Take a Seat

Winter is finally coming to my little corner of the world, which means it's time to reluctantly put my bike away for a while. However, I may not be able to ride her, but I can still play with her. Winter is the perfect time to personalize your ride by adding some functionality or a little bling.

For those of you who aren't aware, I bought my 2006 Sportster with no frills. I did this partially to keep the costs down and partially because I'm a function over form kind of guy.

One element that was missing when I bought the bike was a passenger seat. This brought the cost down a bit, but I did a little less riding over the summer as a result. It's kind of tough to take off for the entire day when you're leaving the family behind. In retrospect though, I believe I made the right choice. The two-person seat that comes standard on a Sportster is okay for the rider, but I can't see how it's comfortable for the passenger. It's very narrow and incredibly thin. I don't know the exact specs, but I'd estimate that the stock seat is about five inches wide and probably two inches thick. It would be okay for a quick ride across town, but not much more.

If you want a thicker seat, there are several options, but the vast majority will set you back a couple of hundred dollars. After weeks of detailed research, I decided to purchase the OEM passenger pillion for my 2006 Sportster. It's very cost-effective and it provides a reasonable amount of support for the passenger. It's approximately 9 1/2 inches wide and about four inches high.

I haven't taken a passenger out yet, but so far I'm happy with the purchase. The seat retails for about $85... by far the cheapest option around, and it's easy to install. A true two-person seat would have a slightly tighter look and fit, but I am satisfied with the result.

There's one thing I want to point out to anyone who's considering a seat purchase, and this is something I discovered when I was installing the passenger pillion. Your seat - any seat you purchase - will scuff the paint on your fender ever-so-slightly. This means that you should seriously think about your seat before you buy it, because once you mount a seat on your bike, you can't subsequently install a smaller seat without either getting the fender repainted or revealing the scuffs.

My next purchase is going to be a passenger backrest, and then I'm going to buy a short windscreen after that. In order to help me visualize how it will look, Harley-Davidson has built an awesome customizer for their newer models. This was a stroke of genius on their part.

Here's my vision.