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Mustang is off to Cincinnati to attend the 12th Annual V-Twin Expo by Easyriders being held February 4th through February 6th at the Duke Energy Convention Center. 

It’s a chance for us to introduce our new products and marketing promotions for 2012, along with the added bonus of seeing all the industry friends we have made over the years (32 years to be exact)!  Lots of old friends and many new, young faces.

If you stop by our booth (#315) you will see some seats that have never been introduced to the public before.

Although this is a trade event only (not open to the public) we will be updating everyone about events and new products on our Facebook page.

Hope to see you there, and don’t forget to check for updates!

This is the second chapter in our ongoing “Motorcycle Seats 101” blog series.  “Assessing Your Needs” (no pun intended) is intended to help motorcyclists who are thinking about buying a replacement seat.

There has been a huge influx of motorcycle seats available for bike models in the past decade or so — available in a range of styles and prices. Take the time to think about the type of riding you do, the style you want for your bike and what it is specifically that you hope to achieve by making the investment in a new seat.

The type of seat you purchase usually depends on the type of riding you do or a certain look you are trying to achieve. Ask yourself the following questions:
• Do you mostly ride around town or do you take long trips?
• Honestly assess your height vis-à-vis your bike model.  Does your seat help you to put your feet flat on the ground for safety and control at stops?
• What percentage of the time do you carry a passenger?
• Is your bike stored outside during the riding season or is it always under cover?
• Are you looking for a comfortable touring seat or a one-of-a-kind custom seat for your show bike?
• Will you need a sissy bar for either passenger back support or to secure luggage on long trips?

With few exceptions, we ride for the fun and thrill of it.  Before purchasing a replacement seat, spend some time to select perfect seat that will enhance the look of your bike while making riding enjoyable for both the driver and passenger.

We just added a new line of seats and we’ve documented the design and creation on video.

No matter how you pronounce it, Mustang has the final word when it comes to comfort for the Kawasaki Vaquero.

The deeply pocketed driver seat on the one-piece Wide Touring style with Driver Backrest is a full 16.5” wide and sits you at the ideal cruising angle.  The 13” wide passenger seat utilizes Mustang’s unique internal steel support wings.  The optional driver backrest provides superb back support for those longer rides and is fully adjustable and easily removable.

The Vintage style seat is sold as a three-piece set including solo, removable driver backrest and passenger seat with a backrest receiver for $739; the optional passenger backrest (shown) is $200.  Also available with studs and conchos.

Mustang seats for Metric Cruisers and H-D® models are proudly handcrafted in the USA.  For more info, visit MustangSeats.com or call 800-243-1392.

Click to watch the how Mustang designed and built their new line of seats for Vaquero!

It was a perfect New England fall day a couple months ago when a 1961 Mustang Pony was very carefully loaded into the Mustang truck. Confused? Well, over the last three decades, while Mustang was growing to become the world leader in replacement seats for Harley, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Victory, Mustang Seats’ founder, Al Simmons, was simultaneously working on another type of “stable” of Mustangs.

Tucked away in our Connecticut warehouse is Al’s collection of dozens of vintage Mustang motorcycles (those half scooters/half motorcycles built in Glendale, CA, after WWII). When Ted Doering, founder and owner of Tedd Cycle and V-Twin Manufacturing  opened the doors of his huge “Motorcyclepedia Museum” in Newburgh, NY, Al offered to donate a special Mustang—a single cylinder, 319 cc, 3-speed transmission Pony that could run over 60 mph!

Al and Ted had spent a lot of time together about 35 years ago in the late 1970’s and Al credits Ted for playing an important role in the start of Mustang. Despite taking separate paths, Al and Ted would see each other at the annual trade show in Cincinnati. With such a history and a shared love of motorcycles, Al says it was really nice to be able to spend some time together.

 Ted very kindly gave Al a personal guided tour of the incredible 85,000 square foot museum. Al was particularly fascinated to learn about the large displacement motorcycles that were used for bicycle pacer races throughout the early half of the 20th century—but that’s a subject for a later blog.

For now, Al is proud that his little Mustang Pony has found a suitable home in Motorcyclepedia among over 300 bikes that span the history of motorcycling.

Now that the wrapping paper is all picked up and the gifts are put away, we have time to take a breath and look back at 2011.  We have survived the holidays, seen ups and downs of the economy and experienced the wrath of Mother Nature.

The economy has been on a roller coaster ride, and we are happy to be still strapped in our seats at the end of the year.  We hope the 2012 brings much needed boosts to the economy for all concerned.

Mustang, for the first time in years, closed for a day due to weather related conditions.  Mother Nature decided to “trick us” with a surprise snow storm before that practically shut down Connecticut.  Once the snow was cleared and the power turned back on, we were up and running with business as usual.  We were one of the lucky ones that did not lose power for a long period of time.  It was quite the ordeal for many others, some being without power for 10 days or more.

