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[08SEUltra]

I have ridden 8-10 hour days on my 2012 with the hammock seat with zero discomfort. I think the seat is great. I am 5'11" and 195 lbs. pretty typical I guess.

[ultrafxr]

I too like the hammock seat and find it very comfortable. Sits differently than my 07 - definitely higher but don't find that a problem. Did change bars out for WO575s.

[CVO Brian]

Agree on 578 Bars or even 577 if your taller than 6'1. Im right at 6'0 and love the 578's. Had 12" Yaffe Bars on my last ride which I also loved but the Wild1 bars seemed to be better quality and way easier to install the wires through. Bars are a must to eliminate that lower neck/shoulder trap pain.

As far as the seat, I love the hammock that came with the bike. I was skeptical at first but talked to a couple guys who had some miles on them and once i put a couple thousand miles on that saddle it actually formed to my behind and no more dead butt after 200 miles. Give the seat one more chance after 2 to 3 K miles. The heated feature in the winter sure is nice.

Windshield? Well we can use the stock clear one or even the stock standard Ultra shield and take care of everything but this is just plain ugly. I kinda like the wind in my face in the summer so I go with the 4" stock SG shield dark smoke. I can see over it and its perfect. When it gets cold I put the Long Rider 9" recurve and I'm looking good and it blocks the wind. My wife likes the 15" clear stock shield because it blocks the wind from her as well and it doesnt mess up her pretty long black hair, but I'm good.

I agree with all the guys here, it is very disappointing to have to shell out more coin for this flagship just to be comfortable. I think they should have three comfort models based on height and length but then again re-sale would be a problem. 4k sounds about right if your not the proto typical Harley Engineer size 5'9 or 10" with 33" sleeve and 32" inseam cause thats what it seems like all touring bikes are made to.

[mannyr]

So    All I can at is I feel your pain. I traded a 2012 CVO Road Glide ( The Skunk) for my 2013 CVO FLHTCUSE8.  Boy do I regret it.  I already changed the handlebars to wild ones  WO578 and the seat to C@CSpourtour 2up seat.  I think I have the seat issue taken care of   I  just ordered a set of Buky Bars 14 inch that are being sent to me within a week. Also removed the lower fairings whiich helped.  I'm really working on making this bike work or me. After spending all that money. I  hope all my issues will be taken care of. I actually thought of trading it in and going back to a CVO  2013 Road Glide but I really would be biting the bullet financially.   Which unless I get it right will be  a possibility..  Anyone want to buy a  FLHTCUSE8  Orange bike?

[Soot]

  I'm grateful to all that took the time to offer up some suggestions and encouragement.

At 5'9"; 210lbs; with a 30" inseam and 32" reach - it definitely needs some tweeking with the fit. I am going to try a couple of different seats and see if that helps with the numbing (that's my biggest concern). I don't need a bar hopper or "ride around town" bike at that price. I have my 05 RK Custom for that.

Worse case scenario, I move it for whatever the market will bear (within reason) and see what 2014 has to offer. Thanks again guys -most appreciated. Wish I could offer you all a brewski for your time..

Soot

[05Train]

I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but here are the facts.....

There are literally hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of stock bikes out there with happy owners.  I personally know of well over a hundred people who happily ride stock motorcycles, many of them on Harleys.  Between the Mothership, the aftermarket suppliers, and these damned forums, we've all been conditioned to believe that there's something (or many things) very, very wrong with a stock bike.

There isn't.

You need to expect to do some comfort modifications on a bike, simply because the same bike is sold to everyone from 5'2" to 6'10' and 120 pounds to 400 pounds.  Or you can deal with what you have.

I'm 6'2" with a 34" inseam, 205 pounds.  The stock seat is great; the best stock seat I've ever sat on.  It's no Corbin, but I can deal with it for the $800 savings.  I'll eventually do bars.....I budgeted that in with the cost of the bike.  Same with the windshield.  Same with the shocks and the butt-ugly TourPak hinges.

But truthfully, I could ride this bike dead-stock.  Sure, the mods make it more comfortable, but it's livable as-is.

If yours isn't, then maybe you bought the wrong bike.  I hate to sound harsh, but seriously man, the forums are a lousy sample of Harley owners.  There are plenty of people who are more than happy to hop on their stock bike and ride serious miles without griping about it.  The forums bring out the whiners.  No one comes here to post about their completely uneventful ride that was a nice way to spend 5 hours.

[Twolanerider]

  No one comes here to post about their completely uneventful ride that was a nice way to spend 5 hours.

http://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?board=33.0

[FlaHeatWave]

My take on it;

The '05 SEEG is great out of the showroom! Plenty of power, great suspension / handling, high quality leather seat, rider backrest, chopped tourpak. My mods are minimal, radar detector, street glide mirrors, K&N. (<$500)

The '09 SERG, requires much more, exhaust system, chopped tourpak, SE Stage III, shocks, fork cartridges, areo management, are just some of the mods I feel that are necessary just to bring this bike to the level that the '05 is stock. I know, that I could have got an Ultra CVO RG that had the TP and lowers, but chose not to go that route. 'Will have spent close to $10k for mods on this bike, not including hot rodding the stereo. And the seat is still "pleather" on this one...

