... I am not one to write reviews so bear with me.So, I brought my 02 home back in the beginning of June and have put a little over 3300 miles on it.
A week, or so, ago I decided it was time to do something about the seat ... specifically rider comfort on longer trips.
For reference, I am 5 ft 9 inches, 30ish inseam and weigh around 225 pounds. I like to sit back in the seat and have my feet forward on highway boards.
I, of course, wanted the best solution possible for the least amount of money and to NOT have to send my seat off and be without my ride for a week or more.
I looked on here and Googled like crazy for a couple of evenings and was torn between trying a sheep skin, Air Hawk and just getting my seat redone ... I definitely did not want to spend the kind of money a complete third party seat was ... that is what I did on my 2000 Nomad, went Mustang, and have never regretted it tho.
So, I decided the Air Hawk was the way to go ... really wanted to try sheep skin but felt the Air Hawk sounded like a more "sure thing" and figured why spend money twice.
So, which Air Hawk ... that is another story
... I went with the R.Two days after ordering the Air Hawk I saw a complete seat listed on Craigslist for $25 ... it was just far enough away that I wouldn't want to drive that far ... I called the guy and he also had a sheep skin for it ... I bought the seat and sheep skin for $50 and he shipped it to me via USPS for $15 ... nice!!!
So, now I have an Air Hawk R, sheep skin and complete seat on the way to me.
The Air Hawk arrived first. I put it on and went for a test drive ... once adjusted it did as guaranteed ... it more than doubled my comfortable riding time. I was able to easily go for well over an hour with no discomfort. There is a noticeable "shifting" as you go up and down hills ... nothing dangerous but noticeable.
Then the seat and sheepskin arrived ... the seat is in nicer condition than the one on my bike ... I have sent it to Spencer at http://www.greatdaytoride.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and am having the complete seat done in the LD ( Long Distance ) package...more info to come on that.
The sheep skin ... I put the sheep skin on and used it over a few day period ... both long and short rides. It also helps a lot ... makes the seat wider and "broadens" the contact area with the seat ... it basically doubles the ride time also. But, with only the sheep skin and multiple times ... say an all day ride with a couple stops and 3 or 4 1+ hour jaunts ... it gets less and less helpful.
Yesterday I went for a ride ... 6+ hours of seat time over a 7 hour period. All windy back roads or small two lane highway. For the first time I tried the Air Hawk, already adjusted from previous use, on the sheep skin ... WOW ... like riding on a cloud!!! My first leg of the day was 1.5 hours and I had almost ZERO butt discomfort when I stopped for a coffee and to stretch my legs. When I left there I went with sheep skin only and it was noticeably not as nice ... was about an 1.25 hour long and had to stop and give my backside a break. I then made a couple of shorter rides, between some state parks, with sheep skin only ... the butt comfort gets shorter each time. When I decided to head back towards home I put the Air Hawk back on and instantly WOW!! even with a somewhat sore butt it was nice. I made it home in a single jaunt of a little over 1.5 hours and thought it was pretty interesting about the difference.
Some things about the Air Hawk:
- It makes a HUGE difference with the tiniest amount of air plus or minus
- It also makes a NOTICEABLE difference where it is situated on the seat
- It is not attached to bike, and has a colorful logo on side, so needs to be put somewhere when leaving bike
- The Air Hawk R ... to me ... seems to be a little small for the Voyager seat ... but with the sheep skin on and then the Air Hawk on top is AWESOME.
