Ultimate seat vs. Russell Day-Long seat

[BamaDrifter64]

Which is better?  I just used an Ultimate seat on a 7 day, 3100 mile trip and my butt hurt - not near as bad as the last trip I took like that on the stock seat, but still hurt.  I think it's just the fact that you can't really move around much on an Ultimate seat and have to sit in pretty much the same position.  Looks like the Russell Day-Long is more wide open, allowing you to move around more, but would like some advice from people who have used either or both.  It might just be that you can't do 800 miles in a day without your butt hurting some, I don't know.

Dave

[Kidd]

I have read that there's no  better than a Russel .
I have ridden a friends with  a Russel and I agree .
I would make the trip to California and have one made while you wait

[Puffs Daddy]

I've had an Ultimate seat on my bike for almost seven years and love it. Still, on the rare occasion when I've put 10 or more hours on the bike in a single day, I'm sore. I'd have to say that the Russell is probably more comfortable. On the other hand, every time I'm not on the bike I'd have to look at it.

[Oss]

Russell fits me better. It came the evening before my ride to the ozarks from NY   1400 miles 1 way in 2 days and when I got there I was ready to ride, and did ride

The "wings" may make it hard for you to flat foot the bike if you are not tall.  Russell has you take pics of you flat footed and on the boards or pegs  also your passenger  you send them the seat and they use the seat pan to make you one.

zero pain in the sit bone no matter how long you ride.  I believe there are several iron butt far riders who swear by them

just my 2 cents and its worth what you paid for it

[Tundra]

Both good, you'll get lot's of opinions. I have the Ultimate and like it. Not a single complaint and I ride more than most, and more miles than most. The Ultimate is rather large and bulky looking, if looks means anything to you. I have never heard a single complaint from a Russell owner. Guess it also depends on what type of butt your packin.
  Then again I've never rode 800 miles in a day. Most of my rides are 8-10 hour days with planned "good eat" stops.

[KW]

I suspect you may not find anyone who has actually had BOTH seats and rode them enough hours to give a un-biais opinion. . . but, maybe there's a rider out there who has? 

I have the 4 piece Ultimate Big Boy on a 99 Standard. It's the leather one. I've had the seat for 5 or 6 years. I don't rmember what year it was, but it's been over 30,000 miles. Simply put; I LOVE the seat and my wife loves her's even more. I will say this; it took a LONG time to break in and didn't really start to be comfortable until after a couple thousand miles. I don't know what's "normal" for a break in, but i've done several 14-16 hour rides now and an Iron butt ride with the seat, and it's been great (since the break in.) Also, if it's important to you, Des is a VRCC supporter and a Valk rider (last I knew.) The year he came out with the King BB, I saw him at Daytona and he said 'bring your bike over." He put on a King seat and told me to take it for a day. . .  I not sure he rememebred my name, but he trusted me to take off with a new seat to test out.

As far as the Russell. . . . I agree with the comments so far. I've never heard anyone complain who's had one. I see Goldwings with them on a lot.

[semo97]

Russell day long is made for you, the rest are just a better band-aid a step better then the stock. How many buy a generic after market seat and end up with a gel pad, water pad, sheep skin, beads on top of it, you should have stayed with the stock seat. The generics may look cool, but your butt will still hurt. If you are a couple hundred mile rider on the week end or just a bar hopper do not waste your money on a russell go with the cool look, but if you get out and ride the russell is the best hands down. I ride a 99I/S with a russell best money spent. I have wasted my money in the past on the cool, and quick fixes.
If you are going to keep the bike and ride it, go with the russell if not stay stock. A hundred more bucks means thousands of more miles of pleasure.

[BamaDrifter64]

I met Des at the Ultimate tent @ Sturgis this year.  His Valk was there and we talked bikes for a while.  I had an issue with my seat that I wanted him to look at, he thinks its a bike issue, not a seat issue.  Nice guy.  I have the Ultimate Bigboy (6'1", 250) and it's good for a couple to 300 miles...then the pain starts.  Bought it secondhand and it was basically new - now it has probably 4K miles on it and I don't know how much more breaking in I need to do on it.  I work alot and don't get to ride alot - but I do try to do 3 or 4 motorcycle trips a year.  Next one I'm going to try to do is Keywest this winter - either drive it down or trailer it to Miami - depends on if my wife rides down with me or flys down.  Already have alot of $ invested in the seat, what's a few more dollars to get it right?

Dave

[HotRod]

  I love my 4 piece Ultimate Low Rider, miles and miles of comfort.

[glenh]

I have the Big Boy on my 2000 Standard, thought it was a real great seat, well, it is for cruising around on for 3-4-5 hours, just got back from a 2400 mile trip, rode 400-500 miles a day, had a sore ass from doing so, wouldn't mind trying out the Russell, am not looking forward to taking another long trip on the Ultimate.

[Scott in Ok]

Everyone has a different backside, and riding style.  Some ride long distance, some don't.  What constitutes a long ride is different for everyone as well.  Because of that, there is no right answer to "Whats the best seat?"

I've tried the Ultimate and the Russell.  I own a Russell.

What I do know is I've heard people say they love the Ultimate's, and I've heard others say they didn't like them.  Most folks like them in general.  However, I've never heard anyone say they didn't like a Russell Day-Long after trying one.

