How far do you travel in one day?

[RichLockyer]

Just got back from a sweet 150 mile ride.

They opened up Angeles Crest Highway last Wednesday (it's been closed since 2005) and this afternoon around 3:30 or so I got a hair up my butt to go ride it.
Got home a little before 7.

[Vol on a Vulcan]

90% of my riding is done solo. I plan 500 mile days but it is nothing to
end up doing 600+ miles. I leave at sunrise and get home at sunset.
I don't get off the bike for anything but fuel ups and food and maybe
a photo or two. I hit the restroom where I eat or fuel up. Sometimes
I take my own food so I hit one of the many rest areas along I40 and
85...they are easy on and easy off.

Some trips I spend 12-14+ hours in the saddle. I hope this Kawi motor
holds up to the punishment I give it. When I crank the bike in the morning I
don't give it many breaks...I never stop for more than 20-30 mins.
I think I have done several iron butts over the years but I have nothing
to prove it...I did them without even knowing what an iron butt was hahaha.

I have seen pretty much everything NC has to offer...I am getting borded with this state.

I am planning a cross country trip and hope to do it this coming fall.

But yeah, if you are riding solo and do not have any health issues then
you should have no problem doing 500...especially if you do a lot of
highway miles. Hope I do not sound brash but you asked and I am
tellin' ya.

[Sabrehawk]

When traveling I plan 500 mi. per day but frequently find myself doing 700. I gage by how the wife feels, when she is ready to stop we stop, whether it's 100 or 1000. We all know "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy".

If I'm riding alone I just go untill I've had enough for the day. Hawk

[anrfknm]

It all depends on what you’re doing. Just to get somewhere 500 miles a day. If you want to stop and see things 2-300 miles a day.

[krash67]

I've always thought of it as ride til you want to stop. If your going on a trip cross country then plan your days in the saddle with the thought of where you are. Like ohio, are you going thru or are you exploring. Understand? The ride is pure pleasure if you let it. The faster you go the less you see. Hey you can ride all day and see little bits here and there. But if you ride and enjoy the company and the area. Then it doesn't matter how many miles you go. what I'm saying is make the trip the ride. And if this is making you scratch your head then ride till you feel like stopping.

krash67

1987Kaw Voyager (1300)
1987ZL1000

[mwmalotte]

A lot of it depends on your conditioning, as well. If you're only used to short, local jaunts, you're not just gonna hop on the bike and do 500 miles - not without some seriously sore repercussions the next day

Your health has an impact, too. My wife had 2 spinal surgeries 10 days apart in February, 2004. Last weekend, we went on a 400 mile 2-day trip from Leavenworth, Kansas into Nebraska on Saturday, stayed the night in Bellevue, Ne and then into Iowa, Missouri and back home to Kansas on Sunday. She still has some pretty serious nerve damage but we stopped about every 45 mins or so. The breaks really helped (so did the pool and hot tub at the hotel Saturday night!). It's the longest ride she's taken since the surgeries but we've worked up to it progressively.

I think the trick is to pace it out so that you're not rushing to get anywhere... let the road flow under you instead of you flying over the road

[Calibretto]

Most I booked was 723 miles in one day and thats unpleasant. Prefer splitting that up to 300-400 a day tops and enjoy the trip. Mind you this was on a 650 and I'm sure a Connie will do far better and be more comfy for the trip.

But 700-800 a day is the most I could see myself going, by the time I get off the bike my hands and feet feel like they are asleep and thats the sign to rest.

[lh4x4]

Just got back from a 8,300 mile 12 day trip to the Arctic Circle. Longest day was from Cambridge Il to Sturgis S.D. of 861 miles. The second longest was 856 miles. I'm 68 so I know that you young riders should be able to top that.

The guardian bells that I got here on the last swap worked great. Not a single problem.

[idmtchris]

I can ride 400-tp 800 if i have to. But I prefer to to 250-350 in a day so i can enjoy the trip. i did 23 hours in one trip but would not reccomnend it to anyone

[rbentnail]

I'm finding lately that about 400 miles/8hrs is my comfort limit. I list miles and time b/c I've not traveled on the interstates lately so I know I can get more miles if I really want to. But 400 miles on 55/60 mph roads is plenty for me in one day.

[RichLockyer]

Ya... my comfort level is way different depending on the ride and whether or not my wife is with me.
We did about 450 to Utah and got there well before sunset.. easily could have gone another 80 miles or so to shorten the next day, but my wife had already made reservations.

The next day was only 350, but we did a couple of sight-seeing stops, and it ended up being a VERY long day and we hit our destination about 4 hours later than planned.

