Author Topic: air hawk  (Read 6594 times)

Offline Ghost Rider 2

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air hawk
« on: June 15, 2017, 05:25:11 AM »
 I owned a air hawk 2 with my last concours.  Made these hot summer days a lot more pleasant. I ordered a air hawk R and it came in yesterday. I like the cut on it better cant wait to log a few miles with it.

Offline kzz1king

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2017, 06:27:27 PM »
Keep us updated.Been thinking about one.
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Offline Ghost Rider 2

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2017, 07:29:54 PM »
I rode in construction  today stop and go, 90 degree and all is good.  Air hawk I think is a great addition to a Concours.  I use a Corbin seat and with the air hawk I don't think you can get any better. I think the air hawk R is better than the air hawk 2. The Boyz are much more comfortable!!

Offline kzz1king

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2017, 10:11:31 AM »
Do you have the large or small? (Airhawk ;D) I think I will try one on my stock seat.
2010 CONCOURS
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Offline connie14boy

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2017, 08:42:06 AM »
I owned a air hawk 2 with my last concours.  Made these hot summer days a lot more pleasant. I ordered a air hawk R and it came in yesterday. I like the cut on it better cant wait to log a few miles with it.

I did some investigating and bought an Air Hawk 2-very disappointed- got my money back- discovered Seth Laam and all is well for the last 5 years and 79,000 miles- nuff said. 8)

Offline kzz1king

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2017, 05:05:17 PM »
I want to try out the r model but only see large or small, 14 x 14.5 verses 11x 11. I am thinking the small would work best for my skinny arse but looking for a little feedback. Ihe medium cruisers I have seen are the cheap models.
Wayne
Update
The r large and cruiser medium seem to be about the same size. All are made of a poly material instead of the neoprene. Not sure if that is better or not.
2010 CONCOURS
1974 Z-1

Offline Ghost Rider 2

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2017, 05:09:15 AM »
 I use the R  in a large on my corbin seat.  It fits great. With the heat we have been having with out this airhawk Connie would stay home a lot more.  But  pad seams to work well for me.

Offline B.D.F.

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2017, 07:52:53 AM »
That is the combination that works best of me, a Corbin saddle and a 'large cruiser' Airhawk on top of it. It is the only way I can ride a full day or more, and it took a fair amount of saddles and saddle accessories to find this particular combination.

Brian

I rode in construction  today stop and go, 90 degree and all is good.  Air hawk I think is a great addition to a Concours.  I use a Corbin seat and with the air hawk I don't think you can get any better. I think the air hawk R is better than the air hawk 2. The Boyz are much more comfortable!!
Homo Sapiens Sapiens and just a tad of Neanderthal but it usually does not show....  My Private mail is blocked; it is not you, it is me, just like that dating partner said all those years ago. Please send an e-mail if you want to contact me privately.

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Offline Ghost Rider 2

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2017, 05:10:18 PM »
  With a few thousand miles this summer.  I can truly say the Air Hawk R is perfect combo for me.  I did take a few days in the upper 90's I did add a small sheep skin just to try and stay just a little cooler,

Offline connie_rider

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #9 on: October 17, 2017, 08:31:19 AM »
After seeing this discussion, I went and looked at the Air hawk R (Cruiser).
Discovered you can order it at Walmart or $107..

Not sure if this is a good or bad price but thought it might help someone?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/AIRHAWK-MOTORCYCLE-CUSHION-CRUISER-R-LARGE/304455705?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227076002938&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=s&wl2=c&wl3=189550212373&wl4=pla-293808119039&wl5=9027641&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=304455705&wl13=&veh=sem

Ride safe, Ted

Offline MrPepsi

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #10 on: October 17, 2017, 09:57:13 AM »
I had a thought on my return from Dallas for work. Has anyone every taken their AirHawk on an airplane?
My ass hurt so bad on my last trip.
Brent Johnson 
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Offline Tree

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2017, 11:52:49 AM »
So, add an Air Hawk and a sheepskin cover and that could provide an acceptable level of comfort over a stock seat.  Is that a good take-away from this thread?  I am running a very comfortable gel pad right now but it REALLY likes to hold onto heat, a lot.  :o

Offline B.D.F.

