The Ultimate Seat for 2018 Honda Goldwing Cruiseman’s Reviews

this is my 2018 Goldwing tour and this  is the ultimate seat for the 2018 Plus  Honda Goldwing but is the ultimate seat  really the ultimate seat for the  Goldwing    [Applause]  since 2002 ultimate seats has been  manufacturing custom saddles for a  variety of motorcycle brands and models  and now you can add the 2018 Plus Honda  Goldwing to that list I want to give a  short disclaimer here ultimate seats did  not sponsor this video however they did  send me this ultimate seat and passenger  backrest to test and review before we  talk about the features and the comfort  of the ultimate seat  let’s get it installed on this 2018  Goldwing here you can see the difference  between the OEM seat pan on top and the  ultimate seat pan on bottom the ultimate  pan is a urethane injection mold and it  is a much simpler design than the Honda  seat pan makes the seat much easier to  install the ultimate seat does not have  the two nylon positioning pins at the  front of the seat nor does it have that  nylon tongue sticking down the ultimate  seat is secured using these steel  brackets as opposed to the nylon ones on  the Honda seat and at the rear of the  seat the ultimate uses rubber pads as  well as this metal hook to loop under  the frame this video assumes
you already  know how to remove your OEM seat and  passenger backrest for detailed  instructions on how to do both of these  check out my 2018 plus honda goldwing  maintenance videos after removing the  OEM seat and passenger backrest  motorcycle fairings  i recommend installing the new passenger  backrest from ultimate seats first if  you have the heated seat option you’ll  see an OEM style connector located here  now the passenger backrest is only held  in place with these two bolts they  extend from the underside of the  passenger armrest area be careful you  don’t scratch your paint with these  bolts to be aware of where these are  first we’re going to connect the heated  seat connector for the passenger  backrest  next line up the mounting bolts  with the holes in the trunk lid you  might have to maneuver the backrest a  little bit to get the armrest to clip  under the front of the trunk lid edges  now by holding the backrest as you open  the trunk locate the mounting bolts that  come through the trunk lid this is where  you’re going to install the mounting  nuts that come with the ultimate seat  passenger backrest you can use your free  hand to kind of push on those armrests  to get those bolts and nuts to line up  correctly with the passenger backrest  secured you can now install the seat  route the heated seat cable if you have  that option down to the area where it  will have to connect to the motorcycle  use those little metal hooks to loop  under the frame at the rear and then  press down to align those metal brackets  with the nuts the threaded nuts in the  frame now you can use the two six  millimeter bolts that come with the  ultimate seat to attach it to the bike  and then just hook up your heated seat  connector and you’re ready to ride to  install the optional rider backrest  simply lift up on that little vinyl flap  and insert the chrome post down in  through the slide it couldn’t be simpler  and of course it folds forward so your  passenger can get on and off the bike  easier and there’s a little pouch big  enough to hold a couple of rags maybe  some tissues lip gloss things like that
my ultimate seat came with its own rain  cover in this nice little waterproof  pouch which easily fits in the saddlebag  now there is a separate small rain cover  for the rider backrest which just slips  on over the rider backrest I later  learned that you have to take the  rider backrest off the bike before you  install the rain cover on the seat now  this rain cover is made from the same  material that you would find on Frog  togs if you’ve ever had any of those  rain suits the rain cover will only go  on one way and it’s pretty obvious how  it goes on it just takes a little time  to kind of tuck it in around those  passenger grab rails and down between  the very back of the seat and the trunk  but once it’s on it fits a little loose  but remember this is designed to be used  while you’re riding in the rain or if  your bike is sitting outside in the rain  and then once you have it installed  there is a slot in the top where you can  reinsert that rider backrest  let’s talk about the style and the  quality of the ultimate seat one of the  big advantages to an ultimate seat is  you can have a lot of choice you can  choose from different seat colors you  can choose from a variety of stitching  colors and even have a two-tone seat so  you can have different vinyls different  textures of vinyl you can see the  different types of textures you have  available here and you can kind of mix  and match these to create your own  custom seat  2007 zx6r fairings it’s really pretty nice you  can also select some other options like  custom embroidery I ordered this  ultimate seat with a black leather  looking on the outside and a inlay of  carbon fiber and they carried that  through to the passenger backrest  and the rider backrest as well and it  really turned out nice and I wanted the  white stitching to match the color of  the motorcycle and I think it really  turned out elegant not over the top as  far as colors I just think it really is  a classy looking seat and as you can see  from this close-up of the stitching the  workmanship on this seat is impeccable  whether it’s the rider backrest the seat  itself or the passenger backrest the  quality and workmanship is really second  to none now when we come back I’m going  to talk about writer comfort and my pros  and cons  of course the biggest question is writer  comfort is this ultimate seat more  comfortable than the OEM seat and this  is where I need to add another  disclaimer because seat comfort is very  subjective some riders actually love the  OEM seat while others I’d say most  people kind of hate it I can only give  you my personal opinion from my  experience if you’ve watched my  motovlogs on YouTube you probably know I  was unable to ride my bike for more