How many miles can you ride in a day?

acotrel said:

In my opinion anyone who rides 400 miles on a motorcycle is either a hero or insane.

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I don't believe I'm either one of those, and I ride 400 mile days several times a year.

The 600-plus-mile day that I did with 2 friends was because we took a bit longer route than usual, in order to have lunch at a really good BBQ place that was not on our typical hill country route.

We do almost 125 miles of mostly interstate and a few state highways before it gets to the really nice hill country riding, so 250 mostly straight highway miles and 150 fun twisty miles, typically.

Gas/stop about every 100-120 miles. Our typical riding temps are 85 - 100 F for about 8 months of the year. We ride more frequently when the weather is between 50 - 80 F for about 2 - 3 months out of the year, and we get about 1 month of "rainy season" where I typically don't ride much.

Yes, I'm a bit sore after a 400 mile day; but a good shower, and a good night's sleep and I'm pretty much back to normal. The time I did 600+ miles didn't seem at all different from 400 miles, we just got home about an hour and a half after dark (much cooler after the sun sets).

I will add that my 2000 Triumph Legend 900 triple is MUCH more comfortable than my Interstate, and my 2003 ZRX1200R is as comfortable as the Legend, but significantly faster (which I tend to abuse on the interstate in order to get to the good bits). Legend & ZRX both have windscreens which makes a significant difference in overall comfort, especially when it's wet and/or cold.

Comfort and riding position are important, but so is wind protection. If you can ride 600 miles in a day with no wind protection, you're a better man than I have grown to be. A 70-80 mph wind will beat the crap out of you over the course of a day. And multiple days? It just gets worse. Best thing I have added for longer rides is an Airhawk saddle cushion. And my bony ass is still stiff after 5-600 miles. I'll do those long days too get somewhere where I can ride 300-mile loops with the luggage stashed. And no camping for me, either. I'm done sleeping on the ground.

After these last few posts I realized not how far on your Norton but just how far .... for me about 50 miles at a crack on the Norton and I need a walk around , can do that most of a day .... the Guzzi , I'm still getting used to having my knees that far apart , I'm thinking maybe yoga would help , but I can put a day in on it with stops so far 400km in a day .... the Ducati , well it's a ST , so very comfortable with wind/rain protection , have never challenged myself to see how far but I can go far ,fast on it and arrive more less with gas in my tank ....
Craig

Our road speeds vary from 50 to 80 mph, so distance in a day is more a function of time, rather than distance. A recent blast on two-lane roads ran about five hours of traveling time at just shy of 300 miles. I was doing alright on the Norton Interstate with Euro bars, 42-year-old compressed seat foam, and shifting the feet between the driver's foot pegs and pillions every so often. Bicycle riding shorts help ward off the dreaded Monkey Butt. My compadres were riding a Harley 883 Sportster, and some monstrous Honda V-twin HD wanna-be. Even at ten years older than the other two, I wasn't nearly as worn out as they were at the end of the trip. Based on other posters comments about forward controls, that makes sense.
It might help that I put at least a full hour per day commute on my tired frame. That may help to maintain the proper callouses...

Nathan

The web site http://www.cycle-ergo.com Has a 75 Interstate to show what your posture is on the bike. (the picture is flipped) It uses your height and inseam to show the bend in your hip and knees, also the forward lean. After you have found your position click the customizing tab, then you can see how risers and pull backs can improve your posture. For the foot position, A guy named Pete, as in Pete and Cathy from Canada, had cut new aluminum Z plates for his bike to lower the pegs. I was looking at the bike at the New Hampshire INOA rally. Pete had to point it out to me, as he did such a good job on it, that I didn't notice. He did it because he was a tall guy and needed the room it gave him, although he lost a little of the lean angle. HTH frank

I'm in my '70s now. but back when the calendar was in the '70s, I rode my 1973 Trident from Jacksonville, FL to Washington DC (750 miles by my route) in a day. When I turned 50, I rode a solid mount Sportster 560 miles in a day. One Helluva birthday. 280 miles out, a wonderful dalliance with a lovely woman, and the return. I''m not 50 anymo9re, but routinely ride 250 miles.

Nater_Potater said:

Our road speeds vary from 50 to 80 mph, so distance in a day is more a function of time, rather than distance. A recent blast on two-lane roads ran about five hours of traveling time at just shy of 300 miles. I was doing alright on the Norton Interstate with Euro bars, 42-year-old compressed seat foam, and shifting the feet between the driver's foot pegs and pillions every so often. Bicycle riding shorts help ward off the dreaded Monkey Butt. My compadres were riding a Harley 883 Sportster, and some monstrous Honda V-twin HD wanna-be. Even at ten years older than the other two, I wasn't nearly as worn out as they were at the end of the trip. Based on other posters comments about forward controls, that makes sense.
It might help that I put at least a full hour per day commute on my tired frame. That may help to maintain the proper callouses...

Nathan

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In the mid '80s I used this setup - Interstate tank/seat and BMW R90S bars with rearsets on a '73 750. My friend Nick with the same setup and I would do 500 mile Sundays in the Sierra passes, but stopping several times for hot springs, river swim and food break. These Sundays usually ran around 16 hours. The Interstate seat is definitely more comfortable than a roadster, just not as pretty. 150 miles now on the roadster and the pain starts. Probably could do 250, but I don't. Age 63.

