There are two schools of thought on this. One group installs handlebar risers, and then immediately starts complaining about the windshield and seat. The risers put your head up higher, away from the shield, and put your weight back on your tailbone.
The other group learns to use the "Master Yoda" techniques -
link - and does fine with the stock seat. Slide forward on the seat, carry your weight on your thighs and feet. Don't lean on your hands. That's the way the FJR was designed to be ridden.
At 5'10" and 165#, you should be fine with the stock seat if you get rid of the risers. I'm 5' 11", 185#, and have well over 20K with the stocker, including 7200 miles in ten days last spring. The seat has never been a problem.
Truer words never spoken.
Really, if u ride the thing the way it was designed to be ridden, dang seat could be metal, almost wouldn't matter. What's the point of adding risers, plush seat, lower pegs etc etc, buy a freakin goldwing from the beginning. Hey I'm not knockin anyone, what it is is what it is, be honest.
Regards! all the best.
The OP asks for help finding a comfortable replacement seat and you tell him to just man up and "ride it the way it was designed to be ridden". What a load of self aggrandizing crap. Who let you decide how the bike was "designed" to be ridden?
Exactly how does the MYRP help the passenger to be comfortable on a long ride? Or should the wife just man up and stand on the pegs too? Maybe the bike was not really designed to be ridden two up...
If you can be satisfied with your stock seat and bars position, then good for you.
But certainly you know that are (BY FAR) in the minority.
snip for brevity...
to your physical shape. The stock seat is more comfortable. Seriously.
Since you've called these posts out Fred...
First, it's not self aggrandizing crap, it's a different perspective on the problem... it's another way of accomplishing the goal, which makes it perfectly relevant.
Second, when one says "as designed", that's kind of obvious isn't it? I mean if you ride it as stock, don't mod it, and it works, wouldn't it be reasonable to say "as designed"? My point would be is that it's a reasonable and acceptable point of view. Does everyone agree with it? no. But is there anything everyone agrees on?
Third, the passenger (and this only pertains to females, I don't have any other kind of passengers
), the way it's suppose to be done is at a stop, they take their arms from around you and put their hands on the tank, to hold themselves up. And they're also suppose to get their butts off the seat and on the side of it, like you, in the corners... all imho if u don't mind
Fourth, the point of posts like this, in this kind of a thread is simple... there's another alternative then adding risers (or double risers), and diff seats, lower pegs, etc etc. That alternative is to change your riding position. As you point out, it's not for everyone. But there are some of us that still mention it, just *because* as you say it's "not popular", because that *may* mean it's *not known*.
I didn't know it for quite some time. I sold a couple of bikes thinking I couldn't ride them, my hands would go numb. But that was really because I didn't know how to ride them. It was me, not the bike.
Fifth, there's a huge benefit from riding the fjr (and any other bike that has some "sport" in it), in this way: When one get's their weight off the hand grips (using the "sit up and beg position" or aka MYRP) the bike is *EXTREMELY* responsive. Because when you press on a hand grip to go in one direction, you don't have all your weight on the other hand grip fighting your input!
What is that result in the "real world" emergency swerving... instantaneous, turn ins... virtually at your will (you think it, it does it).
So... not to escalate this, I don't care to argue, it's just another perspective, and yes, it's totally relevant, and 100% to the point.
Enjoy and be safe, Hank
