Horns of a dilemma

 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...

The above is the H-D solo seat from last fall

From today's ride, the Mustang solo seat

Ready for Spring to arrive

 It is beginning to look as if Winter may have lost it's grip on the Northeast. Temps are still around freezing most nights, but are consistently reaching into the 50's during the day now; sometimes higher. There has been enough rain to wash away the salt and sand that had been applied to the roads during snowstorms, and I am ready to ride at the next opportunity.

I accumulated a few goodies over the past couple months to add to my FLHR and put a few of them on during the last 2 weeks as time allowed.

> Chrome front axle nut covers

> Mustang solo saddle with backrest    (4^th seat I’ve had on this bike in ½ year or so I’ve owned it)  I already have the Mustang passenger pillion from earlier with the H-D solo seat. Decision Time cometh and then I should sell a couple of the seats I have accumulated…

> 2” Ride Masters aluminum seat riser

> Replaced all lights with Eagle Lights LEDs

> H-D Wind Splitter vented windshield, which is kinda like the amount of protection from the windscreen on all sport bikes I’ve owned, ie not much. But it looks a lot cooler than stock, so ….

> Painted air deflectors from HogWorkz behind rear cylinders. Mechanics must have really small hands...

> 1” extended shift lever from Softbrake   Already have their clutch lever and extended brake pedal

> H-D soft lowers

> H-D black fender skirt

I will be getting a taller tinted, flared windscreen soon for longer trips or weather protection, and still have the stock shield in the meantime. So very many things I have planned for this bike, upcoming. 

All I need is $$$   

Global Warming has it's perks

 November-freakin-18 and for a brief couple of hours, ahead of a storm front pushing up from the south, it reached 64 degrees. I was in the process of putting Christmas lights up outside, when I happened to look at a weather app and saw that it had hit 60 degrees. No choice at that point: I had to stop what I was doing, get suited up, and head out for a ride. It's the law.

I figured that I had at least an hour before the weather turned bad, so I ran a figure 8 out around the eastern part of the county. It was a bright, sunny mid-day and any other time I would have ridden for another hour, but things needed to get done so I was back home after 41 miles. Less than 2 hours later the temperature had dropped 15 degrees and it was raining. I'm 99% sure that was the last ride of the season as high temps are in the 40's going forward, but it was a great escape.

As an aside, I've changed my seating position for the 4th time now by installing the 2" riser under the back of my solo seat, and this was my trial ride with it in place. Had to adjust my mirrors again and get the feel of yet another new seating position. I'd estimate I've raised the seat 4" from stock, my hips are above my knees, and it fits me perfectly now. I've already been researching the upgrades for next year...

Okay, THIS must be the final ride of the season...

 November 9 and the temps touched 58 degrees. Un-believe-able. Nothing for it, I had to get out for a quick spin. No one was available to ride with that afternoon, so I decided to do a loop around the north-east part of the county where we used to live a couple houses ago. It wasn't a pretty day; bright enough but full overcast, which made things look a bit dreary at times. Any leaves that were still clinging to trees were long past their brilliant yellows and reds and oranges and now were pretty much brown and crispy looking.

But it was warm and I was riding! I was running along some twisty roads by a large reservoir, not a car in sight, and thinking about riding again. I've wanted to do this as long as I can remember and all these years later I am still able to ride motorcycles. I do not take that for granted. I had wanted to stop at the top of the lake again in a frequent spot for a quick picture, but there was a car there so I kept going, a bit annoyed.

At one point I just peeled off on a road to the right and rode for many miles, just making random turns at intersections when one direction or the other looked appealing. Put me in mind of many decades ago when one or two of us used to go out for day rides and pick a direction and then just make turns based on where the sun was and dead reckoning. Always made it home.

After 1/2 an hour of just riding with little idea of where I was at the time, I made a turn and immediately realized I was right back at the spot that I had passed by earlier, so this time I stopped.

2 hours and 70 miles from the time I left, I was back home again, a bit sad that this was the end of riding for now. But as always, I was glad to have had the chance to go.

Be safe.

Might be the season end… A Trip to Blenheim

November 1 is a milestone around here to still be able to be out riding. Unlike last year, and many before that where there was snow at Halloween, this day was pretty nice. We had been monitoring the weather apps for about a week waiting to see if the predictions held out, and we got pretty lucky: right around 50 degrees with partial sun. Good enough.  Three of us planned to meet up and take a ride south to a covered bridge, just as a destination. We also know that the roads are usually in pretty good condition out that way, as we wind through the mountains.

Two would gather then come south to where I would meet them, and we’d proceed from there. An hour before that, a shower was passing through from Northwest to Southeast. So it’s raining a bit at Scott’s house… He waits it out and soon the sun is back again. Then Luke reports it is now raining at his house… We decided to push the meeting time 1/2 hour and gather at noon. I head out at 11:30 to meet them and I run into light showers — just enough to be annoying — along the way. We take off south on a planned route to go to the Blenheim Covered Bridge, which claims to be the “Longest single span wooden bridge of it’s type in the world”.

