How many miles makes for a comfortable day?

[peckhammer]

I've been following along with deilenberger's recent trip, taking note of the miles traveled in a day. The last two Saturdays, I've taken 400 and 445 miles rides, two up. I've never ridden more than 500 miles in a day on the R1200R, also two up. Anything more than 400 miles and I start to get cranky and want to get off the bike. My longest ride ever was 22 1/2 hours non-stop, aboard my '76 KZ400 Twin, only stopping long enough for gas and a diet pepsi every 150 miles. I was delirious by the time I finally decided to call it quits and get a hotel.

I've come to the conclusion that 300 miles in a day, if I am pretty much riding non-stop, is about right for me. What is your comfortable day?

>--
Peckhammer

[TT RDHS]

I did a two week ride up into Canada, a month ago (over 6,300 miles).
I had a couple long days, one was around 700 mi. and one was just over 800. But although I was tired, I was not particularly uncomfortable.
I found keeping it under 600 made for the most pleasant day, and left more time (and energy) to enjoy yourself at the end of the day's ride.
Having upgraded my suspension and seat makes this happen for me. (I would not have wanted to do this on the stock seat!)
Also, I use the BMW "sport" screen, with the front mount raised 1/8 of an inch. (to smooth out the air-flow)

[mogu83]

Over the years I've come to the conclusion that a 'Good Days Ride' is an extremely relative term. I know people that think 300 miles on the slab is a good days ride and people that will ride till they fall off the bike. Also the roads your on makes a big difference, on back roads I figure 500 miles is a real good day and that will take more than 10 hours. The slabs are a whole different thing, nothing much to do except hold the throttle back and try not to fall asleep, two years ago I did 1,280 miles in 18 hours on the slab. The last two hours were fuzzy (I should have stopped) but I was close to home.

I don't understand why people ride 500 miles turn around and ride 500 miles back on the slab just to get an Iron Butt badge. I'll do a thousand but only if I have to get somewhere. But then again, I don't understand why people spend time and money fishing when you can buy fish in a fish market either .

I guess it comes down to do what feels good as long as you don't put yourself or others in danger. I'm still working on this.

[angellr]

Over the years I've come to the conclusion that a 'Good Days Ride' is an extremely relative term. I know people that think 300 miles on the slab is a good days ride and people that will ride till they fall off the bike. Also the roads your on makes a big difference, on back roads I figure 500 miles is a real good day and that will take more than 10 hours. The slabs are a whole different thing, nothing much to do except hold the throttle back and try not to fall asleep, two years ago I did 1,280 miles in 18 hours on the slab. The last two hours were fuzzy (I should have stopped) but I was close to home.

I don't understand why people ride 500 miles turn around and ride 500 miles back on the slab just to get an Iron Butt badge. I'll do a thousand but only if I have to get somewhere. But then again, I don't understand why people spend time and money fishing when you can buy fish in a fish market either .

I guess it comes down to do what feels good as long as you don't put yourself or others in danger. I'm still working on this.

To your point, I know an individual who will ride from here (SLC) to Calgary, Canada in a single day on the way to Alaska (1000 miles). Having just started my adventure on the R12R, this makes my butt ache thinking about it.

Rode the other night approx. 100 miles and was cramping up on the ride ... but I can easily see myself hopping on the bike at 4am once I get my a$$ used the seat and arriving in Boise 4-5 hours later (350 miles) without much of a stop. Have some longer rides planned, but don't know how well they are going to come-to-fruition for execution.

Personally prefer the back roads where 45-55 mph without much traffic is relaxing.

[Stef.]

I agree it's a relative term. For me it all depends on the riding conditions and obviously on my own conditions. If it's boiling hot or rainy my comfortable mileage is very short...even if the conditions are perfect- it still depends on my mood, on how late I went to bed the night before and most importantly on whether I have to do a long riding day the following day. On longer trips over a couple of days I prefer to keep the mileage lower. So I can't really say but if I had to I would probably consider 300-400 miles something as a bench mark.
Stef.

