The HD stock seats suck IMO I have mustang seats and it is very comfortable look around there are plenty of seats out there that would fit your comfort zone.

 

my 91 has 13.5 shocks..that is three inches of travel..
rides good ..
everybody wanted to lower their , s HD responded ..
typical , did not redesign the chasis , just sold shorter shocks ..
VIOLA !!! a lower sporty...

only problem is ...........bottoms out on very short bumps.....

Kinda like the lowering front ..."just sell shorter springs "
dont change the forks .......lol ..hows is that working for ya ..other then "looks good ?

bear in mine , WE , riders caused this ... but we are very uninformed about a bikes "handling...only the "look"

 

As baddog put it, your **** is a muscle.
Save your pennies for awhile and ride. It will get better.

 

The air shocks will have a softer ride but you will sacrifice some handling with them. As others said go with shocks first, you will notice a huge difference.

 

Did some riding today and at about the 50 mile mark my a$$ started to hurt. I stood where safe when going over bumps, all my riding is on back country roads.

I called the HD dealer and asked what they had in stock or even what suggestions they may have. The rep suggested adjusting the shocks may help. Didnt realize I could actually do that.

So I bought an adjustment tool and tighten the shocks/springs 2 notches which were already 1 notch from the lowest position.

Went for another ride and altough the bumps were on the hard side it was a lot better than the banging feeling. I think I'll hold off on new shocks for now and get some more miles under my butt. So far the 20 miles I put on the bike after the adjustment seems good although a little stiff but I think it will be easier to get used to.

If all goes well this has now placed exhaust and intake back to the top of my mods list.

 

This was my 1st thought - dial-in your stock shocks 1st before looking @ replacements. Sounds like yours were too soft/light...keep changing settings + riding until you get a better feel.

 

If you've got the 3 or 5 step adjustables that's a good place to start.

My ride the owner put those lower blocks on and it caused a lot of damage. First the blocks change the travel angle enough to put the strain on the bottom shock mount and mine was snapped right off. Second by changing the angle it allowed for both air suspension bags to rub the frame and self destruct.

And when that happened the deflated squished out bags crushed the inside of both of my fiberglass bags.

Mine was stock 13" and I bought stock Harley 11 inch for the drop I wanted. Perfect for a 5' 6 1/2" tall rider like me. You'd laugh to see me tip toeing while stopped when riding a stock street glide ,and an FLHTCU. It's dangerous not being able to flat foot it when stopped. Even a few degree lean causes the bike to fall over.

Good luck getting it "dialed in".

I will also offer a word of advice. Don't jump into rebuilding the bike into a street dragster until you get a lot of hours, and the feel for what you already have. It's the comfort of the ride that counts. The bike is already "damn fast" stock. Just as soon as you make the first step to break open the motor you will NEVER be satisfied ... it'll always be gotta make it faster, better, quicker. Also the long drawn out time factors of getting all the new bugs out of it, including the down time.

Ride for a while, learn more about all the possibilities and then decide if you really want to throw more money into the ride just to increase performance, with the possible risks involved.

Unless your wealthy ... then buy an already custom modified bike from a builder.

Good luck which ever way you go!

 

if money is tight, get some road king air shocks and lowering blocks. the stock shocks don't have enough travel. the ***-jarring bumps you feel is the shock hitting bottom.

if you have the funds, the best thing to do is call a suspension company and tell them what bike you have, what kind of riding you intend to do, and how much you can spend. they'll choose the best suspension for you. and i can't stress this enough: the shocks you buy should be tailored to your weight. suspension companies make several versions of their products... each having a different spring-rate/valving. if you get the proper spring-rate/valving, the ride will be excellent.

 

That's excellent advice - don't buy shocks in a box off the shelf. Buy from a supplier who asks questions and supplies shocks to suit YOU!

 

my nephew, 37 yrs old, and around your weight, but a bit taller, rode an 06 883c down old rt 66 from chicago to LA and back in 17 days. couple days over 500.

the bike was stock.

when i first took the bike for rides, i could stand about an hour and then the butt and back would start aching.

but now i can go for hours without an issue.

back to my nephew. we reset the shocks to the 2nd from the hardest which really helped and also put on a beaded seat cover

check out www.beadrider.com.

i had the classic pilion seat for the rear seat of my ultra (purchase price $25.95) which we took off and put on the sporty. nephew said it helped a lot.

maybe give that a try first.

so adjusting the shocks will help the ride
the beads will help the butt
and ride some more just so your body gets use to it