There really is a first time for everything

[Fred W]

Awesome, thanks John. I'll bring a bottle of locktite to Maine and we can do it then! A parking lot tech session.

That is if it doesn't rain and force us to take cars.

 

[Geezer]

OK, the FDL did not work as advertised. I'm pissed and am going to contact the owner of that shoddy business in the morning. Oh wait, I am the owner of that shoddy outfit.

But the possible good news is that, I think I figured out why none of these extra padding techniques (like air hawk, bubble wrap, gel inserts, etc, etc.) really works much where the Russel Daylong works like magic.

The first discovery was that the seat was much worse even with the same amount of padding when in the low position than up on high (for me). The pain points are those two "sitz bones", the two lower most protrusions from the bottom of your pelvis known formally as the ischial tuberosities.

When you are a relatively tall person, the pegs are high in relation to the seat. Your high knees will cause your thighs to be angled upward from your hip joint. So the only point in your derriere that is supporting your entire weight on a relatively flat seat is these two points. Short people won't have that problem (as much) since their thighs will be more parallel to the ground and help support some weight on the seat surface.

Even with several layers of bubble wrap (medium sized bubbles for maximum suspension and minimal bumpiness), and no Mikey none of the bubble wrap bubbles popped while riding even in >90 degree heat, they still felt hard on those two sitz bones after a couple of hours today. And I am positive that I was not Bottoming out the bubble wrap at those points either.

Since that wasn't working too well I decided to experiment a bit and try to make this kludge cover support more Russell-like. So I popped the blisters on the bubble wrap in the 5 to 6 inch area directly under my Sitz bones and then also built up the layers of bubble wrap behind and to the two sides of the now depressed area. That seemed to completely alleviate the pain I was having in the sitz bones area, but I did not have a chance to give it more time to see if other areas show up as painful now.

I think I may have just "re-discovered" what many of us had already known all along. The Russell (and other good custom seats) don't work because they are cushioned. They work because they are shaped right. I think if I can find an appropriate piece of foam to make a horse shoe shaped wedge out of, and then stick it under the cheapskin cover, I'll have something I can live with until the winter when Russell is likely to be able to service my seat.

@Skooter - As for the brakes, I have not hammered on them yet (bad break in for brakes) but I have noticed a lot more stopping power when using the brakes, especially the rear, and I think I can feel the linked braking keeping the bike more stable fore and aft when I hit that by itself. It's hard for me to judge on that as the suspension has something to do with the pitching also.

As for the three pages, I have not modified them yet. I've just been using the bike and figuring out what I really want to show up there. I'm thinking I'll want the Trip meter #1 (I reset it at fillups), Range to empty, Ambient Temp Engine Temp maybe? Those will be the more important data points for me.

The other pages will probably not get looked at much. I suspect I'll leave the screens on the windshield adjust page the most as I seem to diddle with that the most.

I'm finding I like the suspension set to 1 up and max soft for solo riding on back roads. Then just bump the damping up on the fly to Normal zero for smoother twisties. I have not yet found an optimum for when we are two up. I really do not think that this bike is under-sprung for us, and that was a fear with the ES going in. But we are not all that heavy together compared to many other couples (~ 320 lbs). and because of our bumpy roads prefer a more compliant suspension.

@Howie - I checked the screws on the locks. I did not ask the sales person who delivered the bike as I assumed that they would not really know the answer.

The screws are secure (right now) and I do not have the security torx bit to remove those little rascals. On my '05 I just destructively pulled them out with a pair of vice grips and replaced them with standard Phillips head screws. I am going to try and find the right tool this time and do it right. In the meantime, I will not lose any sleep over it.

The old Garmin motorcycle mount for the StreetPilot units used the same T10 security bit to lock the GPS into the mount. And, if you don't have one of those, Harbor Freight sells a whole set of security bits for such a cheap price that even a frugal Yankee will buy it.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Fred is broke, he cannot afford to pay attention right now. No, buying the new bike did not do it. He is now burning so much gasoline with the new bike he can barely afford to eat.

Fred, if you let the good folks at RDL in on your bubble wrap support system they may just cut you a discount on that seat.

 

[CA G-Man]

It ain't pretty...

You ain't kiddin'!

 

[Fred W]

Function is taking precidence far over form here... :lol:

This morning I found an old, car lumbar support cushion laying around that had never worked out all that well for that purpose, but it seemed to have just about the right density of foam in it. After some cutting and shaping with a rotary course sander into a general "Russell like shape", the bubble wrap support has now been replaced with foam.

