need advice... best seat for two-up on 1200C???

[JPHarley]

OK....first of all, Congrats on the new scoot AND an obviously TERRIFIC wife!
That is one heckuva BD gift! Awesome!

That said, you're about my size, (maybe a couple inches shorter but close enough), and I can tell you from experience that a Sporty is NOT going to be a comfortable long distance hauler for 2-up riding no matter what you bolt-on to it.
NOT knocking your ride Bro, (that doesn't happen on this forum), just trying to give you an candid answer.
I rode Sportsters for years when I was a young guy, and occasionally had a babe on the back, but as I got older and settled into married life with a family and a an ex-model wife (translation-spoiled rotten) who wouldn't climb on the back without the promise of total comfort, I found that I had to do more than any Sporty seat, even the after-markets, could offer. (And I also found after riding a few Bud's FL's, the Sporty just wasn't cutting it any more for MY aging bod.)
Eventually, (going back about 25 years ago....), I made the move to the Big Twins and never looked back, although Sportys will always hold a fond place in my heart and riding my Bud's Nightster brought back some sweet memories. (as well as scaring me a little! I forgot how "out there" it feels on a Sporty!)

So........where am I going with this??????

You have an AWESOME wife who bought you an AWESOME gift and you're going to have some AWESOME times riding it!

That said, statistics show that many, many first time Harley owners quickly make the move to a Big Twin within a year or so of acquiring their Sportster.

With THAT in mind, MY advice is to NOT invest in a whole lot of accessories!

The trade-in value for Sportsters in INCREDIBLE when buying a bigger scoot.....you can get essentially ALL your money back, as long as you haven't buried yourself in chrome and other goodies, which you will lose money on and really for the most part won't be transferable to a Big Twin.

Enjoy your beautiful new ride.....you're a member of the biggest family in the world now, Harley-Davidson, and you've found the best Harley site on the internet! After a time, explore the bigger bikes and given your size and the fact that you'd like to get your wonderful wife on the back, you might just find yourself remembering this advice and feel you want to trade up to a bigger bike that will prove to be a more comfortable two-up'er. (They don't call 'em "tourers" for nothin'!)

Again, please don't take offense to this post....it's meant with true sincerity......it's just that I can't in good conscience offer advice about buying an expensive after-market seat given my experience, and what I know to be the typical buying results of many of the first time Sporty owners after a relatively brief period of ownership.

Fellas....what do you guys think? Is my advice of merit?

I'm living proof of the above....after 20 yrs without riding I bought a Sportster and had it for about 4 months. Traded it in on a Low Rider because of the fact that the wife loves to ride 2up. Much more room for her on the back the the Low Rider handles much better (lower center of gravity). I ordered the Sportster with a Sundowner 2 up seat...was not too crazy with it. It didn't have enough padding. Going over bumps I could feel the seat bottom out. Just my opinion...I believe you will be happier with the big twin in the long run.
JP

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

Live for today.Enjoy your sporty now and worry about moving up later

KingH I agree with you, the wife gave him a gift, a blessing...enjoy it now, get a comfortable seat and match a padded sissybar, and some throwover bags and ride it. I knew the bagger guys would weigh in hard, but I still say stay with what you have for now, do the minor comfort upgrades, later, if you find you both want an upgrade...nothing lost.

The Sporty 1200C is as Richard says a very popular model with good resale value, with most of the Sporty bling already, including the forward controls for your "full length torso", a great solo bike and a competent 2-up bike...:newsmile092:especially if your partner is 5ft something...just enjoy it, you won't be sorry!

 

[tsp45acp]

I'll throw my .02 in. Sat on the stock seat in the stealership and knew right then and there it was something I couldn't tolerate. Put a 2-up Sundowner on. Leaps and bounds better than a stock seat (But then again a 2x6 with a thin pad covering would prob be better than stock). ANYWAY, the Sundowner is great for around town --still too hard of a seat IMO for any distance. I haven't done any LONG distance rides yet, Prob only 1-1 1/4 hrs long---60-75 miles non-stop.

Over on the XLFORUM, there's a thread about a 5k ride in Australia by a guy (username is HOPPER) on a 77 Ironhead Sporty. Says that a thick peice of foam with a sheepskin cover was extremely comfy for this ride. I'm gonna give this a try, since I'm not thrilled with the Sundowner in it's present form.

