I am going to change the seat on my 2001 Dakar. I should of done it a month after I bought it back in '00. I have the tall seat. Looked like the cats meow at the time but of course like all of us found BMW made a crappy seat even with the Alaskan leather seat. Also it was always a bit to high for me so I think by doing this I will drop about an inch which should put me in like Flyn to be able to paddle etc in tough terrain. I also think it might let me sit "into the bike" better like I do on my Stelvio. So please speak up and compare the two, Seat Concepts and Renazco. I am uninterested in all the others.
Seat concepts if you don't want to spend a bunch, renazco if you want blingy comfort. Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using Tapatalk 2
Can't speak to the Renazco but I put a Seat Concepts seat on my XR650L. Here's a side-by-side of the stock Honda seat and the SC seat foam - The bike is now OK for a full day of riding, something that wasn't possible with the stocker. Did the install myself with an air stapler from Harbor Freight. The slight creases have since disappeared.
I had a KTM 525 with a Renazco and a TE630 with a Seat Concepts. The Renaszco was every bit as hellish as a regular stock seat, just fancier. The Seat Concepts was all-day comfortable.
Never used a Seat Concepts, but I had a Renazco on my '10 Husaberg FE570. Before, the seat was excruciating to sit on for longer than a half hour. Afterwards, I could (and did) take it on numerous 12+ hour trips, with no discomfort whatsoever. Renazco makes a good seat.
I have bought and really liked two seats from Seat Concepts - Klr650 & Dr650 I plan on buying one for my Te510 and 950se after the holidays. They are VERY comfortable - both the shape and the foam density/quality. They pour their own custom mix for the foam and I don't think you could improve on it.
I had a Renazco on an 08 690E and a Seat Concepts on a '12, and, for me, the Seat Concepts was better. A bit more comfortable and no waiting. But you can't discount the number of folks who love the Renazco.
Never had a Renazco... too much $$$ IMO. I've got an XRR with a Seat Concepts seat and did a 1350 mile loop in 6 days. Very comfy seat. It's way better than the Corbin that I have on my DRZ. Got it from Just Gas Tanks... free shipping & ADV discount.
I've had Renazco and SC, and my last one was Fisher- don't overlook them. So far, it's my favorite seat, and the owner asks a lot of questions, so it's very customizable. Pretty quick turnaround (unlike Renazco) , and fairly cheap (like SC). No affiliation, other than a happy customer. http://www.fishersaddlebags.com/seats.html
Never had a seatconcepts, but I have a Renazco on my 690, and I did 5400 km in 6 days on that seat with minimal ass issues.:huh
11 years later... I ordered my second RR seat. My first one was fine and the ordering experience was fine. The second time around Renazco Racing kept postponing and lying about the delays. I had made certain decisions to be able to send in my seat and be without my motorcycle. After the third time they pushed back my build date after already having both my money and my seat, I initiated a credit card dispute and immediately placed a new order for a Seat Concepts seat. I asked Renazco Racing to refund my money and return my seat. They ignored my email and a week later emailed me to say my seat is currently in production. I emailed Seat Concepts and requested my seat order be cancelled. They did so the very next day after reminding me there is a $75 cancellation fee. I will never go back to Renazco Racing. Their customer service is deplorable, bordering on criminal. I'm not even convinced their seats are any better than any other premium seat builder. But, they do charge more and also leave you without the use of your motorcycle as they require your old seat. I'm done with them. Word to the wise.
I went from stock 14’ Vstrom seat to a Seat Concept. I got the “tall” version, and the kit fit great. Definitely a good investment for me.
I've ordered multiple seat concepts and multiple renazcos for my bikes over the last 10 years. Seat concepts - pretty good, you'll get a seat in short time, and it's not expensive. Renazco - well built, comfortable, expensive, high turnaround times, but overall a very high quality comfortable seat on all the bikes I've had them for. There's a thread here about Renazco's response times and others have echoed @xNateX 's experience above, so be aware of that. It's a husband and wife shop (James and Sonia) and James was sick a while back and they had a rough bit of filling orders and slow response times. They have some shop help but they are *absolutely not* a high volume vendor, so it helps to keep that in mind when purchasing. My process w/ them is to email to ask for a seat for my year/make/model of moto and ask them to order the seat pan for me so I'm not without a seat while I wait for my build, so i have a complete second seat. I pay in full when asked and I had to wait a few extra months during covid for my 790 advRR seat from them but it got done. Hope this helps. Edit: Here's a suggestion: If any of you folks in your 40s and 50s who retired early with F-U Money and are into motos but looking for a retirement gig, go intern at Corbin, Renazco, Bill Mayer, Sargent, etc, and go learn the process of seat making and what makes seats great / amazing / comfortable, then this trade will continue for future moto riders. Running a moto business is tough - and as it continues to get tougher / more expensive and the folks making these seats get older, these companies will cease to exist. I'd love to do it myself, but my first order of business would be to require every customer to purchase a 2nd seat pan for their bike for the custom seat. Half the reason I think folks get impatient with the seatmaking process is they take off and send away a very fundamental part required for riding their moto.
Last time I ordered from RR I went into it expecting near zero communication and long delays. So I bought a POS seat off eBay and sent that to them. That way I could keep riding while waiting without so much frustration. I would have gone nuts waiting otherwise. I still ended up frustrated when they delayed long enough that I did a very long day trip on the stock EXC seat. But the end result was worth that painful experience. Their seat transformed my 525 into an all day dual sport. As I knew it would from the one on my 640E. I love their seats. Personally, I wouldn't own anything else. But they aren't a lot of fun to do business with for anyone. And especially not for anyone expecting good communication and firm schedules. But my only real expectation was the seat. And I was beyond happy with that.
As mentioned Renazco is a small shop with a lot of requests. I did the same thing as Grreatdog, sent in a spare seat so I wasn't without while it was being built. I have to keep the stock seats if I ever sell the bikes since most people aren't tall enough to use my Renazco seats. They have built multiple seats for me with great results but you are going to wait. I would rather have them building seats than talking to us idiots on the phone. There are only so many hours in a day.
Renazco had huge delays way before James got sick. Sorry he was sick but it’s not like their shitty business model is anything new that happened as a result of poor health or even Covid supply chain issues. The problem for me isn’t the delay itself as sucky as they are. It’s the constant no-communication, followed by some made up bs date, followed by no communication when the date is missed again, followed by more bullshit excuses. The seats are amazing. I’ve had many. But after the last time I dealt with them, I won’t do it again. They are so strict and worried about you getting your stock pan to them on time and paying them IN FULL but when your new seat goes from a one month ETA to nearly TEN MONTHS I’m sorry but that’s a load of crap.
