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Long Distance
Two Up Riding on a 1400

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I figured that this may help some of the newer members here, in their long distance riding with
their significant other on the back of the bike. My wife and I have comfortably ridden 600 mile
days on the Intruder 1400 with a few modifications to the bike. I’ll break it down into Comfort and Packing.


Comfort

Seats
Suzuki builds its rear seat out of a brick and your passenger’s butt will die in a couple of hundred miles. A replacement seat is needed. We have a Corbin Dual Tour seat and really like it and there a bunch of others like Mustang, Saddleman, etc. Get a decent seat for comfort and not a cool looking one that won’t make the trip. I LOVE my Corbin seat

Rear Pegs
The rear pegs are designed for a bowlegged midget, so if that is what is riding back there, you are all set. If not, rear peg lowering adapters are needed. I have a set from Seeger and there are other adapters out there. These let the passengers legs move down and forward and are much more comfortable and less cramping than the original position. You take off the rear pegs, add the adapter and reattach the pegs in the new position. This relocation of the pegs is a very worthwhile mod.

Highway Pegs
Lot of different ones available. I chose to add a set of Kuryakyn Duly Iso Offset pegs to a Suzuki [brand] case guard. This will adjust to almost any position- up, down, forward, backward, tilted back/side. It lets you have alternate foot placements while riding and reduces your fatigue.

Suspension
I replaced the OEM front springs with Progressive springs in the forks and Progressive Heavy Duty 214 shocks in the back. The HD Shocks were recommended for loads over 200 pounds. (Me + wife + Saddlebags + T-Bag = Yea, this is over 200#) The results were simply amazing.

Where I used to bump over expansion strips on a expressway, now I don’t even feel them. These are the least expensive shocks that Progressive makes, I can’t even imaging what the more expensive ones will do. Wife loved the upgrade. Progressive rules!

Windshield
Lets me ride longer with less fatigue, less pressure on arms. Also gives protection. My shield has saved me from eating two birds [one was an owl] and a jillion bugs and stones.

Cruise Control
The Vista Cruise worked just as advertised. I can adjust my speed with it on and it flicks off with a thumb movement. It’s goofier looking than the Throttlemeister but lots cheaper and simple to install and works great. Throttle rockers are nice but this is a giant step up.

Sissybar Extension
This gives the pillion rider a nice backrest to lean back against on a long trip. If it’s going to be a long day, we will even pad it with a towel to give it extra padding and comfort. The extension is needed if you are going to use a T-bag anyway.


Packing

T-Bags
There are a lot of different kinds of T-Bags. They work best with an extension on the Sissybar.

I bought a T-Bag for the UP tour and got the Jardine rack for it as we were riding two up and I couldn’t place the bag on the seat. The bag was bought for the standard backrest. Test run- We packed the bag as we were going to be using it and took it on an overnighter. It was an expandable bag and we had it fully packed. It wasn’t great. Not enough support and the bag flopped. The backrest was too short.

I bought an extension for the backrest to give it more support and as a bonus it proved to be much more comfortable for my wife’s back. I cut the top of the pouch that fits over the Sissybar off and took the bag to a shoe repairman. I brought a bunch of black 2” wide Velcro. I had him sew on three sets of Velcro strips above the pouch to attach to the top of the backrest. The opened top pouch (now a sleeve) slides over the Sissybar and the Velcro straps secure it to the new top extension. Now they have T-bags totally adjustable to any bike with all Velcro straps. That is what I would buy now.

Then I cut two pieces of mansonite wall paneling, one for the back (against Sissybar) and another for the bottom of the bag. This made all the difference in the world. The bag is rigid, is well supported to the back of the bike’s sissy bar and it sits on the Jardine rack nicely. I attached some strapping around the seat stays. The bags bottom rear straps attach there. This system works out real nice.

Riding alone you can set it on the seat and strap it down and have a nice backrest while riding. Two up, you need a rack to set it on – don’t set it on the rear fender. Again, there are different racks available. The Jardine is a nice looking chrome billet aluminum rack which looks like it belongs there when not being used. My T-Bag has a bunch of side compartments to take small items and one large interior pocket. I got a waterproof cover for it but still line the pack with a garbage bag. Heavy items pack in the bottom to keep the center of gravity low. . We use gallon size Zip Lock bags to store our clothes in the bag. We put one outfit in each bag (shirt, underwear & socks), squeeze all the air out [sit on it] and then seal the bag. The bag is almost vacuum packed and stays very flat, not fluffy and will pack real small. It is also waterproof and when you open a new outfit, place the dirty one in it. This keeps everything very compact and your clothes stay isolated. We had everything for two people in one large T-Bag.

Saddlebags
I wanted some that were lockable and waterproof so I got the Leatherlyke bags. I don’t think any bags really look good on an Intruder 1400 but these can be removed in a few seconds by pulling two pins in each bag. Many here at IA have them. In one bag I keep a 33 oz. MSR fuel bottle full of gas wrapped in a towel. I have never needed it [yet] but it got some buddies out of trouble. This bottle is just as strong as the tank between your legs so I don’t believe safety is an issue here.

Tank bag
I use one on long trips. It has a clear map pocket right in front of you and places for storage of quickly needed items like a camera, water, hat, money, etc. My tank bag has a three-point connection (Technic) and can expand. When filling up with gas, I have to unsnap the bottom connection and tilt it up. It has those big plastic buckle snaps and detaches in a few seconds.

This is what has worked for me [us]. I got a lot of the ideas from here at IA, on trips and talking to other riders. I hope some of you can benefit from my experience. A lot of this will work on the VS800 and LC1500 too.

This tip is courtesy of Chuck from the Cafe

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