As you can see by my sig line--my one & only bike is what you just got, an 08 1200c sporty. Hope this helps.

Give a looksee--XLFORUM.net thread "Ironhead 5000 mile Ironhead ride". Great read & a ton of pics. Hope this helps. Tracy

 

[KingHeritage]

Rich,what you are saying does make sense to a certain point.I'm just saying that the joys of life should not be based on a trade in value.Besides who knows what the market will bear on any motor vehicle in the future.With gas prices what they have been lately there could possibly be a flood of new bike enthusiasts who would like to own what we call an entry level(sportster)Harley Davidson and thus increasing there value.On the other hand the bottom could also drop out.Everyone I know,including myself,who started with a sporty,eventually moved up to a big twin.But I still enjoyed the sporty while I had it and never really cared what it was going to be worth when I sold it.Being respectable to your opinion,its not like buying stocks or bonds where you're constantly monitoring your net worth.Hey there's always that 1 person in a 1000 who might give him what he wants for the bike anyway.(am I starting to ramble on like you?)JK.In the end I'm just saying live for today,and don't worry about tomorrow

 

[KingHeritage]

King, what you're saying makes sense too. (to a certain point. )
Life can't be just about the money, because of all a person is worried about is what something ill be "worth" tomorrow, they get NO value out of it TODAY!

I'll never forget many years ago when I helped my Dad clean out his recently deceased sister's house.
For many, many years, she kept her living room furniture covered in these CUSTOM MADE clear plastic covers. NOT "slip-covers" like you can buy that are made to fit any sofa. These were made specifically for HER furniture and were the best quality money could buy. (for plastic covers! )
All joking aside, they probably cost a couple hundred bucks, and that was 40 years ago!
Well, 20 years after buying that expensive furniture, and covering it with expensive custom made covers, and in spite of that never allowing anyone to sit on them ANYWAY, (and who would WANT to...have you ever sat on those??? It's HORRIBLE!), she passed away and left behind these basically mint condition 20 something year old sofa, love-seat, and matching chair pieces.
My dad called everyone he could think of, and NOBODY wanted the furniture, even the Salvation Army, or whatever the agency was, who at the time wouldn't come get stuff, you had to bring it, and we didn't have a truck.


We carried it all outside on "big trash day" and heard the trash guys laughing as they threw it into the truck, saying, "willya look at this crap!.....who would bother covering such ugly furniture??"


All that time, all that money....nobody ever sat on it, and it ended up going to the dump.

It makes sense to live for today when it comes to RIDING your scooter, or DRIVING your car, no matter how valuable or collectible it is. (I always laugh when I go to bike or car shows and see the "trailer queens" getting unloaded!)

But what DOESN'T make sense is to fly in the face of historical and statistical precedent.

As another esteemed member pointed out, Sportys are usually a short term investment, and we all know we don't get our money back for the add-ons.

I stand by my advice, but I certainly temper it with YOURS as well.

RIDE IT! Have fun, and LOTS of it!

But don't put money into it you can't recover, when it's probably a short term ride. Put that money into the scoot you'll own for a while, when you move up the food chain, and even if you don't get any of that extra money back when and if you buy yet another Harley, you will have gotten lots of your money's worth out of those goodies while you had them.

Yes ,it must be an Italian thing.I was never allowed to sit on Aunt Angie's precious plastic covered furniture neither.Geez us Jersey Boys sure can talk.Maybe we should consider a new forum called NJTalking!

 

[Dr. Dolittle]

To the OP:

You've got a lot of good info here. Read it all, think about it, and do what feels right for YOU. Some people tour the country two up on Sportsters for years. Some people ride them a few months and get the itch for a bigger bike. It all depends on the type of riding YOU do most. If you find yourself gravitating towards longer rides and a lot of two up riding, this is simply NOT what the Sportster family was designed to do. Yes, you can do it but it's just not in it's blood to be ridden like that most of the time.

Modify your bike if you wish but just accept the fact you don't get your money back on bling and personal accessories when resale time comes along. Don't let that be your decision maker - just be aware of it.

Ride, enjoy! Good luck!

 

[M0sesJJN]

Again, check out Mean City Cycles Seats: Mean City Cycles Custom Seat Modifications :: Motorcycle Seat Modifications

Moe.