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I'm just about to buy a RK that already has a Sundowner seat, if the missus still complains then I will buy a Ultimate (http://www.ultimateseats.ca/harley_2.html), everything I have read is positive plus I like the look, they are a two-piece seat.
Yes I know they cost a bit more, but there is nothing worse than being uncomfortable when you still have a long way to go !
It probably has more to do with your riding position than anything. RK should have adjustable foot rest. Ideally you want your knees inline with your hips if not slightly above. If you dont have boards they will help as well.
I have the stock RG seat for me but switch to a HD Touring seat and a full tourpak when the wife is on back. I also got the kuryakan adjstable hwy pegs. She uses the hwy pegs once her butt gets sore, changes the angle a bit and she can absorb bumps with her legs.
My husband rides a '08 Road King and on occasion I ride as a passenger. My problem is the pain it causes in my tookus. At first, I could ride maybe an hour before the pain would become so searing that I was devising plans to extract myself from the moving vehicle without causing harm to my husband or others on the road. Since I was never able to fully develop a working plan for this, we spent a few hundred and upgraded to the Mustang seat. This helped a little, I could now go about an hour and a half before I was wishing, praying, to be clothes-lined off this torture machine. Most recently, we purchased an Airhawk cushion and it added about 30 more minutes of riding pleasure before I was ready to get off and call a cab to take me the two hours home. Advil and like pain relievers are like spitting on a raging bonfire and hoping to turn it into a campfire.
Are there other passengers out there who have experienced this and have you actually found a resolution? I find posts from riders, but not from passengers. Do I have a butt not meant to ride on a bike? Is there a "silver bullet?" Should I give up riding? Should I continue to fork over hundreds of dollars looking for solutions that don't seem to help very much?
I really enjoy the ride, but I live in an area in Central Texas where two hours doesn't get you very many places and we've more than exhausted our 2-hour perimeter.
Thanks!
Have him switch to the Ultra seat, or better yet, just trade the RK for an Ultra. That way you can have the backrest, armrest, and the softer seat. My wife loves to ride on our Ultra, and can ride out a tank of gas, and be ready to go on as soon as I fill it up with gas.
I thought that's where the term riding beech came from. That's all you hear from the back seat. My passenger tried about 4 seat on 4 different bikes and still complained. She started riding her own bike and now calls me a wuss when I want to take a break.
Have you tried a sheepskin seat cover? It'll give you more padding and helps keep the seat cooler when it sits in the sun. I found one at Ikea [ its a furniture store] that was a perfect fit for my seat. Cost about $20.,,
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We could help quite a bit more if you posted up pictures of the aforementioned tookus.
Does the Road King have a backrest? If you have tried a Mustang seat and still have problems it might not be the seat. A backrest will make you more comfortable. The height of the floorboards on the RK are adjustable also. Try changing them while out for a ride. It's only 1 bolt per floorboard.
If a backrest, new seat, and floorboard change still don't help, I'll take you for a ride on the back of my ironhead and I guarentee that you will be quite comfortable on anything else you ride on for the rest of your life.
Keep after it and let us know when you come up with a final solution.
I don't know if you have a back rest or not, but my wife said it was a lot easier on her when I added a sissybar with a pad on it, she said less weight was on her tush that way.
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