Having Russell seat made. What about the pillion backrest?

[MarkT]

Russell has little info on what they will do with the sissybar backrest pad, other than just recovering it. All I have right now is the OEM pad, which has a problem - it makes the passenger sit on her tailbone if she leans back.  Not comfortable over long distances which is the intent of the RDL seats. I had a Mustang 4-piece setup years ago.  The rear pad was wedge shaped and curved, so the back seater sat upright, and the curved pad was comfortable.  Now looking at the pads at the Mustang site, I don't see a wedge shape, nor do I see what's holding the pad onto the sissybar with the "contoured" pad - #75991 since they seem to have put the sissybar inside a pocket.  http://www.mustangseats.com/Product/75991/Vintage-Contoured-135-x-95-Sissy-Bar-Pads-Honda-Valkyrie-No-Studs  There should be two screws for the pad-sissybar attachment, plus the 3 screws for the chrome trim plate (which I have modified as my "Highlighter"). Like the 75208 pad http://www.mustangseats.com/Product/75208/Regal-Sissy-Bar-Pad-No-Studs-No-Conchos-12-x-9-for-Hondaline-Standard-Tall-Sissy-Bar

I am about to order a Mustang pad for Russell to cover to match my seat, but I have no confidence it will be wedge shaped and compatible with my Highlighter.

Maybe I should just see what they do with the OEM pad but just recovering it won't be good enough.  I've asked them to respond but they ignored the question.

Alternatively, I could modify the sissybar so it's more upright.  But it would be better if Russell added a wedge shape on the back of the pad, under the cover, if it doesn't have one.

What does Russell do with the OEM pad?  Just recover it?  Do you know if the pads mentioned above are wedge shaped so the rider sits more upright?

[Gryphon Rider]

If you look at the Contoured pad photo that shows the three screws, what you are looking at is the pad alone, not mounted on the sissy bar. Where you see the ridge that makes it look like the sissy bar is inside, what you are actually seeing is the internal structure of the pad that forms the wedge that makes the pad sit more upright. The sissy bar shown for the Regal pad is not, in fact, a Valkyrie sissy bar. I don't even think it's Honda. There are three and only three screws involved in mounting a pad to a Valkyrie sissy bar.

[six2go #152]

Mark,
Have you called and talked to RDL? When I was having the seat built for my V-Strom, voice to voice communication worked wonders to answer my questions. Kinda like when you were building my exhaust. Talking was good.

[MarkT]

Mark,
Have you called and talked to RDL? When I was having the seat built for my V-Strom, voice to voice communication worked wonders to answer my questions. Kinda like when you were building my exhaust. Talking was good.

Yeah I did and got some bad info, as a matter of fact.  Contradicted by Kim via email. (They are confused whether they will provide DST format files of graphics for their embroidery software.) Not holding that against them yet as one OOPs doesn't paint them badly in my book.  Looks like Gryph has provided what I need to know for now - I can see Mustang has some errors on their site (eg., the sissybar in the Regal pad illustration is clearly not for a Valk but they have it coming up on a Valk search) - that can happen to anybody.  Seems like no matter how many times I review something I wrote, errors still creep in so I understand on that.