PhotoOp Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Sorry if someone has covered this but I've looked all over and cant find it (might suck at google) Im thinking about getting a Sargent for my 99 and I am concerned that the front seat wont be mounted securely enough for spirited riding. How does it attach to the bike when you dont have the rear section on and are using the tail cowl? Does anyone have a photo of the underside I can see? Thanks for any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painterbob Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 The front half just doesn't fit secure, just held down by set cowl. I used zip ties around the two hooks that go around the cross bar on the sub frame. was very secure. just carried a small pair of cutters in the tool kit in cause I needed to remove the seat while on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer y2kvfr Posted July 25, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted July 25, 2013 Mine slides about a 1/4" with the pillion seat on, so I imagine there will be quite a bit of slop without it. Timmy rides with the solo cover and a sargent front half. Hopefully he'll chime in (but that thing is a death trap anyway) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wera803 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Kperham has the front Sargent seat with the rear cowl and doesn't tie it down. He hasn't had any problems that I am aware of. My GF has a modified stock seat (with the rear seat cut off) so it is like a Sargent. I've used zip-ties to hold it down, although I'm not sure if they are needed or not. It was just for my piece of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer dude Posted July 25, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted July 25, 2013 I have had zero issues running just the front half. There are two clips one each side at front that hook under tank and there are two fingers that hook onto the bar under said seat. Never has moved on me...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KanadianKen Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 I have had zero issues running just the front half. There are two clips one each side at front that hook under tank and there are two fingers that hook onto the bar under said seat. Never has moved on me...... (but you never get out of 3rd gear, nor do you move off your seat..........) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer deltaboxii Posted July 25, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted July 25, 2013 No issues with mine. I use the front half and seat cowl on the rear. And move around on the bike quite a bit. The front half hooks in to the bottom edge of the tank and fits pretty tight on the subframe bar. I don't have much movement on my seat at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BonusVFR Posted July 25, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted July 25, 2013 Think I have had my Sargent for almost 10 years. Never had a problem with movement/stability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoOp Posted July 25, 2013 Author Share Posted July 25, 2013 Thanks guys. Just ordered one, ill let you know how it does when it gets in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seantx Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 I have had zero issues running just the front half. There are two clips one each side at front that hook under tank and there are two fingers that hook onto the bar under said seat. Never has moved on me...... Same here. Was concerned about it at first but zero problems in thousands of miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerritt Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 I also have never had any issue's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crewwolfy Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Mine slides a little, maybe 1/4". Enough to notice, but not enough to be concerned over (though I do occasionally reach back to check that the back seat is still there). I've taken it to track days with no worries. That said, the stock seat is better for spirited riding (rounder, more conducive to hanging off), whereas the Sargent is better for everything else (including straight-line speed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoOp Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share Posted July 29, 2013 Ok, Got it mounted up on saturday. I had to relocate my Ohlins res to the side of the subframe, I had it under the drivers seat on top of the battery before. So one thing to note, the Sargent is deeper than a stock seat, and takes up a little under seat storage in the drivers area. Still plenty of room for my tire patch kit though. The front (drivers) seat hooks on pretty securely at both ends and the fit around the tank is excellent. There would be a tiny bit of free play, maybe 2mm on my new seat, side to side, but if it slid back far enough, the hooks could come undone at the back of the seat. A few things prevent this. The weight of the rider presses it into the subframe, while its in contact with the frame, the side of the tail section prevents it from sliding back far enough to come off. The tail cowl also holds it down which causes the same interference preventing the seat from moving. Its also a pretty snug, well made fit, so not likely to move under normal conditions even for a fairly aggressive rider. I added one zip tie around each of the rear mounting hooks to completely