I sat on the new bikes at the dealership last weekend and the seats felt really comfy.

The seats just the tip of the ice berg. Once I got past that low speed front end wobble everything about the 2012 far exceeded my doubting the new technology. I'm simply at a point where I want to ride and with reliability. The 6 gallon tank is a big difference maker thus far.At 180 miles I still have 2 more gallons. 103 inch motor while nice, I could have easily accomplished everything w/ the 80 inch which is my favorite and I think most bullet proof motorHD ever made and early on with minimum to no modern tecnology except electronic ignition. 6 speed..again the 5 speed was more then enough for me. I guess paired with the 103 motor ther 6 speed severe;ly minimizesa the wear and tear on that big inch motor. At 70MPH in 6th gear I'm kicking out only 2500 RPMs.

You know - all my bike is missing is that overdrive gear and the extra gallon of fuel. My 80" is plenty fast for what it is. I'd like the overdrive just for fuel economy. My back isn't what it used to be so the extra gallon might not even get used - but there is "NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH FUEL". My bike will get me cross country but I do have to plan it out.

For my ride to AK and even though I have the 6 gallon tank I bought 2 saddle bag gas tanks which are 1 gallon each and a 2 gallon aluminum tube tank which is 2 gallons. So thats an extra 4 gallons.

As far as the lower 48 it gets sparse in the Southwest. Thats the only place I am aware of. I'll keep you posted about the northern part of middle america, like the Dakotas and suck. Once in AK and especially the ALCAN I'm not taking any chances. Also taking a couple bottles of star tron because at time the quality of gas is lacking.

BI- you'll be gassed up buddy!! 10 gallons @ roughly 40 mpg = 400 miles give or take... that puts you into car like range and probably eases quite a bit of nail biting on the longer legs. I noticed a good sized space under my battery compartment that would make a great secondary tank location. I'd probably need a fuel pump cause its at or below the carb. I think it would hold a gallon or 2, tucked away.

On that stretch of I-40 between Barstow and OKC it was sparse. And when first heading north out of OKC on the I-44 its a toll road and the gas stations are far and few between. Having never been on that road I didn't gas up in OKC thinking the I-44 was like every other TPK with easily accessible gas stations...not. I had 1/2 tank still, about 60+ miles. It was close because of the SE 204 cam and 2 up packed down my MPG was not so good.

So yeah it doesn't hurt to have a some extra along the way ,lol.

Once I leave the conveniences of the urban compact Northeast things get sparse, more so then I'm use to. On my older bikes (2001 and 1998) I really had to keep an eye on the odometer. I just hope the 2012 doesn't make me careless.

I think you'll do fine, the new bike has 6th gear and even loaded 2 up you'll get better mileage than the old bikes. Then the 6 gallon tank makes it like insurance. So careless... no, carefree - yes.

Heres to hoping your right.

Maybe this topic is dead, but I thought I would throw my 2 cents in. I have owned a Sportster, a Fat Boy, and now have a Street Glide. My wife hated riding on the back of the Sportster and the Fat Boy and told me we were going to buy a bike with a princess seat for her. My height is 5'10" and the Street Glide fit me better than the other touring bikes. We tried every seat our local HD dealer had in inventory and wound up buying a stock seat from an Ultra Classic, which we have been satisfied with. I am sure there are better and more expensive seats available but this one works well for us. Pro Pad makes a nice gel seat pad for both the driver and passenger. Check on ebay for several different types of seat pads. On our long trips, we typically stop every 1.5 - 2.0 hours for bathroom breaks for the women, a chance to stretch, or do some sightseeing. Obviously, we don't make very good time, but being in our early 50's and grandparents, we don't have the need or desire to run in the fast lane.

Dream seat:

https://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/gma_ ... cale=en_US

I could afford it by making payments over the winter on it but I'm way to short. I would look like a pygma with a hard on.