The problem with forward controls is that they change the saddle (yes, it is a saddle, not a seat), into a seat. Motorcycles are designed to be ridden with some weight on the saddle, and some (sometimes most) of your weight on the pegs. A lot like riding a horse. Putting the pegs forward like that makes it impossible to lift your arse off the saddle, meaning you absorb every road bump hard up your spine, and causes numb-bum after a couple of hundred kms. Every HD guy I know with forwards lasts a couple of hundred km tops before they need to stop, get off and stretch. They all complain about bad backs... My solution is to have mid-pegs/controls (which allow me to distribute (and vary when necessary) my weight across saddle, pegs and handlebars, AND I put 'highway' pegs up front for longer trips, allowing me to change positions and stretch out from time to time. The best of both worlds.
I haven’t taken mine out for a real long ride yet so I haven’t noticed the numb bum but it’s something I’ll keep in mind for sure. I might have to switch back if it gets bad.
Worth it for me because of my height, but you GOTTA put a better seat on these things if you're gonna do it to protect from that horrible tailbone pain. I know they ain't cool looking, but a seat with a backrest is a gamechanger with forward controls! If you're really not into that then a step up seat.
100%! That’s something I will have to look into, I haven’t been on a real long ride with the forwards yet so I haven’t experienced any tailbone pain yet. But that sounds like a terrible time.
@@thewhiskythrottleclub It's such a big difference. It made me sell my last cruiser several years ago because It got to the point where my ass wasn't recovering between rides but now I can do 200+ miles no problem.
That would be a bloody rough ride going that far being in pain. At the end of the day if a seat isn’t cool looking but makes it more comfortable to do big trips, then that sounds like an easy sacrifice of style for comfort
I wouldnt say changing foot position makes it a "smoother" ride, just a different seating position. Shocks, forks, seat, and engine mounts make the ride smoother. Forwards have always been goofy to me as I started on sport/dirt bikes. Mid controls feel more stable. But to each their own.
You’re right, I should have put more comfortable instead of smooth 🤦♂️ I know what you mean, coming from a dirk bike background where you essentially hug the bike with your knees to forwards is a huge change!
Forwards are only helpful if you're 6 ft tall. Then you're still able to stand for bumps if you're forward on the seat in a more aggressive riding position. Otherwise you're just absorbing bumps with your spine. I really only see a benefit to forwards when you're trying to unload all the weight off the rear end.
The streets here in Australia are pretty bad but I haven’t experienced any discomfort from having forward controls yet. I took my bike out over the weekend and I can still stand on the forward controls if needed, it’s not as easy to stand on as mids, but it’s still possible by pulling yourself up using the handlebars.
@@thewhiskythrottleclub I live at the foothills in the mountains. So only half our back roads are paved, and the ones that were paved look like a bombed out airfield from D-Day come spring. Our Interstates aren't much better thanks to our Governor pissing away our road money. I have honestly taken my Sportster through pastures that were smoother than our highways.
Most of them do the same thing, but the only thing to keep in mind is that there are different sized drives, so I from memory there is a 1/2” 1/4” 3/4” and 3/8” drive, but you can get socket adaptors so that any size socket will fit the drive that you end up buying.
This is the first bike of mine I have put them on. I’m a novice as well and I found installing the forward control easy, on a c90t I wouldn’t know if they mount in the same way but I can’t imagine they would be too different to install.