The MSRP on both these bikes were about the same

[110tHunDer]

My take on it;

The '05 SEEG is great out of the showroom! Plenty of power, great suspension / handling, high quality leather seat, rider backrest, chopped tourpak. My mods are minimal, radar detector, street glide mirrors, K&N. (<$500)

The '09 SERG, requires much more, exhaust system, chopped tourpak, SE Stage III, shocks, fork cartridges, areo management, are just some of the mods I feel that are necessary just to bring this bike to the level that the '05 is stock. I know, that I could have got an Ultra CVO RG that had the TP and lowers, but chose not to go that route. 'Will have spent close to $10k for mods on this bike, not including hot rodding the stereo. And the seat is still "pleather" on this one...

The MSRP on both these bikes were about the same

Too funny!  The SEEG board is FULL of people posting about their Zipper's 575 cam upgrades, their Corbin seats and their AK-20/Bitubo/Progressive suspension upgrades!

Just further proof that no one bike is perfect for everyone!

[05Train]

Too funny!  The SEEG board is FULL of people posting about their Zipper's 575 cam upgrades, their Corbin seats and their AK-20/Bitubo/Progressive suspension upgrades!

Just further proof that no one bike is perfect for everyone!

Yep, and there are 10 times as many CVO owners who aren't members of this forum who are perfectly happy with their stock bikes.

[110tHunDer]

I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but here are the facts.....

.... Between the Mothership, the aftermarket suppliers, and these damned forums, we've all been conditioned to believe that there's something (or many things) very, very wrong with a stock bike.

There isn't.

I had Ohlins on my Limited, decided to go with JRIs on the CVO.  The Ohlins totally transformed the ride of the bike, and I expect that the JRIs will do even better since they have an additional 22mm of stroke to them.

Except shocks? 

[Twolanerider]

My take on it;

The '05 SEEG is great out of the showroom! Plenty of power, great suspension / handling, high quality leather seat, rider backrest, chopped tourpak. My mods are minimal, radar detector, street glide mirrors, K&N. (<$500)

Can't agree at all.  I loved the 05 SEEG.  It was a great bike.  But the stock suspension sucked.  Those years old designed Showa air shocks sucked long before the SEEG and they still do.  The stock chopped pak looks great.  But you can't use it for much more than pizza.  Won't hold more than a half helmet.  And the seat... oh my god that seat was heinous.  Flimsy.  But worst was its nose.  The thing tried its best to create scrotal cleavage where it pushed up in places most guys don't want things pushing up.

The suspension was great; unless you rode something that actually didn't suck to compare it against and really no better.  The chopped tour pak looked great.  And so long as you never needed to carry much it was.  And the seat was indeed awesome; so long as your nuts were the size of peanuts.

[05Train]

http://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?board=33.0

The first five threads go back 3-1/2 weeks.  Compare that to how many new threads there are with people asking about pipes, seats, bars, fans, or something else they "need" to "fix" their bike.

Except shocks?  

I change stuff on my bikes.  I don't kid myself thinking that I have to.  I don't like the stock suspension.  I'm part of a tiny minority of owners who changes shocks.  

And I didn't purchase a nearly $40,000 motorcycle without knowing ahead of time what I wanted to change on it, nor do I regret the purchase one bit.  I'll ride my 30,000 miles a year with a smile on my face.

BTW, this isn't just a Harley thing.  Go on any car or motorcycle forum and you'll find the exact same thing.  J&P, Dennis Kirk, and all the other vendors just love these forums, because they get so many people whipped up to shell out money for farkles.

[Soot]

"If yours isn't, then maybe you bought the wrong bike.  I hate to sound harsh, but seriously man, the forums are a lousy sample of Harley owners.  There are plenty of people who are more than happy to hop on their stock bike and ride serious miles without griping about it.  The forums bring out the whiners."

05train,

I don't consider myself to be a whiner and if the forum is such a lousy example of HD owners; why do you participate? This is my 40th year of riding and although I don't put 30,k+ miles on every year (mostly due to weather restrictions), I do know comfort from having to walk around for days on end with numbness in your feet from a seat or ergonomics that are sorrowfully lacking. I'm happy for you that your upgrades are minimal.

The forum is an opportunity for ppl to exchange ideas and get suggestions and perhaps bitch a little to a population of ppl that would understand what they are referring to. I still have the ability to distinguish between what is essential and what is for show.

I get the point that you are trying to make but maybe you came off a little "harsh" by slamming those that do participate on this forum and have a wealth of knowledge. Just sayin.


Soot 

[timo482]

i cant stand the stock seats for very long [im large.......], i swear they are made for the models they use in there adds. its always been that way. most of the guys i know run essentially stone stock and only do mods for looks. pipes air cleaner etc - purely for looks and they never even notice if it makes more power or less.

i use a stock police seat - with the air bag replaced with a spring - perfect

and when i finally ran out of new take off stock air cleaners [i had several] i put on the se air cleaner copy with a k&n element.

in fact most of the harleys i have owned except for the 79 sportster ended up with a police seat, always the best for a long day.

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