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The Longest You've Ridden?

3K views 50 replies 33 participants last post by  SBG 
#1 ·
For those of you that own the 650S, how far have you ridden before you had to stop? Some friends and I are thinking about taking a 3 or 4 day trip to Moab, Utah and we'd drive there and back on the bikes. One friend has a sport tour so we're sure he may not have much of a problem. The other has a SuperHawk. Needless to say, he and I have some concerns.

For those of you that have taken long trips on a sportbike, what can be expected as far as time in the saddle? I'm sure I won't be driving for ten hours straight, but what's a realistic time to expect? Also, is this something I should even be considering on a SV(s)?
 
#3 ·
I took a ride from NE Ohio up to Greater Detroit (wow, there's an oxymoron!  :p ) a couple of autumns ago. It was 200+ miles each way with a nice 50 - 60+ mile ride midday with the crazy Michigan Mofos. I've got a 2002 SVS.  I was a little stiff and cold by the time I got back home but that was a function of the weather and not my ride.  I've done 500+ miles in a weekend a few times. It's not a sports tourer, but if you've got a good riding posture, you can survive.   Don't worry, though, you'll be stopping often enough to fill that Superhawk up that each stint will only be about 2 hours, at most.
 
#6 ·
Buy the Suzuki Gel Seat if you can afford it.  I've noticed a BIG difference.  As everyone has pointed out, the bike's not a sport-tourer, but you can still have plenty of long rides on it.  Stopping at every rest stop is a great idea.  Like Avid said, even a few mintues will do wonders for you.

And if possible, take the scenic route.  If you don't, you'll regret it.  Take pictures... LOTS of pictures.  Getting home and explaining to people what you saw/did/escaped without a picture is very difficult.  Interstates are great if you want to get somewhere, but remember, the only thing you see from the interstate... is the intersate.

Have a great trip, and we look forward to a ride report.  ;D
 
#8 ·
KevinMp said:
This is good to know. My friend with the SuperHawk said he might just haul his bike to Moab and ride once we get there. Now I understand why. Thanks.
The whole Moab area is beautiful to ride. Please take pictures for us!
 
#9 ·
usually a stop every 60-90 minutes is a good rule. get off the bike even if you don't have to fuel up and walk around for five minutes. it makes a big difference.

i did a long ride last year with a couple friends and we wouldn't stop until we needed gas. that wasn't too hard because we had great roads to keep us occupied through west virginia.

my longest solo day is 515 in 12 hours. that made for a long day and by the end i was getting a little sloppy. not enough to be a danger to anyone but i could really tell the trip was taking it's toll on me.

if you are taking a multi day trip, try to keep it loose. don't say we have to be at this point by tonight and this place by tommorrow night. stop for the night when you guys are tired and if you get to the end of the day and everyone feels like they could go for a little longer then do it. but pushing yourself to keep to a schedule is not easy. and if you get behind it is harder to catch up.

and the picture taking is a must.
 
#10 ·
I know I have come really close to a Saddle Sore type ride (1000 miles in one day). But it was getting late and we wanted to be one place... home.

I normally do 500 miles on a nice Saturday ride with 700+ not a problem.

Road down to the Rally for the past two years. That's 8 hours straight on the bike. Stop for gas every 175 miles and that's it.

But I'm a little different than most... I love long rides. I could be gone forever on that damn bike...
 
#11 ·
Something that is not mentioned here that happened to me ...

HYDRATE ...   HYDRATE ...   HYDRATE ...   HYDRATE ...   HYDRATE ...   HYDRATE !

I could not believe how fast and how bad my concentration, slipped when I became dehydrated.
It is as bad as being drunk on a motorcycle.

Scared me so bad that everytime I tank up the bike, I get a large gatorade and pound it down.
It took almost 5 hours to recover and that is with adding salt to my water drinks.
 
#12 ·
Currently said:
Something that is not mentioned here that happened to me ...

HYDRATE ...   HYDRATE ...   HYDRATE ...   HYDRATE ...   HYDRATE ...   HYDRATE !

I could not believe how fast and how bad my concentration, slipped when I became dehydrated.
It is as bad as being drunk on a motorcycle.

Scared me so bad that everytime I tank up the bike, I get a large gatorade and pound it down.
It took almost 5 hours to recover and that is with adding salt to my water drinks.
Hell yeah.... I wear a camelback on all my rides. Works so good...
 
