If I am running 400-500 miles, I'm taking my Street Glide and leaving the FLSS at home. If you are running that on a regular basis, you might want to rethink your choice of bikes.

 

To address the ride quality question; I've never had the barrell spring
type seat, but since the pogo-style only has like .5"-.75" of movement,
I would say no way is it "better" than a 2" - 3" set of barrell springs.

I agree with the other observation; if you're planning on going
500 miles in a day every day, you probably ought to start with
different platform. In my opinion, at the very least you'd need
some sort of air shock system like the Shotgun Shock or the SAS....

good luck,

T.

 

As with any bike, it can be made to travel with some ingenuity and compromise.

The seat itself is very comfortable due to the shape. In fact, I'm surprised bike designers ever went away from a contoured seating surface. If you look at the high end aftermarket seats for long range touring bikes (Bill Meyer for example), the concept still exists in a cushioned style seat. The pogo isn't a real pogo with a long spring though. Your suspension is almost solely controlled by your shocks. The Pogo gives a very slight amount of spring, and some minor flex in the seat pan. You would want to replace the shocks with non-lowered versions at the least.

HD makes "comfort" shocks for about $300 (just standard non-lowered Softail shocks.)

Progressive makes the 522 series that's said to be a good improvement over the standard Softail shocks ($400-600 depending on options.)

Several air ride systems are available, but they add complexity and opportunity for failures. If you bar hop or ride to local bike shows, the risk is minimal. If you're 1000 miles from home, you don't want a leaking suspension. I've not used them, so their reliability (and comfort value for that matter) is unknown to me. People swear by the Shotgun Shock, but I prefer first hand experience before spending $1500 on a "maybe."

From an adaptability standpoint, aftermarket luggage capacity options are few and expensive. I overcame this with a home made, modular, detachable luggage rack. The smaller piece shown here is good for a medium duffel or tail bag.



The secondary rack can handle two medium duffels (one on each side) and a large duffel on top.







The secondary rack bolts to PlusNuts in the smaller rack. The whole system is detachable with HD detachable hardware. It comes off in seconds and can be stored in a tent or hotel room to accommodate day rides at the destinations.

Ignore the old school bungees. I have ROK straps for this purpose.

You will also want the 21" windshield with lowers like Gunny's awesome setup. Or Wachuko uses the more modern HD wind splitter.

The S-Series cruise control is a great long-day feature, but compromises include lack of radio and GPS. I use a helmet mounted Uclear Bluetooth system and my phone for these features.

It will never be as comfortable or convenient as a Street Glide or my BMW R1200GS for example, but sometimes you want the ability to have your naked cruiser available at a destination 1000 miles from home. I wouldn't roll into Daytona or Thunder Beach on my BMW, but I could easily get there on the Slim S.

I'm not sure one could make a Slim into a 2-up long-range bike. Certainly not with a pogo seat.

 

Man, what a wealth of knowledge you all have.

I am not scared of 500-600 mile days on lightweight bikes. I currently ride a 2004 Yamaha FZ1 that is a good ride, but fairly light. The wind tosses it around pretty easily. The wind protection is also lacking. It has served me well, but I wanted to get into this Softail Slim style.

I had always wanted to do a homage to a WLA with more current tech and features. I originally though about starting with a heritage springer, and then a crossbones (you can see the timeline that I have been hankering to do this) but now I see the best starting "canvas" in the FLS and the other S is just a bit extra fun for me.

Anyhow, I think all of your comments are right on the money. I thought about a road king classic but I don't like the way they feel. I have ridden street glides, ultras and electras - they just don't turn me on. Now the softails, particularly the more nimble with the bigger front wheel and still a narrow rear tire, still have that sporty feel (for me). Thats where I am coming from on that.

Now, I have planned on doing progressive suspension front and rear on this scoot. I don't want to scrape floorboards too much and I also want a predictable and tight ride. I realize that most of the suspension will come directly from that, and not the seat or mount therein, but I will take from where I can while keeping the function and form correct. Function has top priority, though. I like the pogo system for the fact that it seems like a much more rigid and precise mounting. The last thing I want is the seat moving around in the sweepers.

SLV, you hit the nail right on the head with the luggage system. I was already thinking on how to do that in a practical way that was relatively easy to dismount. I can't think of a more elegant design than what I saw in your pictures. I really want to pursue that. I need to hit you up for part numbers and the like. I carry a drybag for my kit that I had custom made at Bucks Bags in Boise, Idaho. It would set perfectly on the rear platform you designed. After that, I will look for some saddlebags.

I will definitely go for the 21" windshield and building up some lowers should be a feat I can manage - with some tips from this site, of course.

Now, if I can download the perfect design that is swimming around in my head and get it to become a reality (within reason) before my trip in July, I will be "shitting in high cotton"!

Thanks,

PB

 

PB.
I don't want to clutter Gunny's thread any more than I have, so jump over to here.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...home-base.html

I posted the same reply from above and I will add an additional post showing the luggage rack.

 

Thanks SLV!

Sorry for stealing any thunder, GunnySgt. I got carried away!

Cheers!

PB

 

No problem at all guys, sharing info is what this is about

 

Gunny, would love the ammo can mod for my harley. Can you lead me in the right direction? Looks awsome, thanks.

 

Gunny love all the mods you have made.
Got me a heritage at end of June and been thinking what to do to make her mine.
Love the oldstyle look. If mine turns out as nice as yours ill be happy.

 

Great looking bike Gunny!