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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> mods for longer rides? /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1162088438 Message started by pittmancharles on 10/28/06 at 19:20:38 |
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Title: mods for longer rides? Post by pittmancharles on 10/28/06 at 19:20:38 folks and friends live 400 miles away, what mods do you suggest to make the ride more comfortable/ doable? |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by KenGLong on 10/28/06 at 19:39:40 On longer rides, I like to straighten my back to make myself more comfortable. I think a drivers backrest would be the one improvement that would make the biggest difference in long ride comfort. The second would be a better seat. Ken in Albuquerque |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by HeresPaco on 10/28/06 at 20:18:07 Install some type of "cruise control" to reduce fatigue of your arm, wrist, hand on the long ride. On my big displacement touring bikes I almost always installed a universal fit automotive electronic cruise control to save my arm, wrist & hand from fatigue. The Savage probably would not produce enough intake vacuum to operate one of those and mounting the servo would be unsightly I think. HOWEVER! A throttle lock type cruise control can be a real fatigue saver. Also a palm rest throttle rocker placed on the grip helps with that same fatigue thing. The throttle lock cruise controls are around $30 and the palm rocker thingy about $7. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by georgekathe on 10/28/06 at 20:25:07 many have used a seat mod by putting some thick rubber bushings of some kind under the front of seat where the seat holder is behind tank. raises seat about 1".there are instructions on how to do it on the site, I think. works with Savage 2 piece seat - not sure with newer model single seats. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Paladin on 10/28/06 at 20:36:59 I'm planning on taking Thumper to the GEEIA reunion next September -- in OKC, 2750 miles round trip. Only comfort mods I'm planning is a larger windscreen and a cushy saddle -- either a sprung sportster's solo or maybe a Bill Mayer Saddle. Sometime next spring I'll take a day off and ride over to their factory and talk to them. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by azjay on 10/29/06 at 05:52:27 first and foremost the sportster seat, then a windshield of some sort, crashbar/hiway pegs, then a backrest, which can be a backpack full of clothes etc strapped to the sissybar on pass seat. you need to be able to wiggle around on the bike while riding. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by mickthelimey on 10/29/06 at 09:49:04 Many moons ago I raced bycycles,the seat on it was no wider than 4 inches at the back 1 inch at the front, this I could ride a hundred miles a day,at first your a$$ hurts like hell,but after a while it gets more and more comfortable,that being said, you don't need mods,all you need is to ride more,at least a few miles a day, "ride more,Ride Often" and your butt will soften |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by verslagen1 on 10/29/06 at 10:05:54 I too raced bicycles and after experiencing numb nuts firsthand and reading about Armstrongs testicular cancer, I say go for comfort. Do the seat mod, checkout the sportster seat mod and get it right for you. Monkey butt is not a look I want to adopt. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by babbalou on 10/29/06 at 11:46:36 Interesting about those bicycle seats. Not long ago I'd spend 2-3 hours a day on one of those 4" wide seats before I had to get off. Now, about an hour on my 12" wide LS650 seat & I'm ready to get off. Maybe because the bicycle had me leaning on my wrists. Or I'm just out of shape, or both. Time for me to hit the pedals again. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by pittmancharles on 10/29/06 at 21:14:45 got a short shield, highway pegs, will get a throttle lock. do i need to raise the front of the seat if i put a sportster seat on it? |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Jack_650 on 10/29/06 at 21:59:09 The best thing I've done for long rides is to put a V-Star seat on my LS. Easy mod and it sure is nice having a nice wide saddle under your tush. Did 4,200 miles on it this summer down to Miami and back and it was the best money I've ever spent. That and the 4 gallon tour tank. And the full windshiel. Am looking into getting a 5 gallon Harley tank put on there this winter. I hate to stop once I get rolling. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Rockin_John on 10/29/06 at 23:21:19 pittmancharles wrote:
I intend to raise the front on the Sportster seat I have when I install it. The ones I've seen raised 1" to 1-1/2" look about right compared to my experiments with stuffing rags under the front to see what angle feels most natural to me. What angle to mount the seat at for you is just a matter of personal preference. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Rockin_John on 10/29/06 at 23:33:29 Jack_650 wrote:
