I learned to ride on the Suzuki 250 they had at the MSF course. It was a street bike not unlike my 883L. We were taught to sit comfortably upright, with spine straight up and down, arms relaxed slightly bent on the controls.

When I sit like that on my 883L, it is fine, but I find I have to pitch slightly forward to comfortably use the controls with relaxed arms. Maybe I am hunching a bit? My back has started killing me, both the lower back and tailbone, making it not fun to ride. I can slide forward on the seat, but in driving I slide back again. I am 5 foot 10 with a 30 inch inseam. So I am a bit tall but with shorter legs. I reach the ground perfectly on the bike, easily flat footing it.

Recently I have found adopting a more sitting back posture,in other words, angling my hips as if I was leaning on a backrest is easier on the tailbone, but then I have to stretch for the controls, and I feel like I am holding on to the controls to keep from falling off the back of the bike. And the more straight-up posture I originally used gives me better control of the bike.

How do you sit? Any advice? I am looking into changing the stock seat, maybe for a Sundowner. But I want to make sure I am sitting properly.

 

There isn't really an answer that will fit everyone.
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You should be relaxed and comfortable, and there are things that may make it better. You could possibly change the bars, but a simpler and cheaper solution would be to get some pullback risers. An inch or two should move the bars back so that you are more upright and shouldn't require that you change any cables.
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i ride mine like i sit in the lazyboy leaned back a little arms slightly bent i dont see any forward foot controls on your pic i do have them and like them a lot they kick your legs out in front of u rather than u sitting on top of them maybe you should check into some of them but i am taller than you six one and thirtyfour inseam goodluck

 

be sure to hold both pinkies off the grips while you ride..

 

i just sit as straight as i can...never really gave it much thought. just kind of sit there. last week on a long ride i put my feet on the rear pegs and it helped with the tail bone issue. i think im going to roll my bars forward a bit so i can strech my arms a bit more&nbsp\\;

 

I'll get the cruise mode out of the way first. Left elbow on left knee. Forearm perpendicular to the ground with fist rested on chin. Right hand on the throttle. It is much easier to do with your elbow resting on a tank bag though.[8D]
Seriously for normal riding your seat tends to cradle your backside. This is not necessarily a bad thing but the back ridge of the seat tends to press against the tailbone causing a hot spot. A better seat is in order. Mustang solo would work much better. Forward controls would also help a lot, or frame mounted highway pegs. Posture ideally should be just as they told you in MSF but really, however you are most comfortable. Tailbone and lower back hurts right? SEAT!
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For what it's worth, I think the 883L is the roughest riding bike Harley builds. I had a 2007 883L that I bought because I liked that low-slung look. But riding that thing more than a few miles was killing my back. I changed the bars and the seat and put forward control on it and cranked the preload on the shocks all the way up but never could really get comfortable on the bike. My wife finally "made me" trade it in for something more comfortable. I still own a Sportster but this one sits much higher and rides way better. This 1200R is so much more comfortable to ride than the 883L ever was.

 

I put a Sundowner on my 1200.&nbsp\\; I find it more comfortable to change riding positons at times.&nbsp\\; Relaxed arms, not squeezing the grips until someone pulls out in front of me.&nbsp\\; Of course if you are doing over 60 on the interstate, with no windshield, then you have to hang on and fatigue sets in on us old guys.&nbsp\\;

 

&nbsp\\;I put a Mustang seat on my Sportster. It gave a slightly different seating position than the stock seat.&nbsp\\; But what a difference in comfort. I haven't had pains anywhere since I put on the Mustang seat.&nbsp\\;

 

Put some mini apes and forward controls and enjoy.&nbsp\\; No pain.