A recent visit to Corbin Saddles in Hollister, Ca.

[racerrad8]

I was able to take a trip over to Corbin Seats in Hollister back in May to have some seat modification made with a buddy of mine. We left early on a Thursday morning to beat the commuter traffic congestion. We were successful arriving at the location right at 7:00 am. Once we got over the Pacheco Pass mountains the weather turned cold with overcast/foggy conditions. I knew they were closed, but we got there quicker than expected. Much to my surprise before I could even get the kickstand down, the roll-up door started to open. As the door rolls up, the lady behind the door asks, "Do you have an appointment?"

I tell her yes, but not until 8:30 which was the first available appointment. She then says as she is motioning us in, "Come on in".

Attached the the Corbin facility is the Wizard Cafe, but they do not open until 9:00 am. She asks my buddy and I, would you guys like some coffee? She then proceeded into the cafe and made coffee for my buddy since it was cold.

At about 7:30 a guy wearing a Corbin sweat shirt steps into the cafe and asks if we have an appointment. I told him we did at 8:30. He says, "Okay lets get started" and he immediately began working on the bikes to remove the seats. He said the girls won't be in until about 8:15, but go ahead and get these forms filled out for the repairs.

Just before 8 an older gentleman wearing a Corbin shirt walks in the door. He comes to both my buddy and I to greet us. I do not recall hearing his name, but I was filling out the paperwork as instructed. He chatted for a minute with us and the guy working on the bikes and says, "You are in good hands" before disappearing in the factory.

The seats are off in no time, the general changes are discussed and away the seats go to get altered, he says give me about an hour and you should be ready for a test fit/ride to make sure the changes are what you want. It is only about 8:15 at this time.

I see the girls walking into the check-in area, one gal grabs two forms and walks out into the shop. She raises the roll up door to open up for the day. As she approaches I hand here the two completed forms and she seems kind of surprised. Off she goes back into the check in office to enter us into the computer, my buddy and I go back into the still dark cafe so he can have another cup of coffee. We are now waiting for 9:00 so we can eat breakfast since we left Oakdale at about 5.

I have a real good friend that lives in Hollister that I used to race with before he stopped. I have not seen him since Robert got married back in 2015. I give him a ring, he says I am going to get a haircut and then I'll be over to see you.

As we wait motorcycles start pulling in for their seat modifications. There is a general chat among fellow riders as we had a mix, a couple HD/cruiser guys, a couple street bike guys and a dual sport show up.

9:00 finally arrives and we order breakfast and everyone has now made their way into the cafe because it is cold outside and in the shop. It is about 9:30 and our guy walks in and says, you are ready to test fit and ride it. So, we go back into the shop and start that process. I notice motor homes are pulling up outside and tourists are now filtering into the museum, coming out in to the shop to check it out and eating at the cafe. It now seems like there is 50 people milling about all the sudden.

We made some changes to the contour of the seat before test riding it. As I am pulling out for my test ride my buddy Richard is pulling in the driveway. I tell him to wait for me in the cafe. I go off on my test ride and request some more changes which are done quickly. After the next test ride I am happy. My buddy now has to do the same with his seat. Our guy tells us, we are going to have to make new covers because the changes in the seat will not allow the use of the old cover. I was advised of this when I made the appointment and it would be 1-2 hours per seat. When the appointment was made, they told me people are usually at the facility for 4-6 hours for the ride in service.

It is about 10 now and I have a nice visit with Richard, talking about the good ol' days of racing together. Time flies and our seat guys pops his head in to cafe door and says, "You guys are ready to go". I look at the clock and it is only 11. He tells me, take this work order inside to the girls to finish the paperwork. As I am walking away he tells me, "Mike, said no charge". I go into the office and the gal behind the counter starts looking for our paperwork. She can find it. She calls someone on the phone, she hangs up, digs through another stack of papers. She seems to be getting frustrated and mad. She asks for my reservation number if I still have it, I provide it to her. She looks it up and immediately gets on the phone. At this point I just want to pay so I can get back on the road.

Richard and the guy I rode over with are out in the shop again mingling with the other riders. She hangs up the phone and asks me to fill out two new forms because she cannot find them. I get one of the filled out and am starting the second one when the phone rings. She answers and say to the person on the other end, "Okay" and then hangs up.

She reaches across the counter, takes the completed form and asks for the one I am currently filling out. She then says, "Mike, said no charge for you guys." I respond with, who is Mike and can I shake his hand to thank him?

"Mike is the owner, Mike Corbin and that is him outside in the shop talking to your friends", she tells me.

I go out to the shop and my buddy I rode with tells me, "Mike has just told me no charge for the work today" with a shocked look on his face. I said," I know, I was just told the same thing inside". We end up having a 30 minute conversation with Mike Corbin, myself and my two friends. Richard, buddy from Hollister was a major commercial & residential contractor in San Benito County and his wife was also very big in real estate in the area. Low and behold Mike Corbin and Richard are pretty good friends. Mike said he owed Richard a favor and was glad to finally be able to pay it back. They slapped each other on the back, with Richard saying, "Oh no Mike, you still owe me..."

We shake Mike's hand one more time, thank him for the great service & hospitality before suiting up for the trip home. I tell Richard we have to get together more often, and he says he will be over to see us soon. It is still before 12 as we hit the road on the way home.

There are a few photos attached that I took while there, it is a pretty impressive facility.

I would like to give a big Thank You to Mike Corbin of Corbin Saddles and all of his staff for their hospitality during our recent visit.

Here is a little video I found interviewing Mike; https://youtu.be/doIS7e4Jims

Randy - RPM

[ZOA NOM]

Awesome story, Randy. I love my Corbin seats.

[Mike 86 in San Dimas]

Pretty cool. Curious about how your seat came out? What changes did you make.

[aviationfred]

Awesome write up. 


Fred

[FJ Flyer]

Great story.  I've been riding on Corbins for the last 20 years.  I've got a Gunfighter on my FJ that I picked up from a member of the old Yahoo FJ group.  I've got a front saddle on my '16 FJR that came on my '06 FJR.  Both are of the flat and hard variety.  They both work well, for me.

I've heard both good and bad about Corbin's service.  Never had to use them directly.  Nice to hear of the positive outcome.

[racerrad8]

Pretty cool. Curious about how your seat came out? What changes did you make.

I opened mine up to offer some more room and allow me to move around on the back of the seat easier since no one rides on the back.

I've heard both good and bad about Corbin's service.  Never had to use them directly.  Nice to hear of the positive outcome.

Oh, I can see how it would be a real long day there. The people rolling in for the 9 & 10am appointments I am sure did not get out of there until real late in the day.

They told me 4-6 hours and technically it was 4 since he got started before 8 and we left just before noon. at 10am, you add two hours plus the lunch hour for the workers in there it would have been after 3 before we would have left.

I am sure that puts a lot of people off.

Randy - RPM