How to Change a Seat on a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle

While there are many things about a Harley that are incredible, there are some parts to these magnificent motorcycles that could have been made a little bit better. Many people opt to have serious custom work completed when purchasing a Harley for this very reason. For those planning long motorcycle trips, find out how to change the seat on these great bikes to insure a much more comfortable ride.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Wrenches
• Motorcycle seat
• Instruction manual

1. • 1

     Read your specific instruction manual completely in order to avoid unpleasant surprises later in the process. While there are some steps that are fairly consistent among all Harley Davidson motorcycles, there are also bits and pieces of information and requirements for changing the seat that will differ from one machine to the next.

   • 2

     Remove the existing seat from the bike. Most people find that this is a fairly simple step--as long as you use the correctly-sized wrench for the project!

   • 3

     Make sure the new saddle matches the frame of the machine. If the fit is not exact it may be necessary to either drill new holes in order to accommodate the seat or to find a seat that more closely matches the frame of the bike.

   • 4

     Begin the process of attaching the new saddle by bolting the new Harley seat into place. Most seats are designed to bolt quickly and easily into place according to make and model of the motorcycle.

   • 5

     Test the saddle in order to insure that it fits properly onto the motorcycle. The best way to do this, of course, is to take the bike out for a spin. Do not overdo the test run, as the goal is to identify and eliminate potential problems with the fit of the new seat.

Tips & Warnings

• Take the time to insure that there are no stray wires or air hoses in the way of any work that must be done in order to avoid potential damage.

• Make sure the seat is properly attached before taking a test run!