The trip home was about 430 or so... same as the first day... Made it home well before dark, despite hitting severe thunderstorms outside of Kingman... and we seriously considered making the 60 mile trip to bike night but decided to unpack and do laundry instead.


Slabbing it from point-a to point-b? I'll blast out 800 to 1000 in a day.
Wife on the back, but still slabbing it just to "get there"... I'd say 550-600 is probably the limit.

Sightseeing? It's all going to depend on what, where, and how many stops. We've done "all day" rides that barely hit 100 miles.

[Utah Motorcyclist]

In the last 6 days I've traveled from Utah to Florida. We have traveled between 350-580 miles/day. The weather makes a big difference. We have been starting at 5am to beet the southern heat and it has made it quite easy to make those distances. If we were to start at 7am, 350 would be a long day in 95-105 degrees.

[Bigfatboss]

In November of 2007 (Thanksgiving Holiday run) I did a trip from Lehi Utah to Margate Florida, 20 minutes west of Ft Lauderdale. Did the trip in just under 40 riding hours and in the space of 4 riding days. The last day being a 4 hour jaunt. I tried to plan my rides to be in total daylight, key word tried but never totally happened that way. The mileage on the trip was just over 2500 miles. I had planned the trip to get there ASAP so my miles were all on major highways and since I never speed (grin) I kept it only 5 over whatever the traffic was moving at. Came close a few times with the State Troopers but never got caught.

Day 1 - Lehi, UT to Amarillo, TX little over 13 hours and 900 miles
Day 2 - Amarillo, TX to Alexandria, LA, over 10 hours and close to 700 miles
Day 3 - Alexandria, LA to Ocala, FL, @ 11 hours and just under 800 miles
Day 4 - Ocala, FL to Margate, FL, 4 hours and 270 miles

The trip back was a bit different:

Day 1 - Margate, FL to Alexandria, LA (FAST RIDE) almost 1100 miles and 13 hours of driving. I had to move on this as I was trying to stay ahead of a bad storm getting ready to hit central Utah.

Day 2 - Alexandria, LA to Amarillo, TX, Under 700 miles and 10 hours
Day 3 - Amarillo, TX to Albequrque, NM Just under 300 miles and 4 hours driving. Here is when I ran into the back of the storm and it started snowing as I pulled into Albuquerque. I decided this as as far as I would drive in snow with a bike as I knew it would get worse the farther I went, fortunatley snow wasn't sticking but I wasn't taking any chances. I pulled into the first Ryder rental and rented a van for the remainder of the trip and continued straight through to Lehi Utah. To bad to as the weathered cleared about 100 miles outside of Albuquerque and the ride through Durango was beautiful. Had I done that I would have had to stop in Durango for the night and I would have for sure been stuck as the storm would have caught up to me.

Driving notes:

Being as this was my first transcontinent trip I wasn't sure about what fatigue factors I would encounter stringing so many big ride days together but I was surprised. I never got tired but I did sleep very well at night on my stops but my butt would get sore and I had to keep changing positions in th saddle to relieve it. Not so much as saddle sore as I could get off on my gas breaks and get back on with no soreness till about an hour or so into the ride again. It was funny. The soreness only started after the first day of riding on both ends of the trip, going and returning. Not so much an the later leg.

I'd say the average day would be 700 to 800 miles if your using the highway system, back road driving takes time and miles off the trip.

The C14 did unbelievable, mile after mile of smooth fast driving. The only thing I would change would be the seat. For the type of miles I was doing I want to see if there was something better suited for the miles I was traveling. I had all the farkles, satellite radio, Ipod, Bluetooth radio and cell setup. I was in constant contact with everyone and everything.

My next trip is Lehi Utah to Boston MA in August of 09 hopefully. Can't wait!

[Capt. Redbeard]

My last ride was a hot ride. Except for some early morning temps in the 60's most of the ride from Fremont, CA to Igo, CA ( Vet's cemetary ) was in the upper 90's.
210 miles up, 1 1/2 hours at the service for a friend and Navy hero, then 210 miles back. I got some odd looks from other bikers at the gas stops as I was in full leathers, yet I was only really hot when I stopped. I bet those guys in t-shirts or short sleeves were hotter having that hot wind blasting their skin and the sun beating down on them. Anyway, lot's of water and juice, with very little food is best in that heat. Few years ago I placed a limit of 95dgf on my riding and that day I hit it. Yes, I could have taken the air conditioned truck, but it was a perfect excuse for what I thought would be a nice ride. Even at 60... I can be taught, , so I probably won't do that again.
3-400 miles would be a good day considering I tend to stop to take pictures. It's one of the great things about riding for me, and seeing how the wife does not ride anymore, I use a Kuryakyn Grand Tour on the pillion to carry my stuff including the camera and a small tripod. My mono-pole is 23" long collasped and doubles as my flag pole, so, for now it has to go in a saddle bag and stick out when I take it.
Anyway, when it's point a to point b slab rides I'll do the 6-800 miles or what ever I have to to get there. I just don't think it's very much fun.

