I wasn’t a fan of the ascetics of the factory bolt on pillion. I bought a Phantom Narrow Pillion Pad stick on. It fist the rear fender of the C5 well but my wife said it “scared the hell out her”. Apparently the suction cup pads can slip around a bit. I didn’t want her riding on there with me anyway, so as far as I’m concerned it solved my problem perfectly! To your question though I would say if you’re just going for brief low speed jaunts then your plan would work. If you’re going to do long haul or highway speeds the rear fender isn’t setup to take the full weight of a passenger. The factory pillion ties into the frame under the seat and distributes the rider’s weight across the frame and rear suspension. That’s my take on it.