I LOVE my Speedmaster, however... I was spoiled by my Victory Touring Cruiser. A 500-mile day was like a walk in the park. It was like riding on a Stratolounger. Now, I realize were talking apples and oranges here. It's an unfair comparison, but 100 miles on the Speedmaster is torture. My tailbone aches for a day after such a ride. I have an old "Airhawk." It's the kind of cushion that you fill partially with air and it does do a good job of softening the ride, but it's a hassle to take it off and stow in the saddlebag every time you leave the bike because it might get stolen. So, I'm going to try a gel seat. I bought this thing on Amazon for $36. It has closed cell compartments filled with gel and an open space running up the middle to alleviate pressure on your tail bone. It's hideous, but I'm going to take a ride tomorrow and see if it helps. If it does, I'll take the seat to an upholstery guy that has done work for me before (new headliner on the Explorer, elk leather seat cover on the Vic) and have him pull the cover off the Speedmaster seat and incorporate the new gel seat under it. We shall see. I will report on results.
Just some "seat comfort" information - my brother swears by Mustang seats, not cheap, but (he tells me) extremely comfortable, and he has fitted them to his Honda Valkyrie and his 750 Shadow. He lives in Canada, so I don't know about availability elsewhere.
Ive tried all sorts on my Speedmaster, the latest (and best by far) being a sheepskin cover. I also find sitting forward a couple of inches, although strange at first, helps tail-bone pain tremendously.
Yeah, the Mustang seats are great. I had one on one of my earlier Vics, but they are crazy expensive. And yes, the sitting forward thing does help, but on a long haul I find myself continually slipping back into the "cowboy slouch."
OK - 50 mile jaunt. The gel seat does seem to help, however there was an unexpected benefit! I'm 6'2" and 200 lbs. Even with the mono shock adjusted to the stiffest ride possible I still slam down hard when I hit a rut any bigger than a salad bowl. The gel seat really alleviates this. So, I will be taking it to the upholsterer to have the gel seat incorporated under the seat cover.
The upholstery guy did a beautiful job of incorporating the gel seat onto the seat pan. Leaving the original foam padding, he had to use new material to cover gel seat as it increased the overall size of the seat. When I dropped the seat off, I said that if he couldn't replicate the piping around the seat (which really like) it wouldn't be a big deal. However, he'd have to redo the passenger pillion to match the new material, sans the piping. He was able to replicate the piping on the new seat cover, but it's wider, so he had to do the pillion as well. I took it out for a ride. I'm very happy with the results! There is a major increase in comfort. I paid more than I wanted or expected to, but the work is excellent, and the comfort level is worth it. After all, it's all about my comfort anyway, isn't it? LOL! Happy now.