secure the mounting, if the hooks cant slide away from the subframe bar they are attached to, the seat cant come off. I always have zip ties and a knife in the tool kit so no problem if I need to remove the seat for roadside service. If the rear, passenger, seat is being used, it holds the front seat on quite securly. The only other problem wit fit has to do with the rear seat attaching to the front half. Sargent uses two metal plates to attach the passenger section to the driver section, These hooks simply slide under the tail end of the drivers section. This is pretty secure because the passenger section holds the drivers section forwards, which prevents it from being lifted upwards. so these plates should be the final piece of the puzzle, but the kind of fit like crap. So the right side of the passenger seat fits great and stays flush with the drivers seat because the latch is offset to the right and holds it in place, but the left side of the rear seat can lift about 5mm before the plate contacts the bottom of the drivers seat base. Its a minor complaint and will be easily fixed with a little tweaking. Not to mention that if a person is sitting on the seat, it will be flat against the subframe and fine. But I'm being thorough here damnit! Now for a ride review. This seat is 100% all the time better than the stock seat. I will preface this by saying that I have a bony ass with very little natural padding so the firmness of corbin is a nonstarter for me (I've had em before). The Sargent is firmer than stock and has a more pronounced saddle shape. The seating area is dished rather than the flat or slightly domed shape of the stock seat. The back-stop is also closer the tank taller and more vertical than the stock seat. The edges of the seat are more pronounced than a stock seat which makes the seat feel a bit wider than stock as well. The other two things I noticed immediately are that the front of the seat ramps up into the tank and the carbonFX pattern vinyl covering is a fair bit grippier in a nice way. On the road all these changes make a pretty huge difference. Just riding along on the stock seat I would get sort of sunken into the edges of the foam and the very soft cover had a strange way of pulling at my riding pants that made my under garments very uncomfortable after about 50 miles, like a restaurant booth that is too soft and tugs at your clothes. In race leathers i didn't notice, but even a two piece suit would get mussed up by the stock seat. The Sargent has fixed that problem outright. The firmer seat gives a much better feel for the rear tire and suspension which gave me a huge boost in rear end confidence. Its harder to rotate off the side of the seat in corners because the seat is wider, but once you are in position you have a bit more to push against which I found really helpful especially in slightly slick conditions fighting a worn front tire. With a firmer wider sadle I could use my body to shift weight onto the rear tire and keep the front from washing wide on exits. The grippy texture and ramped front did a great job of keeping my delicates out of the gas tank. Normally I really have to clamp the tank with my legs on heavy braking to keep position, this makes it hard to get my hips and body into cornering position. With the new seat it took much less effort to stay off the tank, so I could divert some strength to moving off the side. Highway comfort was excellent, as I expected, having the backstop further forward worked really well for me and my tiny back end. So all things considered I am more comfortable and in better control with a seat that is easy to fit and looks great on the bike. Highly recommended. Pardon the enormous post but I figured a thorough review might be helpful if someone else is looking in the future. Photos to follow when I get a min to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer VFR Capt.Bob Posted July 29, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted July 29, 2013 I had quite a bit of saddle monkey motion on mine with out the rear seat in place. Not enough to affect aggressive riding. At the track under hard breaking it pushes into the tank. On acceloration it would have to push through the seat cover and rear tail section to come out. I like the zip tie idea to take some of the play out of it. I just leave my rear seat on these days. Easier to get under the seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viffviff Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Ok, Got it mounted up on saturday. I had to relocate my Ohlins res to the side of the subframe, I had it under the drivers seat on top of the battery before. So one thing to note, the Sargent is deeper than a stock seat, and takes up a little under seat storage in the drivers area. Still plenty of room for my tire patch kit though. The front (drivers) seat hooks on pretty securely at both ends and the fit around the tank is excellent. There would be a tiny bit of free play, maybe 2mm on my new seat, side to side, but if it slid back far enough, the hooks could come undone at the back of the seat. A few things prevent this. The weight of the rider presses it into the subframe, while its in contact with the frame, the side of the tail section prevents it from sliding back far enough to come off. The tail cowl also holds it down which causes the same interference preventing the seat from moving. Its also a pretty snug, well made fit, so not likely to move under normal conditions even for a fairly