Got any pictures or details you can share on fitting a V-Star seat? I've got a Sportster seat in queue, but I'm always up for a better idea. :) While I'm not interested in putting an auxiliary tank anywhere on my bike, I have also been looking for large capacity (Harley? Or custom) tank possibility. If anyone has already figured that issue out, I'd be eternally grateful for insight. Not so much that I like to ride more than 100 miles at once, I just get tired of the frequent trips to filling stations. A range of at least 300 miles would be great. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Salad_Shaker on 10/30/06 at 04:55:47 With the stock seat, the small tank is a blessing in disguise, making breaks every hour or so a necesity. I too come from a bike reacing background. The key difference is not the shape of the seat but the part of your anatomy resting on it. For those longer of leg the stocker is really a literal pain in the ane, as it has no cushioning for the coxyx. However it is true that the more I ride the more I can ride, 250km days are now easy whereas at first my tail was begging for mercy after half an hour. To prevent sliding forward I've done the simple seat mod with a slight variation - springs at the front, spacers at the back. A hugger or sportster seat is in the pipeline for a future fitment. Keeping the pilion seat free allows me to slide back up on to the rear pad for a change of posture. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by azjay on 10/30/06 at 05:04:12 the sportster seat is raised in the front as designed, no adjustments to mounting nessesary. also, the saddle section allows you to sit further back on the bike, creating more leg room. win win! |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by lancer on 10/30/06 at 06:12:52 Quote:
I like that idea, do you havve pic's of this yet? |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Jack_650 on 10/30/06 at 07:00:37 I picked my V-Star seat up out of a used bike/salvage yard here in MN. $150 like new. The mounting was easy and straight forward. Since I didn't want to give up the back seat, I took off the V-Star mounting tang on the back of the seat. I made a shallow square cornered bracket that fit between the seat mounting flanges on the frame, after I bent them into a verticle angle to the ground. I drilled a hole on each short leg of the bracket to bolt through for the frame flanges. Then I pop-riveted that to the seat pan with a liberal amount of an industrial adhesive. It took me three tries to get the correct size bracket. I had already raised the front of the stock seat about an inch after reading about it here so over all the seat's a bit higher than stock. I'm six feet tall and have about decided to give up the back seat so's I can move the front seat back a bit for the extra leg room. Hope this helps. I'm about to start working on the Harley tank soon so I can get pix if needed. Or I could do a quick drawing. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Salad_Shaker on 10/30/06 at 07:52:18 Lancer - yep I got pictures. What I don't have is success in uploading them so others can see it too. Did try once. Failed. Gave up. Sad old case aren't I. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by lancer on 10/30/06 at 09:00:00 Salad_Shaker wrote:
I understand completely, it took my a bunch of tries before I figured out what I was doing wrong... not doing right. You have to take your pictures from the camera to your computer, then upload them to a photo website (I use Snapfish, most others use a bike website somehwere), then at that point each picture has a URL I think, then you right click on the pic, go to properties, highlight the ENTIRE LONG address, right click that and hit the "copy" choice, then go to the Savage site & click on the picture box (4th from left on the 2nd row above the smiley faces), left click between the 2 [IMG] boxes, then right click in the same place and hit "paste" I think that is what I do to get a pic on here. Are we having fun yet? ;D |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Savage_Rob on 10/30/06 at 11:48:08 In my opinion, the best mod for long range comfort has been upgraded shocks. My bike already had a windshield on it when I bought it and I would highly recommend one. I have an S40 pillow-top gel seat and it's a definite improvement over the stock seat but the shocks are a better upgrade if you have to choose between the two. I'm seeing a lot of folks very pleased with an HD Sportster seat conversion, which should probably be cheaper than a new S40 gel seat. As suggested above, an alternative set of forward pegs are not a bad idea either as you'll appreciate changing your leg position every now and then. For general handling and stability, I am very fond of my fork brace, though I wouldn't classify it as a comfort upgrade. So far as cruise controls go, I've never installed a real one on any bike I've owned. Devices like the throttle-rocker or throttle boss have been adequate for me. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Paladin on 10/30/06 at 14:29:26 Salad_Shaker wrote:
