Gotta 2019 FLHR and am waffling on buying a non-adjustable backrest for my Tallboy seat....which so far works alright. But I'm wondering if that combo would squish me too far up on the tank like y'all say. ....Be nice if these things fit from the git-go, wouldn't it? Never find that out on a 50 mile test ride....

I'm 5'11"ish and shrinking....

 

Yes another old tread... Your mileage may vary but on my '14 SGS there was a zip tie holding the actual metal part of the cable to the adjuster cylinder at the very bottom preventing it from fully reclining by limiting the travel. If you have the zip tie there try moving up to the cylinder and not on the cable itself.

 

Pulled the trigger on the non adjustable backrest for my Tallboy seat a few days back on a whim. Mistake. Gotta say not real happy with it. The seat has been just ok (for me) but the new backrest pretty much sucks in quality and doesn't give you much adjustability in the mount. It also sticks out of the seat a mile at the lowest position. It should support your lower back but it hits you right in the middle of the back - likely why everyone says it pushes you forward. My dealer didn't tell me...or didn't know...that - at least with the Tallboy - you can't mount the @#*$#! thing in the two front (of four) positions since the backrest angle and seat construction plastic prevents it. So now wifey is pretty squished and pretty pissed. I'm Joe Average in height...5' 10 or so. IMO, Harley builds the Road King for a wee-man (at least the foot controls) and a backrest for Andre the Giant? Come on! Is there a longer Harley out there? Any ideas for a 2019 FLHR rider seat wise? How much seat can you put on this puppy anyway with the rear seat bolt where it is? My lil' ol' 900 Vulcan with a Mustang seat was ten times roomier, better in seat quality rider positioning than this Tallboy/backrest/Road King combo. That seat had way more room for two and the higher passenger pad on that one-piece served as my backrest so no extra investment. Shoulda known and broke the bank on a Mustang. No wonder the Moco makes money! Nothing comes outta the gate "fitting". Like another dude on here, guess I'll have to have it cut down and reweld cuz I ain't going back to Harley for another seat combo! Rant Over!

 

When I bought a backrest for my Road Glide, I looked at both of the Harley models. The fully adjustable one was a no-brainer. Yes, it's more expensive, but the other one was just money down the drain.

 

I had to put washers under mine to push it more forward. Had to lean back too far to be able to lean back against it. Working out pretty good.

 

I got the tallboy and A 2019 road king. I've seen older bikes with 4 bolts but this only has two so Not sure how the washer's are supposed to tilt anything. Cant use the front 2 positions cuz of the plastic on the seat. I can get it in the 3rd back position luckily as it's all my lady friend can do to squish tween the two backrest. It sits too high and too hard to install and remove ....unlike the Mustang back rest...from what I've seen anyway. Poor Engineering Harley!!! What's the point of having a back rest with 4 horizonal adjustment positions when you can only use 2? And vertically the seats is too high at its lowest position...