Even though it is the end of the year when many businesses are quiet during the holidays, we are just beginning to hustle and bustle with things to do.  This is the time of the year that we begin planning our line of seats, creating new ones and continuing to produce the seats that everyone has come to know.  We are preparing our catalogs for printing and distributing, and planning our attendance at dealer and retail shows during 2012.  We always look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones at these shows.  Our scheduled shows in 2012 are listed on our website, so if you are going to be attending one or more of them, please stop by and say hello.

We hope that 2012 brings good health and prosperity to all.  We also hope that Mother Nature will be kinder to everyone in the weather department.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  See you in 2012!

Replacing your stock motorcycle seat with a Mustang seat is easy.  Have you ever taken off your stock seat?  If so, you are well on your way to installing a Mustang seat.  If you still have concerns about replacing your original motorcycle seat, rest easy. It’s a relatively simple process and you don’t have to be a trained mechanic.
Mustang is very careful to build seats that use stock mounting points. We try to make the installation as easy as possible.  If different hardware is needed for mounting the new seat, it will be included with the new seat.
Mustang seats come with printed mounting suggestions; we are also creating a library of video mounting instructions.  For example, you may be mounting either a one-piece or a two-piece Mustang seat.

As long as you purchase a Mustang seat that is specifically made for the exact make, model and year of your bike, there’s no need to worry about fitment.  Choose your seat style, mount your new seat and ride in comfort and style!

Every driver and passenger rides on one but just how often do you think about what you are sitting on during your rides?  We’ll bet your response depends largely on how happy (comfortable) your bottom and your back are at the end of a day’s ride!

We are introducing a five-part series “Motorcycle Seats 101.”  This brief but comprehensive overview is designed to help you make an informed decision when buying a motorcycle seat–whether you’re looking for a seat or saddle made of the highest quality materials, attractively styled, designed for comfort, reasonably priced or all of the above!

As you know, replacement motorcycle seats can be purchased from the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Victory, Honda and Harley-Davidson. Replacement saddles are also available from aftermarket seat companies whose main business is the production of seats, not motorcycles. These businesses include C&C, Corbin, LePera, Mustang and Saddlemen, and a multitude of smaller, custom seat builders.

If you simply want to change your seat style or you need to replace a worn-out seat — and improved comfort is not an issue — buying a seat from your OEM might just be the ticket.  Truth is, most motorcycle manufacturers (OEMs) concentrate most of their time and money researching the bike engine and aerodynamic design of their bikes, rather than putting a lot of effort into their seats.

Aftermarket seat companies place all of their focus and effort into providing an array of seat styles and features because that’s usually their primary business.  These aftermarket manufacturers sell their brand of seats directly to OEMs, offer them through a distribution channel to dealers or directly to dealers, or they market the seats directly to the riding public.

Small-scale custom seat builders often work directly with the individual rider, building a seat using the original baseplate and the original form. Custom builders may offer a unique selection of baseplates, materials and stitch patterns.

Check back next week for first of five chapters that Mustang Motorcycle Seats has compiled to bring you up to speed on motorcycle seat basics:
• Chapter 1: Seat Fitment 101
• Chapter 2: Assessing Your Needs
• Chapter 3: What Makes a Seat Great?
• Chapter 4: Seat Features
• Chapter 5: The “Bottom Line”

Meanwhile, feel free to post any seat questions or comments here and we’ll address them below or in our next blog.

Thanks and Happy Holidays from all of us at Mustang Seats!

Back support is not just for the driver anymore!  Passengers can have the comfort they deserve with Mustang’s new fully adjustable backrest!   The built-in, removable passenger backrest offers all the features of the popular driver backrest for FL Touring models 1997-2012.

The 13.5” wide passenger seat with built-in backrest is available with plain, chrome studs or black pearl-centered studs, with prices starting at $449.  The front of the passenger seat is recessed to allow clearance when installed behind a solo with a built-in driver backrest.  For passengers who prefer more room or want to lean farther back, Mustang offers an optional offset backrest post for only $25.

Riders who have a Mustang solo with a driver backrest and want interchangeable comfort can purchase the passenger seat with a receiver only (without backrest) priced from $249; this passenger seat accepts the driver backrest from the solo for dual versatility.

Mustang can also accommodate riders that have our solo seats without driver backrests, but would like to have a backrest for their passengers.  These passenger seats are not recessed; instead they extend forward over the driver’s solo to give additional back support.

Watch a short demonstration of the full versatility of the passenger backrest.

Visit MustangSeats.com  to view our full line of seats for Harley-Davidson® and Metric Cruisers, all handcrafted in the USA, or call (800) 243-1392 for more information.

Look for our new ads in your favorite motorcycle magazine next month!

Two months ago, I left behind the comforts of Connecticut – and my job here at Mustang Motorcycle Seats – and set out on a two-week journey through Egypt.

My itinerary included the usual highlights of a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, as well as number of motorcycle-related encounters that are well worth sharing. Arriving in Luxor, my traveling companions and I visited the Temple of Karnak and then toured the Valley of the Kings (think King Tut, Ramses VI, etc.).

