It took me about a year to get my C-14 comfy for me and my wife. What worked for me was:
A CalSci windshield with an MRA visor on top. The windshield is wider and taller (+6) than stock and overall, it is around 10" taller than stock including the visor. I sit fairly tall in the saddle and that is what it took to get the airstream over most of my helmet.
A Corbin saddle w/ Airhawk cushion on it (two actually, one for each of us). The Corbin provides a flat platform which is ideal for an Airhawk. This was after trying a bunch of saddles, including a custom Russell as well as various cushions.
Raising the bars 2". No change in angle.
Using Buell pegs. These lower the peg and foot position by about 1 1/4" or so with no loss of cornering clearance. Cheap too although you have to open the mounting hole slightly (Easy Boys!).
Baker hand wings. Greatly reduce the airstream flowing not only over the hands but also into the torso of the rider. Also, they can be turned to greatly increase the air driven into the rider- fantastic when it is hot out.
Cruise control- necessary for longer rides in my case.
It also depends on how much comfort / how long you will be riding. I needed to go over 10 hours straight and with the setup I can go 50+ hours continuously (no breaks for longer than 30 minutes, most stops less than 6 minutes for fuel only). If you just want to ride for, say, 4 to 6 hours per day, maybe just bar riders and a saddle cushion would work for you. I am a huge fan of Airhawk cushions but they do not work well on the stock seat IME; it is too dished and sloped forward and I ended up being driven into the fuel tank.
Unlike autos, fitting motorcycles to individuals is a time consuming and expensive task. And there is really very little you can do in the way of predicting just what will work- most things are great for 10 minutes in the parking lot but draining three fuel tanks in a row without getting off the bike will show the flaws right away. The other thing is that each change will affect how the other devices work; for example, putting a Corbin on a C-14, which is a very low saddle, will have the effect of raising both the windshield as well as the handlebars.
Brian
Hi all ... my first time here as I am a first time Concours owner having just purchased a 2016 Moondust Grey Concours with about 8,000 kilometers on it. Pretty excited about this as I have been wanting one of these for quite a while.
Last week was my first real experience with the bike which resulted in about six hours of riding. While I love the power and smoothness of the Connie, comfort by the end of the day was a challenge. I hurt just about everywhere ... particularily my hands, wrists, back and rear end. I confess it has been about two years since I rode that long in a day, but I have completed many 1,000 kilometer days in the past on my 1000 VStrom and my ZX1100 before that without much trouble. I also have to think getting older is working against me.
On the ride the things that struck me as needing attention where the noise, the weight on my hands, and the seat. I have been doing a lot of reading on this site and elsewhere, and frankly the number of choices to make adjustments is a bit overwhelming.
I am thinking I need to make a couple changes, see if they work, and adjust if required.
For the seat I am considering a AirHawk. Problem is the site does not specify whick model best fits a Connie.
Anyone else there done this that can offer advice?
For the windshield ... frankly the noise is the biggest issue as it is exteremely loud in any position.
And I expect if I my head and shoulders were more exposed to the wind, it would take a lot of the weight of my hands.
The CopperDawg looks very interesting, but the price is a bit much. But if it really works, maybe it's worth it. And I may not have to purchase the handbar risers.
And the Mastad setup also looks interesting ... it leaves me thinking a simple fix by changing the angle of the windshield could allevaite a lot of the noise, and possibly work well with a spoiler type of attachement at the top of the windshied. If this cut the noise, I could go for the handle bar risers and simply sit up straighter ... again taking pressure off my hands.
I am very interested in solutions/experiences some of you have had with the above ... particularily from those of you that are about the same size and age as I am (6'3", 240 and 64 years old).
Thanks in advance ...