When riding solo on a long haul, have any of you removed the passenger backrest (that's attached to the Tour-Pak) to gain a bit more space behind the rider backrest? Any tips/advice would be appreciated.

 

No, but I did move the tour pak back 2 inches using a Kuryakyn part.

 

I wouldn't. I have two slip-sleeve suitcases. One on mine, one on the passgr's. Don't hurt for room at all.

 

Never done it but see no reason why you shouldn't if you want to.

 

The passenger backrest just bolts on. I don't see any problems with removing it as long as you plug the resulting holes to keep water out.

 

The arm rests are useful for stabilizing a big bag, such as a rucksack. You must want to arrive in real style if you need that extra space!

 

+1 for the backrest just bolting on. You could remove and plug the holes. You may find the paint under it scuffed up some, depending on how long it's been on there and what sort of traffic it's seen. You should be able to buff that out though.
Don't really know how much additional room you'll gain though. Like has been said, you might want the Kuryakyn bracket that moves the whole thing back a couple inches.

 

Thanks all for the helpful comments. I'm use to extended rides on my previous bike (FLSCTI) but only got the FLHTC a few months ago and haven't really done any long trips on it involving camping. My original plan was to use a SAC luggage bag, which had mounted to the sissy bar on my softtail, on the passenger seat. However, in experimenting with this, I find that the SAC bag presses against the passenger backrest, making the Tour-Pak hard to open. So I thought about just removing the passenger backrest pad, not using the SAC, and just securing the tent, sleeping bag, and pad on the passenger seat, behind the rider backrest. My only concern is that front of the Tour-Pak may get scuffed up.

 

Good point - didn't think of that! My long trips are done two up and my rear seat 'luggage' gets herself out of the way....

 

Don't shoot the messenger, my backrest is staying put