Here's John's Night Rod with...
Here's John's Night Rod with the new seat already installed!
Other than an exhaust or bar swap, changing out your stock seat is a pretty common task for Harley guys. Bitchin' Rich from Bitchin' Seat Company told us about his new one-piece saddle for V-Rod owners (mass production models start at $700, custom one-off seats start at about $1,200). It's a one-piece design that is targeted for a racer or solo saddler, but it can also be used as a two-up. It's made from Italian leather and features a hand-laid fiberglass pan that is both lightweight and durable. The custom seat features high-density base foam for support and nitro gel (which is different from silicone gel and is 80 percent lighter than silicone gels, according to Rich, and it does not hold heat or cold, it's a neutral temperature). The seat claims to improve handling because it drops the rider's position down about 1 inch, creating a lower center of gravity, and also brings the rider back about 2 inches so that the taller guys can stretch out a bit more.
Rich's buddy, John is a V-Rod owner and he's a little on the tall side. And what a coincidence, he's also a service technician at the Anaheim-Fullerton Harley-Davidson dealership, which is in our backyard. John has a '07 Night Rod he was willing to let us use as our guinea pig. Check out the install and let us know what you think. hot.bike@sorc.com.
 The new seat and subframe...  The new seat and subframe awaited the install. This is a custom model built specifically to John's specs. He's a fairly big guy at 6 feet 3 inches tall and he custom ordered this one-piece saddle to fit his frame better than the stock seat. |  Rich fit the seat's subframe...  Rich fit the seat's subframe onto the fender and bolted it in place. Then he installed the stock seat mounting hardware onto the right side, and his own hardware to the rear to fit the new seat. |  Then the passenger seat and...  Then the passenger seat and stock component module cover (arrow) was taken off |