Thanks for the info Cosmic. I have a Corbin on my 32yr old Honda Shadow, so I know what you mean by firm. They do tend to conform to your shape and lock you in over time. I'm looking at them as well so now I have a nice comparison.
We love the SGS more every time we ride her. Belinda is becoming our favorite daily ride. It is hard to explain just how different our two bikes are to be so close and in the same HD family.
The SGS is just more sporty and fun ride with the lower center of gravity. We only have 2500 miles on her but because I get so many PM's asking about suspension and also the Saddleman seat i want to give some reviews.
YOUR EXPERIENCE and RESULTS MAY VARY:
The Saddleman is the highest quality build of any seat I have owned which includes C&C, Danny Gray, Mustang and of course stock HD seats. You need to watch their company YouTube video to understand their history and see the build quality. Worth doing research for yourself since all butts are not made the same. We LOVE it and we will eventually upgrade the seating on the CVO Limited to Saddleman. Here is a PM I recently shared with a member:
As for the seat I have learned to be very careful recommending things. For example I love my Shoei J-Cruise helment. A member here on the forum purchased one because of my comments and hates it. That said both me and my wife are very pleased with the Saddleman. In my opinion it is the highest quality seat on the market. The key thing I want to point out is these are very FIRM. In my opinion firm transulates to supportive. Others call it HARD. I do not have any pressure points at all with this seat and that is key to me. My stock seats and others I have tried seem to colapse during the ride and I feel like I am sitting on the pan after a fw hours and the pain comes. With this seat I feel that I am ready to get off after a couple of hours say for a fuel stop. But the recovery is almost instant. I get off and walk around a few minutes and I am ready to go all over again and the seat feels great when I get back on instead of compressed and done for the day. We rode a little over 200 miles yesterday including a 1 hour and 45 minute police escorted charity ride. Neither of us had an issue with the seat. We booked it hard an hour and a half just to get to this ride on time. Once home my wife complimented both the suspension and the seat. She feels like the seat is breaking in and becoming more comportable for her. I personally do not feel that, but it is not an issue. I don't have the money to spend right now, but we are already discussing chaanging the seat on our Limited to a Saddleman. I hope this helps you. I watched a lot of YouTube channels prior to making the purchase. I suggest you do the same. Both the Saddleman to see the level of quality and many of the owner reviews.
The key thing I want to point out again is after a couple of hours I am ready for a break. But just a bathromm and gas fill and I am good to go for another two hours. On my other seats I would be sore again in 15 minutes after getting back on. The one that counts is my wife. She compliments this seat after every ride and she feels like it is breaking in and conforming to her which is great.
SUSPENSION:
I have long been a very satisfied fan of Pro-Action. Of course we added the new Ohlins / HD SE system to this bike because of the discount I got from the dealer and the look which my wife really wanted. Do we like these shocks? YES, they work, ride and handle very well. I was actually on the phone yesterday with George at Pro-Action and we discussed several brands of suspension. My comments to him regarding th Ohlins were that they work well. We like them, but they clearly are not as attractive as the Pro-Action and do not appear to be built as robust as Pro-Action. Now that I have them dialed in we have no complaints at all. Do they perform better or worse than the Pro-Action? To me the answer is no, they are very close and again the Carolina Girl is happy. So the bottom line is to me they are not worth the price difference. Add to this that you can call George or DJ and ask any question and get assistance as needed when ever needed. They have a much better value for the buck in my opinion. Not to mention their's shocks go a lot more miles between recommended service intervals.
Now that brings me to front suspension. I had planned upgrade the front on the CVO much sooner and never got to it. On the SGS the front definately needs upgrading to keep up with the rear. Locally the shops are pushing Legends and on YouTube Ohlins is popular. So expect to spend $1200 bucks and higher if you have them installed. I am comfortable installing them myself. I had a long discussion with George about their Fork Kit and pulled the trigger yesterday for two Pro-Action fork kits, one for each bike with their approved oil and parts. Both kits combined with chrome front fork legs is less expensive than just one suspension upgrade from the other popular brands. George is a very knowledgable guy having worked for Ohlins and managed factory racing teams in his career. He knows his stuff and can explain it in a way that even I can understand.
So stay tuned for two front suspension upgrades and new chrome fork legs and cow bells for the SGS.
FORK KITS
In today's world with everyone striving to make leading edge products as cheaply as possible, Pro-Action has taken a different approach to curing the problems with the forks on the Harley-Davidson touring bikes. The forks on a street bike have no reason to have to be a high dollar cartridge system. There is nothing wrong with a long time proven damper rod system that was, and still is the standard of the industry. So with Harley there is nothing wrong with the damper rod system. The theory is solid. The malfunction lies within the manufacturers design.
