Yesterday, 10:30 AM
Wunderlich recently released its AKTIVKOMFORT Seat with Aftermarket Heating. My 2021 R1250RS did not come with heated seats, those came out the following year. I’ve really missed the heated seats I had on my K1600GT so despite the steep price, I ordered the front seat from Wunderlich.
The instructions say installation time is 30 minutes; it took three techs at Morton’s BMW two hours. Granted, I already had a heated jacket liner wired into the bike, which is why I asked the pros to do it. After all was said and done, it looked great and even allowed me to use the Sargent pod that replaces the rear seat—after some serious pressing into place. So how does it feel?
Some riders might remember Corbin seats before they discovered memory foam; this seat is just like that—at first it was a shock to my bony, seven decade-old posterior, it was so hard! Either it’s grown on me or it’s breaking in, but after a few hundred miles it’s not bad at all. But does it warm?
There is a three position switch on the side: all the way down is 25% heat, middle is off, and in the up position it’s suppose to get to 100% heat. As far as I can tell, there’s no point to the 25% setting, I cannot tell the difference. The 100% position produces no where near the amount of heat the K1600GT could. On a 30 minute ride to work, wearing fairly thin wool slacks in temperatures between 40 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit the seat felt…not cold. Not warm, not hot, but not cold. How much heat was getting into my body from blood flow is hard to tell, but the effect is far less than a BMW heated seat.
Including having the dealership install the seat, it cost me over $1000. For this I get a seat which will apparently be significantly cooler in the summer—no bad thing—might be more comfortable to sit on in the long run although BMW seats have gotten much better over the years, and is not cold down to 40 degrees. Freezing is normally my limit for riding, but I am interested to see if the seat performs relatively better or worse the colder it gets.
In summary, it’s cheaper than buying a new bike just for heated seats, it requires a break-in, and the Aktivkomfort seat with Aftermaket heating will not produce nearly the same heat as BMW’s own seats. Still, it’s a step up from the stock, non-heated version that came with the bike.
The instructions say installation time is 30 minutes; it took three techs at Morton’s BMW two hours. Granted, I already had a heated jacket liner wired into the bike, which is why I asked the pros to do it. After all was said and done, it looked great and even allowed me to use the Sargent pod that replaces the rear seat—after some serious pressing into place. So how does it feel?
Some riders might remember Corbin seats before they discovered memory foam; this seat is just like that—at first it was a shock to my bony, seven decade-old posterior, it was so hard! Either it’s grown on me or it’s breaking in, but after a few hundred miles it’s not bad at all. But does it warm?
There is a three position switch on the side: all the way down is 25% heat, middle is off, and in the up position it’s suppose to get to 100% heat. As far as I can tell, there’s no point to the 25% setting, I cannot tell the difference. The 100% position produces no where near the amount of heat the K1600GT could. On a 30 minute ride to work, wearing fairly thin wool slacks in temperatures between 40 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit the seat felt…not cold. Not warm, not hot, but not cold. How much heat was getting into my body from blood flow is hard to tell, but the effect is far less than a BMW heated seat.
Including having the dealership install the seat, it cost me over $1000. For this I get a seat which will apparently be significantly cooler in the summer—no bad thing—might be more comfortable to sit on in the long run although BMW seats have gotten much better over the years, and is not cold down to 40 degrees. Freezing is normally my limit for riding, but I am interested to see if the seat performs relatively better or worse the colder it gets.
In summary, it’s cheaper than buying a new bike just for heated seats, it requires a break-in, and the Aktivkomfort seat with Aftermaket heating will not produce nearly the same heat as BMW’s own seats. Still, it’s a step up from the stock, non-heated version that came with the bike.