I’ve travelled extensively, but the cultural contrast of Egypt elicited surprises around every corner. We spent a mesmerizing five days cruising up the Nile (it flows north).

Donkeys remain the most common mode of transportation for rural folks throughout Egypt. The banks of the Nile provided an endless tapestry of old men on donkeys, usually pulling a cart overflowing with crops. We glided along, watching children improvise this traditional mode of transport to play a polo match on donkeys.

On the water, fishermen on feluccas (traditional sailboats of Egypt’s Nile) cast their nets while locals boarded 10-passenger “ferries” (14-foot rowboats) to cross the longest river in the world, where some bridges are separated by a hundred miles or more.

The end of our riverboat journey was in Aswan — Egypt’s southernmost city — where armed personnel and bomb-sniffing dogs patrol the city’s High Dam that holds back the 310-mile-long Lake Nasser. Downtown Aswan is a whirlpool of honking taxis, careening scooters, the omnipresent donkey carts and the occasional camel — all flagrantly ignoring the rules of the road and right of ways.

Scooters abound in every town in Egypt — particularly the endlessly clogged streets of Cairo and Alexandria. While I didn’t recognize many of the scooter brands (Dayun bikes were everywhere), I was surprised to see a number of old Jawa bikes (from the former Czechoslovakia) and I was downright shocked to see a Gold Wing touring around Alexandria.

Just within view of the Pyramids of Giza, you can witness a variety of passenger seating arrangements onboard scooters. These include a solo rider with bundles of straw strapped on high; a husband, his wife (clutching her billowing black robes) and two children — plus a chicken in a cage; a gaggle of four, yes, four men hanging on — each, it seemed, facing a different direction. In addition to these passenger configurations, I spotted many bikes zooming around at night without the benefit of headlights!  The only things scarcer than helmets on these scooters were female drivers.

My two-week vacation was drawing to an end, having seen almost everything from a 13^th century BC temple in southernmost Egypt near Sudan all the way north (almost 1,000 miles) to Alexandria’s Mediterranean beaches (of Cleopatra fame).

My last stop was a visit to the upscale island of Zamalek, in the middle of the Nile near the center of Cairo. In this well-to-do residential district (think New York’s Upper East Side), one can find European-style, trendy restaurants as well as a Ritz-Carlton hotel.

And there, on the corner of a tree-lined street (quite a rarity in that country), was one of my more surprising finds in Egypt — a modern, glass-faced building that is home to Harley-Davidson of Cairo.

I had emailed the manager a few weeks earlier, mentioning that I would like to come by for a non-business visit — just a quick stop to see the store. The email reply was pleasant, but my actual reception was beyond warm. The entire, multilingual staff could not have been more professional and gracious. You would have thought the “Mustang Seats” pens I handed out were priceless.

The dealer, Indji Ghattas, treated me to an amazing dinner at a nearby Egyptian restaurant. Dina Wassef, Harley-Davidson of Cairo’s assistant general manager, and Sarah Behman, the purchasing engineer, joined us for dinner. This trio of talented women are the heart of Harley-Davidson of Cairo, which could easily serve as the poster child for a top-notch dealership anywhere in the USA.

These three women told me there are very few female riders in Egypt.  Nevertheless, there are an increasing number of Egyptian women ready to ride and a growing HOG (Harley-Davidson Owners Group) chapter in Cairo. To my surprise, not only was (more…)

Two of our favorite words here at Mustang Motorcycle Seats are “unsolicited testimonial.” And when we get a good one, I like to share it.

What’s real special about this letter — other than the writer goes on and on about our seats — is that it’s written by a woman who has an obvious passion for anything on two wheels. I mean, she had the wherewithal to complete an agonizing Iron Butt endurance challenge without a whine or a whimper. We’re talking a thousand miles in less than a day! Get outta here!

Makes you kind of wonder where the female contingent of the motorcycle-riding public stands in relationship to the menfolk. But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves here. First, the aforementioned letter from rider Darlene B.:

Comfy All the Way

I just completed a 30-day, 7,247-mile, “around the U.S. in 26 states” trip with my Mustang seat with driver back on my VTX1300R. I started my month-long trip doing a 1,000-mile Iron Butt run in just 21 hours — and I was comfy all the way!!

What a comfortable trip. I bought a Mustang seat for my VT750 and drove a total of 6,000 miles on day trips.  Now, with the new one on the 1300, I am sold that Mustang is the best, most comfortable seat!  Thank you!!

— Darlene B., Carson City, Nev.

We appreciate Darlene’s kind words, and we’re especially pleased that her ride was comfy on the Honda VTX1300R. It’s always nice to hear good things about our seats from the metric crew, and Darlene’s note is one of several we’ve received from riders who prefer the modern metric models and sport bikes over the old-school Harley-Davidsons. It just goes to show that riders of both sexes and both sides of the generational fence love our seats.

Which brings us to the purpose of this blog post — the ladies behind the handlebars. The latest findings from the Motorcycle Industry Council Owner Survey show that among the millions of Americans climbing on a bike these days, an increasing percentage are women and (more…)