so a couple days ago, i decided to get on the bike and blow out of town on one of those "one tank trips" again.

its 3 days later and i am still no where near home

a few observations from the highways

1. the heritage is a great bike on the long trips (rock solid and stable on the long hauls) but the stock seat blows. the backrest that i have is very comfy, but i think its time to have someone gut my seat and maybe put in some gel or remold it. my a$$ is numb and i am having to stop every 50-100 miles to a 5 min stretch to get blood to my butt and feet.

2. you have not lived until you have driven florida state road 16 in the area around this little nowhere town called starke florida. what an amazing motorycle road. 65mph, smooth roads, and the trees on either side of the road create a "canopy of leaves". its very cool!

3. st. augustine is very cool, daytona is disgusting, gainsville is a flurry of activity when school is in session and ocala is a lot "sketchier" than i remember.

4. if you need a hotel, you WANT to stay at a little chain called "Microtel". lousy name, but more like a micro apartment, than hotel. they have jacuzzi rooms. dont pay the rack rate of $100$. ask nice, and you can get 50% off.

5. stick to the small 2-4 lane back roads. they are much better than the interstates and often just as fast

6. 100 miles on a motorycle is a LOT longer than 100 miles in a car! i dont know why, but everything takes twice as long to get to on a bike. i have driven some of these roads many times in a cage. i DONT remember them being THIS long.

so anyways. i took a ton of pictures (mostly of st augustine, because i had never been there... yea i know i am a floridian. i have never been to disney either. *shrug*. i live a mile from the gulf of mexico and dont fish and never go to the beach. i guess its one of those things "if you live there, you never notice")

anyway. this has been a fun little trip. it started as a day trip with the intent to get home by dark. its turn into a 3 day excursion (maybe its good that i have a terrible sense of direction and down own a gps)

time to get my morning started. i think i will be home tonight. but then again, it could be a few days more

 

Dave you should check out the Fla Crew section, agree with all you posted. Check with Mean City Cycles on the seat, did a great job on my RKC a few years ago.

 

Dave - thanks for the post. I am looking to get a Heritage next year, and always looking for ride reports on that bike.

 

the numb butt ache thing goes away if i take 5, or even stand up at a light for a few min.

whatever the problem, its in the seat. i have been told to check out a sheep skin or those wooden beads that cabbies use

 

Where do you live David?

 

Didn't know Florida had such good riding areas. Guess when I think of good riding I think of hills and twisties. Sounds like it was a great trip for you.

I'm not ready to give up on my stock seat. When I first got the bike 50-100 mile trips would have my butt burning and back aching.

I was dreading my first long trip on it which was 1200 miles to Nova Scotia. Don't know what happened but either my a$$ got broke in or the seat got broke in but it's been fine since. Having a backrest definitely helps alot. I currently have a Firehousecustoms but it doesn't fit me just right. I'm going to try to tweak it a bit.

I still might try out a Mustang seat in June when we go to Americade in NY. From what I understand they have a program where you can try the seat out for a few days and decide if it's worth it.

If it's a better seat and has an adjustable backrest to boot, I may drop the bucks and get one.

If I was going to have my seat reworked my first choice would be one of our sponsors, Mean City Cycles. I've been here awhile and have read nothing but positive reviews of their work.


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2008 Heritage Classic: His
2008 Deluxe: Hers