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #12 on: October 17, 2017, 12:58:11 PM »
Airhawk started off as a cushioning pad for people in wheelchairs or confined to beds for long periods as I remember. Then they started to market them to truck drivers (professional, long distance truck drivers). And they remain a favorite with those folks still. Motorcycles are a small side- show of their main business.

They simply work extremely well and do exactly what the mfg. claims they do: remove high pressure points and spread a humans' weight evenly over the area available for sitting on. This is especially critical for those confined to devices such as wheelchairs because those folks can spend a lot of hours in one position and further, many of them have no feeling and so never have the warning signal of discomfort to show that something is wrong. As I remember, that is exactly what happened to Christopher Reeves that resulted in his death, a wound generated by a pressure- point.

So IMO sure, they would work on an airplane or anyplace else one sits for a long time. And a larger, more square or rectangular model, such as the ones sold for truckers, would be a better fit for an airplane seat than anything for a motorcycle I think. They can be folded a bit to make them fairly easy to carry and stove, then inflated for use so it should work OK and i cannot imagine it would be a problem to bring one on board a commercial flight (though in todays' somewhat over- sensitive world, who knows? We are apparently arresting 7 year olds for bringing BB guns to school....).

Brian

I had a thought on my return from Dallas for work. Has anyone every taken their AirHawk on an airplane?
My ass hurt so bad on my last trip.
Homo Sapiens Sapiens and just a tad of Neanderthal but it usually does not show....  My Private mail is blocked; it is not you, it is me, just like that dating partner said all those years ago. Please send an e-mail if you want to contact me privately.

KiPass keeping you up at night? Fuel gauge warning burning your retinas? Get unlimited peace and harmony here: www.incontrolne.com

Offline MrPepsi

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #13 on: October 17, 2017, 01:06:10 PM »
I only use an Air Hawk, no sheepskin.
Was good for 500 mile days or more I'm sure.
Brent Johnson 
2009 C-14 "Razzi"

Offline B.D.F.

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #14 on: October 17, 2017, 01:40:23 PM »
Me too- an Air Hawk is the only thing that allows my wife and me to ride for more than about 6 hours. But it did not work on the stock seat at all due to the saddles' curve; it ended up forcing both of us forward. It works incredibly well over a Corbin though and the med. cruiser is about a perfect fit for that saddle.

My only complaint with an Air Hawk is that they soak up about three gallons of water when it rains and then holds that water for what seems like weeks. It helps a huge amount if they are turned over before it starts to rain or even better, put in a saddlebag or someplace else out of the weather. Of course this is only a problem if riding in nice weather but leaving the bike out and having a passing shower soak it; if actually riding in the rain then it does not matter as we would be wearing raingear already. But if riding in nice weather, then being off the bike for most of the day and having it rain during that time, when returning to the bike later on it seems like the bike is totally dry..... but not that damn Air Hawk and by the time you find out, well, it is an unpleasant ride after that.

Brian

I only use an Air Hawk, no sheepskin.
Was good for 500 mile days or more I'm sure.
Homo Sapiens Sapiens and just a tad of Neanderthal but it usually does not show....  My Private mail is blocked; it is not you, it is me, just like that dating partner said all those years ago. Please send an e-mail if you want to contact me privately.

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Offline maxtog

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #15 on: October 17, 2017, 03:17:10 PM »
I would love to have more cushioning, but can't afford even a fraction of an inch of sitting higher due to short legs :(
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline B.D.F.

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #16 on: October 17, 2017, 03:32:53 PM »
My experience is that an Air Hawk will not elevate you (it does not elevate me) if inflated correctly. That is no doubt the biggest problem with them, over-inflation making them like 'riding a beach ball' rather than just a thin cushion of air under all parts of you that touch the saddle. They really do not need much air at all, and any amount more than needed is a step in the wrong direction, at least that is my wife and my experience.

