So, how's that new seat working out?...
Over this past winter I picked up a Mustang solo seat with support bracket and spring mount kit for H-D. Seemed fine sitting on it installed on the bike in the garage. Looks really cool with it's profiles. Then I got out for the first ride of this year a couple of weeks back. The seat feels much different than the H-D seat I had installed last fall, but I suppose that is to be expected. The Mustang seat clearly looks like a higher build quality. You can just flip over any H-D seat that you've spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars for and see that it is stapled, whereas the Mustang seats I have are all riveted.
I was after this seat right from the time I was ordering the parts at my dealership to do the conversion, but there were none available. Interesting story on that, I spoke with a sales tech on the phone about ordering this and he proved in repeated emails he had no idea what I was talking about and kept referring me to the wrong seat. I was after this seat as Mustang has a built-in backrest capacity for most of their seats, including this solo seat, and Harley does not. Like the Corbin seats I've had, my Mustang seats have a built-in receiver in the back of the seat which you just slide the arm of the backrest into. Simple. But not Harley.
I went out for a 40 mile ride and was not totally liking the feel of the seat. It has a pressure point the H-D seat does not. It is much more thinly padded on the seating area, but bulkier on the lumbar/back of the seat. I kept feeling like it had me moving towards the tank and I had to keep adjusting.
I next rode about 30 miles to a friend's house and told him about my experiences with this seat. He currently has the same one on a H-D Electra Glide Police and didn't find it as difficult as I had. He is also a couple inches shorter than I am. I rode home and had the same opinions.
I then put the H-D solo seat back on. It is more thickly padded and has a wider seating area for wide American butts. I rode 60 miles yesterday and liked it. I found myself moving around on the seat a bit to put the bike into corners. Not saying I was dragging a knee but I was definitely comfortable with riding the bike. So.... today I swapped the Mustang back on.
SSDD. Because the padding is thinner, I am sitting a bit lower with this seat. Not the end of the world. I also feel that due to the sculpting of the seating area that I am sitting closer to the tank. Okay... But both of those things combined completely changes the rider triangle.
My legs are now level VS hips higher than knees. My feet fall in a very slightly more rearward place on the boards putting my legs in a 90 degree bend. Just that bit of loss of height and moving my feet back a little more, makes bending my ankles to downshift and brake just a bit less pleasant. And I've already installed a 1" longer shift lever and rear brake lever.
Well this sux. It's not like given the choice between riding with the Mustang or not riding at all that I would chose door #2, but the H-D is clearly looking like the better option for me. Ugh. I REALLY wanted that backrest for longer rides. There may be one more adjustment I can make to the seating configuration to see if that helps. TBD. Too cold to ride until next week, so I'll try it again...