#14 ·
Ivan said:
I don't think you should be looking at more than 4 hours a day. You might be able to push 6 hours but that's quite exhausting on a sportbike.
are you serious? i'm not trying to sound like i'm some hardcore rider because i'm not. but 4 hours is not long at all. as long as you ride regularly and can do any decent distance between stops, 300-500 miles a day is not out of the question.

for the group i ride with, we typically ride for 3 hours and we are just getting to the lunch stop. for any day we are usually gone for 6-8 hours with some talking going on at the stops.

you'd be surprised how long you can ride if you sit in the right position for you.
 
#15 ·
Im with Ricky on this.... 4 hours? Thats a joke... Being that I rarely ride highway, 4 hours will cover about 200 miles or so in the twisties.... It not uncommon for me to start at dawn and end at dusk....
 
#17 ·
Never done a long multi-day trip, but I've done numerous 450-600 mile days no problem on my S model. 4 hours?!? 12 hours is a nice day riding, although my ass would start to hurt on the superslab on the way home. Probably due to not enough enough stops, stock seat and wrong underwear. If I was doing a multi-day I'd just add adjustable bar risers, switch out the stock seat, and maybe switch to standard rearsets for interstate riding. That's only if your seat is lower than stock (like mine is)...happy riding...
 
#19 ·
+1 on twisty backroads being easier to ride than superslabbing. When your only distractions are semis going in the same direction you are, and a lane change qualifies as a major change of direction, you begin to notice your back, and neck, and wrists, and forearms, and knees, and shoulders, and . . . well, you get what I'm saying.
 
#20 ·
I did 1300 miles in 5 days first year I got the SVS. about 600 miles of it were done in one day on the way back up Rt. 23 (was making good time that day). When I go on group rides to the twisties... I normally ride about 350-424 miles in a day ;)
 
#21 ·
Fatass SVS said:
+1 on twisty backroads being easier to ride than superslabbing. When your only distractions are semis going in the same direction you are, and a lane change qualifies as a major change of direction, you begin to notice your back, and neck, and wrists, and forearms, and knees, and shoulders, and . . . well, you get what I'm saying.
I dunno... I can cover a lot more miles superslabbing without tiring than I could riding twisties personally... 300 miles of swinging my butt side to side wears me out more than just sitting in one position like on the slab... that is how I did 600+ miles in one day... mostly laying one armed on tank up RT 23 ;D
 
#22 ·
syntheticton said:
I dunno... I can cover a lot more miles superslabbing without tiring than I could riding twisties personally... 300 miles of swinging my butt side to side wears me out more than just sitting in one position like on the slab... that is how I did 600+ miles in one day... mostly laying one armed on tank up RT 23  ;D
I just get bored superslabbing.... it makes me tired not moving around as much...
 
#23 ·
I have done quite a few 600+ mile days on my naked sv with woodcraft clipons, stock seat, and raised rearsets...
It all really comes down to your riding conditions. Sitting on a straight highway sucks things tend to go numb after your 2nd to 3rd hour from not moving around, putting too much pressure on your hands and all that stuff..
If I am wanting to cover large distances I try to mix it up as much as possible between slabbing it and taking some sort of backroad be it twisties or just a regular in town road. It makes things less boring and you'r not staring at the back of the same truck for hours.

Stop as many times as you need to I try to stop before body parts start going numb for 5-10 min.
If it is hot stop more frequent and drink lots eat some chips or something and drink more even if you arent thirsty.
 
#25 ·
Longest ride last year was around 550 miles. I have no problems riding my sv all day. I cant wait for spring with all that extra daylight to ride!

Longest on the stock seat was around 200 miles. I had to change seats after that ride since I was so uncomfortable on the stock seat. The gel seat is a HUGE improvement over stock.
 
#26 ·
well if you want to eat some miles but hate the interstate you could ride like a friend and i did last year on a 500+ mile day. most of it was through twisty west virginia and western virginia roads and we were definitely not going the speed limit. ;D

i remember when we stopped for lunch way out somewhere in BFE and i couldn't believe how far we had gone since we started. :eek:

but that is what happens when you let a guy lead that knows all kinds of fun roads to take you on and you just get absorbed in the riding without having to think about where you are going.
 
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