of both the membership site and the forum and log in again. Make sure your COG membership is active and your browser allow cookies. If you still can't post, contact the COG IT guy at IT@Concours.org.
  • IF YOU GET 404 ERROR: This may be due to using a link in a post from prior to the web migration. Content was brought over from the old forum as is, but the links may be in error. If the link contains "cog-online.org" it is an old link and will not work.

What is the best seat for the ZG 1000

The bike is great. I love it. I can only think of one thing I do not like. The SEAT is terrible for me anyway. The way it curves down in the front pushes you forward big time. It can cause some aches & pains were they are not needed. I see nothing were anyone is complaining about this. Is this just me or what. I know we hate to talk bad about our bikes. But tell the truth. I would not get rid of mine for anything. It looks great, rides great, but the seat needs improvement. I'am 6.3 240 and sore in the saddle. Hopefully someone has got some good advise.

Thanks Dean
 
The stock seat is way too soft and the styling to look cool with the sloping forward design was a killer for me. When I first got my C10 almost 20 years ago, I couldn't ride for more than 45 minutes without significant discomfort, even pain if I pushed it.

Same for the handlebar position and pain between my shoulder blades. BTW the level of lean also plays into creating different pressure points manifesting to how your butt interfaces (interbutts?) to the seat.

I muddled around with both seat and handlebars starting with economical solutions like pads and cushions leading up to other brands of used aftermarket seats. I got a used Corbin and although hard, was a definite improvement and got me up to a couple hours at a stretch, and it was ridable all day with some cumulative discomfort.

Finally ended up with scoring a Russell Day Long solo saddle in a horse trade. It was made for a rider about my height and weight. That and taller, wider handlebars let me sit comfortably all day and not be sore into next day.

If you buy used, a very important key is that Russell is made for specific rider's size and weight. I bought another used RDL with unknown build specs some time after that. It came with a parts bike purchase. The shape of that seat was not suited to me, and was NOT comfortable. Just didn't fit right.

They are expensive new but it solved the problem 100% for me.
 
Last edited:
There's many of us that don't like the seat. I've tried the 86 OEM seat, the stock seat, a Corbin, a Rick Mayer and a Terry's custom seat. If there is any consensus, it's having a Russell day long made for you. That can also affect other things like how the air from the windshield hits you,the reach to the pegs and ground and possibly make you want to change the handlebars. If you have a seat builder nearby, that might be another option as you can return for adjustments easily. You can also take a shot at it yourself and take it to someone to have it covered. Good luck Dean!
 
I had a Corbin and Airhawk cushion combo that worked well. The OEM seat collapsed under me after an hour or so.
 
+1 on the Russell Day Long seat.
Bought it in 2002 and have had it on the 98, 2001, 2005 and continues on the 2003.
 
Bought a Corbin seat off E-Bay yesterday. It has extra stitching and was a great deal. He started the bidding off at $300.00 and no one else bid and I got it for that. He just bought it a month ago with a backrest and paid $1100.00 from Corbin. I have the original receipt from Corbin.

My OEM seat is for sale in the classifieds if anyone would like it.





Thanks Dean
 
Last edited:
I think I personally like the stock seat, altho’ it wasn’t always that way.

When I got my first Connie (an ’86) around ’93, it came with a Corbin and the original OEM “flat” seat. The covering was coming loose on the OEM, so I used the Corbin. Over time, it got to the point that the covering was getting a little bedraggled up on the tip of the horn, so I sent it off Corbin to be recovered. I used the flat OEM while it was gone, but it was about that time that I was rear-ended and the bike was totaled. Not thinking it was all that bad, I (unfortunately) kept it thinking it could probably be (easily) repaired. A couple of weeks later, I wound up with my ’95. The ‘95s OEM seat was okay for “short” local rides and my daily commutes to work, but it had a tendency to scrunch you forward up towards the tank and it became a PITnuts for longer rides. On the other hand, the rebuilt Corbin lived up to its reputation as being firm, but it was a flat firm and not terribly uncomfortable. It was reported that they eventually softened up with use, but I don’t think I used it enough for that to ever happen.