If you are serious about spending the bucks on a seat you can ride all day comfortably, then go with a Russell.  It takes more effort because you have to get on the build list(you gotta wait!), and send them a stock seat pan to build the seat from, but it will be worth it in the end.  Of course that's my opinion and only worth what you paid for it.

-Scott

[humshark]

+1 for the Russell

I personally have a Rick Meyer seat, and love it.  I often ride and mingle with the BMW group and can attest that I've NEVER heard someone complain about the Russell.

[Rocketman]

...but it will be worth it in the end.

That is where it will be worth it, I suppose.
 

I agree about the "diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks" concept.  The problem comes in that it's difficult to give the seats enough of a try to make it worthwhile.  Des let me borrow one for the day at Inzane a few years ago.  Best sales job he could do.  I have one now.
I would love to try a Russell the same way, but you can't ask them to custom make something for a day trial.

[Willow]

.  However, I've never heard anyone say they didn't like a Russell Day-Long after trying one.

I'm not wishing to be any more contrary than I normally am, but I've ridden on a Russell and I didn't really care for it.

In fairness, I would need to say that I've not ridden on one that was specifically built for me.

For pure comfort to the backside, the stock 2000 Valkyrie Standard seat is hard to beat, but it's not very pretty.

I guess something similar could be said of seats on both sides of the jeans.    

[rm]

i just returned the ultimate low rider seats for my valkyrie interstate.they lowered me down like i wanted but my butt hurt after 80 miles and was screaming at 100 miles therefore i returned them. i have not owned the russell day long but if i buy anymore custom seats that will be the one. my concern with russell day long as it may not sit me low enough to flat foot the heavy beast  at  5'10" i sold the hartco custom seats that came with the bike since they were made for a tall  rider ( they were hugh seats)and with the floor boards i could not  stand flat footed when i stopped and felt uneasy .i paid 1215.00 for ultimate seats with studs and blinker buddy( i loved it). they took the seats back and only cost me the shipping therefore i was happy with customer service. i bought a stock interstate seat and it is more comfortable that the ultimate or the hartco.the guy i bought the stock seat from stated he had had both the ultimate and russell day long and liked both but the most comfortable for long rides to california( HE LIVES IN TN)was the stock seat with a gel pad.i therefore have ordered a utopia backrest for my stock seat and have a gel pad and have bought a airhawk mc air cushion that i believe will be better than the gel pad.the problem with the ultimate seat may be because you cannot shift around  and the low boy seat i bought may be lower due to less padding.if you buy ultimate buy the big boy if you are tall enough  but if you are that tall i suggest you try the russell instead.

[eric in md]

i own a russell day long thats what i have now.. rode many 1000 mile days ..  ok the good part des @ultimate is a super great guy . i tried his first sent it back got the russell never will own any different seat .   

[semo97]

rm (my concern with the russell day long as it may not sit me low enough to flat foot the heavy beast at 5'10")

I am 6'1" and this past week end i had 10 different people at a honda demo ride try my russell, they were all from 6'2" down to 5'8"  and they all could flat foot it. Some had to move forward of the seat wings, I even do. You will not have a problem. The info and pics you have to send they will get it right. It is a lot of money but look at the money you have all ready spent, the air pads and gel pads is just a band-aid for the stock seat. I have had numerous valk riders try and trade me out of it, no way. They can make a seat that will work for you.

[rm]

thanks for the info, but did the shorter riders have floor boards. i would not have had a problem with the hugh hartco seat if i did not have floor boards which  shorten your inseam lenght since they are exactly where your feet need to be when you stop.

[Scott in Ok]

rm (my concern with the russell day long as it may not sit me low enough to flat foot the heavy beast at 5'10")

I am 6'1" and this past week end i had 10 different people at a honda demo ride try my russell, they were all from 6'2" down to 5'8"  and they all could flat foot it. Some had to move forward of the seat wings, I even do. You will not have a problem. The info and pics you have to send they will get it right. It is a lot of money but look at the money you have all ready spent, the air pads and gel pads is just a band-aid for the stock seat. I have had numerous valk riders try and trade me out of it, no way. They can make a seat that will work for you.

Thats the beauty of having a custom seat made like the Russell.  They'll make it to fit YOU. 

-Scott

[LadyDraco]

Russell was the only saddle co.. That could and would move me up 4-5 inches closer to the tank...
  Their saddles are made for YOU and your height and weight and inseams. ...
Highbinder also has Russell saddles....
We both love them.......  
 
 

[semo97]

rm..... I do not have floorboards, and those that tried my seat all road a honda of some sort, several were the shortest  valk riders and they did not have floorboards. I know it is a lot of money but it depends on the distance you ride. The wife and I have to have a seat that we can be on 400 to 700 miles aday for a week or two.

[brillo1542]

I purchased a Russell Day-long seat for my 2001 Valk std last year.  Cost $650.  I'm 6'2". Was very uncomfortable.  Sent it back 2 more times for an adjustment.  The second adjustment improved it a little, but my butt was still screaming for mercy after only 80 miles!  Wanted to get my money back, but I had gone past the period for their "buy-back" program.  Sooooo, I contacted Diamond seats in Florida.  Turns out they had made a custom seat for me back in 1984 for my 1980 Yamaha XS11.  It was the best seat I ever had!  1000 miles a day were no problem.  The seat they made for my Valk is beautiful and comfortable.  Needs a slight adjustment, but right now I can go 500 mile days with only a little discomfort.

In all fairness, my brother has a Russell seat on his BMW and swears by it.  I can only say that I swear at it!