| Author | Message | ||
     Mckennaxb12r |
Called Corbin Seat today and spoke to the rep. about the ongoing issue of the Corbin Seat rubbing against the positive battery cable and possibly shorting things out. I was told by that rep. that they were well aware of the situation and that a new bracket was being sent out to correct the issue. I called a company who sells the Corbin Seat as a distributor for the xb12r and asked if this new bracket was a fix for the present problem and they stated," no" it doesn't solve the issue. So let me recap on this issue. I pay $300.00 for a beautiful seat that rubs against the positive battery cable potentially wearing through it causing my electrical system to malfunction and maybe death or serious injury and Corbin Seat manufacturer is well aware of this? What kind of lawsuit is waiting to happen here? Maybe I should stop playing the mega millions lottery and start riding more so that the inevitable occurs so that my wife and kids can be set up for life as my father who is a patent, trademark and copyright attorney files a class action lawsuit against Corbin. Seems to me in my profession there was a similar incident. A company manufactured a ballistic vest for law enforcement and touted its strength and performance to only find out twice that two police officers who were shot with that vest on-duty were killed with a small caliber round. Guess what happened to that company Second Chance Body Armour and Toyobo Corp of Japan that manufactured the kevlar thread in that vest. Bye! Bye! Hell I even offered my partner who I ride with that I would shoot him in the stomach while on-duty because he purchased one of those magic bullet proof vests. He had a better chance at becoming rich through that incident than working for the 27 years and a day for the 75% pension he would receive from the Chgo. Police Dept.. I am dismayed at Corbin Seats for selling an inferior product and not having enough balls to step up to the plate and remedy their R&D fault! Just my input. Beware of Corbin!!! | ||
| Hd_pwr |
this does seem like a huge problem...but why is it so hard for corbin to fix? How did it happen in the first place? I would assume corbin would build their seat based off the stock 12r seat tray. I have the custom seat on my 12r...what could the big difference between the corbin seat tray and the buell seat tray. obviously something because people are talking about only issues with the corbin seat, right? | ||
| Dragonbuell12r |
I had problems with Corbin with my Yamaha FZ1 seat. After it was all said and done the seat was still a brick after 1500 miles so I sold it. I've read on other forums about Corbin's poor customer service. It seems if it doesn't go on a HD they don't seem to care. My question to the rep I talked to was "why make seats for other bikes when you only seem to support one brand"? | ||
| Guzzimon |
If anyone lives near Hollister, CA and has an XB12R, they should go by the Corbin factory and get them to cast a new mold. I run a Corbin on my V11 -- love it -- and was impressed when they admitted that the V11 seat mold had somehow warped while in storage. One of the guys on the V11 forum rode his Guzzi down to Hollister -- they fitted the new mold to his bike. When he came back for a final fitting, they presented HIM with a free Corbin seat for his V11 for his help and I got the seat I wanted. THAT is good customer service. | ||
| Diablobrian |
There apparently already is at least one new seat pan for the xbr's in the works. Al, from American Sport Bike, posted on this a little while back. He also said that he was in the process of helping develop a new bracket to fix the old seat pan with Corbin. Al said he would send the revised bracketry to everyone that had purchased the affected seats from him. Give him a little time to try to help get this sorted out. He is going to bat for us. | ||
| Mckennaxb12r |
Al, at American Sportbike is not the issue. Kudos to him for trying to fix their problem. From what I've read on these forums his business is legitimate with cust. service at the forefront. My gripe is with the manufacturer of the seat which is Corbin. They know it's faulty and refuse to do anything about. The rep. I spoke to told me to take a dremmel drill and elongate the mounting bracket fitting holes to accommodate the seat better. When I was given the seat originally as a gift, the mounting brackets didn't match up with the frame mounting points and I did the aforementioned. Seriously, what gives when the manufacturer won't fix their product and tells you too fix it. That's bad business! Also I didn't receive the seat from American Sportbike but it was purchased directly from Corbin. The problem is not with the pan of the seat, it is with a support rod that runs horizontal from mounting tab to mounting tab that is rubbing against the cable. The new mounting bracket they came up with doesn't remedy the problem so we the consumer/holder of this product are still @#it out of luck.  | ||