We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I've been putting up with leaking oil for nearly two years 'cause I can't figure how to get to the silly plug. If you can e-mail the pix to me I'll put them up. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Salad_Shaker on 10/31/06 at 08:16:57 Paladin: Some pics winging their way through the ether even as I type. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Paladin on 10/31/06 at 08:56:32 http://savage.andruschak.net/FTP/FrontSpringerSeat.jpg |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Salad_Shaker on 10/31/06 at 09:11:54 Many thanks Paladin for helping out this techno-klutz. So there you have it - my stock-o-springer seat mod. Adds lift and comfort. All for the princely sum of 1.50$ for the springs off ebay. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Jim_R on 10/31/06 at 11:23:00 I think the biggest comfort mod I did was forward controls. If you access to a welder and a grinder you can do it. Even tho they are VERY expensive (if you buy them highway hawk I think) you will wonder how you ever rode ur bike without them. I cant emphasize how good they feel. I would also take Savage Rob's suggestion and look into a pillowtop gel seat. Or make a gel insert from Lancers gel he sells. The stock seat is TERRIBLE and literally a pain in the arse. Oh and I almost forgot. Try getting some new grips like kuryakyn grips. They are awesome and take 99% of the vibration away. They also sell kewl accesories like throttle boss (kinda like cruise control but u use the flat on your hand, eg the side, to rest your grip) and a helmet lock. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Savage_Rob on 10/31/06 at 11:27:44 Jim_R wrote:
Yup, I totally forgot because I take 'em for granted. They do make a big difference. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Salad_Shaker on 11/03/06 at 11:22:15 azjay: does the Spostster rider's seat fit with the Savage stock pillion pad in place? Got my eye on an HD seat but am wondering about fixings and mountings. Can you give us a steer on this? |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by azjay on 11/04/06 at 06:51:38 no, look here http://w1.bikepics.com/pics/2006/04/05/bikepics-556598-full.jpg |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by barry68v10 on 11/04/06 at 08:25:15 I've got an idea... I don't see any reason why you couldn't hook up an auxillary fuel tank with 1/4" line up to the vacuum port on the petc0ck if you've done the manual petc0ck conversion. Thoughts? |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Reelthing on 11/04/06 at 08:44:23 as long as you use a fuel cut off on at least the lowest tank - or you'll get a bit of a mess going |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by barry68v10 on 11/04/06 at 13:48:42 The aux tank will have its own shutoff and the main tank will still use the petc0ck. The aux tank shutoff normal position will have to be closed... Good point Reelthing ;D |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Jack_650 on 11/06/06 at 06:33:17 I have the 4 1/2 gallon aux tank on my Savage and you most definately want an inline cut off so that you have either one or the other in use. When I forget and have them both "open" after a fill-up, I get gas coming out and onto my right thigh as they try to equalize between themselves. I put a 1/4" "Y" after the pet-thingie and the on/off valve for the aux tank under the left side at the back of my seat. I'm still trying to find an either/or 1/4" valve so I only have one thing to remember to switch. By the way, if you're thinking of adding one of those aux tanks behind your sissy bar, seriously consider adding an extra tailight/brakelight on the tank. The stock tailight is almost invisible until you're quite a ways back from the bike with the tank in place. I got one of those LCD oval lights like they use on the big rig trailers and mounted it in the mounting brackets for the tank. I just routered out a bigger oval than the light itself in wood, sprayed it with black bed liner and screwed a thin, flat metal plate on the back to slide under the tank straps before tightening. Gotta go fix my oil leak again. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Salad_Shaker on 11/06/06 at 09:45:22 Thanx for the pretty pic Azjay. Yep, guess that would get in the way of the pillion pad. The harley seat I'm looking at is the single seat version. Anyone else tried that? |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by Savage_Rob on 11/07/06 at 08:55:11 barry68v10 wrote:
Yup. Just do a search on TourTank and also visit TourTank.com. |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by verslagen1 on 11/28/06 at 13:03:14 I'm thinking of adding a backrest. Does anyone have any experience as to a backrest restricting movement perhaps interfering with the safe operation of the bike? |
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Title: Re: mods for longer rides? Post by mornhm on 11/29/06 at 05:29:59 You're gonna want a tank that will let you go 200 miles between fillups unless you want to spend a lot of time in gas stations. 4 stops on a standard tank one way will probably add 2 hours to your trip. However, with that said, 400 miles isn't a real long ride (easily done in a day with a return the next if you so desire) or round trip in a day if you're a glutton or just want to ride. If you don't have it, rain gear. Make sure all your other gear is comfortable. You are going to want bags if you don't have them yet. Cell phone, maps (MC's have a tendancy to wander onto roads as yet unexplored by you so be prepared). Take something that will go under your side stand to keep the stand from sinking into soft stuff. I keep mine on a leash so I don't forget it. Flashlight and minimal tool kit. Make sure your MC is in good repair. I've so far been able to plan my trips so that no maintenance requiring a garage or special tools has been needed on the road. Gas it up, check the air, make sure nothing has fallen off and ride. |
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