I have not posted much as of late, just been riding and enjoying the bike and the weather. I almost NEVER ride 2 up and what little I have has been from a local watering hole to home. Today, I took my Daughter riding. That child has been riding with me since she was a baby. I used to put 2 of my belts together and strap her to me and go. Now, my baby girl is 26 years old and I am still not sure how that happened so fast! In any case, she still LOVES riding with her Daddy and we didn't get to do any this year because of our schedules. Today we took off and just went. I caught her a few times in my mirrors with a grin from ear to ear as we were blowing through the open country roads.

I really enjoyed today. I sacrificed so much to raise these 2 kids alone but days like today made it all worth it, they both turned out to be pretty damn good kids. My Son never rides with me, a guy thing I guess, he's going to be 24 this Nov. So, I can't leave him out so I just let him ride it himself. He knows the rules when he is on this bike, he breaks them, he doesn't ride. I guess what I wanted to comment most on was the 2 up riding on my bike. I have to admit, I really got spoiled riding it solo. With my daughter back there wiggling around I was like, uhg. Then she settled in and it was all good. I was again amazed at how well my air ride system worked with a body on back of the bike. It took me a little while to get it dialed in but after that, it really did it's job. I was then able to play with it as the road surface changed and when I got into some wide open country curvey roads. This air system truly is worth every single penny. I doubt I will ever own another bike unless it's a 2nd bike but if I did it would be another Softail and I would never own or ride another Softail without this air ride system on it. I am sure all you guys with G/F's and wives who has one of these air ride systems on it are greatly appreciative of having one too. I couldn't believe the difference it made for a passenger on the back of a bike.

I could feel my swing arm rising and dropping but my daughter barely moved at all. I will make 1 more comment, 1 I have yet to see anyone on here comment on yet "another benefit" 1 gets from this air ride system. My hips are getting really bad. I can raise and lower my bike at will when mounting or dismounting my bike and that really cuts down on the irritation and the pain of doing so. This is just another story while I am sitting here bored to death waiting for a few guys to roll by and pick me up. Since I never ride 2 up I just thought I would share my limited experience in riding with a body on back.

P.S., I threw a few paragraph's in there for those who are annoyed at me when I don't use them. For all you Illinois area riders the Peotone swap meet/bike show Oct. 5th. Be a nice place to put a few faces to the names if we meet up there.

 

Your baby girl is 26. You need to let her take your bike for a spin. After all the Deluxe is a girls bike.

I took the rear pillion pad and rear feet rest off my Deluxe within 30 minutes of having my bike home.

I also have a 1970 Triumph which I would take my 12 year old son for a ride on once and a while. I could not stand all of his wiggling and moving around so I asked him what the hell he was doing back there, he replied that he could not see whats ahead so he was standing up on the rear rest so he could see. I put an end to that real quick.

My Deluxe will always be a solo bike as my wife has no desire to ride which has its good and bad points. It is a shame I can't share with her something I love doing but it is nice not having anyone on the back to distract me from doing what I love.

 

Yea, I agree. I got "Solo spoiled" on this bike. I never have my rear seat on, it keeps things simple that way. If any young lady feels like it, after a drink or two, she has plenty of fender to sit on. Just a small town here, home is 3 or 4 miles from any local taverns here. A few great river bars 20, 25 miles out but they can hang, I always tell them the air ride is like sitting on a pillow. I think if I had a significant other I think I would encourage her to get her own bike rather than always on the back of mine, it is what it is.

 

Cool story, Tony.
My adult daughter who lives locally has really gotten into riding with us recently.
I'm quite sure my other adult daughter would too, but she lives 4500 miles away, so it's hard to check it out.

But it's funny how the older kids get, the cooler the parents get.