.....You can ask any Harley owner. Of course he’ll answer that he’s proud of his bike. However, almost every Harley owner, maybe with the exception of the full-dresser pilots, complains about the uncomfortable saddle on his bike.
.....The Milwaukee engineers in charge of product development have come a long way in the past 93 years. From motorized bicycles anno 1903 via Flatheads, Knuckleheads, Pans and Shovels all the way to modern Evolutions, better known as the “Evos“. Progress on all fronts, only not there, where we, as far as I’m concerned, need it the most. Evolution means change and development. The saddles on most Harleys however, at least those on the Softail series, have not experienced much in the line of evolution on the way to comfortability.
.....I’ve been riding a Heritage Softail-Classic for the past three years. I love my hog and wouldn’t want to ride anything else, except possibly a brand-new 97 Heritage. In my opinion my Heritage and all the other Softails have one problem in common: the gastank has a 3:1 ratio to the saddle. That can be explained as follow: Although the bike can cover a distance of almost 200 miles on a tank of gas, my buns can only stand about 1/3 of that before I have to pull up and get off. If I force myself to stay in the saddle until the tank is almost empty then I’ve got problems when, and if, I get out of the saddle.
.....Recently a friend of mine that builds custom bikes gave me a Fat-Boy saddle from a bike he was customizing. Considering the fact that the Fat-Boy saddle is wider than my Heritage saddle I was convinced that it would be more comfortable. At least that’s what I thought! Not only did I miss the Bullseye, I missed the target altogether. Your sit on the Fat-Boy saddle not in it. The Fat-Boy saddle gave me a 4:1 ration! Now I really can confirm everything that other Harley riders claim: original Harley saddles are everything else but “soft“ and comfortable.
.....In 1995, during a visit to my family in Connecticut, I had the opportunity to visit the Mustang Motorcycle Seat production facilities. What I saw back in 1995 convinced me that Mustang had found the solution for a comfortable ride on a Harley.
.....When I returned to Germany I told some biker friends about what I’d seen at the Mustang plant. One of my riding buddies, a Road-King owner, was very impressed by what I had to relate. We decided to take the risk and sent an order to Mustang for two saddles for our bikes. Since we do a lot of touring with our wives we chose the Mustang “Wide Studded Touring” saddle for my Heritage and the “R-K Ultra Touring Seat” for the Road-King, both with passenger pillions for the ladies.
.....A formed steel baseplate is the basis for both saddles. Mustang’s design concept is a wide steel wing on both sides of the saddle for both the rider and the passenger. The wings are welded to the sides of the baseplate and the foam base for both seats is formed around the wings. This construction doubles the comfort and assures additional support for both rider and passenger. The rounded front edge of the pillion on the “Wide Studded Touring” saddle is pushed up and forward of the rear back edge of the riders seat and give the rider an additional spinal and lower back support.
.....The riders seat on the “Studded Touring” and the “Road King Touring” models are 1 1/2 inches lower than the normal Harley saddle. The “Studded is a whole 17 inches wide, and the ”Road King” saddle is even wider. The passenger enjoys a 13 inch wide seat! Wow, since the saddle has a higher back edge and a lower seat area the rider can finally sit in the saddle, not on it! The bottom of the steel baseplate is fitted with rubber studs that rest on the frame and dampen the bikes vibrations for a more comfortable ride.
.....Installing the “Studded Touring” saddle took surprisingly less time than the removal of the original Milwaukee equipment. My first short run was to the gas station around the corner where I topped off the tank. Three-quarters of an hour later and with fifty kilometers more on the speedometer I parked my Heritage in form of Harlads house. As I climbed out of the saddle I knew right away that my tank-to-saddle ratio had considerably increased from 3:1 in the direction of 1:1.
.....With a big broad smile on his face Harlad stood next to his Road King on the driveway leading to his house. “With the exception of the sofa in my living room I’ve never had anything more comfortable under my backside”, exclaimed my buddy.
.....Harald had already completed his first trial-run with the new saddle, and he was completely satisfied. “I’ve finally got the all around support I need. I sit lower in the saddle and have a much lower center of gravity. The bike handles better and feels safer going into curves and as an added extra I’ve got the feeling that my backside is warmer” were his first comments.
.....The gap between the tank and the “nose” of the saddle, a distraction in the lines of the Road-King with the original equipment, was now eliminated. The smooth transition from the tank to the Mustang saddle really impressed Harald. He now had the racy smooth lines that he’d missed up till then. The new saddle had one special advantage for my 5”10” buddy: since the seat was lower his short legs finally had “traction” on the asphalt when he had to back his bike up.
.....At first sight you might think that the “Road-King Touring Seat” is an individual custom creation instead of a normal series production item. The lowered surface of the saddle makes the biggest first impression, then the observers eye moves on to the front edge of the saddle where it meets the gastank. The standard Harley saddle overlaps the tank and the tankpanel with its bulgy “nose”. The Mustang saddle on the other hand meets the back end of the gastank in a smooth flowing line. The installation of the Touring Seat on the Road-King is, just like on my heritage, just a matter of seconds.
.....With our wives up on the passenger pillion Harald and I took off for our first long test ride in the rolling hills south of Hamburg were we live. No sliding around on the saddle to soothe the pains that weren’t there, and the combination of the high front edge of the pillion and the high back of the drivers seat really gives my lower spinal area tremendous support. What a joy for a backache stressed rider! With a sharp twist of the gas grip I didn’t slide back in the saddle like I used to. Another plus factor of the deep saddle and it’s high back.
.....During our first stop for gas after almost 300 kilometers the women held a quick conference and both of them had the same opinion of the pillions. Although the Milwaukee originals on both bikes do have a certain degree of comfortability Marion and Anke had already decided that as far as motorcycles are concerned they never wanted to have anything other than a “Mustang” under their delicate backsides.
.....After clocking off more than 400 kilometers I realized that I’d finally found the 1:1 saddle I’d been dreaming about for over three years. Harald and I kept shaking our heads and asking each other: “Why doesn’t Harley equip all their motorcycles with such comfortable saddles?” That’s one question that Milwaukee still can’t answer.
Oh by the way, do you know anybody that has use for an original Harely-Davidson Heritage-Softail or Road-King saddle? They came direct from Milwaukee and are only slightly used. Sorry no motorcycles go with these saddles.
Bob Michelson
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