So if used correctly, all that happens is that there is a thin film of air under the rider, but no real lifting will happen. The cushion will fill in any areas that are not already bearing on the saddle but not actually lift the pressure points that were what you were sitting on in the first place. Difficult to articulate but this might be a reasonable example: think of the air in the cushion as something that allows the saddle to conform perfectly to your butt but does not lift the lowest points, usually your sitz bones, at all and just leaves the lowest points where they were in the first place. Put another way, if you are using 30% of the saddle's available area to support all your weight, the air just spreads the weight out over more of the saddle without moving the lowest points up at all.

The same thing applies as far as feeling 'attached' to the saddle while riding; if the rider feels like he / she is floating around on an inflated device, the cushion has too much air in it. The right amount of air will not allow the user to slide around or feel unattached to the bike.

As an example: an Air Hawk is a lot of smaller air cells attached to each other with thin capillaries; if all the cells are full of air when the cushion is just sitting on a table flat, it has too much air in it already.

Brian

I would love to have more cushioning, but can't afford even a fraction of an inch of sitting higher due to short legs :(
Homo Sapiens Sapiens and just a tad of Neanderthal but it usually does not show....  My Private mail is blocked; it is not you, it is me, just like that dating partner said all those years ago. Please send an e-mail if you want to contact me privately.

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Offline Conniesaki

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #17 on: October 17, 2017, 03:56:22 PM »
Max, if you're not already, you might wanna consider a 180/50 rear tire which should have a smaller diameter than a 190/50. Also, a 120/60 front instead of 120/70.

The 180 is the rear tire's width in millimeters, and the 50 is the height of the tire in percent, so 50% of the 180. So a 180/50 would have a height of about 90 mm (3.54"), whereas the stock 190/50 has a height of about 95 mm (3.74"). So, 3.74" - 3.54" = 0.2". There ya go, you could lower your bike by ~1/4" by switching tire size.

Then you can get an Air Hawk.

Edit: WHOOPS! That was dumb of me! You'd only lower the bike by the tire height x 1 not x 2. The perils of multitasking  :-[
« Last Edit: October 17, 2017, 05:25:58 PM by Conniesaki »

Offline maxtog

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #18 on: October 17, 2017, 04:19:14 PM »
Great comments from both Brian and Conniesaki.

I probably did have the wrong idea about the Air Hawk, thinking of it more like a typical air mattress or gel pad, and that was  fueled by seeing photos of it over-inflated (it seems all the photos, including the store photo in the link posted by Ted, today).

As for the tire size, I have already lowered the bike frame the most I feel comfortable doing with the lowering links.  If I were to also use smaller tires, the frame would drop an additional amount and put the bike into a danger zone for hitting things like speed bumps and also overly restrict the lean angle.  Although there is one thing it does avoid- and that is suspension travel problems.  It could be a useful part of a comprehensive lowering strategy, although to be truly effective, it would need to be both tires, not just the rear.  This part of the conversation would be better in the lowering thread instead of here, though.  I just wanted to mention that I, like most people, could use some additional padding but that it is typically at odds with leg length (it is the reason MY chosen plan to address seat height had to include a thinner, less comfortable seat, in addition to lowering links and raised boots).
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline amphibsailor

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Re: air hawk
« Reply #19 on: November 04, 2017, 07:43:46 AM »
I had a thought on my return from Dallas for work. Has anyone every taken their AirHawk on an airplane?
My ass hurt so bad on my last trip.
I use an my airhawk r on longish trips via planes, trains and buses.  Bought it for my Corbin but haven't used it on the bike since Seth reworked my seat.
09 Concours aka Cruncher: Corbin Canyon Dual Sport (Laam for longer trips, Corbin Modular with Smuggler for mid-length trips), Top Blocks, Penske 8983, Traxxion AK20s, Helibars Horizon ST bars w/Galfer SS +6 lines, MRA Vario Touring Windscreen/Madstad brackets (Copper Dawg on the way),  Area P full system, throttle tamer, Steve's Flash.