Saddlemen Spotlighted In Major Magazines
Online Video, Too…

Several of the latest additions to Saddlemen’s product line are featured in recent motorcycle magazines.

Saddlemen’s S2600 Deluxe Sissy Bar Bag Endorsed After Multinational European Road Tour

After using our S2600 Deluxe Sissy Bar Bag on two European road trips, Saddlemen customers William and Gerlide D. emailed us complimenting our bag’s design and value. “I must admit I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of your product… The contents of the bag stayed dry through heavy rain. After many miles the bag has retained its shape and great looks.”

To learn more about the experiences of satisfied Saddlemen customers, and the benefits our technology and workmanship can offer to you, please click on the following link: Saddlemen Feedback and Testimonials

Saddlemen Seat Reviewed: A Ride Fit For A King?

Retailer Tries Our King Seat – Back Pain And Discomfort Left Behind

Dan Ludwig, owner of OneStopMoto.com sells lots of Saddlemen seats and luggage. After hearing all the positive comments about our saddles, he decided to give our King Seat a try on his Harley-Davidson to see if it would improve his riding experience.

Dan contacted us to let us know how the seat worked for him…

“I just installed a new Saddlemen King Seat with backrest on my 2001 Fat Boy. I have been shopping for a new seat for some time – because of back soreness after only an hour or so riding.”

“I heard a lot of hype about this seat, so I decided to give it a try, but not expecting too much. Well, I was pleasantly surprised.”

“After several hours of riding, I was trying to figure out why my back wasn’t sore. I noticed I was not sitting on my tail bone like most seats. I understand this is attributed to the unique “split-cushion” design of the King Seat. Keeping your weight off your tailbone is critical to keep the seat comfortable and your back in check, especially for long rides. Additionally, I adjusted the backrest significantly forward (yes, you can do this with the King Seat) which helped me maintain an upright sitting position, and allowed me to lean back and rest as I rode, without being way back on the bike. I believe this also helped to relieve back stress.”

“Bottom line is this. If you want a good looking seat with great lumbar support to relieve back pain, and a comfortable ride, this is the seat for you.”

We are always happy to hear such positive feedback. Our goal and design philosophy has always been to provide greater comfort and more enjoyable riding time for our customers. We know what our technology and craftsmanship can do, and it’s gratifying to see that our seats are helping the riding public improve their time on the road.

For more feedback from real riders, please check out our Testimonial page.

We invite you to see what our expertise and technology can do to your motorcycling experience.

10 Years on 2 Wheels – Helge Pedersen

For more than 10 years, Norwegian-born Helge Pedersen and Olga, his sturdy BMW motorcycle, traveled vagabond style across six continents, through 77 countries, and over 250,000 miles, more than ten times the actual distance around the world. The result of this incredible journey? “10 Years on 2 Wheels,” ISBN-0-944958-38-9, an 8 1/2? x 12? hardcover book of 208 pages, with 200 color photos and 9 maps, is an unusual and exciting travel story of the history of a wanderer with an address that read simply, The World.

Here’s an excerpt:
Helge Pedersen Comments on Gel for Iron Butts
How far did you personally ride last time out? 300, 500 miles? Why did you stop?

Most people on a long trip complain about having a sore rear end. Sounds like me. I just can´t stand it sitting endlessly on the bike hour after hour without moving my butt. Sometimes I stand up while riding, other times I let my feet hang out in the wind while stretching. Eventually the time comes when I have to stop and take a break. My butt has had it…

In order to relieve this problem, I have tried all kind of saddles and I have found out that there are really bad ones. But there are some good ones as well. What surprises me, is that people will spend 10,000 dollars or more on a bike that comes delivered with a terrible saddle. The brakes, engine, paint job, along with everything else are just perfect, but the stock saddle sucks. It might look good on the bike, but a few short miles down the road you’ll know it definitely doesn’t feel good on your rear end..

Relief, however, is in sight. According to Saddlemen in Los Angeles, California, they have built the perfect saddle. This innovative company has researched other “seated” user groups and found for instance that people bound to wheelchairs were sitting on silicon gel..

Some manufacturers of bicycle seats claim that their silicon gel seats are the best in the world. How about your wife? You can just ask the experts. Women have been using silicon for all kinds of self improvements and we all like it don’t we? So why not make a saddle for motorcycles built on the same principals: make ‘em look good and feel good.

