Corbin seat

[pancho]

I received the special order Corbin seat a few days ago. It took a little over two weeks for them to make it as opposed to the six to seven weeks they claim on their website.. wonder if this virus has hit their business that hard. The seat is made just as I ordered, and the workmanship and materials (natural leather for the seating area) are fine as always. BUT, they did not hem the cover (under the seat) it looks undone and raggedy looking. I have another Corbin seat, that and every other one I have seen is finished with a hem on the edge of the cover under the seat. I have emailed them three times and not received a response, that bothers me more than the unfinished hem.... I'm not sure if I should make a big deal out of this with them and send it back or not.  Any thoughts?

[Moxxican]

My Corbin is done the same way. I'm not an upholsterer, but I have a leather shop and build saddles.

In order to get the leather to fit snug around the lower edge of the seat, the flap is left long and you have to form puckers in the leather to take out the slack. Once it's tacked, or in this case riveted, you trim off the excess leather. I don't see how you could hem it, unless you were able to get ALL the puckers worked out beyond the hem line. You then would have to remove the cover, hem it, and hopefully get it back on tight. How much slack you are able to get out depends a lot on the type of leather being used and whether it's being wet fit.

Just my opinion, but I think that is acceptable as it's hidden under the seat. I haven't seen one hemmed on the bottom, but I would be interested to see how they did it if it's leather and not synthetic.

[mello dude]

I have a Corbin seat on my VFR and it's finished the same as yours.

[larue]

Yep no big deal, mine looks like that at the bottom. Looks good leave it alone you’ll never see that trim anyway. My opinion

[Bighead]

Both Corbins I have owned were just like that one.
Why is it a big deal (or even a deal at all?) it is hidden under your seat. The only thing looking at it is the battery.
Nice looking saddle BTW

[The emperor has no clothes]

I think the difference being leather vs. vinyl. It's a great looking seat. I especially like the matching piping/pin striping. 

[pancho]

I wasn't sure about the orange piping, thought it might be a bit too much, but it works just fine for me and this bike.... you know, color coordination.

I wouldn't have thought a thing about the under side except my old corbin has a nice finished edge.



and here is a picture of the same model seat, one that sold on eBay. These are both older renditions of the same seat I just received from them.



I wonder if they just stopped doing this step as several of you guys say yours is not hemmed on the underside. I have a number for them, I will see if they will answer the phone as they don't seem to be answering emails. If this is just the way they are doing their seats now days, I will accept it while noting that their work is cheaper than it used to be. If my seat is unfinished and not up to their standards, I will send it back.

 I'm just old enough to expect that when you pay full premium price for a product, you expect to get a premium product.    I know, I'm a dinosaur, but the world has to live with that.    I'm not changing.

My Corbin is done the same way. I'm not an upholsterer, but I have a leather shop and build saddles.   That sounds like a good job, I'd bet you could do your Valkyrie seat with a nice custom cover if you wanted.

                              

[f-Stop]

I have a Corbin that is hemmed underneath except at the very front where there is leather.  It is an older seat that I rarely use, but still looks really good.

 

[Moxxican]

I wasn't sure about the orange piping, thought it might be a bit too much, but it works just fine for me and this bike.... you know, color coordination.

I wouldn't have thought a thing about the under side except my old corbin has a nice finished edge.



and here is a picture of the same model seat, one that sold on eBay. These are both older renditions of the same seat I just received from them.



I wonder if they just stopped doing this step as several of you guys say yours is not hemmed on the underside. I have a number for them, I will see if they will answer the phone as they don't seem to be answering emails. If this is just the way they are doing their seats now days, I will accept it while noting that their work is cheaper than it used to be. If my seat is unfinished and not up to their standards, I will send it back.

 I'm just old enough to expect that when you pay full premium price for a product, you expect to get a premium product.    I know, I'm a dinosaur, but the world has to live with that.    I'm not changing.

My Corbin is done the same way. I'm not an upholsterer, but I have a leather shop and build saddles.   That sounds like a good job, I'd bet you could do your Valkyrie seat with a nice custom cover if you wanted.

                              

I'm actually getting ready to pull my cover and rework the foam. I think the PO had foam shaved out to get him closer to the ground, but it forces me to ride too far forward in the seat. It also caused the seat leather to be too loose and form wrinkles, so I'll replace that panel of leather.

I'd bet Corbin quit doing that seam because it doesn't add much to the overall quality of the job, but it's time consuming and actually makes it harder to get the seat on even and tight.

[pancho]

I did get through to someone at Corbin on the phone, and was told that they quit doing the double seam under the seat about fourteen years ago...  (I guess it is true that time flies when you're having fun)   I did ask if he knew what the reason was for dropping the finishing touch, and was informed that "it was too time consuming and didn't matter to the integrity of the seat".  You were right on the money Moxxican.
I guess it's just one more example of craftsmanship and pride in a finished product being sacrificed for a buck,, I can live with it, but it won't affect the way I act.

[jdp]

I think I would want it done the way you like it because it will always be there bugging you, I have a Corbin seat and backrest for an interstate but it’s blue do you think they could die it black ? I love the seat but not the color

[Jess from VA]

Many years ago, I bought an Interstate with a custom leather Corbin dual-tour (and matching driver's backrest and trunk rest; 3-piece) except the SOB had bright light blue piping all over it.  I called them up about getting rid of the piping, and they said they' d have to recover the whole seat, for more than half the cost of the whole seat... So the original receipt was $1350, so more than half of that.

The heck with that.  And because the seat was hard as a rock with no rider pocket and I slid all over the damn thing while riding, I just sold it.  The light blue piping was a deal breaker to a number of interested buyers, until I lowered the price to $250 or so, so basically gave it away.

It was as beautiful a seat as I ever saw (except the gay neon pastel baby blue piping), but it was lousy to ride and sit on.

[Moxxican]

I did get through to someone at Corbin on the phone, and was told that they quit doing the double seam under the seat about fourteen years ago...  (I guess it is true that time flies when you're having fun)   I did ask if he knew what the reason was for dropping the finishing touch, and was informed that "it was too time consuming and didn't matter to the integrity of the seat".  You were right on the money Moxxican.
I guess it's just one more example of craftsmanship and pride in a finished product being sacrificed for a buck,, I can live with it, but it won't affect the way I act.

Well, it's a beautiful seat and it looks awesome on that bike! But I get it. When I'm building a saddle, or whatever, and I put a fingernail mark in the wet leather or one out of 500 stitches ends up a little long it bugs the hell out of me. No one else would probably notice it, but I know it's there.