Yeah... I think this is going to hold me over 'till the Russell is ready.

Then I'll put it up for sale here!!

 

[ionbeam]

NOT FRUGAL YANKEE WARNING:

It's not inexpensive but do consider stopping by Superior Interiors in Hooksett on Rt 28 and have them cut you some gel padding. You don't need to have your seat stuffed, just have them hack a hunk that would cover your seat. We had them stuff Helen's seat with gel a few years ago and it seems to work pretty well. We put a heck of a lot of miles on Miss Lucy Lu in AZ with gel stuffed seats. The stuff isn't inexpensive but does seem to provide some shock resistance and load distribution. Go in on a Sat morning when it's quiet and you will get good service and usually they like to show off all the cool cars they are working on. Since the gel isn't stuffed it will be portable among the motorcycle fleet in your garage

 

[CA G-Man]

Function is taking precidence far over form here...

This morning I found an old, car lumbar support cushion laying around that had never worked out all that well for that purpose, but it seemed to have just about the right density of foam in it. After some cutting and shaping with a rotary course sander into a general "Russell like shape", the bubble wrap support has now been replaced with foam.

Yeah... I think this is going to hold me over 'till the Russell is ready.

Then I'll put it up for sale here!!

Great - then it can be passed around this forum as the "Waiting for Russell Special", much like the town bicycle!

 

[Fred W]

NOT FRUGAL YANKEE WARNING:
It's not inexpensive but do consider stopping by Superior Interiors in Hooksett on Rt 28 and have them cut you some gel padding. You don't need to have your seat stuffed, just have them hack a hunk that would cover your seat. We had them stuff Helen's seat with gel a few years ago and it seems to work pretty well. We put a heck of a lot of miles on Miss Lucy Lu in AZ with gel stuffed seats. The stuff isn't inexpensive but does seem to provide some shock resistance and load distribution. Go in on a Sat morning when it's quiet and you will get good service and usually they like to show off all the cool cars they are working on. Since the gel isn't stuffed it will be portable among the motorcycle fleet in your garage

Yeah, my success with prior use of Gel was less than spectacular. When I first got my '05 I had the same issues I'm having with the new seat and tried many different things, one of which was sending the seat away to a place in the Dakotas (called "Kno-place") to have gel inserts put into the seats. Because they retained the stock seat shape, it really didn't make any change in my level of misery.

Of course, knowing what I do now it may be possible to both re-shape a seat and use Gel and come out with something that works. But I still say it is the reshaping that matters most.

Function is taking precidence far over form here...

This morning I found an old, car lumbar support cushion laying around that had never worked out all that well for that purpose, but it seemed to have just about the right density of foam in it. After some cutting and shaping with a rotary course sander into a general "Russell like shape", the bubble wrap support has now been replaced with foam.

Yeah... I think this is going to hold me over 'till the Russell is ready.

Then I'll put it up for sale here!!

Great - then it can be passed around this forum as the "Waiting for Russell Special", much like the town bicycle!

Actually, not a bad idea. It's just a chunk of (now shaped) foam and a cheapskin cover, so boxing it up and sending it around would be no problem. But you would still need to find a loaner seat to put it on top of while your seat pans are away at Russell.

 

[Fred W]

Follow up on what may the last couple of farkles on my new '14 ES (for this year anyway...)

Here are a couple thousand words:

Arrived today just in time for the Covered Bridges ride tomorrow!

Also on the brown truck of happiness today was a Yamaha Touring windshield. I'm not sure this will be my final winter shield, but it was cheap (at right near $100 and will do the job for now. It is 4 1/2" taller than the stock shield but not much wider if at all.

Lowest position

And in the highest position:

 

[Niehart]

Fred, I'm just so damn jealous. Of the bike, of the seats, of the ride Saturday, of ....

And by the way, the Pacific Northwet is living up to it's name.

Ride safe my friend!

 

[hppants]

That touring shield is quite affordable for being an OEM accessory. Also, it looks to be considerably higher than stock, without blocking ALL of the wind from the sides. I believe you may like that one a lot.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Fred, I'm just so damn jealous. Of the bike, of the seats, of the ride Saturday, of ....
And by the way, the Pacific Northwet is living up to it's name.

Ride safe my friend!

Bike is looking awfully good Fred! Hopefully ahamaY changed the shape of the GEN III touring shield. Tried one on mine and it did not work for me...

--G