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[JoeVibe]

In an effort to make the wife more comfortable on the back of my bike, I have a couple of questions.

1) I'm looking at Harley's Road Zeppelin Passenger air cushion hoping it's truly more comfortable and, as an added possible bonus, might raise Janet up a little and give her a better chance to see around me. Any reviews on this?

2) On the same line, does anyone make a comfortable aftermarket touring seat that is designed to raise the passenger higher than the stock seats do?

3) Has anyone tried using a heat barrier on the seat pan to slow/stop engine heat transfer to the seat? I'm thinking about trying this, http://www.summitracing.com/parts/the-13590 , and was wondering of anyone has already tried it, or something similar, and what were the results?

Thanks,

Joe

[efrbc1]

Bought an Airhawk seat pad for my wife.  She likes it and rides more that she used to.

Chris

[Midnight Rider]

The Airhawk Cruiser R will fit perfectly for her and she can adjust it to her liking. It will also raise her about .5" or so.  Look around and you can find one a little cheaper than the factory pricing.

I don't know anything about the Zepplin seat other than, IMO, it's butt ugly.  Might be comfortable, but I'd never get past the looks.

[Boatman]

I don't know anything about the Zepplin seat other than, IMO, it's butt ugly.  Might be comfortable, but I'd never get past the looks.

Proves were not to old yet with thinking like that Terry.   

[JoeVibe]

Thanks Guys! I'll check out the Air Hawk.

Janet rode 152 miles of back roads with me Saturday and that was a record for her. She complained a little near the end about the seat so hopefully this will help.

Joe

[deldago]

I put a Corbin dual tour on our Roadglide about three months ago and finally got to take a long ride with the wife last weekend. We went about 100 miles and stopped for fuel. When I asked her how she was doing and how much further she wanted to go she said go for it! We ended up doing over 400 miles that day and she said she could have gone further. Her previous record was about 250 miles and couldn't have gone any more without problems. To get my wife to spend more time comfortable on the bike $800 was a small price to pay. I love having her on the bike and anything I can do to make it enjoyable I will. Good luck with whatever you choose Joe!

[danner55]

Road Zeppelin is the way to go! We put them to the test last year on a 7000 mile trip. They can be adjusted at anytime to fit you needs. We have a week long trip coming up & I already have them out & ready to put on.

They are well worth the money!

[Foot Loose]

My previous bike was a Heritage Softail.  My wife and I could ride 500 miles a day, once did 620 miles.  My new bike, 2014 softail deluxe, cvo, neither of us can ride 100 miles without squirming and aching.  Doing 400 miles is a challenge.  One would think spending the money for a CVO, the seat would be a little better!  I'm also trying to figure out what to do. 

[JoeVibe]

The Airhawk Cruiser R will fit perfectly for her and she can adjust it to her liking. It will also raise her about .5" or so.  Look around and you can find one a little cheaper than the factory pricing.

I don't know anything about the Zepplin seat other than, IMO, it's butt ugly.  Might be comfortable, but I'd never get past the looks.

The Airhawk R Cruiser looks like exactly what I need. I may give it a try myself when riding solo. 

I wasn't looking at the Zeppelin seat, Harley has a air cushion they also call Zeppelin, but the passenger version is a rectangle and the Airhawk looks like a much better fit.

I put a Corbin dual tour on our Roadglide about three months ago and finally got to take a long ride with the wife last weekend. We went about 100 miles and stopped for fuel. When I asked her how she was doing and how much further she wanted to go she said go for it! We ended up doing over 400 miles that day and she said she could have gone further. Her previous record was about 250 miles and couldn't have gone any more without problems. To get my wife to spend more time comfortable on the bike $800 was a small price to pay. I love having her on the bike and anything I can do to make it enjoyable I will. Good luck with whatever you choose Joe!

I'm pretty happy with the Hammock for myself. I've done 8-10 hour days and not been uncomfortable. If I can make Janet happy with a cushion I'll be set for now. We went through a few seats on my Heritage trying to find the right one and never really did. If I can avoid that for now, that's OK with me.
Question though -
One of the members here (I think his name's Ken, can't remember his handle but he has a pretty orange scooter) had mentioned in the past that the passenger seat on his Corbin was slanted forward and his wife would slide towards him so he used a Mustang for two up riding. Have you noticed that?

