OK, I've been debating a long distance ride this summer from Minnesota to Oregon and back. What's the longest ride any of you have done? I was initially thinking about camping, but I figure with what I would spend on new, lighter camping gear, I might as well just hotel it. Anyone do any long rides? Any advice would be appreciated...
Touring???
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The longest trip i have done was 7800 km's,not in one day though.Get your luggage sorted first,try KIT & GEAR section.When packing lay all the stuff you want to take out and half it.I always end up taking wat too much.Put everything in plastic bags,even if your luggage says it is waterproof it is not.Get yourself a good puncture repair kit,i have the SLIME brand mini compressor and stuff you put in your tyre and one of those gas cartridge repair kits as well.Ah the list goes on,ride on. :drink:
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http://www.aptanimator.com/personal/MOTO/Hawk/WY/
here's some pictures of a nice trip I took a few years ago. If I remember right it was about 3200 miles with about 6.5 days of actual riding. We camped the whole way and it wasn't that bad.
If you do go you have to take hwy 12 from Missoula, MT to Lewiston ID. GREAT ROAD!
here's some pictures of a nice trip I took a few years ago. If I remember right it was about 3200 miles with about 6.5 days of actual riding. We camped the whole way and it wasn't that bad.
If you do go you have to take hwy 12 from Missoula, MT to Lewiston ID. GREAT ROAD!
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I often tour on my speedy. Usually 300-500 miles per day. Camping is ok if you can sleep under any conditions... I cant. If I am doing a series of 3-500 mile days I want a reasonable bed so I hotel it. Cheap hotels for me......I sleep, shower then I'm gone. In Australia it is easy to find economical hotel accomodation without resorting to fleapits.
I have the stock seat on my speedy and it is the most comfortable seat I've ever had.
I have the stock seat on my speedy and it is the most comfortable seat I've ever had.
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508 Posts
Touring on a Speed Triple is very do-able.
Last fall, me and a buddy went on a ride all over New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Since most of west Texas is a wide, flat wasteland with straight roads that are good for little more than squaring off motorcycle tires, we trailered our bikes out to Carlsbad NM and began our ride there. We parked the truck and trailer at a fenced commercial storage lot for @ $40.00. We covered (on two wheels) a distance just short of 4,000 miles in 13 days. Our original plan was to alternate overnight camping and moteling evenly, but towards the end of the trip we were staying in motels more often than not, as it became hard to resist the lure of a hot shower and a (more) comfortable place to sleep.
Prep-wise, I didn't do anything too unusual for the trip. To carry the camping gear, I made a luggage platform out of some aluminum plate bolted to a spare passenger seat base. Wanting to keep my riding gear to a minimum, I wore armored mesh jacket and pants with a zip-out jacket liner. Whenever it threatened rain or we got into higher altitudes and colder air, I put my rainsuit on top of the rest of the gear. Adjusting the layers to suit local weather conditions kept me pretty comfortable. The combination of a Laminar Lip screen and a tall Cortech Tribag on my tank provided surprisingly effective protection from windblast. Since we planned to do a little dirt-road exploring along the way, I mounted a set of Dunlop D616 tires for the trip. The Dunlops worked out well and proved to be very good in the rain.
I installed a MoTech centerstand prior to the trip, and my buddy packed a pretty comprehensive tool kit that included everything we would need to dismount the wheels and change tires if needed. As it turned out, we didn't have to attempt anything more complicated than swapping out some rear brake pads, but it was nice knowing we had the tools. Both of us carried tire plug/inflation kits too.
Last fall, me and a buddy went on a ride all over New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Since most of west Texas is a wide, flat wasteland with straight roads that are good for little more than squaring off motorcycle tires, we trailered our bikes out to Carlsbad NM and began our ride there. We parked the truck and trailer at a fenced commercial storage lot for @ $40.00. We covered (on two wheels) a distance just short of 4,000 miles in 13 days. Our original plan was to alternate overnight camping and moteling evenly, but towards the end of the trip we were staying in motels more often than not, as it became hard to resist the lure of a hot shower and a (more) comfortable place to sleep.
Prep-wise, I didn't do anything too unusual for the trip. To carry the camping gear, I made a luggage platform out of some aluminum plate bolted to a spare passenger seat base. Wanting to keep my riding gear to a minimum, I wore armored mesh jacket and pants with a zip-out jacket liner. Whenever it threatened rain or we got into higher altitudes and colder air, I put my rainsuit on top of the rest of the gear. Adjusting the layers to suit local weather conditions kept me pretty comfortable. The combination of a Laminar Lip screen and a tall Cortech Tribag on my tank provided surprisingly effective protection from windblast. Since we planned to do a little dirt-road exploring along the way, I mounted a set of Dunlop D616 tires for the trip. The Dunlops worked out well and proved to be very good in the rain.
I installed a MoTech centerstand prior to the trip, and my buddy packed a pretty comprehensive tool kit that included everything we would need to dismount the wheels and change tires if needed. As it turned out, we didn't have to attempt anything more complicated than swapping out some rear brake pads, but it was nice knowing we had the tools. Both of us carried tire plug/inflation kits too.
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Good on ya Scratch....4000 is a haul on Speedy in my book. I did 478 yesterday on my return trip home from Ohio and I am pretty sore at the moment. I think physical size has to play a factor in the touring capabilities, I'm 6'2", 250 lbs...so being in speedy's saddle that long was hard on the backs of my legs and my knees. (I also have a corbin seat, which sits slightly lower than the stocker, so my knees were bent pretty good). I'll probably be keeping speedy to 350 mile days, but if you can physically do it, I say shoot for the moon!
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milq, I think our top single-day mileage was @ 410, and one day when we were mostly riding dirt roads, we only made it @ 150 miles. After a few days, you get acclimated to the constant riding, and the soreness and fatigue kind of levels out. Taking frequent breaks to get off the bike, walk around and stretch helps a lot too.
I know what you mean about the knees; I had an old knee injury flare up about 6 days into the trip, and we stopped at a clinic so that I could get it drained, but was good to go again after that. I'm seriously considering having the seat built up and re-padded to get another inch or so of legroom.
I know what you mean about the knees; I had an old knee injury flare up about 6 days into the trip, and we stopped at a clinic so that I could get it drained, but was good to go again after that. I'm seriously considering having the seat built up and re-padded to get another inch or so of legroom.
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