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making a sportster more comfortable

Bedrock

Bedrock

Active Member
was curious what sportster owners have done to their bikes to make them more comfortable rides? Other than swapping the seat (mustangs seem to be a popular choice), any other reasonably easy mods for instilling a smoother ride?
 
I switched to Progressive shocks on the back and put some Kuryakyn Iso Grips on to help with the vibration coming up through the bars. Rode it for 11 months and then traded it in for a Street Glide - that really made it more comfy!!!
 
I think a lot depends on what year Sporster your talking about. For the past few years they have a rubber mounted motor and a lot smoother ride. Earlier years have the solid mount motors and are pretty buzzy.
 
HDDon said:
I think a lot depends on what year Sporster your talking about. For the past few years they have a rubber mounted motor and a lot smoother ride. Earlier years have the solid mount motors and are pretty buzzy.
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Really?! Cheers! Then why are the sportsters still rougher rides than the dynas? Is it that the smaller/lighter frames just can't handle the vibrations at higher mph? I thought the major distinction/problem was that the engines were directly mounted to the frames?
 
In 2003 Harley changed the solid mount Sporster to a rubber mount to eliminate most of the vibration. I think the short wheelbase might give the Sporty a somewhat choppy ride, but if you want a very quick dependable Harley, Sporster is the bike. Different seats and suspension will make a lot of difference in the ride quality.
 
The closest that I have come to a Sportster was my '93 Vulcan 750. Great bike, but in spite of a liquid cooled, counterbalanced engine, and the Mustang seat that I added, my saddle time was about 45 minutes without getting off to stretch. Obviously vibrations from the engine weren't the problem, but you could feel every little bump and dip in the road. I attributed that to the bikes 500 pound curb weight. Moving to the '99 Ultra solved that problem. Nothing wrong with trying different things to make your ride better, but IMO the solution for a lot of the problems I encountered with the smaller bike was just the addition of a lot more weight beneath you.
 
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