The instruction printout accompanying Le Pera’s Stubs Spoiler seat promises that it will “completely transform the look of your bike.” Well, the printout’s right.

Le Pera Stubs Spoiler seat
Le Pera Stubs Spoiler seat

If you’re looking to add some sex appeal to your Sportster, Le Pera Enterprises out of North Hollywood, California, delivers with this café racer-inspired stunner from their “Stubs” collection of seats. The Spoiler is an old-school, pleated perch with a kicked-up tail section highlighted by “speed stripes” available in black, brown, yellow or red, with color-coordinated double stitching in the pleats that adds another element of hotness. Fitting all 2010–’13 Sportster Forty-Eight and Seventy-Two, as well as 2004–’06 and 2010–’13 XL models, the Spoiler oozes sexiness and delivers lower back support that will keep you as happy as the peeping Toms checking it out on your scoot.

The Spoiler mounts on the forward “nutsert” position on the rear fender of my ’05 XLC (the stock seat mounts in the rear position). Finding only the rear/stock nutsert installed, I fished a line through the forward position, secured the nutsert with the retainer and the rest was a breeze. Just slide the front mounting bar of the Spoiler into the seat mount on the frame and line the rear mounting bracket up with the forward nutsert. The only “bit of effort” needed, as exaggerated by the directions, was pulling up the spoiler section (speed stripes) of the seat towards the front to reveal the mounting bracket. Once positioned over the nutsert, screw in the mounting bolt and voilà, your bike is instantly sexier. It’s that easy.

If your tank is smaller than the 4.5–gallon found on XLC models, there will be a noticeable space between it and the seat. That’s not a problem with the Forty-Eights and Seventy-Twos since they were designed this way, but it’s something to consider for XL owners with 3.3–gallon tanks. The Spoiler does leave what I measured to be about a two- to three-centimeter space between the 4.5-gallon tank on XLC models and the seat—hardly noticeable. Both seats measure right around 6″ at their narrowest points. However, the Spoiler’s tapered look exposes more of the oil tank and battery cover tops, giving the bike a sexy hourglass-shaped midsection as it widens out to a full 12″ width where your cheeks settle in.

Le Pera Stubs Spoiler seat
Le Pera Stubs Spoiler seat

So, we’ve established the Spoiler is sexy; but how does it hold up? More importantly, how will your lower back and tailbone hold up? Spending hours on the stock Sporty seat meant dealing with hours of post-ride numb ass. It was hard to not throw it in the trash, but its saving grace is that it has room for a passenger—the Spoiler is designed for going strictly solo.

I’ll admit the first long ride on the Spoiler had me apprehensive after the seat left my inner thighs and lower back/tailbone area sore. However, after approximately 150 miles of the break-in period I could feel the high-density “Marathon” molded foam foundation used in all Le Pera seats forming to my contours and taking its own shape. I have not had a problem with soreness since.

The Spoiler offers an aggressive seating position, which makes sense given its café-racer roots. Both the stock seat and the Spoiler slim down to around 6″ at their narrowest points before gradually widening out to 12″. However, the Spoiler is a “tight, slammed package” and measures 13″ from the front of the seat to lower back rise, while the stock seat measured 15″. The steep and firm 5″ rise in the lower back/tail section of the seat keeps the rider settled in securely compared to its stock counterpart, but that also placed me closer to my handlebars. Realizing I was inching back on the stock seat to where I was comfortable because there wasn’t anything stopping me, a simple loosening of the handlebar mount allowed adjusting of the bars (be sure to also adjust hand controls) to find my preferred distance of reach. That steep rise in the tail of the Spoiler delivers excellent support for the lower back and became even more comfortable once it offered a little flexibility after the break-in stage.

Le Pera Stubs Spoiler seat
Le Pera Stubs Spoiler seat

All of Le Pera’s seats come covered in premium Naugahyde or top-grain leather, and are mounted on a powder-coated steel baseplate with a metal-reinforced vinyl protectant and carpeted bottom to avoid friction between seat and fender. And the color-coordinating double stitching in the pleats of the Spoiler is absolutely flawless and the perfect complement to the speed stripes.

If killer looks, superior comfort and high-quality construction appeal to you, then you can’t go wrong with the Stubs Spoiler seat from Le Pera. Just be prepared for the peepers…

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