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 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 motorcycle fairings 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 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 r 6 fairings 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 r1 fairings 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 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 yamaha r1 fairings 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
