Are you game for a small survey ? Risky ? See, my wife (56 kilos or 8st.11lbs) is complaining that the Shadow provides a rather frequent healthy "jolt" to the head when riding on our admittedly not so perfect roads. Tyres pressures ,riding , etc ... normal. 1) If your wife /partner / friend (regularly) frequents the pillion seat could you please ask them to honestly rate the comfort out of 10 (one is migraine territory) 2) Is the general consensus that Thornton suspension units are the most effective ?
Thanks, and have a nice day (unless you've got other plans ). Ian
My wife finds the Rapide very comfortable. Asked for a rating 1-10 she thought for a while and said 10. I do 6000-8000 miles a year and probably more than half the mileage is with Gloria on the back. We do quite a lot of short (10 - 50 mile) local trips and we also do longer trips (400 miles +) to Wales, Lake District, etc. I am probably 14 stone with my riding kit and Gloria around 10.
The Rapide is a "B" with Girdraulics on the front. The rear is fully sprung with two bits of tube from the rear of the seat to an extension on the footrest plates. I have fitted the longer Pettiford springs and an after market damper. It has the longer seat sold by the Spares Co. (Highly recommended.)
When I first made the rear fully sprung I moved the pillion rests forward a little. Gloria found this spoilt the riding position for her so I moved them back and re-arranged the way the supporting tubes were mounted. This suggests that there is more to comfort than plush seats and lots of suspension.
Having a nice day and it is about to get better as I'm going for a ride.