| Diablobrian |
I understand your pain. I have one of the aforementioned Corbin seats on my bike. I also am waiting for the fix. I did buy mine from Al at American Sport Bike and I'm sure he'll take care of me when things are right. This comes back to another thread we had recently on the board concerning whether the "best" deal could be determined simply by finding which vendor had the lowest price. It was my contention that service after the sale more than offset the few dollars saved by buying at the absolute cheapest price. Currently, Corbin is rather famous for brushing off the individual purchaser which is a sad state of affairs. I wish you the best of luck in resolving the issue. | ||
| Cataract2 |
I think I'll go with the Select seat from Buell over the Corbin. Their quality control as of late has sucked. | ||
| Pcmodeler |
Is this a problem for everyone? I have a Corbin on my XB9R. Didn't know this was an issue. I haven't had any problems with mine yet but it also hasn't been on very long. Is there anything I can do to fix it on my end? | ||
| Gowindward |
Do you have any photos of this problem? | ||
| Chainsaw |
The original seats on the 03XB's also rubbed the positive battery cables. There's a post here with pics from Darthane back in 2003. Required about 30 seconds with a knife to carve a small bit of plastic off the seat pan. Not knowing the specifics of the Corbin seat, I'm guessing it's a bit more complicated of a fix.  | ||
| Vaneo1 |
similar along the lines of aftermarket seats but not directly about Corbin, The aftermarket Buell seat seems to have its own flaw. There is some rubbing/ chaffing on the underside close to where the leather material is stapled to the seat tray. The material rubs against the frame and causes small lacerations. Still a descent seat IMO. Sorry Mckenna your situation is way worse but since were on the topic... | ||
| Mckennaxb12r |
Keep you guys updated as soon as I get any word on a fix!  | ||
| Bomber |
Mac -- ya got choices -- in fact, a bunch of them -- along with the legal stuff you outline, you can always return the seat and get yer money back -- lemme know if you wnat to go riding -- we'd LOVE to have a representative of Chicago Area Law enforement with us (no selfish motives here, certainly! {grin}) me, after truely abysmal treatment from Corbins Customer Service department, they've lost me as a customer | ||
| Captjim |
I think I was the first to have a fit problem with the Corbin Firebolt seat. 1) I purchased from Al at American Sportbike last year. 2) Installed the seat, took a test ride and called the job done. 3) Not sure how long, but within a few hundred miles my bike died. 4) Long story short, metal corbin bracket rubbed through battery cable causing dead short. 5) Notified Al of the problem and sent installed bracket pictures. 6) Al tried to get Corbin to fix the problem. 7) After weeks and weeks of waiting I made Al take the seat back. Thanks Al! 8) This was before winter, not sure of exact time frame at this point. Bottom line. Corbin has had plenty of time to fix the problem. Just need a different configuration of the rod and tabs that make up the bracket. I was going to make my own bracket but decided that for $300 the seat should fit without fabrication. Anyhoo, the reason for the post is the pictures of the bracket: Side View:  Top View:  At this point the only choice for an upgraded Firebolt seat is the Buell Custom Seat but it's real thick and soft. Not really my cup of tea. I bought a second stock seat and plan to have the foam upgraded, gelled, and reshaped by Sargent. Be careful that metal bracket is awful close to the positive battery cable. | ||
| Henrik |
me, after truly abysmal treatment from Corbins Customer Service department, they've lost me as a customer Add poor fit and non-existent quality control to Bomber's original complaint and you can count me in the "Never Again Corbin" camp. Henrik | ||
| Thansesxb9rs |
If I remember when I had the R tail section on my bike the Buell touring seat did the same thing, I had to shave part of the plastic so it would rub. | ||
