Backrest Opinions

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I bought Premier for my wifes bike, and Garaulds for mine. My wife wishes I'd bought Garaulds for hers too, but too late. His is much better quality, and the price is about the same or less. Particulary with the rear rack. The options for use is much better with Garaulds than with the Premier.

 
I had the opportunity to bolt up and test Pirates FJR backrest.. The mounting bracket is very low profile and to attach the backrest to the mounting plate is exremely simple and quick. The backrest material was a very close if not perfect match as well. The comfort, hight, angle size was also right on....

 
Go with Garauld's kit, its far superior. I've had it installed about 7 months and still looks new. Great workmanship, fit & finish.

 
Just realized I pointed to the incorrect premier backrest -- I'm not looking at rack-mounted. Here's the correct one: https://www.premiercycleaccessories.com/Pas...est_p/12001.htm
Still think Garauld is far superior.

But, it's your buck.
I agree 100% Garauld makes a nice backrest my wife loves it.

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I bought Garauld's over a year ago. It's a quality product. You can remove or install in just a minute. My wife is happy happy with the comfort. It's all good. I had it painted to match and it looks great.

 
I met CBXRL and his wife at SFO and copied his setup.

Order the rack from Garauld without a backrest pad, and get a Harley Davidson part #52886-98C pad. Harley part I had him send mine undrilled and drilled my own mounting holes, but I bet he'd drill it for you if you gave him the dimensions.

It's big and wide and kinda wraps around. The girls love it! :thumbsup:

 
I've got the Premier backrest and large tail plate combo. My wife loves the backrest because it is fairly wide and provides her support and a little more security.

I really like having the rack on it. I decided to have the rack on instead of a top case for versatility. I can bungie on my lunch box for daily commuting to

work...put my TourMaster soft case on there for trips...or go nekked.

 
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Just realized I pointed to the incorrect premier backrest -- I'm not looking at rack-mounted. Here's the correct one: https://www.premiercycleaccessories.com/Pas...est_p/12001.htm

Yeah, that's the backrest from Premier I installed. All I can say is that Stella loves it. Says she feels very secure now.

 
I bought the premier backrest with the rack plate. Both pieces are nicely made and go on or off the bike in minutes.

I picked them up when my wife decided to join me on a 1,400 mile long weekend. Her original impression was that leaned a bit too far forward, but in the course of the long weekend she found ways to stay comfortable with it.

This is totally subjective, but I think it looks nicer than the one pictured in this thread.

 
I've got the Premier backrest and my wife loves it. It is a quality piece. The Garaulds pad looks a little small, and the bracket looks a little home madeish, but im sure it is also a quality piece, as many speak highly of Garaulds work. For a backrest, the Premier is the way to go in my opinion.

Paul B

 
I have the Garauld rack (mini) with a Premier back rest covered to match a Sargent rear seat.

Why?

Well the rack is as stated, flawless and what Yamaha would have created if they offered one.

The backrest was part of a deal with a fellow member for a Sargent rear seat. I mounted it to the rack and all seems to work (and look ) well.

Rotating the pad 180 degrees makes for a more comfortable fit for the passenger.

 
Well you know what they say about opinions, and there's plenty to be had on this forum. As far as backrests go, I've pretty much seen them all both online and in person as I do quite a bit of research before I part with my hard earned money. In my opinion, for what it's worth, the Stealth backrest from Pirates Lair is the only one that is worthy to grace my FJR and it definitiely adds to the beauty of this motorcycle. Comfort, quality, looks and being able to install or remove the backrest pad in a couple of seconds without removing the mounting bracket make the Stealth second to none. I had the opportunity to purchase any one of the others for the FJR, but based upon previous experience with the Stealth on two other motorcycles I decided to wait for it's release. It was indeed worth the wait.

Mike

 
It may be too late, or not important, but when I look at what all is involved with providing a passenger backrest I decided to just install a trunk with an integral backrest. I have a Givi V46 with Gel Back pad and matching paint on the lid. Pretty much anytime I ride with a passenger I won't mind snapping the trunk on for extra storage space and it does a good job as a backrest too. When no passenger I generally don't need a trunk nor do I want a backrest sticking up back there. It takes all of 2 seconds to install and remove the trunk and I don't think the Givi rear mount is all that unattractive when the bag is off.

It's another option anyway...

 
I've used both. one on a ST1300(premiere) it bolted right on without a rack unlike the one for FJR which needs a rack to bolt on. I ended up using an older Pirates stealth from my BMW and converted it to mount to a bracket for my FJR. The back rest is superior in shape and comfort and it looks better then the flat type others offer and I can take it off in 2-3 minutes. It's matter of how you intend to use it and how long you want to keep it on. All 3 I feel are very good products. Since Garauld supports this board you may want to check it out.

 
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