I have been working for a fix for seat comfort on my st1300. Particularly, even with my Russel seat I would still slide forward or feel that I am pushing against the tank. I installed a set of mcl seat risers, not so difficult. It requires the removal of the seat riser assembly then installing the risers in place of the old brackets. Nice directions it took about a half and hour.
I set the brackets in the recommended middle position. this puts the front about 2" higher and the rear in the middle notch. The first thing I noticed was my 29" inseam was barely touching ground. I think these would be better for a 31" inseam on up. The front side hooks will not hook into the existing tabs and in fact are lifted up approx 2" on the tank from the highest position before the risers. Seat although was defiantly leveled out.
First long ride was from Southern Calif up to Pismo beach. Not sure of the mileage but approx 500 mile round trip. The seat was much more comfortable and the forward slide was gone. My knees that previously would need stretching no longer bothered me. So while riding very good and met my goals of not sliding forward and comfort.
Now the drawbacks;
1. Since I have a short inseam I was barely touching ground and at times felt a little unsafe at any stop with a slope. With them on there would be another tip over in the future.
2. Since the seat was higher on the tank I had to put protection on the tank to keep from scratching it.
3. I had to place a rag between the seat and the tank as there was now a space for heat to rise and it was noticeable although when I had the rag filling the opening I think the seat was now cooler than before.
4. My riding position was put a little forward even with the gen 3 risers I have, negating some of the advantages of the risers.
End result was I had to remove the risers mainly because of the inability to safely land my feet on the ground. (29" inseam). All other negatives were minor compared to this. Maybe a different seat would work better. Because of the wings on the Russel you have to move forward to get your feet on the ground. This places you on the highest part of the seat.
After removal I did experiment with the stock seat risers. I am in the lowest notch rear and center position front on the stock seat bracket. This to help flatten the seat.
One thing I should note is that if you drop the rear and try to hook the front side tabs the seat will be under tension. This Makes it hard to drop in a lower notch. If you just pull out the seat side flaps not allowing them to hook, the seat then drops in nicely with no tension. I found this works remarkably well I just wish I tried this before ordering the brackets. Oh well I just had to try!
I set the brackets in the recommended middle position. this puts the front about 2" higher and the rear in the middle notch. The first thing I noticed was my 29" inseam was barely touching ground. I think these would be better for a 31" inseam on up. The front side hooks will not hook into the existing tabs and in fact are lifted up approx 2" on the tank from the highest position before the risers. Seat although was defiantly leveled out.
First long ride was from Southern Calif up to Pismo beach. Not sure of the mileage but approx 500 mile round trip. The seat was much more comfortable and the forward slide was gone. My knees that previously would need stretching no longer bothered me. So while riding very good and met my goals of not sliding forward and comfort.
Now the drawbacks;
1. Since I have a short inseam I was barely touching ground and at times felt a little unsafe at any stop with a slope. With them on there would be another tip over in the future.
2. Since the seat was higher on the tank I had to put protection on the tank to keep from scratching it.
3. I had to place a rag between the seat and the tank as there was now a space for heat to rise and it was noticeable although when I had the rag filling the opening I think the seat was now cooler than before.
4. My riding position was put a little forward even with the gen 3 risers I have, negating some of the advantages of the risers.
End result was I had to remove the risers mainly because of the inability to safely land my feet on the ground. (29" inseam). All other negatives were minor compared to this. Maybe a different seat would work better. Because of the wings on the Russel you have to move forward to get your feet on the ground. This places you on the highest part of the seat.
After removal I did experiment with the stock seat risers. I am in the lowest notch rear and center position front on the stock seat bracket. This to help flatten the seat.
One thing I should note is that if you drop the rear and try to hook the front side tabs the seat will be under tension. This Makes it hard to drop in a lower notch. If you just pull out the seat side flaps not allowing them to hook, the seat then drops in nicely with no tension. I found this works remarkably well I just wish I tried this before ordering the brackets. Oh well I just had to try!