I’m pretty bundled up for this ride as I don’t have a batwing fairing or lowers or heated grips; some of that will be rectified over time. Many of the roads we traveled were known from Sunday ride routes we’ve taken in these areas over many years. The roads were mostly excellent and the scenery was very nice. That part of the ride was about 60 miles or so from where we met up.

Turns out that this is a re-creation of the original bridge which stood until 2011 when Tropical Storm Irene came through and caused historic flooding, which destroyed and washed the bridge away. It was rebuilt using the original plans in every detail, allowing it to maintain it’s historic designation, 10’ higher above it’s original location.

This is the Schoharie Creek many feet below flood stage

 

The ride back took a slightly different route to be both a bit quicker while the sun was still up, and avoid rush hour traffic. Overall I rode 132 miles, most of it through the local mountains to the south, on a sunny day in November, with two long-time good friends. If that turns out to be the final group ride for this year, it was a good one.

"Hey, which bike is yours?"  "The black Harley"...

Time is short, again

 I got out for rides twice this past week with Scott, for autumn foliage runs while the weather was unusually warm. It was in the low 70's all this past week, but the cold front comes through on Saturday. It's not unusual to have snow on the Halloween decorations around here, so hoping not this year.

On Monday afternoon we did a 50 miles circuit of eastern Rensselaer County, covering a lot of our old stomping grounds and some roads that have for decades been incorporated into Sunday rides. Found some newly paved areas and avoided some of the places destroyed by flooding last summer, not all of which have been repaired.

Thursday we went north around the east side of Saratoga Lake, and I accumulated about 100 miles. Again, many roads we've used for decades as part of Sunday rides and many others I'd never been on, and at times had no idea at all where we were. My H-D Ride Planner app took copious notes if I want to try and recreate the run.

These were the first longer rides I've done since adding the H-D Police solo seat and it is such an improvement for me, in the way i'm sitting now. I'm hoping to soon have a 2" riser from Ride Masters which will elevate the back of the seat, making the seating surface level, rather than slanting backwards. Harley just can't give up on the default slouch, ever.

Didn't get any leaf pics, 'cause the point was the ride, so we didn't stop for photo shoots along the way. Both days were warm and bright and you picked up the smells of Autumn as you rode. Leaves and apples and occasionally burning wood. Like me, many people around this area would tell you fall is a favorite season. We've been taking these rides for 40 years now and I am hopeful for a few more.

In the two, really non-scenic pics below, take a look at the seats on both bikes. You can see how the seat on the Electra Glide with the riser at the back really raises the seat to a level seating surface, compared with the initial stock install on my Road King, which tilts a bit to the back. Hopefully, I'll get that riser in time to try it this season, and that will be the end of seating modifications. For a while.

September Road Trip, Part 2

My 9/2/2021 entry describes a 3 day trip to Barre, VT with a couple friends who participated in the NE Motorcycle Skills Training and Challenge Event. I was extremely impressed with the riding skills of the competitors and it quickly became apparent why just about every single person was riding a Police model of Road King or Electra Glide, with the solo seat. Not only that but most had also installed a 1-2" riser above the spring to raise the rear of the seat so that the position moved from nearly level to slightly canted forward.

While riding the course, they also sat right up close on the tank. That, I understood immediately as I have been doing this on sportbikes since the '80's. Not sure of the exact physics at work, but you instinctively learn that you have the best leverage, weight distribution and overall control in tight cornering moving forward on the bike towards the bars.

When I got my Road King it came with the stock seat. Total garbage. If you are using that same seat, please do yourself a favor and upgrade. You will be very happy with the improvement in comfort and seating position from any other seat you try.

For me, it was a matter of sitting more upright, both for physical comfort and improved control of the bike. I bought a used Mustang Super Touring seat and it was a huge improvement. The extended reach design removed the slope at the back of the rider's space and moved me back 1-2 inches for more legroom and better operation of the foot pedals. The seat provides far more lumbar support and the additional padding also raised me up 1-2". I judged all of this by how I sat more upright and could see a few inches above the windscreen.

Then I went to the Skills event and saw people who had mastered their bikes. You can see the winning Expert Class ride here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSYhWr1Inks

I also got to sit on a bike configured this way and was shocked at how it felt. I was struck by how much it felt like the seating position of my Kawasaki Ninja 1000. The control posture was outstanding, which is why Police bikes are setup this way; also for all day comfort. 

So... contacted my dealer and ordered up the parts needed to convert my bike over to the Police Solo Seat. That all came in after a couple weeks and they did the installation. I am still waiting for a Mustang passenger seat to come in as 2021 is among other things, the Year of the Backorder.

Riding the bike home for 30 minutes was an eye opener. It is shocking how much better the bike feels to me. I’m still going to elevate the rear of the seat, but right now my knees are a bit below my hips and I am seeing at least 4” over the windscreen. Once the riser is on and I’m hopefully done messing with the seating, I'll focus on whatever the next thing is...