Some specifics about Russell Day Long

[Fred W]

@Redfish Hunter

That New England measuring tape must be different from the ones we use Down South. 4'12" sounds a whole lot like 5' to me.

It's actually a phrase that I picked up here on this forum, from fellow member Haulin' (Jeff) Ashe talking about some 4'12" pole dancer he likes to visit, and Jeff lives down south. I like to pull it out every now and then since it applies so well to to my wife. It always does seem to get a little reaction from folks...

@Redfish Hunter

Fred, I am shocked and proud at the same time. You don't sound like a Frugal Yankee here lately. I 100% agree with spending the money to buy happiness. If you know it works and you know it is worth it, spend the money.

See, it only appears that I'm not being frugal. In actuality, I learned the hard way that you can spend a whole lot of time and money dicking around with various partial solutions, but then in the end still have to shell out the money for the custom seat to be truly comfortable.

I seriously tried a whole bunch of different seats on the 2005 when I first got it before I got a Russell. Here's the run down:

The 1 year old bike bike came with a Corbin Canyon close
I traded that with another (shorter) guy for the Canyon "normal" as I am not vertically challenged.
I bought a set of the stock seats and tried those
I sent the stock seats to a guy in North Dakota (called himself Kno-Place) to be customized with gel and memory foam inserts
I bought a Corbin Modular (just the front) that had been ordered customized by the prior owner. It had heat.
I bought a used Rick Mayer Dual with vinyl cover. That was the closest I'd come to comfort and what convinced me that I needed to try a Russell customized to me. All of the above were tried with different mitigating solutions of seat padding, wearing bicycle shorts, etc.

Finally I took the front seat (that had already been modified by Kno-Place) and had it Russellized with the rear portion just recovered in leather to match. (They sent me the Gel and Foam inserts back when they returned the new custom seat.) Even that was a mistake as once I realized that the Russell IS all that and a bag of chips, I had to buy another stock rear seat and send that off to be Russellized for my missus. I kept the recovered KnoPlace rear seat as it does look nicer for when mi'lady is not along.

So you see... just plonking down the cash up front is actually a far more frugal path than I went down previously.

@David Foley

Before I totally sell out and go RDL - the Laam's look a bit better - are they as good for long distance?

It has been established that the Laam seats are very good, but the best is the Russell due to those damn ugly wings. The incremental saddle comfort comes from your weight being supported over a wider area, including the back of your upper thighs by those wings.



@David Foley

I have Corbin now - good for 600 miles/day but living in Texas you need a 1000 mile first day to get to the good roads.

Corbin seats work under the same principle as Russell, to spread your weight load they scoop the seat foam and attempt to relieve the hot spots that you get due to loss of circulation. The problem with a Corbin is it is not custom shaped, and not every butt is the same. There will be a small percentage of the population that can climb on one and be happy with the support because they will be lucky enough to have a corbin shaped butt Of course that is only until they climb onto a Russell, then it is pretty hard to make yourself go back to the Corbin "bricks"


@charleetho

What I noticed on the pics of passenger seats is they look 3" higher then the riders seat. My passenger would appreciate that if it's true. Our current Corbin is about level.

That is a function of the stock seat on later gen bikes. The first gens the passenger seat is only slightly higher, maybe an inch, and the 2nd/3rd gen seats the passenger's is about 3" higher than the rider's, as you noticed. Russell does retain that height difference when they customize the passenger seat.

 

[Top_Speed1]

I've purchased an extra set of F/R seats to be sent to RDL this winter. I wanna keep a stock set matched to my bike.

I'm leaning leather, any comments on the optional back-rest?

 

[Fred W]

Never saw the point of a back rest for the rider. Master Yoda don't use no back rest.

For the missus we just use a top box / trunk, which serves multiple purposes.

 

[Twigg]

Never saw the point of a back rest for the rider. Master Yoda don't use no back rest. For the missus we just use a top box / trunk, which serves multiple purposes.

I'm adding this reply to Fred's, just so you get a feel for just how personal this decision is.

When I rode as a younger man I used to be a little disparaging about rider back rests. But I'm 55 now, and my back gets tired on the long rides. So I bought the optional back rest when I ordered the seat for the Venture Royale. Like cruise control, it's something you don't think you want until you have it ... well it was for me.

The FJR came with a back rest, and had it not I would have ordered one

This one is down to you and your personal preferences.

 

[Top_Speed1]

Thanks for both visions, guys. Since I'm keeping my stock seats and these will be additional LD seats (for me), I'm kinda leaning towards the backrest?

I had my rear bag on (touching up to my back area) during my last LD venture. I found myself naturally cropping my back up against it? As I remember it was quite comfy doing this. hmmm....

