Starting to wonder if the Rocket is right for me...

I've tried the gel seat, the aftermarket pads on a stock seat, the Long Haul Touring seat, even paid $750 to have the long haul seat redone by Russell Day Long. It's not a bad seat. The only issue is the wings they put on the sides of the seat. They're a bit too wide and dig into the backs of my legs after a while.

Some have mentioned different bars. I've been looking but haven't found any with enough pull back.

It's entirely me that is the problem. Not the Rocket.

You're right Dennis.... there is that possibility that no bike will fit me 'just right'.
I hope that isn't the case. I'd feel very disappointed.

crazyman said:

You're right Dennis.... there is that possibility that no bike will fit me 'just right'.
I hope that isn't the case. I'd feel very disappointed.

Click to expand...

I'm guessing that's not going to be the case. Again, I couldn't ride my Rocket 50 miles without getting neck and shoulder pain. I've never had that on ANY bike. Now, ass pains, that's a different story, but never neck and shoulder. Those pains went away when my Rocket went away. I've never had pain one, neck, shoulder (or ass, FTM) on my Tiger or T-Bird.

I think the Rocket is just too **** big for the average rider. Rarely do I hear or read of anyone leaving the ergos stock on that bike, and I'm talking mainly the Touring model here. Recently, I've read about more and more folks putting the Thunderbird bars on the R3T. They're quite a bit narrower and some are reporting that's doing the trick for them. Me, I just got tired of throwing good money after bad trying to chase down good ergos.

You know Daryl, I think you're right. The Rocket III Touring is just a massively BIG bike. I'm average height and weight and simply don't fit.
I had a Honda VTX 1300 before the Rocket. I could ride a bit longer on that bike.

Maybe it's the foot position. You talked about the seat digging into the back of you legs. And with your feet up on the forward controls or boards, your back takes more punishment. I'm 6'8" so the mass of the bike doesn't phase me, but I could never do with the forward controls. Even at the stock R3 position, my back doesn't like it. I have the roadster and the controls are right at a standard's location. Maybe one last attempt a comfort should be try the roadster pegs. I'm sure you can trade with someone on here or order them from your local shop. You'd need to trade out the whole system, but I read a thread on here that there should be no reason they wouldn't bolt right up. Maybe there is a Roadster captain on here that would like the touring foot position.

Just a hail marry at this point. I can tell by your older posts that you want to be passionate about this bike again. But if it doesn't work out, I'd still say that anyone that can reach the ground on a Tiger should get one if they have any desire to ride one. I'm going to tell the truth and say that the only reason I didn't get the Tiger is that the Girlfriend didn't want to ride on it and there wasn't a special edition in my region when I went to pick one up. I test rode the rocket, saw that it was the same price as the Tiger SE. It was flat black. Took it home. I don't have any regrets... yet. But I can always add the Tiger later. Funds permitting.

Ultra Classic pull back bars and a seat with a back rest made my R3 a lot more comfortable to ride.

The roadster is a better ride than RIII having back problems myself after trading my RIII for the matt black roardster in standard conditon have no problems covering 500 to 700 kms on weekend rides with little or no back fatigue . love this bike not enough time to ride it i am only 70kgs & throw it around like a big sports bike

Not enough pull back you say.
Any harley bars (1") will fit,
find you a set, I know that means going to the harley dealer,
a set you like that fits your shoulder width and grip style,
where you're comfprtable,
and get them.
Price is cheap $50.-$100.
And see if that helps ya keep your Rock.
Only thing you need to change out if you find bars you like, is the one brake line,
unless you get apehangers,
which you won't cause that'd just look stupid on a touring bike.
But try that,
its way cheaper than the hit you'll take on selling or swapping your bike off.

"find you a set, I know that means going to the harley dealer"

How in THE hell can you advocate that?! YOU MONSTER!

*grabs Crazyman by the hand*

Come on Crazy, let's get the hell out of here. Next, they'll have us going to Wal-Mart!

I did take measurements of the R3T bars. I then searched a lot of different brands, including HD, for bars that would be better suited.

Unfortunately, I haven't found anything that would do the trick. "Better" bars still wouldn't alleviate the ergonomic issues with the seat and leg position.
Being the geek that I am, I've done the measurements, got photos of me on the bike, and still can't seem to make it work.

I know for certain it is JUST ME. Not the bike.

Believe me, I searched for options. No way around it other than just riding it for an hour or two and go home. What would be the point in having such an awesome bike ? I don't even like 'short' rides.