[angellr]

I agree it's a relative term. For me it all depends on the riding conditions and obviously on my own conditions. If it's boiling hot or rainy my comfortable mileage is very short...even if the conditions are perfect- it still depends on my mood, on how late I went to bed the night before and most importantly on whether I have to do a long riding day the following day. On longer trips over a couple of days I prefer to keep the mileage lower. So I can't really say but if I had to I would probably consider 300-400 miles something as a bench mark.
Stef.

Drove 300 miles in the car the other day after flying to get there ... it was hot, and I was fried. Other days, this would have been maybe the first stop. Spot on Stef.

[deilenberger]

I'll just comment - I've done 700 mile days. Didn't particularly enjoy them - but done'm. I much prefer how I'm cruising around now. Each day has been a mix of roads - backroads and major roads. Make some distance on the big road, then spend half my time enjoying twisties.

If I did only twisties - probably 250 or so would be a max.. I also like to stop fairly early, find a good place to sleep and eat, and relax. No one is paying me to do this (just the opposite really..) so I may as well enjoy it. I know a lot of IronButt people - and more power to'm - it's just not me. This is my vacation - and I'm enjoying it.

Also - lots to do with your age and physical condition. I need ibprofen about every 2-3 hours, or my knees and butt start to cause me distraction from riding. That becomes dangerous. Since you can't take too much IB - I usually either limit my one-shot times to about 6 hours, or split up the hours and avoid a dose that way.

It is really a case of YMMV.. tomorrow - probably a 100 mile day, from Summerfield Beach to Halifax via the lighthouse trail - and I expect it to take all day. Lots of scenic stops, some good food, good fun. Just gotta find reasonable accomidations for Halifax now.

Off to bed..

[hankth]

Peck,
A comfortable day depends on your age, seat, and all the other factors mentioned above. Also, if you are not on a schedule, you can be completely free to make yourself comfortable, not only with the distance traveled, but the stops you want to make as well. God, I love retirement! Ride safe, Hank.

[Caol]

Just finished, recently, a 15 day ride from Ottawa, to the Pacific and up into BC and a buddy and I averaged 500km (about 310miles) a day. We're never in rush to get anywhere and suffer from "Magpie Syndrome" - i.e.: oooo something shiny! gotta go look! And to top it off he's a smoker, so nicotine levels need replenishment hourly. We had a few days lower than 500km (and one really low playing around in the Black Hills and visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mt Rushmore) and a few up in the 600+km range. Definitely capable of riding further per day, but we had the time and took it.

We started with a real breakfast every morning and were "parked" for the day by supper time.

Ross, on his return trip from BC to Ottawa, took his time, but figures he could have run 1000+ km days (weather depending) quite easily, but again wasn't in a hurry so he didn't.

I guess it kind of depends on you and your purpose for the ride. Our trip was double barreled, in that I've just retired and am moving to BC and neither of us had done a cross country trip in recent memory. So I have the time, and he took the time (saved up vacation for the last year or so) and we moved with no fixed schedule. We usually booked the next night's motel after supper and a look at the weather forecasts for the area.

So this time the ride was the purpose of the trip, rather than heading to a specific destination for a specific event or time. And it got my bike to BC without shipping it!

Kyle

[Sander Abernathy]

My longest day was 650 miles a couple of weeks ago. I left Atlanta in the morning and drove 325 miles to beautiful Kiawah Island which is just south of Charleston. I arrived around 1 pm and pulled up to the entrance at the gate. I was pretty well spent at that point because the temperature was 95+. I tell the security guard my name, that I am staying at the resort, and that my wife checked in the day before.

The guard just stares at me for a second and then says, "We don't allow motorcycles on the island." The reservation confirmation didn't say that, the brochure didn't say that and there was no sign out front that said that. The website did say it in the frequently asked questions section but I didn't realize reading the FAQ's was mandatory and I didn't think "Are motorcycles allowed?" was a particularly frequent question.

I asked where I could park it and they said I needed to go to a nearby shopping center of my choice off the island and ask if I could park it there but they wouldn't allow it on the island. A brief discussion ensued during which the head of security threatened to arrest me because I had a motorcycle on his island. I turned around and drove back to Atlanta.