As an aside, I did do a straight through burn to Duluth on my stock seat ’02 KLR in 2005 on the way to start the Great Divide Ride which began in Port Rooseville, MT. No issue with that seat on that trip, but coming back from the 2006 COG National in Hill City, SD on the same bike, same seat, temps were in the 100’s when I left. I developed a painful blister that no amount of Gold Pond powder could alleviate. I looked like Charlie Brown’s friend, PigPen leaving a trail of dust when I walked. That OEM KLR seat was replaced with a Sargent when it started cracking. The Sargent is also a flat, firm seat and I had my doubts, but it is also wide which allows your cheeks to spread out and prevents any point loading, which might cause discomfort and blisters.

In 2002, when I was selected as the OTP participant, I planned on doing a straight through ~25+ hour burn out to Denver, store the bike there at another members place, fly to Germany for the first GCE and the 57th FIM Rally in Aalborg, Denmark, return to Denver to retrieve the bike, attend the COG ’02 National in Montrose, CO, and then return home (whew!). The return home was a little more relaxed and I allowed it to take 2 days. I had installed the Corbin back on the bike for that trip due to the OEM’s scrunching issue. I continued to use it, until the area of the seat’s horn was beginning to fail again, but I wasn’t about to go through the expense of sending it back to Corbin for another repair, so I started using the OEM again and I eventually became used to it’s niggling issue. In fact, I kept it in place when I did another straight through burn out to Duluth in 2008 to attend Aerostitch’s Very Boring Rally II, and continue to use it to this day.

Kinda.

Over time, the material began separating at the seams so I pulled out another C10 seat (from an 2002) I had acquired along the way and began using it. Because this bike this had been sitting in storage for a long period of time, the seat from it eventually began to come apart as well. Sometime in 2019, a local rider friend (if 50 miles can be considered local) told me that he had a friend who re-upholstered seats as a hobby for a very reasonable price. $80 seemed most reasonable to me, so I carried one of the seats out to get it done so I could check out his work. It came back perfect, so I took the second seat out so he could do that one too. It came back just as nice as the first one.

IMG_5368-L.jpg


I really haven’t steered you in any particular direction, but just related my own experience with the only three seats I have tried. As far as the OEM Connie seats go, I’m not sure if it simply conformed to my posterior or I to it. I do know that they seem to be much more comfortable since I got them reupholstered. The only thing that really changed was the type of material, which seems to be a little thicker than what the seats were done with originally.

My $0.02.
 
Drove the bike for a good hundred miles today. The Corbin seat is fantastic I'am very satisfied with it. I have had over 50 motorcycles my whole life and I can honestly say the ZG 1000 ranks at the top of the list. I'am getting it to were it fits me. It drives great. It had risers on it when I bought it so that was a plus. I have a 2007 Suzuki 1250 Bandit decked out in mint condition that ranks close to the ZG 1000. But I like the ZG better. I finally moved it to the 12 x 20 shed today. It has been under the carport for over 2 months doing a take apart & going over everything. So glad I bought this bike.

Dean
 
The bike is great. I love it. I can only think of one thing I do not like. The SEAT is terrible for me anyway. The way it curves down in the front pushes you forward big time. It can cause some aches & pains were they are not needed. I see nothing were anyone is complaining about this. Is this just me or what. I know we hate to talk bad about our bikes. But tell the truth. I would not get rid of mine for anything. It looks great, rides great, but the seat needs improvement. I'am 6.3 240 and sore in the saddle. Hopefully someone has got some good advise.

Thanks Dean
I have an ‘03 Concours, and I hated the stock seat. It locked me in a position where I felt like I needed to slide back about 2 or 3 inches to be comfortable. My ‘78 Z1-R had an almost flat seat, and I loved the ability to slide forward and aft depending on my riding style. I got an ‘86 seat that has almost no dreaded buttcup, allowing forward and aft movements. Paired with a shorn sheepskin seat cover from Wild Things Fur, all-day rides are quite comfortable.
 
Glad you like the Corbin, I've had mine for quite awhile now and while many say it's a bit hard, which is true, it worked for me. I really had no choice in the matter as I sent my Russell Day Long to Seth Laam to rebuild in March of 2020 and I never got it back, I'm lucky I had the Corbin to use.
 
Glad you like the Corbin, I've had mine for quite awhile now and while many say it's a bit hard, which is true, it worked for me. I really had no choice in the matter as I sent my Russell Day Long to Seth Laam to rebuild in March of 2020 and I never got it back, I'm lucky I had the Corbin to use.
I cant believe u STILL havent gotten that back..sad.
 
Top