[Utah Motorcyclist]

Originally Posted by Bigfatboss

In November of 2007 (Thanksgiving Holiday run) I did a trip from Lehi Utah to Margate Florida, 20 minutes west of Ft Lauderdale. Did the trip in just under 40 riding hours and in the space of 4 riding days. The last day being a 4 hour jaunt. I tried to plan my rides to be in total daylight, key word tried but never totally happened that way. The mileage on the trip was just over 2500 miles. I had planned the trip to get there ASAP so my miles were all on major highways and since I never speed (grin) I kept it only 5 over whatever the traffic was moving at. Came close a few times with the State Troopers but never got caught.

Day 1 - Lehi, UT to Amarillo, TX little over 13 hours and 900 miles
Day 2 - Amarillo, TX to Alexandria, LA, over 10 hours and close to 700 miles
Day 3 - Alexandria, LA to Ocala, FL, @ 11 hours and just under 800 miles
Day 4 - Ocala, FL to Margate, FL, 4 hours and 270 miles

The trip back was a bit different:

Day 1 - Margate, FL to Alexandria, LA (FAST RIDE) almost 1100 miles and 13 hours of driving. I had to move on this as I was trying to stay ahead of a bad storm getting ready to hit central Utah.

Day 2 - Alexandria, LA to Amarillo, TX, Under 700 miles and 10 hours
Day 3 - Amarillo, TX to Albequrque, NM Just under 300 miles and 4 hours driving. Here is when I ran into the back of the storm and it started snowing as I pulled into Albuquerque. I decided this as as far as I would drive in snow with a bike as I knew it would get worse the farther I went, fortunatley snow wasn't sticking but I wasn't taking any chances. I pulled into the first Ryder rental and rented a van for the remainder of the trip and continued straight through to Lehi Utah. To bad to as the weathered cleared about 100 miles outside of Albuquerque and the ride through Durango was beautiful. Had I done that I would have had to stop in Durango for the night and I would have for sure been stuck as the storm would have caught up to me.

Driving notes:

Being as this was my first transcontinent trip I wasn't sure about what fatigue factors I would encounter stringing so many big ride days together but I was surprised. I never got tired but I did sleep very well at night on my stops but my butt would get sore and I had to keep changing positions in th saddle to relieve it. Not so much as saddle sore as I could get off on my gas breaks and get back on with no soreness till about an hour or so into the ride again. It was funny. The soreness only started after the first day of riding on both ends of the trip, going and returning. Not so much an the later leg.

I'd say the average day would be 700 to 800 miles if your using the highway system, back road driving takes time and miles off the trip.

The C14 did unbelievable, mile after mile of smooth fast driving. The only thing I would change would be the seat. For the type of miles I was doing I want to see if there was something better suited for the miles I was traveling. I had all the farkles, satellite radio, Ipod, Bluetooth radio and cell setup. I was in constant contact with everyone and everything.

My next trip is Lehi Utah to Boston MA in August of 09 hopefully. Can't wait!

Wow. That is pretty impressive. The trip that I am currently on, we took 5 days to go 2800 miles and I thought that was good. BUT I had my wife on back--I.E. Every gas stop took 20 minutes.

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by Utah Motorcyclist

Wow. That is pretty impressive. The trip that I am currently on, we took 5 days to go 2800 miles and I thought that was good. BUT I had my wife on back--I.E. Every gas stop took 20 minutes.

LOL!

5 days for 2800 is not bad at all.
I've done 550 a day with her on the back and it's a VERY long day, and really anything over 450 is pushing her limits. 350 is a nice, comfy day with time for sight seeing.

Obviously, just going from point A to point B on the slab significantly extends range and comfort.

[Bigfatboss]

Jared thats really good especially with the wife on the back. My wife cant go more than a tanks worth before she gets the itch to get off.

[Utah Motorcyclist]

Well we are on a large trip. We are about 4K miles into it. Enjoying every minute of it.

Yesterday we road the Dragon's tail, in the rain, with a DS tire. It was a BLAST!

[ho$]

You suck Jared, I am envious

[ho$]

Have you modified your seat at all? Mustang or anything like that?