How to Improve Passenger Comfort?

[pgm]

I'd like to improve the riding comfort for my wife when she rides with me. 

She has two issues - 1) "nothing to hang on to" and 2) comfort (width) of the seat.

We ride with the truck with integral backrest and she uses the side grab handles.

 

Any upgrades y'all have done?

And no bad comments (like grab my love handles on #1, as I have none). 

 

FYI - she is a great passenger.  Sits and leans properly with the bike thru corners.  Only quick hard braking do we knock helmets.  Maybe she saw a HD with a "queen" set and is jonsing for a better ride, in her opinion - not mine.

[dirtrider]

15 minutes ago, pgm said:

I'd like to improve the riding comfort for my wife when she rides with me. 

She has two issues - 1) "nothing to hang on to" and 2) comfort (width) of the seat.

We ride with the truck with integral backrest and she uses the side grab handles.

 

Any upgrades y'all have done?

And no bad comments (like grab my love handles on #1, as I have none). 

 

FYI - she is a great passenger.  Sits and leans properly with the bike thru corners.  Only quick hard braking do we knock helmets.  Maybe she saw a HD with a "queen" set and is jonsing for a better ride, in her opinion - not mine.

 

Afternoon Pgm

 

I have seen a few different rear arm rest configurations on the 1100RT, one was a sort of wrap around deal with arm rests that bolted on the top box between the passenger back rest pad the & the top box (looked fairly sturdy but the arm rests didn't fold up so rider & passenger motorcycle mounting was compromised)

 

The other was  universal folding arm rests that bolted to the front  corners & sides of the top box. (these folded up to get out of the way for mounting the bike but didn't look as sturdy as the solid ones that bolted on under the back rest pad.

 

Sorry I don't have any manufacturer names or part numbers but you should be able to find some on-line with a good search.

[Selden]

I have always considered my wife to be a fabulous passenger. She holds on to my waist, and leans with the turns. I hardly know she is there (although shoulder rubs are greatly appreciated on long rides). A sheepskin pad makes the passenger seat a tad wider and grippier. I try to accelerate, shift, and brake as smoothly as possible. We rarely bump helmets.

 

[fatbob]

A K1200LT is the best solution, but that does bring its own set of problems!   I have an ‘03 RT and an ‘01 LT.   MY wife only wants to ride on the LT.    A Russell seat for your pillion would help tremendously.   You would enjoy a Russell yourself.   

[PAS]

My wife appreciated the sheepskin seat pads on the R1150RT. (check classified if interested, bike was sold)

[Paul De]

If your wife wants a place to actually grab onto one solution was something my wife bought years ago when my she was just getting comfortable riding with. She had bought a waist belt for me that had built in grab straps.   It was sort of like the old school kidney belt with  grab straps on the sides.  I obliged her until she overcame the anxiety of not being able to hold on tight to me. Thankfully, that "corset" is lost in deep storage somewhere .

 

Other comfort adds were an aftermarket saddle, upgraded top case pad, and a slightly taller windscreen that helped extend the calm air envelope to reduce buffeting at the pillion position. I think by getting her into the calm air pocket allowed her to overcome her need to really hold on tight.

[Skywagon]

When I had my 1150RT I added a drivers backrest.  It gave her a little bit of a place to hold on.

[Paul De]

Oh yeah and keep her away from getting too neat the land yacht class bikes as the RT will be put in end up in the cross hairs!

[Howles]

On 10/18/2019 at 1:05 AM, fatbob said:

A K1200LT is the best solution, but that does bring its own set of problems!   I have an ‘03 RT and an ‘01 LT.     

 

I can second that.  I sold my '00 LT in August knowing that my wife was never going to love our '04 RT.  In our case, her legs are too long to get comfortable in the tucked in position of the passenger footpads.  Since I can't lengthen the RT frame, I think other modifications will fall short of getting her comfortable for more than about 150-200 miles per day.  Not sure I would buy another LT at this point but it will stand in our minds as the ultimate two up ride we've ever enjoyed.