I actually sat in the passenger seat to make sure the it would clear my legs, and it's really not too bad. It's mounted far back enough that it's really under your thighs and at worst you just lean a knee up against it.
I also looked into getting one of the hand-held models, but for whatever reason I just wanted a full sized unit (no comments from the peanut gallery
) and the blue LED glow, which I didn't get a picture of, is really cool.
Rocket, can you post a picture of your install? I'm trying to picture how you have the CB mounted to the dash between the steering column and the center console. I know it's going to be all backwards, but I'll just flip the picture to see how it would look here in the states.
I also have to remove the antenna to get in my garage, and since I live in the middle of nowhere there really isn't much CB traffic going on so I just leave the antenna off until I go on a trip and know I'll get to hear some chatter. I may spring for a more flexible whip later so I can leave it on and tie it down to the roof basket for daily use.
"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong, it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair."
-Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless