Hi Guys
First of all thank you for all the input. There was one stand-out answer that really got me thinking! I'll address some of the answers with a little more detail to fill in some gaps.
I would like to add, for the benefit of the blind, that the subject line to my thread is actually supposed to be tongue-in-cheek! >
My wife is a beautiful, patient, kind, and caring woman that puts her family first all the time (which drives me nuts sometimes) as I have to remind her to find time for herself too. I love her and my family first, always! My bikes are hobbies, obsessions even, but my family still comes first.
As for being soft... Good Lord (you speak without knowing). She's a mum of 2 crazy 100mph kids that 'go for it' all day everyday! And I know what tough looks like as I'm currently here in Kandahar, Afghanistan, wishing I could be home to share that load and make things easier for her, so please, as with many good woman, don't think your bike obsession and riding the Iron Butt 1000 makes you 'strong' or a 'man'!
It looks like you’ve spent a fortune on the suspension and now it is time for a decent seat. The stock seat is a plank and from what I’ve read, the comfort seat is no better.
It appears that the stock and comfort seat are regarded as quite bad on every forum or group from what I've read to date. However I do like the look of the comfort seat over the K&Q seat, so I think I will have the seat upgraded with memory foam. There's a train of thought that doesn't overly recommend a gel lining (if a high quality memory foam padding is used to upgrade the seat). I found a shop local to me that comes highly recommended by a HD dealership that is the same area, and only 40 odd miles from where I live.
http://www.sussexmotorcycles.com/elite-comfort-motorcycle-seats.html
The most important comfort is the rider, if the passenger complains leave them at home or tell them to tuffen up or get her own bike, better riding solo anyway, my wife never complains as it goes nowhere with me, my only complaint is she moves around to much and usualy at the wrong time, when she does I do something to make her hang on :grin2:
Ashley
You are who you are! You actually put yourself across as a bit of a bigot but it's your life so do as you please.
Hi Stevo,
Not sure where you live but talking about potholes makes me think its the UK.What do they do with all the revenue taken from vehicle excise etc, it certainly does not go on roads that's for sure otherwise the UK would have the best roads in the world!
Now you have had all the jokes etc, it is most important for your wife to have a good seat and the Bonneville ones are diabolical the so called comfort one is even worse than the original!
My Corbin GF&L looks the business but is still too hard for me, not got a passenger at the moment so can't say about that part, perhaps when she comes to live with me next year.
I would suggest talking with the guy who reupholsters seats in a town near you would be the best option, that way you can always go back if not perfect.
Hi BSA, Yep, Chichester in the UK! And as far as I'm aware the VED (road tax) is spent on everything bar road repairs, it's hideous but it's true.
Now then, that Corbin Gunfighter seat looks amazing and I was actually looking at one for my XSR900 60th Anniversay (which is a solo machine and is legitimised as such by it's pillion pegs delete)! :grin2:
Next time you're out riding, take a look at the passengers on sportbikes, and then compare them to the passengers on a 'Wing or Electraglide or such. The sportbike passengers are much, much closer to the rider, meaning their legs are spread more. And their knees are much higher in relation to their hips, which leaves little on the seat to carry their weigh other than their tailbone. Sportbikes are one extreme, Goldwings and 'Glides are the other. Have somebody take a full on side picture of you and your wife on the bike. See where she's sitting, her knee-hip relationship, and figure out how you can make it more 'Wing-like. A Queen seat or such will raise her higher, giving more legroom, changing the angle of her upper leg and taking some of the weight off her tailbone. Better padding will help. IF you can open up the distance between the two of you (on the bike, of course) all the better.
Bikerdad, this is an excellent post and really got me thinking! It could be that the overall 'seated' position is just not working for her, just like the Thruxton seated position just bloody kills me after 50 minutes in the saddle. At the end of the day she may just prefer the up 'n over position of a sports bike (think Ninja 1K, etc...) So I am actually considering a Multistrada 950 or similar, as when we do go out... we go out! All day out! Which may not be once a month but it's still enough to justify making her (and myself) a little more comfortable. I ride for fun, occasionally as a commute but only if I fancy it and not because I have to, so it should be comfortable and fun NOT uncomfortable and no fun!
Hi Ashman,
When my late wife of 42 years was with me, I, like you, was a MCP, she always said I loved my BSA more than her, something that was never argued.
But after she died three years ago from brain cancer, it made me stop and think about everything we had done together and what was now lost,
even down to me having to cook my own dinners, washing pots and pans etc plus ironing shirts and general house cleaning. Things we don't even think about were done quietly by her, now it's all down to me, but the main thing thats missing is when you come home to a empty house and know you won't see her again.
So I say to you and all us MCP's, (oink, oink) change your ways because you will miss her like hell if she's gone forever. A little bit of seat comfort on a bike is a small price to pay, you can always get her a new pair of shoes as well. I used to belong to the poorly shod etc brigade, if however the new love of my life does move in next year she will be treated far better than the last.
I recently lost my ma, and I was stuck in this God Forsaken hell hole when she passed so I completely feel your pain and loss BSA! You are a wise man and as an older man (46) myself, your words still jarred me. Bless you!
Thanks for sharing this and your perspective. Definitely helps me put priorities in the correct place. For me, I always remind myself that people > things.
100% :thumb
I love my 120 stock seat.. Never hurt. Just rode 4300 miles...oh.. That's right.....i ride my own! But her a bike!
My wife sat her CBT course (and passed), I think the equivalent American course is MSF??? but she was terrified as a rider, the instructor was a bit old school 'just get on with it' which I believe certainly didn't help, but I stayed away at her request and let her do her thing and waited until she got back to tell me everything. She didn't like it, but in a while, in her own time, may have another crack at it, only I'll need to find a much better instructor.
Again, thanks for the replies all
Stevo