aggressive rider. I added one zip tie around each of the rear mounting hooks to completely secure the mounting, if the hooks cant slide away from the subframe bar they are attached to, the seat cant come off. I always have zip ties and a knife in the tool kit so no problem if I need to remove the seat for roadside service. If the rear, passenger, seat is being used, it holds the front seat on quite securly. The only other problem wit fit has to do with the rear seat attaching to the front half. Sargent uses two metal plates to attach the passenger section to the driver section, These hooks simply slide under the tail end of the drivers section. This is pretty secure because the passenger section holds the drivers section forwards, which prevents it from being lifted upwards. so these plates should be the final piece of the puzzle, but the kind of fit like crap. So the right side of the passenger seat fits great and stays flush with the drivers seat because the latch is offset to the right and holds it in place, but the left side of the rear seat can lift about 5mm before the plate contacts the bottom of the drivers seat base. Its a minor complaint and will be easily fixed with a little tweaking. Not to mention that if a person is sitting on the seat, it will be flat against the subframe and fine. But I'm being thorough here damnit! Now for a ride review. This seat is 100% all the time better than the stock seat. I will preface this by saying that I have a bony ass with very little natural padding so the firmness of corbin is a nonstarter for me (I've had em before). The Sargent is firmer than stock and has a more pronounced saddle shape. The seating area is dished rather than the flat or slightly domed shape of the stock seat. The back-stop is also closer the tank taller and more vertical than the stock seat. The edges of the seat are more pronounced than a stock seat which makes the seat feel a bit wider than stock as well. The other two things I noticed immediately are that the front of the seat ramps up into the tank and the carbonFX pattern vinyl covering is a fair bit grippier in a nice way. On the road all these changes make a pretty huge difference. Just riding along on the stock seat I would get sort of sunken into the edges of the foam and the very soft cover had a strange way of pulling at my riding pants that made my under garments very uncomfortable after about 50 miles, like a restaurant booth that is too soft and tugs at your clothes. In race leathers i didn't notice, but even a two piece suit would get mussed up by the stock seat. The Sargent has fixed that problem outright. The firmer seat gives a much better feel for the rear tire and suspension which gave me a huge boost in rear end confidence. Its harder to rotate off the side of the seat in corners because the seat is wider, but once you are in position you have a bit more to push against which I found really helpful especially in slightly slick conditions fighting a worn front tire. With a firmer wider sadle I could use my body to shift weight onto the rear tire and keep the front from washing wide on exits. The grippy texture and ramped front did a great job of keeping my delicates out of the gas tank. Normally I really have to clamp the tank with my legs on heavy braking to keep position, this makes it hard to get my hips and body into cornering position. With the new seat it took much less effort to stay off the tank, so I could divert some strength to moving off the side. Highway comfort was excellent, as I expected, having the backstop further forward worked really well for me and my tiny back end. So all things considered I am more comfortable and in better control with a seat that is easy to fit and looks great on the bike. Highly recommended. Pardon the enormous post but I figured a thorough review might be helpful if someone else is looking in the future. Photos to follow when I get a min to do so. Just got my Sargent seat and this thread was just the info I was looking for (especially about the seat cowl and seat security in earlier posts). What a great site! thx PS. Thinking of modding the cowl to accomodate the grab handles, which I find useful when hauling the bike around the garage. Anyone done this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGregory Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Ok, Got it mounted up on saturday. I had to relocate my Ohlins res to the side of the subframe, I had it under the drivers seat on top of the battery before. So one thing to note, the Sargent is deeper than a stock seat, and takes up a little under seat storage in the drivers area. Still plenty of room for my tire patch kit though. The front (drivers) seat hooks on pretty securely at both ends and the fit around the tank is excellent. There would be a tiny bit of free play, maybe 2mm on my new seat, side to side, but if it slid back far enough, the hooks could come undone at the back of the seat. A few things prevent this. The weight of the rider presses it into the subframe, while its in contact with the frame, the side of the tail section prevents it from sliding back far enough to come off. The tail cowl also holds it down which causes the same interference preventing the seat from moving. Its also a pretty snug, well made fit, so not likely to move under normal conditions even for a fairly aggressive rider. I added one zip tie around each of the rear mounting hooks to completely secure the mounting, if the hooks cant slide away from the subframe