The photo above is me 2 yrs ago with my old paint job, from photo shoot gallery called Joy of Harley Davidson by http://www.pegasusphoto.com.
When I started customizing my bike, I went with the “It’s all about the looks” theme. It is lowered about 3.5 inches lower than stock. It has a low profile seat, no windshield, no fairing, and forward controls. I do really love the look, and understand I gave up a great deal of riding comfort for this look. I can deal with the lack of comfort that my low profile seat provides to me, and I can deal with the winds resistance that having no windshield or fairing provides. I actually like it and prefer it that way. I like being “in the wind” as they say, but my thighs tend to disagree.
My forward controls put me in a riding position that I love. The look is right for me and it is very comfortable on short rides, and or lower speeds. However, when I ride on the freeway at higher speeds and do any long distance riding, I can get some pretty tired thighs. I’m regularly fighting the wind’s urge to spread my legs apart farther than the stance of the bike already puts them naturally, and fighting gravity as well. Due to my opinion that footboards don’t fit the look of my bike, they are out of the running as far a solution for me. On longer, faster rides, I often times find myself putting the passenger foot pegs down, sticking my feet back there and riding crotch rocket style to give myself a break, but this is not a good solution, because the second I switch back to forward position my legs get tired again. So, I was thinking about going with stirrups. I’m wondering, do stirrups really help that much, or do all you forward control riders all fight the same battle as me and just deal with it?
Any one out there who uses stirrups, and has got an answer for me would be greatly appreciated.
Mr. Motorcycle