[tatrhed]

Hello all. If this goes to the wrong spot I apologize but thought it may be best here.

I am looking for another motorcycle that my wife can enjoy as the passenger for several hours. She has a bad back but likes to ride. Not looking for cross country tours, but something that is decent for a 100 mile ride that takes 3 hours because of all of the twisties. I have narrowed it down to 3 (maybe 4) bikes. I am looking strictly for passenger comfort opinion. Any bike would end up with a mustang seat.

I am looking at the Yamaha Raider (maybe stratoliner, but have heard they are same as raider in terms of passenger comfort), Victory Vegas, or Harley Dyna (with electraglide shocks). I realize there are better bikes for what I am looking for, but are not in the budget.

I realize most here are probably drivers, but there are more female passengers than male and want my wife to be able to enjoy it as well.

 

[LoneEagle964]

don't rule out a road king the touring frame will give you a smoother ride and also allows for a larger passenger seat which will allow more passenger comfort

 

[lesguns]

I'm with Lone Eagle I love my road king. Test ride one.

 

[tatrhed]

I would prefer a road king but cant find any decent ones for what I can spend. I don't want to get into a payment situation. If I have too I can wait and save more but would miss out on this season.

 

[choochmalooch]

You can probably find a decent Road King for $6000-$7000. Then you wouldn't have to upgrade in a year or so when you realize you should have bought one in the first place.

 

[Willyone]

Seems like a Road King would be the titz if you can hold off and save yer pennies.

 

[mikeman54]

Outta the three the stratoliner hands down. IMO,

 

[tweaked1973]

While I truly love a Road King, I never could never justify to myself spending a bunch of extra money to get an Electraglide minus fairing and tour pac.

I agree that a good Rk can be found reasonable, I can guarantee that a good dresser can be found more reasonable.

IMHO touring bikes ride better than a Dyna can dream of, and as long as they aren't loaded down can handle the twisties pretty well. Can't say much about the Yamahas, but I would steer clear of Victory since they may have parts availability issues.

 

[Thermodyne]

For rear passenger comfort you'll need to step up to a touring scooter. What you can afford out of pocket dictates age and milage on the scooter.

Moving to a less expensive/smaller scooter is just throwing money down the turd hole.

The three scooter you listed are all basically one up cruisers, no seat will ever make them anywhere near the rear seat ride of a touring bike.

 

[tatrhed]

If I go the tour route, which I may end up doing, it is only to get the passenger comfort. If it was a 1 up it would be between a Break out and a Raider (different argument for different forum).

Are stratoliners not touring bikes, or just not very good ones?

I have never heard of Victory parts shortage. There is a dealer a few miles from where I live. Would this still be a problem? Cross Country would be my #1 choice if I could afford one.

I am not a huge electraglide/full dress bike fan. maybe fairing and bags that I can take off but that is about it. If I end up with a Road King I would try to set it up like the this (

) , with the mustang 2 piece touring seat and detachable wrap around passenger backrest...Que OMG you destroyed that machine.

I have looked in my area, and have only found 1 road king under $7000. I am also looking 2008+ for any of them. Are there any other cruisers that may fit this criteria I should look into?

 

[Thermodyne]

Stratoliner is not a two up touring scooter. It's a cruiser, no mater what it's Asian makers market it as.

What you seem to be avoiding is what makes a comfortable rear seat touring bike. That's a full sized scooter with a sofa on back. RK bobbers and such are not touring scooters either. You need to decide who you are really shopping for. The wife's comfort? Or you own desire?

And there are three viable sources. Harley FL's, Honda's, and Indian.

Victory is dead. Just a mater of time before the dealer network evaporates and moves on to other scooters.

Take the wife out and let her sit on some scooters. My guess is she will want to go with something that has a tour pac on back. That's where the comfort is. And if you can't live with the tour pac, look into a kit to make it removable. Then it's a quick install when the wife wants to ride. AFAIK that's a Harley only option, but Indian might have something similar.

 

[tatrhed]

Thermo...First, thank you for the info and being patient. If you could not tell I don't have a ton of knowledge in this.

On the road king, I am looking for both. Why would the bobber portion that I posted not work? No need to for long detail, I just thought it was more or less a bobbed fender that would still allow the big 2 piece seat. Then put a backrest like this on it. No tour pack, but gets the same comfort (I would suspect)

http://www.jpcycles.com/product/179-283

Same suspension and geometry to keep the ride the same. Also: "Your not old enough to have all of that on your motorcycle." Quote from the wife when I started looking. If that is not possible, then it isn't. At that point, enjoying the ride would be more important than the looks of it.

 

[Greg_E]

http://www.kymcousa.com/showroom/scooters/peoplegt300i/index.html :brows:

Just kidding, but it does seem to be decently comfortable for the passenger, but really needs a pad on the top case.

I agree with what Therm says, that was the entire reason I bought my big touring machine and only did so after my lady sat on the back. It not only provides comfort, but provides a feeling of security with the wrap around back rest.

The quick attach option for the TourPak might be what you want, there is also a quick attach back rest that can be used without the case, or nothing at all if you are going to be mostly solo.

But having the TourPak and being able to toss helmets and riding gear in the back and being slightly more confident that no one will mess with your gear is priceless. I know the locks only keep out the casual thieves, but that's good enough most places.

 

[Thermodyne]

Thermo...First, thank you for the info and being patient. If you could not tell I don't have a ton of knowledge in this.

On the road king, I am looking for both. Why would the bobber portion that I posted not work? No need to for long detail, I just thought it was more or less a bobbed fender that would still allow the big 2 piece seat. Then put a backrest like this on it. No tour pack, but gets the same comfort (I would suspect)

http://www.jpcycles.com/product/179-283

Same suspension and geometry to keep the ride the same. Also: "Your not old enough to have all of that on your motorcycle." Quote from the wife when I started looking. If that is not possible, then it isn't. At that point, enjoying the ride would be more important than the looks of it.

The cheapest way to get a good tour pack is to buy a used scooter that came with it. Then you can make it removable with a kit. And when riding one up, you can swap the seat out for either a solo seat or one that the rear part is more for looks than function.

Sort of like having an Ultra that will convert to a Street Glide in less than 10 min.

My suggestion to you is this. Some men need more than one scooter.

 

[holobach]

http://www.kymcousa.com/showroom/scooters/peoplegt300i/index.html :brows:

Just kidding, but it does seem to be decently comfortable for the passenger, but really needs a pad on the top case.

I agree with what Therm says, that was the entire reason I bought my big touring machine and only did so after my lady sat on the back. It not only provides comfort, but provides a feeling of security with the wrap around back rest.

The quick attach option for the TourPak might be what you want, there is also a quick attach back rest that can be used without the case, or nothing at all if you are going to be mostly solo.

But having the TourPak and being able to toss helmets and riding gear in the back and being slightly more confident that no one will mess with your gear is priceless. I know the locks only keep out the casual thieves, but that's good enough most places.

Plus a touring bike can get it in the twisties(See riding with Gman) and STILL give you comfort. A bonus gift is you get speakers as part of the tourpak to drown out the passenger talking to you!

I have the quick disconnect kit lets me flip the tourpak off put sissybar on or simply take both off. Only PIA is putting the wiring back under my seat but that's like a 5 min job. I have the wide Mustang seat on the back and had zero complaints from the former and current squeezes on the ride.

My guess is you put the wife on the back of a glide with the tourpak and a wide seat 100 mile rides become 250 or maybe longer

 

[EG-UC]

Stratoliner is not a two up touring scooter. It's a cruiser, no mater what it's Asian makers market it as.

What you seem to be avoiding is what makes a comfortable rear seat touring bike. That's a full sized scooter with a sofa on back.

And there are three viable sources. Harley FL's, Honda's, and Indian.

Take the wife out and let her sit on some scooters. My guess is she will want to go with something that has a tour pac on back. That's where the comfort is.

FWIW - I could not agree more with this and wanted to chime in as I did the same thing the OP is thinking of doing. I had a Yamaha Cruiser and dumped a lot of money into the back seat area trying to make it into a touring bike and more comfortable for my wife. Got a good bit wider & thicker seat from Ultimate Seats, then a wider and taller backrest, a couple other things after that...but all was a waste of money and time. The bike looked nicer but never could take a long trip with her on it.

Gave up and started looking at other bikes. Rode a Honda GW but 2 things we didn't like: 1-despite how good the back seat looked, she felt like she was right on top of me and 2-it sounded like an electric moped.

FINALLY convinced her it was indeed time to look at Harley's. Found a good deal on an Electra Glide Ultra, she fell in love with it very soon in to the test drive, and I was already in love with it before we got there!

Long story short, if you are truly looking for the wife's comfort you really can't lose with a Harley FL. I rarely ride solo now (except when going to work) as it's never a problem getting the Mrs to ride with me.

 

[captainhook455]

You could always rent a couple different models and try that. Granted you want a lower priced used model, but you and your wife will see what is right for you.