Well with 750 miles on my new 1200 custom I 've come to the conclusion that the stock seat is marginal at best. I'm leaning towards a solo seat and the detachable solo rack setup, but my question is which seat? I'm considering the HD signature series, the mustang vintage smooth, and the HD sundowner. Don't want to change my seating position on the bike, I'm 6 ft. 185 and arm and leg placement is comfortable for me, definitely don't want to be pushed forward from where I sit now. Just don't carry much natural padding in the dairy-aire and after about an hour of riding the butt-meter is telling me enough is enough. Out of the 3 seats I really like the sundowner the best for looks and fit. Anyone have experiences with any of these? Pros / cons?
Thanks, Chris

 

I know when I was looking at changing seats on a soft tail standard I had the dealership by my house let me test out a couple of seats. They actually let me put them on the bike and go off for while. Do some riding and let me see what worked best. Not sure if all will do that but you might ask. The seats I tried out were in stock also. So I actually gave you no info on seat choices! Lol. Sorry about that but maybe you can work out a way to go ride a little with the seats if they have them in stock.

 

If your only complaint is comfort, and you want something that will out perform a new, untried seat, and you want to save a pile of $$. Then...

https://airhawk.net

 

I had a friend just sell his '13 Sporty and he had a Mustang Solo with backrest he let me use for a day. I was very impressed at the comfort of that seat. It was for a 4.5 gal tank so there was a gap of about 1.5". I'm thinking about buying it because I want the larger tank anyway. I have the correct Mustang solo for the 3.3 gal tank I bought used but I haven't even used it yet, but it doesn't have a backrest. I have had the LePera Daytona Sport solo and the Monterey solo on my Softail and both were nice seats.

 

Chris, your short list is probably as long as it needs to be! Your local dealer may have HD seats you can trial, so well worth calling on them. That will get you a good start....

 

I bought a HD Sundowner Solo for my bike last year (sportster 72) and used it once on a 100 mile trip, it was amazing...However, it doesn't look right on the thin peanut tanked 72. I haven't started a f/s thread since I'm new here but I will have it for sale shortly when I can if you are interested. Just let me know

 

If reading the 50 page thread on seats on the XL Forum, the H-D Sundowner solo and the Mustang Vintage solo are the most comfortable.
The Mustang Vintage is higher quality compared to the Sundowner.
H-D seats are made by Danny Grey with a plastic backing plate and staples.
Mustang Seats are made with fiberglass backing plate and riveted with high quality synthetic marine grade leather cover material.
The Mustang wide touring solo seat is also quite comfortable, but the seat appears larger than the XL in my opinion.

 

I have had both the Sundowner and the Mustang wide touring on mine. Both are very comfortable but the Mustang seems to be easier on my behind than the Sundowner.

 

I've run the Sundowner, and it is a comfortable seat. But the airhawk is less expensive, and even more comfortable (it makes every seat I've used it on Much Better).

The other thing you can do to get more comfort out of your Sporty is to change out the rear shocks...the stock ones are close to useless.

More info on rear shock testing HERE.

 

I've got an older 1200C and my wife rode it with a HD low reach solo, when she upgraded to a deluxe I put a HD brawler seat on it that put me back a bit more. Used it for years as my commuter bike, getting ready to sell it now that I've retired.