| Moonrunrs |
Yeah, I don't like the Buell custom seat -- it raises the height up too much for me. I guess I'll have to wait to see if Corbin redesigns their seat pan or another manufacturer makes a seat for the XBR | ||
| Al_lighton |
I've spoken with Corbin Customer service at length about this issue. My previous rep there was a disaster, and things weren't getting done. I almost dropped the line over the customer service issues. He is no longer with the company, thankfully. But my new Corbin rep is VERY good, and he is trying his best to get results. But he's only a sales rep, he doesn't set company policy. I've pointed out the gravity of the situation and the potential for a very serious lawsuit, and he is going to do all he can to make a retrofit solution for existing seats a reality. Too long in the making? Absolutely. But I'm doing all I can do get it fixed, and I'm pretty sure he is too. The new seats address the problem. It uses two separate brackets, not one bracket, so the offending rod is gone. In the meantime, I highly recommend that anyone with the older Corbin Firebolt seat do what they can to get the battery cable as low as possible,and to add an extra bit of insulation to either the battery cable, the rod, or both.  While not every Corbin seat is a winner (i.e., the S3 seat), most are quite good. I have no doubt that the corbin XB-S seat is the best one made for that bike. But every butt is different, I guess. Al | ||
| Mckennaxb12r |
Al-any possibility of sending in the old seat w/problems and having them fit the new seat tabs to the pan as shown in the picture? Corbin mention anything about it? | ||
| Al_lighton |
They sent me some of the new brackets to check that out. Won't work...In fact, I think there are some brackets on the way to you from Corbin right now for that very purpose. But the lateral hole center to center distance is changed substantially, as is the relative angle of the two tabs, based on the changes they made to the molded seat pan. I just received my first seat with the new brackets. It is a better design. It has the usual "adjustments" needed to get the fit right (i.e., bumper trimming, and possibly some hole elongation). The bumper trimming I can live with, I think it is a reasonable thing to expect to achieve a perfect fit. But I'd sure like to see better hole alignment. To some extent, it is the nature of aftermarket mods, because the aftermarket does not get the engineering drawings from the factory with the nominal hole dimensions and tolerances. Still, I think they could hit some of them a little bit closer. It doesn't bother me much, but for folks less mechanically inclined or with less tools at their disposal, I can see their point that they shouldn't have to make such mods on something they paid $230 for. OTOH, one of the reasons that the holes don't align is because Corbin has a line to line fit up at the front of the seat to the airbox cover. One way for them to guarantee hole alignment would be do design in a larger gap up front. IMHO, I'd rather have the tight fit and a little bit of hole elongation than a big gap at the front. I've seen stock XB-S Buell seats that had over 1/4" of seat slop for/aft. It's easy to guarantee hole alignment if you make gross clearances elsewhere. Al | ||
| Jon_s |
That's one crude looking seat pan. We have to get Sargent to produce a seat for the XB. I have one on my Duck and in terms of fit and finish, it's in its own class. The seat pan looks like it came from the factory, is lightweight and fits the bike like its supposed to. Support from Sargent is fabulous. Compare Al's photo to the link below. No cheap pop rivets and crude fasteners. http://www.sargentcycle.com/ducati.htm#DucWS | ||
| Mckennaxb12r |
Received some new brackets from corbin three days ago. Have yet to try them and see if they work. We'll see. | ||
| Al_lighton |
I've received a seat that was retrofit with the 2nd generation retrofit bracket. The first was unacceptable, as there was no antirotation feature. Here's a couple pictures:   I have several of the new brackets here and will be contacting my customers that have the original brackets with the bar. If you didn't get it from me, I strongly suggest you either verify that there is NO WAY that it can short against your battery, or contact Corbin and get the new bracket. A dead short there could be a seriously dangerous issue. Al | ||
| Diablobrian |
Thanks for the update Al! |
