Bones is now 6 weeks old, have had 4 different seats on it and the saddlebags have come and gone. Just ticked over 3600 km (2000 miles) and the engine is freeing up noticeably. It cruises happily in 6th gear now which it didn't like for the first 1000 miles. Dealer did the 1000 mile service for about $65US which was good of him since I didn't ask for it with the purchase. Headlight beam was tilted on delivery, only noticeable at night, but they fixed that at the first service. Otherwise no problems to speak of.

Got rid of the heel shifter pretty quickly just because it was right where I like to put my left foot on the board.

While waiting for the bike I bought a softail standard seat, a badlander seat, and ordered the bike with the standard sprung harley seat. The one with no padding. In the box of leftover goodies was the original seat. During the weeks following delivery I tried all of the seats out. The softail standard seat was pretty comfy but the angle of the rise at the back of the seat where it follows the guard is I feel too shallow and didn't support my lower back well. The wife liked that one best as it had the most padding for the pillion and was the reason I bought it in the first place. The badlander seat was next ( I think I have pics of that one on). It had a good shape with a sharper rise at the rear, but with noticeably less padding it transmitted a lot more vibration through the seat and actually made my butt numb after a decent run. After that I took the original seat and put it on, just to see if I liked it as I had never ridden one with the original seat and the narrow beach bars. It left me with the same feeling I got when riding the test bike. That with the padded thick rear section, I felt like I was riding on the bike rather than in it. Most unsatisfactory, which was why I started the idea of changing seats in the first place. Finally, I went back to the standard unpadded sprung seat, it is a joy to ride on and transforms the whole nature of the bones to ride. It really is that much better. If you haven't tried one on your bones and you have the original seat still, do yourself a favour... Well thats just my opinion for what its worth.

Saddlebags finally arrived a couple of weeks after the bike and they installed them with the first service. The are good sturdy bags with a reasonable capacity but a very small opening in the top of them. Also they are a pain in the butt to install/remove. The holding bolts for them are recessed into the bag wall and difficult to get at. I ended up going and buying a cheap skinny set of spanners and bending one to make the job feasible. Even then, its an irritating job to put them on and off again. I prefer the look and feel of the bike with them off so I leave them off now unless I'm touring.

Just on the seat thing again, I bought a butty buddy seat for my pillions but neither my wife or daughter have tried it yet. Will update after they have tried it.

Cheers Mark

 

Looks good (for a Softy)

 

Cheers Mark

 

Looking good Mark, but tell me; what bars are they and how do you find them?

best regards

walt

 

Bikes looking real SHARP!!!

 

Mark,

The beach bars are the **** aren't they? Love them on my bike. As far as the seat goes, I too went with the Standard solo. I had the same issues as you when I sat on the bike in the showroom. The looks of the Standard are off the chart in my opinion and really change the look of the bike.

My only concern was that a serious run might leave my a$$ paralyzed! I just made an Atlanta to L.A. (lower Alabama) run that checked in at 300 miles each way. I felt really good when I got there. Due to unforeseen circumstances I got it in my head that I needed to be back in Atlanta ASAP. I hit the road at 8:30PM for the return. I started to lose feeling in my legs about an hour out of Atlanta. Not bad considering that I logged 600 miles in a single day!

So needless to say, I am pleasently surprised that the seat performed as well as it did. The entire ride back was via the highway and 75MPH. I have been back 4 days, and I am just now thawing out! 55 degrees at 75MPH will make you into a human popsicle! I had planned to return the following day with temps in the 70-80s, no cold weather gear. Ouch!

 

Hey Walt

Yes the bars are the narrow black beach bars and are an option in the HD parts catalog for the crossbones.

For the standard seat on long trips, i went to the local upholsterer and got him to make a black sheepskin cover that attaches with velcro straps underneath. Helps let a bit of air under your butt so it doesnt get sweaty and absorbs a lot of vibration too.

If anyone is interested i'll post some pics this week.

Cheers Mark