 

[Twigg]

There is a halfway-house.

If you decide to leave the back rest, you can have Russell fit the hardware for one, for a small cost, and order the BR later if you decide you want it.

 

[Fred W]

When I rode as a younger man I used to be a little disparaging about rider back rests. But I'm 55 now, and my back gets tired on the long rides.

I'm a couple years older than you (KJ is a mere pup compared to us), and my back is probably in worse shape than yours is. I have total degeneration of the inter-vertebral disks in the lowest 3 spaces (S1 thru L3) and a pretty good amount of bone erosion in those vertebrae. It all started back in the early 1970's from playing lineman in football and defense in hockey, but other than a little stiffness each and every morning, has seldom stopped me from doing the things I want to do. One of those things is riding motorcycles.

My decrepit old back feels far better after a 2 week long ride on the bike than it does after just an afternoon long ride in a car. It's because I learned, many years ago, how to sit on the bike in an ergonomically correct position. It is called the Master Yoda Riding Position, or MYRP for short. Google is your friend. (first link)

Like I said, Master Yoda don't can't use no back rest.

 

[HotRodZilla]

I use a large tank bag as a seat bag. Thats what I packed for the EOM trip. I guess it could be used like a backrest, but really all it does is limit my movement backwards. That's exactly what I DON'T like about that set up.

Weird how different people can have such different needs on the exact same bike.

 

[Twigg]

My decrepit old back feels far better after a 2 week long ride on the bike than it does after just an afternoon long ride in a car. It's because I learned, many years ago, how to sit on the bike in an ergonomically correct position. It is called the Master Yoda Riding Position, or MYRP for short. Google is your friend. (first link)

Like I said, Master Yoda don't can't use no back rest.

I will never be too old to learn .... Off to do some studying

 

[Fred W]

My decrepit old back feels far better after a 2 week long ride on the bike than it does after just an afternoon long ride in a car. It's because I learned, many years ago, how to sit on the bike in an ergonomically correct position. It is called the Master Yoda Riding Position, or MYRP for short. Google is your friend. (first link)

Like I said, Master Yoda don't can't use no back rest.

I will never be too old to learn .... Off to do some studying

Don't dismiss it offhand after reading it without trying some of what they are saying. The most important things are supporting you weight with your lower body and legs and keeping your lower back concave vs the standard slouch we all tend to fall into.

What is kind of nice is that after a few hours in my MYRP I will do some back stretches by actually forcing a slouch and it does stretch out the muscles. But staying in that slouch over stretches the muscles that you need to hold your back in line

Let me know how it works out for you

 

[Twigg]

My decrepit old back feels far better after a 2 week long ride on the bike than it does after just an afternoon long ride in a car. It's because I learned, many years ago, how to sit on the bike in an ergonomically correct position. It is called the Master Yoda Riding Position, or MYRP for short. Google is your friend. (first link)

Like I said, Master Yoda don't can't use no back rest.

I will never be too old to learn .... Off to do some studying

Don't dismiss it offhand after reading it without trying some of what they are saying. The most important things are supporting you weight with your lower body and legs and keeping your lower back concave vs the standard slouch we all tend to fall into.

What is kind of nice is that after a few hours in my MYRP I will do some back stretches by actually forcing a slouch and it does stretch out the muscles. But staying in that slouch over stretches the muscles that you need to hold your back in line

Let me know how it works out for you

I'm going to try it.

I have a minor issue with my back. Since birth I have had three fused vertebrae, which cause zero problems but give my back a slightly rounded spine. Generally when I ride there is no pressure on the handlebars. I come from Europe, and we don't have cruisers (well not many). So the position I have always preferred is the lean forward with my weight taken by my thighs, the seat and the footpegs.

I can always shift my butt around (even on the Russell), and I can and do lift off the seat regularly, with little effort.

However, on longer rides my shoulders and back ache a little, and at those times I like the backrest to help a bit. I have it set a long way forward, which looks odd because it prevents me sitting bolt upright ... which is fine when riding because I don't want to.

From a cursory glance at the YODA position, my normal riding position isn't too far away. I'll make some adjustments and see how it goes.

What was weird was that when I moved from the Venture Royale to the FJR, I instinctively felt the riding position was better for distance work, yet it felt all wrong at first. I left on the Colorado trip quite anxious as I simply wasn't sure how I would get on with the bike. In the next four days I manages ... Thursday ... 750 miles. Friday ... Day off, 70 miles, Saturday .... 1400 miles in 31 hours straight, Sunday ... 750 miles home.

Had a few aches and pains, but could have comfortably ridden again the following day.