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What's a long day in the saddle for you?

Joined
Nov 11, 2007
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Location
Rendon TX
First Name
Mike
Last Name
Brewster
With the Iron butt going on, some experiences that I've had lately and the comment that Tourmiester made on the pie run report I started to get curious about what most people consider a long day. This might also help someone choose a motorcycle.
What's a long day in the saddle for you?
What do you ride?
How tall are you?
How does riding two up change your daily mileage? &
What hurts first/most and what do you think would fix it?

I'm still riding an old Yamaha Seca which is a capable bike, but certainly not intended for long distances, particularly two up. My knees start to bother me something short of 150 miles and my bottom isn't far behind. I'm 5'10" with a 32" inseam and am something over 200lbs.

I've stretched my mileage to 500 miles by myself but that's arduous to say the least. I've also done 400 in n. Ark with a smile on my face the whole time! Riding two up, 250 miles is a good day and 150 is more reasonable. I think firmer foam in my seat would help keep my bottom happy, but I'm not sure about the knees. I'd like more seat to peg room, but this bike is about the same as many of the sport tourers & standards today. I may try to add some road pegs and see if that helps.

How 'bout you?

Mike
 
It depends which bike I'm riding. On the Goldwing I can ride 300 - 400 miles comfortably, more if I prepare right. On the DRZ, about 60 miles! :giveup:
 
400-500 miles is plenty enough fun in a day for me. On a trip, it's nice to have time to relax in the afternoons, enjoy the locale, etc.
 
That question is almost as big a can of worms as what is a good oil.

In my case, 25 miles is a long day when I am riding with my 9 year old with him on his 70 and me on the DR650 riding around in the dirt (we have a lot of fun crashing and getting muddy). When I am alone and it is just me and Miss Busa then 1,000 is starting to be a long day.
 
I agree on the variety...

What's a long day in the saddle for you? Valkyrie-anything over 700, Ninja-200, scooter-300
What do you ride? Valkyrie, 250 Ninja, Reflex scooter
How tall are you? 5'9"
How does riding two up change your daily mileage? Farther alone.
What hurts first/most and what do you think would fix it? Custom seat on Valk. Rear hurts on everything else.
I am something over 300 lbs.

Longest day ever is 1200 miles.
 
Not being an Iron Butt type, I prefer to ride for the scenery and sights along the way. 500 miles is all I care to do in a day.
 
It depends on the roads and the machine. We did 320+ one day on the Great Divide riding the DRZ; that was a long day. I've done 720 before on the highway and felt like I could easily do more. That was all Interstate. I prefer back roads over the big highways so it take longer to crank out the miles and enjoy the scenery.
 
What's a long day in the saddle for you? Over 800 is starting to crowd long
What do you ride? BMW '01 R1150GS (my only bike)
How tall are you? 5-10
How does riding two up change your daily mileage? I don't ride two-up.
What hurts first/most and what do you think would fix it? Butt, stand up on the pegs and stretch while riding.

Longest is 1150 in a day and that about pegging my fun-o-meter. The funny part is, I won't blink at 600 or less as it's just that easy on the GS to do.
 
Bruce, what kind of seat do you have on your DRZ?
 
My longest day is still 781 miles so far. I like doing that if I know the road and I don't want to make side trips. Plus that distance can be done in daylight.

I am 5' 9" with 35" inseam. Standard position on a bike keeps my back happy, cruiser position keeps my legs happy, and sporty forward leaning protects me from hail and lets water pour down the seat of my pants and fill my boots. (I learned that recently) On the Burgman, I have my choice of all of those. Yoga positions work also, but I don't recommend downward dog. The seat is very spacious and Janet calls it a rolling couch. My only gripe is the discomfort in my right hand, but a throttle lock and a cramp buster help.
 
I'm with Kurt on this one. Anything over 500 is a pretty long day. I've done 900+ in a day, but it was just about getting somewhere as fast as possible.
 
It is more about the time than the distance for me.
Longest day was 05:00 til 10:30. All daylight riding (way up North), just one of those days when I just didn't want to get off the bike. When on road trips I try and keep it to no more than 8-9 hours. Day rides are usually around 6 hours.
 
As you stated, this is purely subjective. The type of bike, condition of the rider, ergonomics, tolerance for pain, etc are all factors in how long someone stays in the saddle.

What's a long day in the saddle for you?
I've gone 700+mi on the LT and 600mi on the Shadow. That's about my limit. But 500 is a good day.

What do you ride?
see above and below

How tall are you?
tall enough. 5-8

How does riding two up change your daily mileage?
lowers it. More stops for breaks for the pillion.

What hurts first/most and what do you think would fix it
on the LT, knees and hip. the J-pegs are not a good solution for the LT unless you have 36" legs. There is another design of highway pegs, I'd like to try those.
on the Shadow, it was lower back fatigue, but the driver's backrest fixed that.
 
I did a Saddle Sore 1000 last October on my Ninja 250. At the half way point (Clovis NM) I felt great. The last 300 miles were pretty long though.

With my Wool encased gel pad my butt is ok for 400-500 miles usually.

Edited to add answers to OP questions:

What's a long day in the saddle for you?
over 400 miles

How tall are you?
5' 7.88888" on a good day

How does riding two up change your daily mileage?
I'm too fat to ride two up on a Ninja 250

What hurts first/most and what do you think would fix it?
My butt is weakest link, followed by my back. Bar risers helped my back, a wider seat would be nice for butt pain, and/or lots of drugs.


Coming back from Rockport to Austin a week ago my butt was really hurting at the end, and that's only 210 miles or so. I have to blame the heat and the stress of knowing that something was wrong with the bike, or maybe I'm just getting old.
 