Road Zeppelin is the way to go! We put them to the test last year on a 7000 mile trip. They can be adjusted at anytime to fit you needs. We have a week long trip coming up & I already have them out & ready to put on.

They are well worth the money!

That's good to hear but I think I'm going to go with the Airhawk. It's more money but i think the shape will be better.

My previous bike was a Heritage Softail.  My wife and I could ride 500 miles a day, once did 620 miles.  My new bike, 2014 softail deluxe, cvo, neither of us can ride 100 miles without squirming and aching.  Doing 400 miles is a challenge.  One would think spending the money for a CVO, the seat would be a little better!  I'm also trying to figure out what to do. 

Neither one of us could ride my Heritage more than two hours without being miserable. I put a Mustang Super Touring seat on it and it was better for me but the wife didn't like it. That's how I ended up with the CVO Ultra! I don't know what they use for a seat on your bike but look at the Airhawk, if you're good with a cushion, it looks promising to me.

Thanks for all the feedback!

Joe

[danner55]

My apologies! I need to update my post to say I used the Road Zeppelin air seat pad.

Part # 52000084  Page 315 in the P & A  book.Use the same pad for rider & passenger.

Like I said well worth the money.

[Rimjam]

I'm using Harley's predecessor to the Zeppelin, the Air Seat, on my '00 SERG.  It's really nice to be able to change pressure points while going down the road.  The wife likes it w/o inflating any bladders at all.  I'll only use it for extended trips because it does raise me up higher than I normally like even with all bladders deflated. Her nickname for the seat  -  The Couch.

[JoeVibe]

My apologies! I need to update my post to say I used the Road Zeppelin air seat pad.

Part # 52000084  Page 315 in the P & A  book.Use the same pad for rider & passenger.

Like I said well worth the money.

Thanks Danner. I hadn't looked at the rider cushion, looks really similar to the Airhawk and I like the fact that it has a bulb pump on it for "on the fly" adjustments. I can get this cushion for $25 less than the best on-line price I found on the Airhawk so it's definitely worth a try.  I can always return it if she doesn't like it.

A couple reviews on the H-D site complained that they leaked down after a short while. Have you had that issue?

[JoeVibe]

I'm using Harley's predecessor to the Zeppelin, the Air Seat, on my '00 SERG.  It's really nice to be able to change pressure points while going down the road.  The wife likes it w/o inflating any bladders at all.  I'll only use it for extended trips because it does raise me up higher than I normally like even with all bladders deflated. Her nickname for the seat  -  The Couch.

My Hammock seat is a little higher than I really need it, I don't need to be raised up any more. I'm comfortable with the seat as is so if I can get Janet more comfortable and a little higher up I think I'll be good to go. Her birthday is Sunday, a seat cushion sounds like a present to me. 

[deldago]

I went with the one piece dual tour and there is no slope to it at all, maybe the two piece solo is built different. The rear pillion is bigger on the dual and it really helped her out comfort wise. I also had them narrow the nose which allows you to get your feet closer together and be more sure footed moving the bike around.  We too came from a Heritage with a custom seat and neither of us was comfortable past 200 miles in a day. This seat came from Tri County harley, they offered 20% off and very cheap shipping, with heat for both seats it came in right around $800.00 I hope you find a happy place for your BSR!

[Midnight Rider]

Two more cents about the Airhawk Cruiser R: It fits like it was literally made for the hammock seat, front or rear. Two, there is no need to strap it to the bike, as it has a "sticky rubber" bottom on the cover that will not slide around once seated. This allows you to just throw it in the saddlebag or TP when you are not on the bike.

Once the bladder is adjusted properly, there is rarely a need to make further adjustments. The trick is to blow it up, sit on the bike, then slowly bleed air out of the valve until you are just slightly off the stock seat support.  Because of the interconnected bladder, it should feel like you are sitting on Jello...when you shift your butt, it feels "squishy" as the air moves around in the bladder. The top of the cover is a very breathable material that allows some air flow.  And yes, you can still feel the heated seat when needed, though of course there is some insulation factor due to the air in the bladder.