mast bike

mast bike

We’re as guilty as the rest as sometimes overlooking a vital part when reviewing a touring motorcycle – the viewpoint from a passenger’s perspective. We’re not always privy to someone who’s spent enough time riding along on the back of different bikes to provide a valid assessment, on other occasions it’s time constraints. Maybe it’s hubris and the reluctance to give up control and climb on back while another journalist rides us around. Any way you look at it, we admit our guilt.So this time we wanted to provide a review of the 2015 Indian Roadmaster exclusively from the vantage point of the passenger. After all, this bike is built for two-up touring. Just look at that luxurious seat and backrest. For this review, I enlisted the services of my wife, Angie, who’s been privy to tagging along on the back of many bikes in my eight years as a motojournalist, from a Gold Wing to an Ultra Classic to hanging on for dear life from the tiny passenger pad of a VMax. She also rides, giving her experience as both passenger and rider.

With little surprise, the plush seat gets a big thumbs up. It’s ultra-comfortable with plenty of room side-to-side and front-to-back. After a couple hundred miles she experienced no saddle-soreness, comparing comfort levels to “riding in a car.” For her, the floorboards are positioned ideally and she didn’t notice any vibrations. Likewise, the backrest was equally comfortable and supported her back properly. She noted that on some motorcycles the armrests are so far forward it makes her feel trapped, but the ones on the Roadmaster wrap around just enough to rest her elbows without feeling enveloped by the bike. While some tourers she’s ridden passenger on have hollow spots because of speaker location, this wasn’t the case on the Roadmaster which supported her back fully. She also said the tan, leather seat was “beautiful.”