No More Aching Butt
Some three years ago, I noticed that my butt hurt. I’ve been accused of being a pain in the butt occasionally, but never the other way around and I didn’t like it. And being extremely quick on the uptake, it didn’t take long for me to realize that it only hurt when I was on the bike.

At the time, my 1989 FLHTC had about 65,000 miles on it and factory saddle had slowly, almost imperceptibly worn out over the four years I’d had it. Finally, it split and I had to do something about it. And as fortune would have it, I was in Sturgis at the time. I decided to hit all the seat makers and buy something I liked. Well, that was my plan anyway, it didn’t work out that way.

I sauntered outa the motel that morning and another writer I knew was there riding a fresh Road King with this really neat looking seat. He explained it was a new Saddlemen gel seat. WOW, I’m a sucker for new, improved etc.!! So off to Saddlemen’s booth at the civic center in downtown Sturgis to see the recently introduced road sofa.

I quickly learned that they produced three variations of this saddle for my bike. I could choose between leather, vinyl or a marine grade cloth covering for the seat. The demo seat they had available had the cloth covering.

I was a lot more interested in hearing about the gel material for the seat. As a young troop at Walter Reed Army Medical Center during the Vietnam debacle, I had observed severely burned patients and others who could not move about due to their injuries, we placed on gel beds. The theory being the gel would distribute weight evenly help to alleviate pain and to prevent bed sores. The folks from Saddlemen told me that this was the idea behind their road sofa. They did emphasize that it would take 500-800 miles to break in the gel seat. So, I had 'em bolt one on for a test drive..and it was comfy. I liked the cloth seat very much. It also was fairly hard on the ol' buttocks.. but I remembered the break in period and figured it would get softer.

It turned out, the demo seat was the only one they had. So I put in an order for the cloth covered one and headed home with my aching butt. A few weeks later this huge box arrives and in it a seat!! It bolted right up…the backrest slipped into the holder and off I went to ride the entire length of Route 66 for Hog Tails magazine.

AFTER ABOUT 600 HUNDRED MILES I BEGAN TO WONDER IF IT WOULD EVER BREAK-IN… BY 800 I WAS SURE IT WOULDN’T… BY 1000, IT WAS THE MOST COMFORTABLE SEAT I’D EVER BEEN ON!!!

The gel had, almost unnoticed by me, formed to the shape of my uuuhh… cheeks. This had become the most comfortable seat I had ever been on.. bar none.

I also discovered some advantages I hadn’t expected. Not only was the cloth cool in summer, it was warmer on the cold days as well. But the biggest advantage I noticed was, once I got comfortable on the seat.. I didn’t move around and the cloth held me where I wanted to be.

By the way, once my wife caught up to me, she also observed and extended break-in for the passenger seat .. but now that it has conformed to fit her, she won’t ride with anything else. She also commented on the fact that I didn’t squirm around at all and that she didn’t feel the need to move either.

The folks at Saddlemen explained to me that the break-in period is dictated by the riders weight. Lighter/ longer… heavier/shorter.

OK… now for the nitty gritty. The seat has been on my bike for three years and some 15,000 miles. It’s been through hundred degree days in Texas and temperatures well below zero in the garage enduring the Wyoming winters. I’ve washed it every spring with Woolite and dried it with a towel, reapplied Scotchguard and that’s it. How has it held up?

In a word GREAT
The pictures you see here were shot while the bike was down to be painted this winter. I can’t find any sign of wear on the cloth or the vinyl parts of the seat. None, zip, nada… as far as I can tell, the color hasn’t even faded.

The gel is a marvel. It’s still comfortable and molded to my derriere. Neither heat nor cold has effected it’s ability to evenly distribute my weight. And in the cold months, it has an unadvertised quality. Leave your bike in direct sunlight or use a heating pad or something like that to heat the gel and it stays warm for a longtime!! A bun warmer!!!

But be warned, I learned this in Albuquerque the hard way, leaving the bike sitting in the sun for 2 hours, and then hopping on.. and right off!! Yeehaw!!

I quickly learned to cover the seat!

Saddlemen makes a number of gel seats, and can add it to yours. I recommend it. And I have to say, that while having to protect the seat with a baggy cover during inclement weather is a pain in the butt, the pain this seat prevents more than off-sets the slight amount of inconvenience it causes!!

You’re looking for a seat… and want a comfy, long-lasting one… try out the Saddlemen gel seat.