than  an hour on the OEM seat without having  to stop and get off walk around etc and  on a multi hour ride towards the end of  the day I would find myself stopping  every 45 minutes or so now part of this  is because I suffer from lower back pain  or maybe I just have a bony butt who  knows the first time I sat on this  ultimate seat my initial thought was  damn this thing’s pretty stiff of course  I was coming off an OEM seat which had  been rebuilt or modified by wing soft  with upgraded foam which feels softer  and more plush when you sit on it I was  concerned that this firmness of the  ultimate seat would be a deal killer so  for about three weeks I was kind of  limited to short rides around town I  really couldn’t tell much about the seat  at all it wasn’t until I had a chance to  ride about 560 miles one day round trip  to Oklahoma where I test rode the 2020  Gold Wing and I was pretty shocked when  I realized I’d ridden two hours without  having to get off the bike and stretch  my legs this is my first long-term road  test  I’ve gotten a lot of seat time  on this ultimate seat for the 2018 Gold  Wing and my first impression when I sat  on the bike with this new seat is Wow  it’s kind of hard it feels kind of stiff  so I was kind of concerned  comfortable is this seat going to be on  a road trip and it’s like one of those  things that you know it really it  shouldn’t be that comfortable but the  truth is it is comfortable  I’m on my fourth hour of riding today  and I only stopped once on the way up  here to get gas and that was about two  hours and 15 minutes into the trip but  on the stock Honda see I can only go an  hour I would say this ultimate seat is  much more comfortable than you think it  should be even though it feels stiff at  first it really is comfortable on the  long haul and in fact I can about double  my writing time over the OEM seat  I should also mention that the rider  backrest hits me in the perfect spot in  my lower back and it’s firm enough to  give really good support  I think the rider backrest I think I  like it even better than the one from  utopia and that’s saying a lot  now the passenger backrest is equally  comfortable and it’s got longer arm  rests so your passengers going to  appreciate that  so what are some of the pros and cons of  this ultimate seat in my opinion well  one of the pros is the quality  workmanship I really took the time to go  over this seat with a fine-tooth comb  and the construction the stitching the  quality of the vinyl everything was  top-notch I didn’t see any issues with  quality and workmanship the second thing  is the fact that the seat can be  customized to fit the design that you  want you can choose your colors your  different vinyl textures your stitching  and so forth so that customizability is  something there is a huge advantage and  a pro for this seat the third thing is  the rider backrest it is super  comfortable it hits you in the right  place it’s fully adjustable it folds  down so your passenger can get on and  off the bike easier personally I think  this is an option you should consider  when ordering an ultimate seat  the ultimate seat gets a thumbs up in  the area of comfort from me as well  like I’ve said before it feels kind of  stiff at first but on a long distance  trip it sure gave me the comfort that I  was looking for  r6 fairings  I think that’s a big  advantage to the ultimate seat over the  OEM see if you choose the passenger  backrest option there’s no need for you  to go out and purchase aftermarket  passenger arm rests because this  backrest already has much nicer arm  rests built in there better padded and  they’re more substantial than the OEM  arm rests another advantage is the OEM  heated seat option this heated seat and  passenger backrest function just like  the one from the factory you plug
it  into the factory harness and you use the  switches on your Center panel switch to  control the heat on this seat even  though it may not seem like a big deal  to a lot of people this ultimate seat is  much easier to install on the bike  than the OEM seat they’ve left off a lot  of unnecessary tabs so for those of you  who take your seat off regularly to work  on the bike  this seat is much much easier to get on  and off the bike now on the con side  this seat is relatively expensive you  can expect to spend between 1200 and  1600 dollars for an ultimate seat  custom-made to your specifications the  one that I have with shipping taxes  everything included was probably around  eighteen hundred dollars total so it’s  not an inexpensive proposition you’re  getting the quality you’re getting the  comfort but you’re gonna have to pay for  it remember all that beautiful stitching  and custom color embroidery well turns  out it’s not waterproof this seat is not  waterproof and moisture and rain can get  down through that stitching into the  inner workings of the seat that could  cause issues and that’s why ultimate  gives you the rain cover but be aware  when you ride this seat it is not  waterproof and as I said you do get that  rain cover with the ultimate seat but on  mine I did not receive a rain cover for  the passenger backrest I don’t even know  if they make one and I couldn’t find it  on their website so what is the bottom  line with this ultimate seat for the  2018 plus Honda Goldwing  well if you’ve got the money to spend  and you don’t mind dealing with the rain  cover when riding in the rain  the ultimate seat is gonna set your bike  apart from any other bike in the parking  lot the seat is absolutely beautiful  it’s well made it’s handcrafted and you  get to pick the colors if you want a  truly custom look with great comfort  ultimate seat is a good choice if you  liked this video please give it a thumbs  up and don’t forget to click the  subscribe button down at the bottom of  the screen thanks again for joining us  today on cruise man’s reviews    if you enjoyed this video please take a  second to give it a thumbs up and don’t  forget to click the subscribe button and  that little bell icon so YouTube will  notify you of new videos when they  become available

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>