I tried one before I bought my comfort seat its certainly an improvement over the stock seat. The trouble I had was that it raises the seat height a bit to much for me as I am only a 29" leg.
My lad uses one all the time and he says its really comfy on long journeys.

 

I bought one at Americade and sat on it for 1500 KM ride home. Loved it. It took some time to get the correct air but once I did it was (is) great. For me, it depends on the bike. On my Ducati Multistrada, it is uncomfortable.

Craig

 

I bought one this summer and stuck it under my sheespkin cover. Finally I am happy with my RT seat! Looks good, and it's comfy and it actually took away my upper back pain as well.

 

Thanks guys! I just ordered one from Aerostitch! Looking forward trying out!!

 

I bought one this summer and stuck it under my sheespkin cover. Finally I am happy with my RT seat! Looks good, and it's comfy and it actually took away my upper back pain as well.

I did this as well and it was a good improvement over the stock seat; ended up getting a Russell Day Long as my long term answer 30,000 miles ago and haven't thought of the seat since.

Picked up the airhawk at www.derbycycles.com = They still have the Best price FWIW.

 

I've been considering the Russell day-long seat; I am not thrilled about having to have my stock seat rebuilt, but I'm sure I'll get over that issue in time.

 

I could not stand the stock seat on my 2010 RT for more than an hour. I did not want to spend near $1000 for a custom seat after having just dished out over $20k for the new bike so I bought an Airhawk.

At first it helped me by letting me go for an hour and a half before I was in pain. Some might say that a 50% improvement is great progress, but I was not happy.

I kept playing around with the Airhawk until I let so much air out that my butt touched the seat. Actually there was still air in the pad and having just this small amount of air really made the seat comfort much better. Now the seat is no longer the weak point for my discomfort. It's the handlebars - my back hurts between my shoulder blades after two hours. I will try some bar risers next year.

My guess is that the best seat for comfort will be something like the Russell that has a wide "tractor type" seat. This is the kind of seat I had on my Honda GL1800 that I had before the RT, and I could ride that all day with no problems in the butt. It spreads the weight over a greater area. But these wide seats destroy the sporty look of the RT. Can't get something for nothing.

The only remaining problem with the Airhawk is that I do not get to enjoy my heated seat through the air cushion.

 

Please let us know how you get along in the search for relief of the mid / high back pain. Same here and it is the only thing remaining. I have tired risers, lowered pegs, low and high seat, posture etc. I remain convinced it is the bar ergonomics, but I have not figured it out.

Craig

 

I get the same burning type pain between my shoulders after about about an hour and a half of riding. I relieve it by resting one hand after the other for about 5 minutes each on my lap or thigh and concentrating on trying to keep my forearms as horizon to the ground as possible. Of course this requires riding on cruise when it's the right hand/arm's turn to rest and some folks, for safety concerns, refuse to cruise ; I believe God created cruise to use! :bmw: (but always cruise responsibly!) After resting each arm a bit, which in effect is relaxing the shoulders, I am good for another hour or until the bladder give out (which usually comes first!) :rotf:

Lawrence

 

I get the same burning type pain between my shoulders after about about an hour and a half of riding. I relieve it by resting one hand after the other for about 5 minutes each on my lap or thigh and concentrating on trying to keep my forearms as horizon to the ground as possible. Of course this requires riding on cruise when it's the right hand/arm's turn to rest and some folks, for safety concerns, refuse to cruise ; I believe God created cruise to use! :bmw: (but always cruise responsibly!) After resting each arm a bit, which in effect is relaxing the shoulders, I am good for another hour or until the bladder give out (which usually comes first!) :rotf:

Lawrence

I'm betting that your not relaxing your shoulders when you ride. My friend was complaining about the same thing and I noticed one day while following him that he was holding his shoulders in a constant shrug while riding.

 

I have found the Airhawk great to ride with.
For back pain try a "Sacral Cinch Belt". Available from most pharmacies / chemists / drug stores. Cheap enough and might help.See : http://www.oppomedical.com/product/detail.asp?Serno=62.
Deon

 

I have used the Airhawk on many different models, including Harley's. It really does make a big difference! Now I have a Corbin and no longer need any pad. Even left the Sheepskin on the shelf.

 

I get the same burning type pain between my shoulders after about about an hour and a half of riding. I relieve it by resting one hand after the other for about 5 minutes each on my lap or thigh and concentrating on trying to keep my forearms as horizon to the ground as possible. Of course this requires riding on cruise when it's the right hand/arm's turn to rest and some folks, for safety concerns, refuse to cruise ; I believe God created cruise to use! :bmw: (but always cruise responsibly!) After resting each arm a bit, which in effect is relaxing the shoulders, I am good for another hour or until the bladder give out (which usually comes first!) :rotf:

Lawrence

I've tried all of these steps, as well as doing some upper back exercises while I'm riding, but I still get the pain in my cervical spine which has persisted for the entire summer. I've even had to go to physical therapy.

With snow on the ground now, I won't get to try bar risers until 2011, but I am hopeful that it will help.

I recently came upon this web site (Motorcycle Ergonomics Simulator) in which one's seating position can be compared on different bikes:
http://cycle-ergo.com/
Compared to the 2010 RT, the rider position is much more upright on the Honda GL1800 and I was very comfortable on that bike.

It is interesting to see that others suffer from this same problem. How can BMW make a bike that is so expensive, and so mechanically fine, but such an ergonomic disaster!