I have seen a few people on the sportster forums that have the sundowner seat. I will be purchasing the sundowner seat soon and have a question for all you owners out there. Does the seat increase or reduce the amount of space between you and the forward controls compared to the stock solo seat? What are some good bag options the will work with the sundowner seat? Thanks for the help guys.

 

If you do a quick search you'll see that it seems to be a pretty even split between people that love their sundowners and people that didn't. I had to modify mine before I didn't hate it anymore.

I have mid controls on my sportster, but my highway pegs are in about the same place that forward controls would be. The sundowner raises my seating position on the bike a few inches and gives me a little more stretch to reach my highway pegs. Maybe 2 or 3 inches.

I use a cheap set of leather bags from leatherup.com that sit pretty okay without relocating the rear turn signals and fit under the seat good enough.

 

brkbstrd,
Thanks for the heads up, so I am assuming from what you said that the sundowner is not the best choice for tall riders. What bags did you get from leatherup.com? Thanks again man.

 

http://leatherup.com/p/Motorcycle-Sa...ags/49456.html

The bags are "okay". For the price they're actually pretty nice, but after a couple of rainstorms they don't look too hot but still work well. Probably a great bag if you live in a dry area or don't ride in the rain.

For a seat, if I had it to do all over again, I'd have spent the extra money for a custom.

 

Spoons, I am 5' 9" and 202 lbs, my combination of Sundowner seat and LazyRider bag/backrest allowed me to ride 370 miles to western Pa. and back with no problems at all. The bags are Ameritex from J&P Cycles.

 

I only use my Sundowner for trips as it does raise me a little and I'm not that tall. But it's definetly more comfy than the stock seat! I don't have a problem reaching the forward controls though.

 

I had a Sundowner on my '05 1200C for a while. Felt like it raised the seat position about 1½". This didn't cause any problems reaching the forward controls but I didn't like the raised seating position. I replaced it with a Drag Specialties Low Profile Wide. It is approximately the same width as the Sundowner but sits ½" lower than the STOCK seat.

 

I have the Sundowner on my 1200C and it is at least 1 inch taller than stock and
it also pushes you about 1 inch further forward. It is definitely more comfortable
than the stock seat, but not as good as I'd hoped it would be.

I often do mountain rides lasting about 6 hours and I think the seat is a bit too
narrow so not enough of my weight is being supported by my butt putting a
bit too much pressure on the area behind the family jewels. Sometimes it's fine,
sometimes it gets sore.

I'm thinking about trying a Mustang seat if this continues to bother me.

BTW, I'm 6' and 210lbs..

 

As mentioned it raises you about an inch or so (that would be a good thing for taller riders). Then it also moves you forword slightly, and that would be a bad thing for bigger guys. Trade offs. I love the seat... If you have one, go ahead and put your stocker back on for a day and feel the amazing difference... Stock is now unbearable.

Edit: 6'4" 260LBs.

 

I'm shopping for a Sportster right now, and I have been eyeing the Sundowner myself, because I'll be using it to commute. (110 mile round trip.) All things considered, at 5'8" and 160, it sounds like it would be a good thing. Any other short riders out there with the Sundowner?