Can you tell me which seat you upgraded to and how's the comfort now? My stock seat is giving me fits! Thanks.

hb

 

Hb,
You'll see a lot of answers to this question throughout the forum. I have a Sundowner smooth 51764-06 which bolts straight onto the Deluxe when you remove the impractical 07 FLSTN luggage rack (first thing to go for me). No mods, just put an allen head bolt into the fender hole, install a rubber washer under the rear seat bracket (that comes with the HD seat) and you're done. This seat for me is perfect for my daily commute, weekend and long distance two-ups. As usual you sit into the frame and not perched up and forward as per stock seat. No complaints from my lady after 2600 km into the outback and back home over easter. Always ben very happy with HD sundowners but there a lot of good seats out there......

Regards,
John


[IMG]local://upfiles/12478/C8224DD87F4E4353AF309620497DF53B.jpg[/IMG]

 

I'm going with the later model Fatboy seat on my '07 Deluxe, looks good, lower profileand lets you sit further back than the stocker. I'm thinking of going fora Gel instert next.

 

Been down this path too. Bought a Heritage Springer Seat and installed the backpad on the Seat Rail. Huge difference in comfort from the stock for sure. Not as bucketed as the stock seat so you sit further back.


Mike
NY

 

Heritage seat feels perfect, no more scrunchedup against the tank feeling.
I have a extra one for sale ifyou want it.

 

If you don't like the riding position, that's one thing.

If your butt goes numb or your tailbone hurts, that's another.

"Giving you fits" is pretty much anything... so, first I want to say that just buying a seat is not necessarily the solution...

From what my non-scientific research on this complex subject tells me, everyone has an opinion, just like what they are sitting on.

You can only correct a riding position that doesn't mesh with your body so far no matter what gimmick you buy to try to fix it. It is a joke to assume that you can ride a demo bike for 30 miles and tell what riding position is best for you, also. It makes me foam at the mouth to think that you have to spend a whole bunch of money learning the hard way where the solution to this dilemma lies. It is also a joke to assume that someone else's idea will solve your problem specifically, I think. I recently rode 600 miles with a buddy and his butt was fine with a Mustang seat... which he bought because he liked the way it looked. He was riding a Heritage Classic, I was riding a Nightrain. My butt was better this year after adding some gel padding, but still nothing like what I used to be able to do when riding a Honda. I would like to assume that if I bought a Road King that I would be able to ride like he did, but that just isn't the case.

What I did to alleviate my problem with liking the way that a boulevard bike looks but wanting to ride a long distance was to buy a Sundowner seat and then have it stuffed with a product made by Geltech. It is a waffle gel, and, from trying various loose pads over my Sundowner seat, I have determined that Geltech works best for me. Also, by installing it in the seat, I don't have to worry about dealing with a loose pad. When riding the Sundowner, my tail bone does fine but my legs get numb. When riding the stock seat, my tailbone kills me but my legs feel great. Problem only partially fixed... but I still like the way my bike looks when riding around my home location... I put the stock seat back on.

I have another buddy that swears by a sheep skin pad... but that's another loose pad you have to screw around with.

This is a stupid, dumb*ss situation as far as I'm concerned. I know that if I bought a BMW road bike I would be able to ride to California and back... no problem. Do I want to buy another bike just to go on long trips with? Absolutely not. Harley could do a lot more research in this area if they really wanted to make their bikes king of the road... but they won't. You get to do the reasearch for them with your wallet.

C#

 

I had my seat custom fit to my rear by a local upholstery shop.
Took me from roughly 30 minutes until pain to an entire day without pain.

As far as BMW, Honda, whomever making a better seat... If this is the case, why does everyone change those seats too? Everyone has different needs, and no one seat will work for everyone. Might be nice though if you could pick the seat you wanted out of a few choices when buying the bike.

 

If your short you'll probaly love the Deluxe seat, but if your 5-10 or above you may not like it.

 

The theory that I have come across from my research (again, this isn't gospel... just what I have observed and collected as to other's opinions) is that the combination of vibration and body physics is what causes the pain. For me, center pegs and low vibration is 95% of the battle. The low vibration for a Nightrain is never going to happen, nor are center pegs. Again, for me, I can get on a BMW ora Honda stock out of the box and ride three times as long as I can on my stock Nightrain. Have I done a survey to see if this applies to anyone else? No...

I used to ride a '67 Triumph Bonneville, a '65 Matchless, and a Norton here or there... so smooth, maintenance free riding has not been my sole priority... I should never have sold that Matchless.... sigh.

C#

 

Nice bike Mike! Just wondering what the part number is on that backrest in your sig pic.