Me and the wife done our first "over nighter".....Griffin Ga to Helen Ga and all points in between....everything but the actual riding was great.
we did about 400 miles in 2 days and we were both miserable due to the PAIN encountered while riding.....

For me, being 6'4" has made it hard to find a comfortable way to ride this bike...I have a hyway bar with pegs added to it to help me stretch out, but it doesnt help that much,,,if I try and sit upright, the top part of my butt is actually over the back of the drivers seat and causes it's own problems....If I try and slide down the seat and bring my crotch over the back part of the gas tank, this cause a severe, and I mean severe pain across the top of both ofmy butt cheeks...

when I do find a spot that is half way comfortable, it only last about 10 to 15 minutes before my entire butt starts "stinging"...

10 minutes off the seat and I'm ready to go for another 50 miles...


my wife on the other hand hasn't found a comfortable position yet!!! after 50 miles she is screaming to let her off...after about 3 of these, she can hardly lift her leg high enuff to swing off the bike....she loves riding, but suffers greatly for the enjoyment!!!

now add to that that we cant find a single place in atlanta to look at or try differnt seats....you would think that Atlanta would be a prime spot for one of the larger motorcycle customizing shops to set up a store......

love the bike, but hate the ride....and due to the fact that we cant afford to make a mistake when ordering either pads or new seats, we are reluctant to purchase anything without first having a chance to at least sit on it.....

any help would be greatly appreciated with helping us to solve this very "touchy" and painful situation

I don't know of any place in metro Atlanta where you can try it before you buy it. However, if you go to a rally someplace there's usually someone there selling seats/pads that has them mounted so you can try 'em.

And I'm not sure doing that will be the end all of your problems. I can't tell you how many on here are on their 2nd or 3rd seat in an effort to find one that will make their tush happy. If your wife is suffering on that little pad behind the seat that comes stock on the '04(I've got the same model) I don't blame her for her complaints. I'd be yelling too.

Not much help I know....sorry.

M7

Slay I can relate to you pain me and the wife had the same problem. I tried moding my stock seat with memory foam. I finally bit the bullet and spend a lot of bucks on a Ultimate seat seat and now we have ridden a 363 mile and 465 mile without any problems. We love out seats if you want a close look at what they look like click on my little world under my name and check them out. You have to pay for what you get.

when I do find a spot that is half way comfortable, it only last about 10 to 15 minutes before my entire butt starts "stinging
yep i feel your pain, i bought my bike 45 miles east of atl on july5,07
245 miles later my behind was hurting killing me, still dont have a new seat, just make more stops,

I have the Mustang Wide Touring seat (without the driver backrest). I'm 6'3" and 300 lb. The stock seat sucks. If you are into pain go ahead and climb onto to your wife's pech for a minute or two. I lasted 6 minutes on my wife's stock seat before I couldn't take it anymore. The comfort of the Ultimate seat seems to be unmatched. I have rode one for a short distance. The hang up for me is that they look like two tractor seats slapped on top of the Road Star. I like the look of my bike and leave it in front of my house, when I'm not riding, just to sit and look at it and drink beer (especially after rides). I love the look of the Mustang seats! They are not quite as comfortable as the Ultimate, but we've made 450 mile days on the Mustang. I don't think I'll often want to ride many more miles than that in a day. SO for a trade off of a little bit of comfort, I have something that looks nice.

I got the seat without the backrest, because I don't like being pushed forward even more, and I hate getting on and off a bike with a backrest. The design of the Mustang passenger seat overlapping the driver seat creates unough of a lower back support I've never had any of those backpains, since I put it on.

P.S. I've got about 3000 miles on the Mustang seat on my Road Star and 8000 miles on the Mustang seat on my V-Star 1100.

Bottom like is that the stock seat sucks... plastic pan. I sure feel for any passenger who tries to ride on that thing they stick on the rear fender.

There's allot of big boys here and I'm sure you'll get more than enuff suggestions.

I have a Corbin dual touring with 2 backrests. 99% of ALL aftermarket seats will push you a bit forward. If you have a Star Touring Chapter in your area I would go to one of their runs/meetings and I am sure you can sit on all the different kinds of seats available for our beloved R* - they will ALL know exactly what you're talking about!!

Be sure to get a backrest....the different is amazing.

busher

I have the mustang seat with the backrest. I got it in 2005. I think I put about 25,000 miles on that seat (looks as good as new (excellent quality, but its pretty pricey)). I've ridden an IBA 1000 mile ride on that seat (turned out to be about 1100 miles in less than 24 hrs). Sure, I still feel pain, but not as bad as the stock seat and its more down to my butt (which I can tolerate better than lower back pain). My wife loves the pillon pad. She hardly ever rode with me on the stock seat. Now she can sit for several hours with out complaints. I took the mustang seat off a few weeks ago along with my backrest and put on my stock seatin solo style for the heck of it. My lower back was killing me after a 1/2 hour. The mustang is much narrower and does push you forward a bit, but I found that with the back rest I can ride much more comfortably and I have back support. I always take about 800mg of ibuprofin about every 4 hours before and during a long ride. On the IBA ride, I also took icy hot patches. I also found the mustang doesn't cause as bad that sleeping leg thing where you get off of your bike and your legs can barely support you. Regardless of the seat, I think you are still going to have some pain especially on long rides.