I (like many others I'm sure) have a Love/Hate relationship with my 2022 FLHCS 114's stock seat and I'm taking it as a personal challenge to game this thing out.

I feel the styling of the factory saddle on this bike is definitely cool looking but tailbone comfort is definitely an issue and I feel as though I figured out why in the video's as follows...

 

 

I've taken it for a ride and I did so wearing thin dry fit jogging pants so I could better feel the 3 pressure points better (2 hip joints/sit bones and the center/tailbone) and while it wasn't a long ride it was a revealing one as much was revealed when under hard acceleration and I'm pleased to report that yes...there was an equalized level of suppleness in the tailbone section "With The Pillion Saddle Off"

Here in this pic you can see the compression outline of the pillion noze against the saddles back which is not allowing the saddles center foam to displace itself thereby nullifying the saddles cushion effect right in the center/tailbone area of the saddle...



I've had friends tell me that HD saddles take a bit to "Break In" but I'm 4,300 miles into it and it's still as uncomfortable as the day I first rode it several hundred miles so?...some upholstery modifications may be in order.

 

I concur with the uncomfortable stock seat on the '18+ Heritage. I feel the problem is that Harley sought to make the advertised seat height as LOW as possible. To do this, they sloped the seating surface downward toward the rear, forcing the rider's spine against the raise rear portion. Because of the rearward slope of the stock seat, it's impossible to pull yourself forward to relieve the pressure on your spine.

The comfort issue is compounded by the fact that Harley raised the footboards to improve cornering clearance. Combined with the very low saddle, this forces the rider's hips into an uncomfortable crouching position which feels like "squatting" on the bike. This made riding the bike painful for rides over about 40 minutes.

As I've said before just about every time this issue comes up, I decided to go with the sprung solo seat to alleviate the problem. The higher riding position actually increased my leg room and prevented my hips from being rotated uncomfortably. Because the solo seat is so much narrower across the nose, I have no trouble flat footing the bike despite my 30" inseam. The springs also improve the ride. The old school style is icing on the cake. A win across the board for me. I DID have to go to a taller windshield, however.

 

Well me and about $750 fixed the problem today…

 

Is that the Ultimate seat? Thanks

 

No…this is the HD “Hammock” seat

 

I have a 2018 Heritage with 54,000 on her. Still have the stock seat and it has served me well.

500-600 miles days are not an issue.

 

I find the stock rider's seat on my 19 Heritage to be completely comfortable but the pillion is apparently a different story. I mostly ride the bike solo, though, so haven't yet decided to drop $ on doing anything about the pillion. I'm sure that whether the seat is comfortable or not for any particular rider has a lot to do with that rider's individual dimensions. As a not particularly big guy, at 5'11" and about 180 lbs, it fits me just about perfectly.

 

^^THIS^^…folks butts come in all shapes, sizes, densities and ages so there’s much truth to your words however there are also the different standards of measurement in that just because a rider can happily tolerate the stock seat doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t find the level of comfort of an upgraded seat absolutely amazing just like even though I’m plenty comfy in this hammock seat?…doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t find even more comfort from a Russell Daylong saddle and I literally wouldn’t know what I was missing unless I tried one.