RiderMagazine.com Reviews SaddleGel Gel Pads

RiderMagazine.com's Greg Drevenstedt and his girlfriend, Carrie found relief in Saddlemen's SaddleGel Gel Pads on a week-long tour test to Redwood National Park last summer on a Kawasaki Concours 14. After a couple hundred of miles and a miserable case of "monkey-butt," they were very happy to have the gel pads to be able to continue their ride in relative comfort. Read the article here.

In the early ‘90s, the experienced riders at Saddlemen figured out a way to incorporate all the benefits of gel into a motorcycle seat and quickly learned it was far more comfortable than standard seats for a variety of reasons. For one, SaddleGel isolates engine and road vibration, a common cause of rider fatigue. Saddlegel is a molded solid with fluid-like properties that will not slide to one side or move around in your seat like air or water in a plastic bag; instead the proprietary design eliminates pressure points at the hip bones and tail bone by evenly distributing your weight across the surface of the seat. Otherwise, pressure points or “hot spots” can hinder blood flow, causing pain and discomfort. Normal circulation is never lost on a seat with SaddleGel, and it keeps your rear end comfortable on a long ride, and ready to respond quickly as road conditions change. Read more about SaddleGel here.

Satisfied Saddlemen Customers Share Their Experiences With Our Seats and Luggage

“We have installed Saddlemen Gel Seats on all of our bikes for many years. When we got the Wing, we went for a ride and Sue tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if the bike had a gel seat (which it didn’t). She could tell the difference.

She then asked me (in a very pointed way), ‘When would we get one?’

‘As soon as I can call Saddlemen,’ I replied. I did, and now she’s happy.”

Larry and Susan L.
California
GL1500 Goldwing

For the people here at Saddlemen, nothing is more gratifying than knowing that our products are helping the riding public get more enjoyment, time and miles out of their seats and luggage.

To learn more about the experiences of satisfied Saddlemen customers, and the benefits our technology and workmanship can offer to you, please click on the following link:

Saddlemen Feedback and Testimonials

Saddlemen’s “Explorer” Map Pouches –
Product Review in American Rider Magazine

Saddlemen Seat Featured In Hot Bike Magazine

Explorer Seat With Backrest Part Of Upgrade Project For 2005 Softail Deluxe

Saddlemen’s Explorer Seat with Driver Backrest was the choice for a comfortable, long-range, two-up touring saddle for one of Hot Bike Magazine’s editors. This revamped 2005 model Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe is featured in the magazine’s October 2010 issue (Volume 42, Number 10), starting on page 68.

As described in the motorcycle seat section of our website: “The deep, wide contours of the Explorer™ makes this the perfect long distance saddle for both rider and passenger. The unique Split Cushion design reduces seating pressure for maximum long-range comfort. SaddleGel™ comes standard for both the driver and the passenger. SaddleGel™ reduces tail bone pressure and increases circulation…allowing you to ride longer. For your next trip of 10 or 10,000 miles, the Explorer™ is the comfort king by which all others must be judged!”

Industry insiders know the benefits of Saddlemen design and quality. We invite you to find out for yourselves. Whether with a new seat, a custom retrofit, or our wide range of motorcycle luggage, we at Saddlemen are proud to show what our expertise, craftsmanship and technology can do to make riding more enjoyable.

V-Twin Magazine Reviews Saddlemen

Saddlemen Gel Pads Trek The Himalayas

Challenging the Roads of the “Roof of the World”

Recently, a friend of Saddlemen, Joe Bonnello, was one of a group of five trail riders braving the highest roads in the world, in the northwestern Himalayan mountains, on Indian-made Royal Enfield motorcycles. Joe made sure to take along a Saddlemen Gel Pad when challenging these largely unpaved roads. “I thank you from the bottom of my ass. Without the gels, I would not have survived,” said Bonnello. “The shocks on those Enfields are simply non-existent!”

The group conquered the highest road on Earth, the Khardungla Pass, listed at nearly 18,400 feet above sea level! Located in the northern-most province of India, Jammu and Kashmir, this area borders both Pakistan and China, and is only about 500 miles straight east from Kabul, Afghanistan!

The distinctive, bright yellow landmark and road safety signs seen in some of the photos are from the HIMANK organization, and often use “Burma Shave” style slogans to encourage safety on these wild roads.

Check out the photographs linked below. Give them a mouse-click to see them full size.

To help better inform the public about the benefits of SaddleGel, we have an “FAQ” (Frequently Asked Questions) page to our website’s support area. For more info check the following link at saddlemen.com:

Why Your Motorcycle Seat Needs SaddleGel!

We love to show our pride in what SaddleGel can do for you!