I was on Oahu for about 7 months. Had my DR 650 there until it was time to ship it back to MA. I was dying to ride so I rented a Harley. Always fun.
Does anybody have experience with two-up seats for the Sportster? My wife wants to start riding with me, so I'll need to ditch the stock solo seat. I'd prefer something that moves me forward and up just a hair. Nothing drastic. Is H-D's reach seat any good, or is there an aftermarket alternative?
Will that move me forward and/or up? I'd like to get into a slightly sportier position on the bike and swap to bars with a bit less rise (superbike or similar bend, nothing crazy).
That depends on which model you get go to their websiteand check them out. A few guts on hear have built their own bench seat which would achieve what you want.
YMMV but Sportsters suck 2 up, no room what so ever for anyone to move about, its like riding in a stuff sack.
New (to me) seat for Sporty: $200 + whatever pegs cost New (to me) bike that works better 2-up: $5,000 (or more?) - $3000 (value of 2006 Sporty?) For farting about the neighborhood, the XL will do fine.
Please don't take me wrong, I love Sportsters, as you said around town 2 up a Sporty will do fine, 200 miles will do irreparable psychological damage to the party's involved. My 2007 XL1200R was the perfect city/urban bike and was serviceable for couch to couch touring, a 400 mile day could be done but it beat the crap out of me. 2007 Was the first year for the FI and it ran flawlessly, dead reliable.
Well now that really depends on physical size. For me at 6' and 220 and her being 5'5" ya its uncomfortably small, but for my friends both short and under weight its a perfect fit. As a matter of fact they are riding 600 miles this weekend. So if your on the a little bit larger side then yes the above statement is accurate.
With the longer better shocks, the lower bars, the sundown seat and the sissy bar for the wife, we did some longer rides without a lot of pain. The pegs (mids) for me are a bit too far forward. She was happy though. Seems people need to be VERY comfortable when riding these days, in the old days 2 people would ride a stock cb350 around the US. I must say though, the little tu250 I have is much nicer for both of us, more room, better suspension, better ergonomics, smoother. Its bad when a $3000.00 250 single beats out a $9000.00 1200 cc bike for comfort!
The Sportsters with low suspension are difficult to make comfortable for two up riding because there is not enough suspension travel. You have to put such stiff springs in them for two up, the ride is really stiff when solo. If you want to ride two up, you will be better off with the Roadster. But they only made them from 04 to 08 (perhaps 09). The 04 to 08 Roadsters had only 3.3 gallon tank. The 09 Roadster had 4.5 gallon tank. I may be off on the actual years. I have an 06 Roadster, I am 6' 3" tall. I have a Harley Sundowner (2 up) seat which moves me forward and up. I also added two inches of foam and a Air Hawk air cushion on top of that. I have added forward pegs just to have a different place to put my feet for comfort. My wife is 110 lbs in gear, and with a back rest, we can ride comfortably. But only for short 1/2 day rides. If you add two heavy people, with weekend gear, you can overload the Sportster. Solo, I can ride all day with Ricor suspension, and feel better at the end of a long day than most people, regardless of what bike they ride. 07 was the first year of the FI bikes on the Sportsters, and there were significant problems. The general quality of FI tune was not too good, lots of surging problems, and lots of aftermarket FI parts made the FI bikes run worse. The XIEDs are probably the easiest mod to fix FI. Corroded relays were also a big problem with 07 bikes. It appears these problems have been solved with later bikes. Road King air shocks are a popular mod that can provide a reasonable ride solo and two up by changing air pressure. Works Suspension is making an air shock also, but I have not read any reports about it. The poor ride quality of rubber mount Sportsters is directly related to junk suspension from Harley and most of the aftermarket. Ricor Intiminators and Ricor IAS shocks prove the Sportsters can have an excellent ride. The 09 and later bikes appear to have better stock suspension than the earlier years.
My 04 883custom is not very comfortable, but it's not terrible. I did a little over 200 miles yesterday after work. Took a grad school final exam and still wasn't totally beat up. It does have an awful suspension. The seat is ok, though. Right now I'm trying to figure out if I like it with or without the windshield. I love the nice clean air. I hate the forward controls. Hate. Them. I love the sound. Love the 53 mpg. Love the little kids always saying 'nice bike'. Love the feel of the bike overall. But the comfort isn't there. When I want comfort I drive a car though. That's easy.
I am 5'10" as is my girl. I weigh 170 and she is around 140. We have done many day long rides with no issues. The only time we were unbearably uncomfortable was a ride down to the Keys in heavy traffic. It turned into a 12 hour ride and our asses were killing us. Stock seat,stock suspension on an 09' 1200c with mid controls.
The bikes can be improved a lot by fitting longer rear shocks and doing some fork work. Progressive suspension sells shocks in half inch steps. My 2009 1200 low came with 11.5 inch shocks and I went to 13 inch long shocks. That gives a LOT more travel, and some real damping. It transformed the ride into a normal motorcycle type ride, from the spongy hard tail sort of ride. It also allowed the bike to go around turns as fast as cars do without grinding hard parts. The stock forks were soft and WAY under damped. Thicker fork oil made a huge improvement, progressive springs helped a bit also. Some guys like the road king air shocks (can be got used cheap) but I like the quick easy step adjusters on regular shocks, position 1 solo luxo ride, pos 2 solo sport, step 5 two up. After the work, the ride is very nice, its just the mid peg location and the massive weight that spoil the bike for a taller rider. Overall, its not bad though, fun to ride, mostly comfortable, handles ok for the weight, brakes are fine, very low maint needed, great mpg.
I'm on the stock 2006 XL883 suspension. It's not great, but at least it isn't the low setup. Holding off on upgrading it until I'm sure I'll keep the bike for more than another year or two. If the wife likes riding 2-up, I'll have to trade for something more suitable. Did the Sundowner move you up/forward without the extra padding? Or, only after adding it?
Also, I read through the various suspension threads over at XLForum. But, came away just as confused. Most of the talk was about either making the low suspension tolerable, or set-ups for heavier riders. Is there a thread that talks about a normal height setup for an average weight rider? I'm 5'7" and < 170lbs.