Ojai, CA, Bill Mayer Saddles

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pawtracks

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After reading the post here, I decided I was tired of being limited to ~100-150 miles before my rear was on fire with pain.

I needed a much more comfortable seat :)

I called them up on June 1st to see if there was ANY way to get a ride-in appointment (I assumed they would be booked up for quite a while this late in the year) to my surprise they could fit me in on June 13th (less than 2 weeks out! :yahoo: )

I live in San Diego, CA but my in-laws reside in Oxnard, CA (25 miles away from Ojai) so Monday night I head up to Oxnard after work to spend the night before my new seat. 190 miles of Hot, sore, sun setting in my eyes, lane sharing majority of the way (what was I thinking of leaving at 2PM) kind of trip!

Tuesday morning I get up at 6am, out the door at 6:30.

After losing my GPS signal for a bit coming into Ojai I take a wrong turn and get detoured for about 5 minutes. I find the street the shop is supposed to be on but I don't see anything that looks like this picture

I pull over to double check the map on my GPS to make sure this is the place.

Just them a guy drives by on a BMW.

Maybe he knows where he is going? maybe he works here?

I follow him and we end up right in front of the shop after going down a curvy single lane, over a hill, around a bend 1000 yard driveway.

(Susan says she is going to make Rocky add a "350" to the gate)

I am greeted by Rocky Mayer himself, his two employees Adrian, Rodrigo and 3 or 4 friendly dogs.

Susan the office manager arrived 10 minutes later.

The guy on the BMW and I were the two ride-ins scheduled for the day.

Fresh coffee and a fridge full of bottled water were available.

Off come our seats, quickly followed by the removal of the stock covers.

With the stock cover off my seat I sit on the bike in my normal riding position.

Armed with a sharpie marker they mark where I am sitting on the seat.

After asking me what I dislike about the stock seat they position a pad under me (on top of the stock pad)

Just about perfect (first try)

After a few minor adjustments they glue down the add-on pad and I go off on a 5-mile test ride.

Upon my return my only complaint is a little too much "pressure" on my boys. Maybe they could shave the center hump down 1/16" or so (after that it was perfect)

Once the test run was done they had about 2 hours of bonding, trimming and sanding of the new foam left to do before fitting the new cover to the seat.

These guys know their seats! :D

Time to walk into town for breakfast (Egg's N Things) Mmmmm

Good food as recommended by Susan!

When we return from breakfast my seat is all done, all I have to do is pay Susan and I am out of here!

$642 (including CA sales tax) for a Solo leather with pillion leather recover to match rider seat.

Susan grabbed a new bottle of leather conditioner and taped the top shut to avoid a spill in one of my saddle bags. Off I go after suiting up.

In & out in less than 5 hours!

Great, great experience for me!! :yahoo:

Could not be happier with the customer service or workmanship.

A+ all the way.

For me, the seat was an easy job.

I fit the FJR perfectly IMO (5-10", 30" in-seam, 190#) easily flat feet to ground on both sides.

I was also impressed how much effort they put into fitting the other guy who was with me.

He did not fit his bike as well.

His 96 BMW had a 3 position adjustable seat and he was at best on the balls of his feet to the ground.

They worked & worked with him to get his seat right AND have him comfortably touching the ground before he was done. It was nice to see so much effort into getting the details right.

Here are a few pictures of my new seat

There are plenty of shop pictures in rogdeb's post so I did not repeat here.

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Much less of a slide towards the tank, nice support on the sides.

IMG_1277.jpg


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IMG_1284.jpg


Rider seat sitting on top of Givi Trunk. You can see the fine details of the stitching and support areas.

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Cloth advertising tag, which can be easily removed if desired. At first glance it almost looks like a small sticker. Doesn't bother me doing a little free advertising/support.

Overall, great experience.

I now have 500 miles on the seat and it is great.

One thing I found surprising is how much pressure it took off my hands, wrists, shoulders and back in getting a custom seat. I guess I was trying to keep as much weight off the seat to avoid the pain in my rear.

I can now ride 250+ miles without even thinking about it. :yahoo:

 
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See? Wadeye tellya? Ain't Rocky the best? Glad he could get you in after your hiccup with the other Mayer. Enjoy that saddle and next time you visit the folks, ping me for a ride.

 
Two main things made me go with Rocky

-Close by with a ride-in opening (thoughts of that 300 mile ride there on the stock seat :dribble: )

-Needed something if I had any hopes of enjoying the ride to Reno (stock would be torture)

The reviews, workmanship, price all had factors as well.

Might be something better out there but this fits me perfectly.

 
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I have the same problem with BMS. My saddle was received 7/21 for a production date of 7/24 should ship by 7/28. As of yesterday it was not done. Susan said she would call when it shipped. I have to assume it didn't ship today as I did not get a call. They will be getting a call from me tomorrow. I know the saddle is worth the wait as I had one on my 2000 K1200RS. Also it's been way too hot in Kansas City to ride.

 
On 10-31-08 I had a ride in appointment at Bill Mayer Saddles. I rode the two hours in consistent rain and got to the BMS shop at approx. 7:20 am. The customer service I rec'd from the BMS staff was outstanding. Rocky and his wife (and of course the dogs !) came in a little later and introduced themselves to myself and to the other ride-in customer.

My new seat is truly a custom, quality saddle. I am very happy with the product and especially the staff at BMS.

If you need a new saddle, you can't go wrong with BMS.

They even bought us lunch !!! Thanks again.............

 
Okay, I'm finished with my product evaluation for my Bill Mayer custom saddle purchased last spring, ridden all over hell, put on another bike, and ridden a bunch more.

I'm not an LD lunatic, but I do ride a lot.

My knees get stiff sometimes. My undies bunch and annoy me. My back aches on occasion. But my behind is always happy on this thing.

Yes, it felt odd and "different" for a bit after my first few rides with it, and I was certain it was way too firm and was going to be torture after a couple of hours. But now I realize that these guys- Rocky and his excellent crew- know exactly what they're doing.

Somehow, it's just damn comfortable.

It works.

So, if you're considering a custom saddle, this dork recommends : Bill Mayer Custom Saddles! <<Call them. They're courteous and helpful.

(Oh, and if you can do the ride-in thing, it's a beautiful area with lots of great roads. I had fun doing it.)

Happy Thanksgiving.

 
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