The Bike

Let’s talk about the motorcycle we currently ride: a 2020 Harley-Davidson Road Glide Special.

We bought this bike because we wanted more comfort riding two-up. Not just “it’s fine for an hour” comfort — actual all-day comfort for both of us.

The Road Glide made sense because it does everything. Back and forth to work. A random day trip. A loaded-down weekend. Even a week on the road.

Another factor? I’m short. Harley gives you a lot of options to dial in rider position — bars, seat, even controls — and that matters. The bike has to fit me. If it doesn’t, I’m not riding it. It’s that simple.

The Road Glide fit the bill — and still left us room to make it ours.

So… let’s get into the upgrades we’ve done so far.

You might like them. You might not. Either way, this setup works for us.

Handlebars

If you count the stock bars, we’re on our third setup. I think I’ve finally got it right.

The first aftermarket bars were 12” Carlini Evil Apes. They looked great. But as a shorter rider, they felt too wide. On long days they started to hurt my shoulders, and that gets old fast.

So I went back to the drawing board. I wanted something narrower with more of a T-bar feel, but without losing visibility or messing with the screen. I ended up with 14” FXR Division Motorwitch bars.

These fixed it. My shoulders aren’t screaming after a long ride, and the bike just feels easier to control. Especially two-up.

Exhaust

I’m currently running the Bassani Road Rage 2-into-1 full exhaust.

It’s got a deep, aggressive sound without being obnoxious on longer rides, and I like the look on the bike. It sounds good, but it doesn’t get irritating after a couple hours — and that matters.

The one real downside is access. The way it wraps around the motor makes getting to the oil dipstick more of a chore, especially when everything’s hot. Not a deal breaker, just annoying if you handle your own maintenance.

I’m happy with it!

I actually run two different seats on this bike, depending on what we’re doing.

Since I’m shorter, my everyday setup is the Harley-Davidson Reach Seat. It brings me a little closer to the ground, which helps at stoplights and slow-speed stuff around town. For daily riding and shorter trips, it does what it’s supposed to do.

For longer rides, comfort wins. That’s when I swap to the Saddlemen Road Sofa. I don’t have a ton of miles on it yet, but it’s already more comfortable for me when the days start stretching out.

The passenger princess is still deciding how she feels about it. Passenger comfort matters just as much, especially on longer trips, so we’re working on it.

Vent Screens

Since the 2020 Road Glide doesn’t have closeable wind tunnel vents, I installed vent screens from Motorcycle Vent Screens.

This has honestly been one of the simplest but most practical upgrades I’ve made. Before installing them, bees and grasshoppers had a direct flight path through the vents and into my face. Not ideal at highway speed.

The screens fixed that without cutting down the airflow in any way I can tell. It’s a small thing, but it makes a difference on longer rides.

Foot Controls

I pulled the stock floorboards and swapped them for Thrashin Supply Bagger Floorboards, along with a TSC shifter peg.

With the stock boards, I would occasionally drag through sharp curves. The Thrashin boards give me more clearance.

The TSC shifter peg was a cosmetic change only.

Cup Holder

For my wife, I added a Ciro3D cup holder that mounts directly to her backrest using a clamp system on the sissy bar.

It’s a simple upgrade, but for two-up motorcycle touring — especially on hotter days — having easy access to water makes a big difference. She doesn’t have to wait until the next stop, and it keeps longer rides more comfortable.

Sometimes the small comfort upgrades matter just as much as the big performance ones.

Phone Mount

I’m currently running a RAM Mount for my iPhone. It’s been reliable, secure, and it gets used every time we’re on the bike — especially for navigation during longer rides.

That said, with the amount of miles we’re putting on the Road Glide, I’m starting to look into options with better vibration dampening. Protecting the phone camera and internal components is something worth paying attention to, especially on longer two-up trips.

An upgrade is likely coming soon.

Luggage Rack

We’re running the King H-D Detachable Two-Up Luggage Rack.

This rack has been a key part of our two-up motorcycle touring setup. It provides a solid platform for multi-day trips and gives us the flexibility to mount different luggage options depending on how long we’re riding.

We haven’t had any issues with fitment or stability, and it handles our packed bags without flexing or shifting — even when fully loaded for 4–5 day trips.

If you’re curious about the luggage we’ve tested on this setup, you can read our full breakdown in our guide to the best luggage for two-up motorcycle touring.

What’s Next

Two-up comfort is always evolving, and our next focus is improving my wife’s riding position. We’ve already purchased Ciro3D Adjustable Comfort Peg Mounts with CMX footpegs in black, and we’re looking forward to dialing that in for longer rides.

I’m also planning to upgrade to Oberon adjustable brake and clutch levers for improved control and comfort.

As we continue riding and putting real miles on the Road Glide, we’ll keep making adjustments where it makes sense. Comfort matters — especially when you’re spending full days in the saddle.

For now, though, the setup is in a good place. So we’ll keep riding and refining it as we go.

If you’d like to follow along or see updates in real time, connect with us on Instagram or TikTok.

The 2020 Road Glide Special has proven to be a solid platform for two-up motorcycle touring. It’s comfortable, adaptable, and gives us the flexibility to build it around how we ride. And as long as we’re putting miles on it together, we’ll keep fine-tuning the setup to match the journey.