We have designed and machined new damper rods out of billet steel. The new rods have completely different flow characteristics than the standard rods. We have replaced the stock spring rates with springs in may cases nearly twice the standard rate. The oil level and weight of oil have been modified to accommodate the new flow characteristics. The finished product is a fork that doesn't sag, greatly resists bottoming, rips high speed turns with confidence, but yet in all areas there is a much softer and smoother feel than stock. Low speed, mid range, and high speed bump reaction is nothing short of amazing. We have created a system where the damper rods, springs, spring pre-load, oil level, and oil weight have come together to provide a front end that does it all for just $325.00.
Great write up. Funny how your bike and mine, being the same color are getting the same upgrades. I put Ohlines Blacklines on mine, love them. I bought a Saddleman RS from a member here. I have the same view of it also so far. Old bike had a Corbin that was "Broke in", loved it. The Saddleman is firm and has not broke in yet. I find the Corbin had more side support and that nice pocket to sit in. Hopefully the Saddleman will develop the pocket.
Interested to hear your thoughts on the front suspension. Ive been looking at the Ohlins and the GP, big coin for sure. If there is a alternative to those 2 that checks all the boxes Im interested. I had progressive monotubes on the old bike and didnt care for them
We went with the king pack for our bike. Wanted speakers in that location this time
Great write up. Funny how your bike and mine, being the same color are getting the same upgrades. I put Ohlines Blacklines on mine, love them. I bought a Saddleman RS from a member here. I have the same view of it also so far. Old bike had a Corbin that was "Broke in", loved it. The Saddleman is firm and has not broke in yet. I find the Corbin had more side support and that nice pocket to sit in. Hopefully the Saddleman will develop the pocket.
Interested to hear your thoughts on the front suspension. Ive been looking at the Ohlins and the GP, big coin for sure. If there is a alternative to those 2 that checks all the boxes Im interested. I had progressive monotubes on the old bike and didnt care for them
We went with the king pack for our bike. Wanted speakers in that location this time
That's funny! You have good taste sir! LOL
I've always heard good things about Corbin, but for some reason I have never cared much for the look of them. Just a personal thing for me I guess.I look forward to giving a review on the Pro-Action fork kits. Nothing wrong with the brands you mentioned. They would all be excellent choices. I was actually at Pro-Action when George was testing his system maybe 6 years ago now. I followed it and after speaking with him again it just makes sense for me. I ordered two sets, chrome fork legs and cow bells for less than a set of Ohlins fork cartridges and way less than the GP.
The wife wants a chopped tour pack. She likes that look on the SGS. We are considering Rockford Fosgate speakers and amp, and planning to go with speakers in the saddle bags.
Thrashin Accessories including Floorboards. These floorboards are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm still waiting on the Thrashin adjustable brake arm with billet pedal and matching highway pegs. They will arrive on Monday.
Going to take a dinner cruise this evening and test them out. The Carolina Girl is very happy with the look and feel fo these.
Stock Trashin Installed, reminds me a little of the Elvis "TCB" logo.
Here is the rear passenger floor boards. I retained the chrome floorboard mount for contrast. These look great and have a ton of grip!
I purchased the Ciro 3D mounts which incorporate the highway pegs. I've never been a big fan of Ciro 3D. These mounts are nice, but the quality and finish sucks compared to Thrashin.
Below is a comparison of the Thrashin billet rider floorboard on the left and the stock HD floorboard on the right. The Thrashin have three adjustment positions. I have them set back to have more foot room in the mid position.
Comparison of Thrashin on the left and the stock floorboards on the right.
Last edited by Cosmic Razorback; 06-11-2022 at 01:44 PM.
Will do. I discovered Powersports Choice. They had them at 14% off plus a first time buyers code for an additional 10% with free shipping. Made it a fair deal compared to others. Once I saw the quality I was very pleased. Really transformed the look of the bike for the better.
We did 200 miles with tandem today. About 10 miles of interstate, 100 miles of two lanes and the rest on the BRP.
Two thumbs up for the Thrashin boards!
My wife loves the look. She confirm that traction is much better. Other than that nothing good or bad compared to the stock boards.
For me it was a world of difference. They are thinner, lower profile and the surface area is like an acre more than stock. I was concerned there may be some vibration since these are Not isolated. That was a non-issue. They are rock solid, tons of room which also allowed me to move my feet backwards. The traction is excellent and I agree with the wife that they look great on the bike. I would have bought them sooner if I had known how much I would like them.
03-16-2022 | 04:17 PM
Saddleman Seat and Suspension Review
