5 Of The Best Harley-Davidson Mods For Rider Comfort

The motorcycle rider's lifestyle, especially riders of muscular Harley-Davidson motorcycles, is for those who seek a wilder, untamed traveling experience. When you're riding a Harley bike, you can really feel the road beneath the wheels and the muscle of the vehicle in your command. It can be a lot of fun, though even if you're looking to rough it a bit, that doesn't mean you need to shirk every last creature comfort.

Wild and muscular though Harley bikes may be, there's always a little room to improve your experience in the broad sense. After all, if you can get that freewheeling experience without hurting your back or actually risking your safety, that's definitely preferable. If you're looking to improve the overall comfort of your Harley ride, not just for any passengers you're carrying, but you yourself in the driver's seat, there are various aftermarket mods you can install, each with the blessing of longtime riders. For more information on how we chose these nifty upgrades, check the bottom of the page.

While the idea of experiencing the road through your powerful Harley bike sounds rather romantic, one aspect of your body that might not appreciate it as much is your back. Harley-Davidson does the best it can to provide comfortable seating arrangements on its bikes, of course, but no two spines are made the same, and your back and rear may not find the stock seat on your bike to be agreeable. It can take some of the wind out of your proverbial sails when every highway adventure is ended by a painful back crack after you park.

This is why motorcycle YouTuber Matt Laidlaw recommends all new Harley riders consider getting an aftermarket seat. Browsing around through available seats will help you find one that better conforms to your body, and some may also feature additional cushioning that just generally makes it more pleasant to sit on during a long trek. In addition to the seat proper, Laidlaw also recommends grabbing a back rest for that extra bit of lumbar support. Just having a sturdy surface you can lean back on during a long drive will do wonders for your overall comfort.

There are few vibes as cool as a motorcycle's headlight cutting through the night, the roar of the engine contrasting the dead silence of the dark. Of course, a vibe isn't quite the same as real life — in practice, driving at night can be dangerous if you're not taking the proper precautions, like forgetting to turn on your headlights when the sun goes down. As motorcycle YouTuber Old Not Dead points out, though, the stock headlights on some Harley-Davidson bikes are fine for lit up, urban areas, but if you want to go beyond the city limits, they might not be sufficient. This is why he recommends swapping out the stock lights on your Harley bike for a high-powered LED, such as the TRUCKMALL 7-inch LED lights on Amazon.

More powerful lighting will illuminate more of the road at night with greater clarity. Better lighting means you'll be able to see obstacles and hazards sooner and more easily, which in turn will make it easier to avoid them entirely or, if necessary, make a quick safety maneuver. Better, clearer lighting will also help to stave off the drowsy instincts that come with driving at night.

As the years have gone by, Harley-Davidson has begun to implement more advanced features into some of its higher-end vehicles, including digital displays and cruise control. Cruise control in particular can be excellent for long-distance riding, but if your Harley bike is older or from a simpler line, it might not have the feature built in. If your Harley doesn't already have cruise control functionality, Matt Laidlaw says you should definitely install an aftermarket cruise control system.

If you haven't used a cruise control system before, it's fairly simple: by flipping a toggle switch, you can keep the engine running at its current rate even without holding the throttle. By activating cruise control on your Harley bike, you can loosen your hand from the throttle, which can alleviate a lot of the pent-up stress from keeping it twisted up. You can even drop your hand for a moment if you need to stretch, provided you keep your other hand firmly on the handlebars. If you're going to be driving for a long time, that single moment of tension relief can make a world of difference.

One of the major appeals of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle is the distinctive growl of the engine when you really crank it up. You want the world to know you're cruising by on a Harley bike, though some stock Harley setups sound less like a bestial growl and more like a slightly aggressive lawnmower. This, among other reasons, is why Old Not Dead recommends installing a slip-on muffler onto your Harley's tailpipe.

An aftermarket slip-on muffler will allow you to fine-tune the sound that comes out of your Harley-Davidson motorcycle and get the roar that you've been craving. Of course, there are also practical, comfort-centric reasons to grab a slip-on muffler; a slip-on helps to optimize the flow of gas expelled by the engine, which in turn increases the overall power and responsiveness of the vehicle. A slip-on muffler will give you more control over your Harley, and look really cool while doing it.

When it comes to comfort upgrades for your Harley-Davidson bike, it's sometimes the little things that can make the biggest difference. For instance, one of Matt Laidlaw's upgrades of choice is the humble heel shifter, an alternative transmission control to the more common toe shifter. You can grab one on Amazon like the WOWTK Heel Toe Shift Peg.

A heel shifter mod adds a secondary peg to your Harley bike's transmission, allowing you to change gears with the back of your foot in addition to the front. In a similar vein to a cruise control setup, a heel shifter can offer a small, yet invaluable, point of comfort when you've been out on the road for a while. Imagine you've been cruising all day, toes aching from having to constantly nudge the shifter up. If you need a moment's respite, you can use the heel shifter instead to move the pressure elsewhere. This is particularly valuable if you're wearing heavy riding boots that might make it more difficult to move your toes.

Everyone's precise definition of "comfort" can vary slightly, but when it comes to longtime Harley-Davidson riders, there are generally accepted standards of what can and can't improve your overall riding experience. To inform our selections, we only sourced recommendations from motorcycle-centric YouTubers with at least 30,000 subscribers to show they know what they're talking about.