400 miles in a day is plenty for me. That is on my modern touring bike ('08 Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport) with modified ergos, Corbin seat. Never tried to do more than about 200 miles on my Commando but doubt I could last 400 on it. Most comfortable riding position for me is slight lean forward, feet straight under me or slightly back. Never liked the cruiser riding position at all and suspect that it puts too much pressure on your spine over the long haul. Biggest issue in long distance riding for me is having a firm seat with enough side support. Stock Commando seat as well as my original Sport seat do not have enough side support. Both bikes now wear Corbins which I really like.

franko said:

The web site http://www.cycle-ergo.com Has a 75 Interstate to show what your posture is on the bike. (the picture is flipped) It uses your height and inseam to show the bend in your hip and knees, also the forward lean. After you have found your position click the customizing tab, then you can see how risers and pull backs can improve your posture.

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Awesome, thanks.

Thing is, the back pain is something that I live with daily and it limits a lot of what I can do. So maybe it's just the fact that I'm in pain before I even start a ride, and not the ride itself that hurts. I do have a kidney belt / back brace but never thought of wearing it while riding - I'll try that.

I have US bars on my 850 and being upright without a windscreen certainly adds to the fatigue factor. If only I could figure out how to quiet the wind noise on this thing...

maylar said:

If only I could figure out how to quiet the wind noise on this thing...

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EARPLUGS.

I always use them on long rides.

+1
All rides.
Hearing loss is cumulative.

Acotrle:

The difference for me was that I was being paid an engineer's salary to do those daily rides (not a spectacular salary in 1967 - which is why I emigrated to work for Boeing). The spectacular part was being able to do the M6 from Woverhampton, then split off towrds Barrow, then over the Hardknott and Rynose passes into Ambleside.

My route was then from Ambleside to Kendal, then the A666 to the A1, and back into the Midlands and to Wolverhampton. IIRC, it was about 440 miles, covered in about 8:30. Great fun, and getting paid to do it.

grandpaul said:

maylar said:

If only I could figure out how to quiet the wind noise on this thing...

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EARPLUGS.

I always use them on long rides.

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Better yet, noise-cancelling earbuds. You can add music or not (I do) but the anti-noise they produce beats the hell out of any earplugs. Put them in, turn them on, hear a slight pop and steady state noise goes quiet. The industrial earmuff version allows two wearers to have a normal conversation while standing next to a roaring machine.

I do big miles on my near standard Roadster seat, although for the longer rides anything over 30 mins , I use one of these.
Last bike ride a couple of weeks ago was a 750 km outing , home, coastal ride and return.
For those who know the area, Tauranga, Waimana Gorge, Opotiki, Waihau Bay and return.

http://www.airhawk.net/airhawk-products.aspx

It is quick and easy to install and remove and as it is inflatable, you can change the softness to suit your body weight.
Regards Mike

I'm a bit limited by the island's size. A ride end to end of Malta is about an hour.

When I arrived here, I hoped for a road encircling the island. No such luck.

The guzzi's seat was much praised in th press when I first got it. After a few years my riding pleasure decreased as the foam collapsed. I spent a couple of years having the seat refoamed and playing around myself, trying ever harder foams until they were so dense it must surely have bent light beams.
Like some others have mentioned, I discovered I preferred a harder rather than a softer seat - a return ride from the south of France was agonising on the collapsing foam of a failed experiment.
Not so surprising as I know my bum is a lot heavier than my testicles - they sat there up on high, unable to compress the foam the same amount as my torso.
I chucked everything before in the bin and attacked a chunk of high density expanded polystyrene with the kitchen knife. I had in mind the pressed sheet metal seat on the Fordson minor tractor on the farm as a kid, I spent days in the seat of that.
Very easy to do, a couple of weeks testing to refine the shape and I was happy. A thin covering of foam used to pack computers back then - the white stuff - it won my 2 day tourture test. Several competitors were subjected to the G gramp for a week end test. The white stuff was the only one to recover. So I used that as a shaping layer under the best cover I had kept. Easily assembled. Easily tested, and it worked. Best, I was also able to make it work for my riding partner - less grumbling from the rear makes for a better day.

As I got older and more rickidy, along the lines of others aches and pains, I also adjusted bars, played with the foot rests. Guzzi's have quite a few options in that direction, from rear sets, several mid position, to floorboards (the knees haven't forced that on me yet).
The SP1000 upper fairing takes a lot of wind off and is quiet, a benefit of being wind tunnel developed.
I too get tingles in the fingers. Anyone who has ridden my bike says it is smooth, yet after a couple of hundred miles I am starting to feel bit numb in the fingers. Maybe it is the notoriously heavy throttles on the Le Mans Del Orto carbs? Fortunately, even if I get a bit numb on the bum, starting the next day is always like a complete reset, no problems at all, which for when I am riding everyday for a couple of weeks is good.

I never bother to keep records of milage or road numbers, so daily mileage in France will be from a tank, maybe 200 miles? to a tank and a 1/2. Less miles if I am being silly in the twisty bits in and around the Alps.

Tingling and cramping of the hands is often from the vibration irritation of the carpal tunnel that presses against the grips. Common among professional chain saw operators. Mountain bikes have available special "ergo-grips" (I don't remember the brand name on mine) that allow you to place pressure on the "heel" of the palm on a somewhat firm "wing" portion and reduce the direct pressure of the carpal tunnel against the grip and really help in this regard. I haven't seen them for motorcycles but maybe the exist.
Lance

L.E.N. said:

Tingling and cramping of the hands is often from the vibration irritation of the carpal tunnel that presses against the grips. Common among professional chain saw operators. Mountain bikes have available special "ergo-grips" (I don't remember the brand name on mine) that allow you to place pressure on the "heel" of the palm on a somewhat firm "wing" portion and reduce the direct pressure of the carpal tunnel against the grip and really help in this regard. I haven't seen them for motorcycles but maybe the exist.
Lance

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The "wing" is marketed as cruise control for motorcycle grips. I have seen Grand Turismo style with the wing molded in.

I didn't think of those grips in regards to a "cruise control" but i can sure see how that would work, neat idea.
Lance