My fatbob is killing my back, I am 27 and have never had problems with my back. I get sore after riding my bike only a couple hours, and them my back is killing me for days. I have a stock setup, seat, bars with forwards. I am 6'3 with short arms, sitting straight up and holding the bars is making me have to hyperextend or arc my back. I am guessing my problem is coming from the bars, but would like to look into a seat w/ backrest.

I was going to go

ape 14's and 6 in pullback
c&c seat w/ backrest sport tour
extend the forward controls

In that order, any suggestions?

 

First of all, adjust your bars back to where you can sit upright and not have your arms extended with your elbows locked. You want your arms to be slightly bent at the elbow.

Then get yourself a more comfortable seat and that will help lessen the jarring your spine takes when you hit bumps.

Extending the forward controls will help you stretch your legs out more and make it more comfortable on those longer rides.

 

Your mods sound just about right. You might not need to extend the forward controls if you get the proper handlebars and seat. There's NOTHING worse than being miserable when riding. I've had back surgery and the stock seat caused me to have such burning pain down my left butt and leg , I had to physically get off the bike after 50 miles. Switched to a Sundowner which made a 1000% difference. I can ride all day and not have to get off the bike except to gas up.

 

6" of pullback is not a lot at all. I have 16's that have 10" or 12" of pullback.

Are you running drag/T bars?

 

I had the same problem on my last bike with a goofy seat and drag bars. The fat bob seat sucks for most people I've talked to, and those bars aren't for everybody. I have a street bob, and the stock minis are nice, but I'm going to upgrade to 13.5" because I catch myself slouching on the highway.
Feel the bars out before you buy though. If your arms are short you might want more pullback. Just a thought.

 

He said stock bars so they should be drags.

 

I would suggest leaving everything stock and installing mid control brackets (w/o the controls) and pegs as an alternate foot location on longer rides. I ran this setup for a while till I got floorboards. I spent all of my highway miles on em... then on most of the twisties I could find the right gear, roll on & off the throttle, squeeze an occasional front brake and ride the mid pegs.

Try em out on the highway for about an hour or so, if it feels right consider going with mid controls and forward highway pegs.

The beauty of the Fat Bob is the handling... especially leaning forward with the elbows bent. I think apes would destroy that.

What ever changes you make, make them one at a time and start with the least expensive ones first. It may take a couple seasons to get it just right.

 

I had the same problem I have a backrest for my seat and I love it, if you want to get a seat with a backrest I would get it first and then you can figure exactly how much pull you need for the bars to be comfortable. I scored a corbin seat on ebay for a 100 bucks and I got a backrest for 20 bucks mustangs are also great seat with there backrest setup

 

I've had the same back issues on my FXDF. Its my first bike with forwards and I put it down to that. With mids you take some weight on your legs and provide some support for your back but with this forwards and drag bars combo you are kinda hanging onto the bars with no support for your back.

Its a shame its so much work and cost to change to mids on these or I'd really consider doing it. I guess though I'll mess with seats and the bars angle and see how that works out.

 

What part of your back, or is it actually your shoulders?