Last edited:
if I'm on the XR400 riding forest trails, 40 miles and I'm sore for days :lol2:
 
350 is the most I've done on my Monster. I have clip ons and my shoulders were killing me. On weekends ill do anywhere from 100 to 300.
 
200 miles of back roads is a fun day. 500 miles of freeway is my longest Day on a R6.

Currently I ride a Concours 14 and the longest day on it has been 350 miles.

I'm 5'11"

I don't do two up.

My problem seems to be my knees and my tail bone. I am modifying my seat to correct the tail bone issue, but for the knees I just take Motrin. :trust: For the tail bone you have to put pressure on the legs and not just the tail bone. I have fixed seats before to correct this.

I also find that anything over 300 miles should be ridden alone as you make much better time.
 
a long day for me is 1000+ miles
What do you ride?primarily intruder 1500 ,but I have 2 others currently and over a dozen bike in the last 10 years.
How tall are you?5-9
How does riding two up change your daily mileage? doesnt, got the beast set up with a big back seat and trunk good for long trips.
What hurts first/most and what do you think would fix it?My wrist is the only thng buggin me lately,but I think that has more to do with WOW then bikes.
 
Like most have stated it really depends for me what type of riding I am thinking of doing. Just sightseeing on some back roads sure 300-400 miles is a good day. Blasting down the superslab I have done as much as 750 just getting to a destination.

6' 225# 08 KLR 650
 
My longest day (one-up) was 1,050 miles in 20 hours on a BMW K75. That was part of a 3 week/6,000 mile journey in 1998. The longest two-up was 720 miles on a Kawasaki Concours.

Those days are now behind me. On a road trip, 500 (600 if I push it) miles is getting to be a long day and has me looking for a motel to recover in. A long back-roads day ride will see me doing 150-200 miles before the bike is cooling down in the garage.

One of my favorite rides is to my favorite restaurant in Tyler, Brunos. I've been doing this one for years. 23 miles round trip from my house. Sometimes it's not the distance, but the ride :rider: to get to the food :eat: .

And that presents some interesting math :ponder:. I go to Bruno's once a week about 44 weeks out of the year (can you tell I love the place? :lol2:). Multiply that times the last 5 years equals 220 trips X 23 miles = 5,060 miles. The small stuff can really add up.

To the other questions:

5-9

On two-up rides I have to think about the passenger's comfort and I won't push the mileage as hard with them. My son (then 13) was along for the the 720 mile ride.

My gluteus maximus is what finally makes me pull over. A sheepskin pad has done the most good for it's comfort.
 
According to mapquest, Addison, TX to Birmingham Al via Memphis TN is 697 miles. I did that on my Suzuki TL1000R. However, thanks to an entire highway in Alabama being closed down as they converted it to an Interstate, I covered a few more miles than that via backroad detours. I think it wound up being something like 750. That was the first and last time I attempted touring on a bike with clipons.

Over two days I managed to put 264 miles on my DRZSM with the stock seat. Over 200 of those were easily on one day.

I've got the FZ1 now and my best day is about 450, but that's due to lack of time to get out and ride. I've got some longer trips planned and from my experience so far, it'll ride much further than my previous scoots.

Oh yea, I'm 5'7" and due to my wife's bad back, two up rides aren't very long at all.

On the TLR, my neck was what hurt the most. Laying down in the sportbike position with your head cranked up to see killed me. I fixed that by NOT touring on a sportbike again. Butt hurt the most on the DRZ, but that's to be expected. I don't have it anymore so there's no rectifying that. I suspect that my butt will be what hurts on the FZ1, but I sold my Corbin as it was too tall and the stock seat is about as good. Maybe some beads or fur if I can get over the looks of it.
 
According to mapquest, Addison, TX to Birmingham Al via Memphis TN is 697 miles. I did that on my Suzuki TL1000R. However, thanks to an entire highway in Alabama being closed down as they converted it to an Interstate, I covered a few more miles than that via backroad detours. I think it wound up being something like 750. That was the first and last time I attempted touring on a bike with clipons.

Now THAT'S a Iron Butt/Neck/Back ride :thumb:

I've got the FZ1 now and my best day is about 450, but that's due to lack of time to get out and ride. I've got some longer trips planned and from my experience so far, it'll ride much further than my previous scoots.

I've sat on an FZ1 and the ergos are roughly the same as my Bandit and I've done a 600+ day on it.

I suspect that my butt will be what hurts on the FZ1, but I sold my Corbin as it was too tall and the stock seat is about as good. Maybe some beads or fur if I can get over the looks of it.

I use an Alaska Leather sheepskin pad (unfortunately lost it on my last long trip :doh:). For me it makes big difference in comfort, especially with a stock saddle.
 
What's a long day in the saddle for you? Unsure. never reached a "OK i need to get off this Bike" moment.
What do you ride?1981 XS850. Pretty much the prototype to the seca, maxim, etc from yamaha. so i know what you're working with :P
How tall are you? roughly 6 foot something.
How does riding two up change your daily mileage? unsure. have only taken one trip two-up, but it does tire you out a lot faster, atleast on my bike.. it was not built for touring two comfortably. she was always leaning on me.. didnt help that it was a cold day, and she wanted to stay warm.. huddled together on a bike, not the best of ideas :P
What hurts first/most and what do you think would fix it? Well i jsut got a new XS, which is a standard model instead of special, and i dont notice much discomfort... i know i am going to need some sort of padded grips before any longer rides on her.

I'm actually anxious to take a longer trip in the saddle. the farthest day trip i've taken would either be up to nacogdoches, or out to the harvest classic rally.. cant remember exact mileage, but i enjoyed both, and could have gone for longer on either.. so i know i'm atleast good to 200 miles.
 
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