Current opinions on 2up use of newer Rockets

Hello,

I am looking for passenger experiences on the 2.5 Rockets. One online review by a pillion said it felt like sitting on a paving stone. I have searched this site and have not seen much discussion.

Have you been a passenger or carried one on a 2.5 Rocket? Was it comfortable? For how many miles?

Were any suspension mods or aftermarket seats useful to improve passenger comfort?

Thank you.

the passenger accommodation is not bad at all. its not a gold wing and definitely not 600 super sport.
comfort is a personal preference.
i’ve not had a passenger complain, done 200km…
seat is good, footpegs are OK for most
rider weight will make a difference, suspension travel is somewhat restricted so max out the preload.

I changed the seat to a Corbin at wife's request to have more real space for the butt and more back support. It helps, but still the position for the passenger is kind of closer to be passenger in an sport bike than in a gold wing. At 6'1" myself it can be cramped 2 up. Occasional helmet bump.

Also depends on the variant. R gets a thin seat that feels similar to sitting on paving stone. GT has a thicker and softer seat. You can also get the comfort pillion seat on R which is basically the GT pillion seat, only 1.5 inch longer. After that at least your backside won't complain.

I've ridden 300ish kms with a pillion and also sat pillion for around half that. I've had another observation. The rider and the pillion sit very close to each other (at least in my R). That's because of the shape of the rider seat. The rider sits at the very edge of the seat, thus sitting very close to the pillion. That get's tiring for the rider as the pillion's legs are constantly touching your torso.

I have a gt and my wife can handle about 30 minutes at one go with the stock seat. Recently I've been tieing a small square pillow ontop and it has helped tremendously. She did an hour without a problem the other day.

I had my wife in my gt, cherohala from Robbinsville to tellico with stop in the falls, and while that count for a few hours riding, she can complain for a lot longer about the seat....

... saying so, I had my sister, I have to say a bit overweight and we rode about 7 hours for 3 or 4 days around the smokies, 40f, and that was in my old cbr1000rr... no major complains outside of having to thaw her to be able to get out the bike... the last day there, for a change, we went e to the underground sea attraction instead. ...

So,.. it's not just the seat, a lot have to do with expectation and interest.

I remember once in Westchester, NY. Went for a ride with my wife, I had a Yamaha warrior then, when we stop in the dunkin donuts to grab a coffee and meet the group, she was like, now we get back right? Lol... we went all the way to Albany that day and back....

My wife likes the seating position and stability of the R. It's good for shortish (hour or so) rides. The downside is that it's not very wide and quite firm.

At some point I'll look at getting an upgraded seat an backrest.