bar they are attached to, the seat cant come off. I always have zip ties and a knife in the tool kit so no problem if I need to remove the seat for roadside service. If the rear, passenger, seat is being used, it holds the front seat on quite securly. The only other problem wit fit has to do with the rear seat attaching to the front half. Sargent uses two metal plates to attach the passenger section to the driver section, These hooks simply slide under the tail end of the drivers section. This is pretty secure because the passenger section holds the drivers section forwards, which prevents it from being lifted upwards. so these plates should be the final piece of the puzzle, but the kind of fit like crap. So the right side of the passenger seat fits great and stays flush with the drivers seat because the latch is offset to the right and holds it in place, but the left side of the rear seat can lift about 5mm before the plate contacts the bottom of the drivers seat base. Its a minor complaint and will be easily fixed with a little tweaking. Not to mention that if a person is sitting on the seat, it will be flat against the subframe and fine. But I'm being thorough here damnit! Now for a ride review. This seat is 100% all the time better than the stock seat. I will preface this by saying that I have a bony ass with very little natural padding so the firmness of corbin is a nonstarter for me (I've had em before). The Sargent is firmer than stock and has a more pronounced saddle shape. The seating area is dished rather than the flat or slightly domed shape of the stock seat. The back-stop is also closer the tank taller and more vertical than the stock seat. The edges of the seat are more pronounced than a stock seat which makes the seat feel a bit wider than stock as well. The other two things I noticed immediately are that the front of the seat ramps up into the tank and the carbonFX pattern vinyl covering is a fair bit grippier in a nice way. On the road all these changes make a pretty huge difference. Just riding along on the stock seat I would get sort of sunken into the edges of the foam and the very soft cover had a strange way of pulling at my riding pants that made my under garments very uncomfortable after about 50 miles, like a restaurant booth that is too soft and tugs at your clothes. In race leathers i didn't notice, but even a two piece suit would get mussed up by the stock seat. The Sargent has fixed that problem outright. The firmer seat gives a much better feel for the rear tire and suspension which gave me a huge boost in rear end confidence. Its harder to rotate off the side of the seat in corners because the seat is wider, but once you are in position you have a bit more to push against which I found really helpful especially in slightly slick conditions fighting a worn front tire. With a firmer wider sadle I could use my body to shift weight onto the rear tire and keep the front from washing wide on exits. The grippy texture and ramped front did a great job of keeping my delicates out of the gas tank. Normally I really have to clamp the tank with my legs on heavy braking to keep position, this makes it hard to get my hips and body into cornering position. With the new seat it took much less effort to stay off the tank, so I could divert some strength to moving off the side. Highway comfort was excellent, as I expected, having the backstop further forward worked really well for me and my tiny back end. So all things considered I am more comfortable and in better control with a seat that is easy to fit and looks great on the bike. Highly recommended. Pardon the enormous post but I figured a thorough review might be helpful if someone else is looking in the future. Photos to follow when I get a min to do so. This has been exactly pricicely my experiance as well. The fitment of the rear section being a bit loose is off putting and I suppose I should tweak it but it stays put as is. Pillion comfort is WORLDS better then stock. Not sure if that has been discussed. I am very happy to not have squished nads any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoOp Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 viffviff, Was thinking of doing exactly that to a rear cowl for a very long time. But I was swapping back and forth between having a trunk mount and running with the cowl. After a season of commuting by bike (car was in the shop with a dead head) I decided to just live with the trunk mount and rails on the back. so I never got around to it. Looks like it would be pretty easy though, just a little drum sanding bit on a dremel and take your time. JimGregory, Massive Massive improvement in back seat livability. Our previous mount was a ZRX, one of the all time great pillion bikes, and while this doesn't get us quite that comfy, its close enough to be a real two up bike again. the stock seat was a total joke, far too sloped and narrow for any actual riding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viffviff Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 just got a donor seat cowl and will give it a go - my 'winter project'! Will post the results when it's done. Got the Sargent seat now. Not done a long ride on it yet, but after about a hour and a half, when I would normally be lifting my backside off the seat to get some relief, I don't even notice the seat - so a big thumbs up for the Sargent so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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