I have a comfort saddle but no windscreen, throttle-lock or cramp buster. The trip was half interstate and half unchallenging two lane backroads. I generally kept the speed at 80+ except in small towns that presented a risk of a speed trap. On one particularly deserted two lane I thought to open it up and see what it would do. It was accelerating very hard until it hit the rev limiter around 125 mph. I backed off at that point but it turns out I was in fourth with soft saddle bags on. Based on that experience, I concluded it is easily a 140 mph plus bike after correcting for speedometer error.

The heat wore me out but the ride wasn't too bad otherwise.

Let me take this opportunity to suggest Kiawah to anyone that is near the SC coast and particularly anyone with a very loud aftermarket pipe. Please tell them I sent you.

[Michael Hart]

I would agree with alot of the responses. It all depends on the weather ,temp, traffic and yourself, mood, how your feeling.
I went to Tenn. from Ct in May and did 800 miles the first day, but everything was perfect weather, my mood/ felt good and it didn't matter when I got where.
Mike


Stock seat

[Caroanbill]

Mine is 600-750km / 380-470mi

Well, it's age and bike .... I've done a few 1600km/1000mi ( days on fully-faired bikes (K100RT &K1100LT) over empty Autralian roads in my 20s and 30s but even then they were definitely a chore. 500km/300miles in a day on my F650CS was great fun, 700km/440mi was about the limit and my one 900km/560mi day was a-g-o-n-y.

I find the R1200R just kinda lopes along with its Wilbers suspension, barbacks, lower pegs and the (still noisy) Calsci screen, and eats 500km before I've noticed. Trouble is, even with an Airhawk, then I notice. After that, my seat comfort is measured in 30-45 minute stages! Taking more evenly spread breaks, I'm good for 750km/470mi over mixed roads without too much trouble - say 6 hours' riding. That's a nice combination of distance (otherwise it takes too many days to get anywhere in Australia), sight-seeing (ie not to fast to soak in a sense of place) and easy-paced coffee and meal stops (I brew my own espresso at lookouts to combine coffee and view stops).

Here, max highway speed is about 120kmh/75mph on 110kmh-rated roads, or bye-bye licence. Open country roads we'd generally run at 140kmh/90mph, and since there's little traffic and few towns, average speeds aren't far off cruising speeds. For instance, I did 800km from Coonabarrabran NSW via Lightning Ridge NSW to Roma Qld in about 5 riding hours, a long midday stop and with no noticeable fatigue (despite cross winds and some rain) ... and the next day's 700km via Rolleston and Gladstone to Agnes Water Qld was a doddle (speedo saw "2--" in some open straight sections). In tight country it's like anywhere else, save that our surfaces are often very bumpy or choppy, with a corresponding fatigue factor ...

I've ridden the R12R Port Melbourne / Beechworth / Tumbarumba / Sydney in a day, around 950km/590mi mixing the freeway with open country roads and a few twisty sections (10 riding hours) . Also done about the same distance, similar mix Sydney / Bombala / Phillip Island in a day (9 riding hours). Both runs in tandem with a max-range-240km/150mi Triumph Street Triple (so regular breaks) and a decent lunch stop - the R12R and I handled them reasonably well. Still, I wouldn't do two such days consecutively!!

[fastdogs2]

I just returned from a nine day, 2,700 mile trip and I think you need to also consider the amount of time in the saddle and not just the miles. We rode a stretch from Wheeling, WV to Corning, NY that took us 11 1/2 hours (counting stops for food, fuel and breaks), but the distance was only about 325 miles.

We traveled north through PA to use Route 6 to traverse the northern portion of PA to arrive in NY. We passed through many small towns that slowed us to 25 mph, but seeing the sights in these towns was part of the joy of the ride.

We could have used the interstates to arrive there quicker, but who wants to experience "white line fever" all the time?

Age of the rider is also a factor in long distance travel, as stated by other posters. I am 66 and my biking friend is 63. Our old backs and knees can only endure so much in one riding position. We discovered that 85 miles is about our longest comfortable stretch, before stopping to get off the bike for a break.

I would highly recommend PA Route 6.

Bill

[jess]

My benchmark for a comfortable day is 300 miles. Mind you, that's on a scooter. I've done as much as 800 miles that way, but 300 is kind of a "nice and easy" mark.

I've yet to really push myself on the R12R to see how far I can go in a day.