New ST1300 Owner - First Impressions and Need Advice

Re: NEW ST1300 OWNER -- FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND NEED ADVICE

Not much to see on the Spencer L.D. seat mod but,...........my butt says that it's wonderful

Give the bar position a little time since you came from a cruiser.I couldn't do 60 miles on the stock seat.

Gem STate ST said:

Give the bar position a little time since you came from a cruiser.I couldn't do 60 miles on the stock seat.

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I agree with Gem STate on the handlebars. When I first got my ST last year, everyone told me I should get the risers. With new tires AND a new Corbin seat (because I couldn't go 60 on the stock, either), I put off the risers due to cash flow. I've decided I like the stock bar placement. Later, riding another ST with risers, it felt too high and I was sitting too vertical. Give the bars time.

Glad to hear you like the ST! I am also 5'8", and there is no way I can ride without risers on the handlebars. It doesn't matter which ones you buy, it's just a block of aluminum so go for the best price. As for the seat, I could ride with the stock one for a while, but then my butt started to get sore. First I had a memory foam seat mod done from www.meancitycycles.com and I was fine. but a couple of years later I stumbled on a Corbin seat on Ebay, now I'm in heaven!
There are seat height adjustments under the seat, too. 3 positions. Even met Mr. Corbin in Daytona during Bike Week, a very nice man and ex-Navy, like me. Final required mod for me was a set of new Kuryakyn cruiser style grips. The original ones are too skinny and made my hands and wrist hurt. I hope this info is helpful.

5' 7" - no risers.

Hold off on any comfort mod for at least 2000 miles. Give yourself some time to adjust to the bike. You will to a certain degree.

gkc501 said:

I am 5'8" and am slightly uncomfortable with leaning too far forward with the weight on my hands.

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I'm with everybody else; two days into it is not the time to be making modifications. You're on a bike that's new to you, much larger, heavier and more powerful than anything you've owned before and has a completely different riding position. Cruisers and many standards (I'm assuming your Superhawk was a CB77 and not the more recent sporty version) put you in a position where almost all of your torso's weight is sent straight down your spine, which makes it very easy to avoid using your arms to support yourself.

You can achieve the same thing on the ST, but you'll have to use muscles in your back to soak up the extra weight that comes from being canted forward. In most of us, the muscles you need aren't toned for it and it takes some time and a little discomfort to get them there. The trick is to bend your elbows at a 20-30 degree angle and lean forward until your palm is just touching the grip. [-]Here are a couple of pictures of what that looks like: CLICKY and CLICKY.[/-] (Sorry, the pictures were lost.) Notice that I'm leaned forward just a bit and there's a slight bend in my arms.* My gloves obscure the fact that there's almost zero weight on either of my hands when I'm not giving the bars any steering input because it's being carried by my back muscles. I put in seven hours of saddle time yesterday and the only thing that kept me from riding longer was that I'd reached the end of my planned route.

You can experiment with this with the bike on the center stand and no gloves by making an "O" shape with your thumbs and index fingers and adjusting your lean until the grips are centered in the Os. Once you've got the hang of it and you're past the sore muscles, you'll see an improvement in fine throttle and steering control and you'll enjoy the bike even more.

So my advice would be to put a few thousand miles on the bike as-is and see if you get used to it.

--Mark


*You can also notice that I'm not covering the clutch lever, but that's fodder for another discussion.

gkc501 said:

Traded in my Kawasaki cruiser for a 2012 St1300 2 days ago. Put 400 miles on it so far. LOVE IT!

Favorite feature - the adjustable windshield. Have been able to find the "sweet spot" regardless of wind direction and velocity. Overall the power, smoothness, braking, and handling are excellent.

The only "must do" mod so far is to put a handlebar riser on it. I am 5'8" and am slightly uncomfortable with leaning too far forward with the weight on my hands. Think I will go with the MCL or HELI gen III risers, any input as to which is better would be appreciated.

Stock seat - so far seems adequate. But my longest time in the saddle has been 2 hours. An all day trip will bring in the verdict on the seat.

I live in Melbourne Beach, FL - if you are close by (60 miles or less) and have either the MCL or HELI gen III risers installed, would like to see your setup. Also - if you have done the Spencer seat mod or have another after market seat, would like to see those as well. Please call or email me - 321-698-3827. Gary@xcelsoftinc.com.

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Thanks to all that responded. I am going to go with the majority opinion, i.e. get used to the bike for a couple of thousand miles before I decide on any "comfort mods".

Blrfl said:

I'm with everybody else; two days into it is not the time to be making modifications. You're on a bike that's new to you, much larger, heavier and more powerful than anything you've owned before and has a completely different riding position. Cruisers and many standards (I'm assuming your Superhawk was a CB77 and not the more recent sporty version) put you in a position where almost all of your torso's weight is sent straight down your spine, which makes it very easy to avoid using your arms to support yourself.

You can achieve the same thing on the ST, but you'll have to use muscles in your back to soak up the extra weight that comes from being canted forward. In most of us, the muscles you need aren't toned for it and it takes some time and a little discomfort to get them there. The trick is to bend your elbows at a 20-30? angle and lean forward until your palm is just touching the grip. Here are a couple of pictures of what that looks like: CLICKY and CLICKY. Notice that I'm leaned forward just a bit and there's a slight bend in my arms.* My gloves obscure the fact that there's almost zero weight on either of my hands when I'm not giving the bars any steering input because it's being carried by my back muscles. I put in seven hours of saddle time yesterday and the only thing that kept me from riding longer was that I'd reached the end of my planned route.

You can experiment with this with the bike on the center stand and no gloves by making an "O" shape with your thumbs and index fingers and adjusting your lean until the grips are centered in the Os. Once you've got the hang of it and you're past the sore muscles, you'll see an improvement in fine throttle and steering control and you'll enjoy the bike even more.

So my advice would be to put a few thousand miles on the bike as-is and see if you get used to it.

--Mark


*You can also notice that I'm not covering the clutch lever, but that's fodder for another discussion.

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Blrfl - thanks for the informative post. Was out riding for an hour this morning, and concentrated on posture and letting my back muscles offload my hand/wrists. Did make a difference. Also noticed that if I sat up too straight, the bike did not feel as good as when I had a slight lean. Maybe the Honda engineers knew what they were doing!!!

Also - don't know if my Superhawk was a CB77. It was a mid 60's 305 standard. My first bike. Would do just over 100 if I was lying down on the tank. I was 18 and invincible then.

gkc501 said:

Thanks to all that responded. I am going to go with the majority opinion, i.e. get used to the bike for a couple of thousand miles before I decide on any "comfort mods".

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I installed riser blocks right away, in 2004, and never looked back... The ones I puchased from Motorcycle Larry were pretty inexpensive - 80 bucks...

I was 18 and invincible then.

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Weren't we all at one time or another!!

I too would give the stock position a little more time ! You can always change it up later !

MIKE