Some of you have ridden both older and newer Savage/S40 bikes.  I have only sat on the S40 with the new style handle bars.  Are the buckhorn style bars any different in terms of the seating position?

Are they closer or more forward, higher or lower, or do they end up being about the same?  The angle of the grips on the buckhorns looks like it might be more natural.  I would like to hear your opinions and any thoughts on the seating position in general.

Here is a link to a seat mod site if you are interested.  Follow the menu left to right and be sure to check out the sub-menus because that is where most of the information is.  
http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/index.php

My bike still hasn't been delivered yet due to weather and road conditions, or maybe the dealer is hibernating.  

I opted for a late 90's Sportster bar, still a buckhorn, but not so tight in the bends. It gets my elbows out away from my gut, and I feel that I have better control.

I've owned both the Savage with the OEM buckhorn bars and the S40 with the OEM drags on pull back risers ... IMHO the S40's setup gives better steering input and control ... as already pointed out the Savage's buckhorns tucked the elbows in too much which in my experience restricted the amount of steering input you could give (compared to the S40's drag bars) ... I felt I could corner much better with the S40's set up. That said, when I had the Savage, I loosened the bar clamps and rolled the bars ahead about an inch and a half (of course re-tightening the clamps!) ... this effectively raised the grips up and ahead and was MUCH more comfortable! It also measurably improved steering input and cornering ... nearly as good as the OEM drags ...

PerrydaSavage wrote on 02/11/11 at 03:48:57:

That says it right there.  Any bars that use short risers (or no risers) such that the clamp is well below hand level, is going to give you much more fore/aft adjustability.

I liked the drag bars just fine in the stock location.  But if I didn't, I would have converted to the low clamp and bought some bars with less sweep (droop?) than the buckhorns.

Where you are sitting, just stick your arms out in front of you and let them hang there, loose in the air with no conscious control.

How are your hands oriented?    Get bars that do that.

(how is your body built, in other words.  Notice if you will that women's arms work slightly differently in this test than ours as they have slight structural modifications for carrying stuff like a baby for long long periods of time)


Pick the bar style that fits your body the best and you'll be happy.

That is exactly what I did to my stock buckhorns too.  Rolling them forward so your grip last longer and feels much better to have your elbows out of your side.

1"

for all years of savages?