What is the longest road trip you have done on a GS500 that you wanted to do again?
1 hour? 6 hours? 20 hours?
I'm thinking about getting one next week, but I'd like to make sure that I get a bike that I could ride 300 miles on if I wanted to.
56 hours, then a week later i did it again
Seattle to Portland, back to Seattle, back down to Portland again. Some breaks inbetween to do the work I was shuttling back for, but in roughly a day.
what a girl. that's only like a couple hours of riding. :kiss:
Hey, he didn't say post the ironbutt record, he said post the longest trip you've done on a GS. :P At least it's longer than the 300 miles mentioned. :)
12 hours in one day
and i didn't even make it to my final destination (another 2 1/2 hours away)
when i stopped for the night, i walked all through town to find a place to eat
i didn't want anything to do with my bike that night
that was my first really long day of riding, and hopefully the last
not sure about the hours (12+) but I have done 500 miles hard sportbike riding in a day.
I fairley regurlary do 250 miles+, usually hard riding.... no loafing along on the freeway....
just 20 minutes at a time :mrgreen:
The longest I've been on a bike without a prolonged break was 3 hours. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't extremely comfortable. I'd do it again without a doubt, and I plan on taking some similar trips this Summer. The most uncomfortable part was the vibration in my hands after riding all that time but I was a stupid Newbie who didn't wear gloves. I think if I had been wearing proper gloves, it would not have bothered me a fraction of what it did. Live and learn!
Tip: Wear gloves. :thumb: You will be fine.
I've gone on an 11 hour ride before... not straight riding though, of course. We stopped and ate, and I had to fix a broken clutch cable. probably a good 9 hours of riding total.
I rode from Macon, GA to Daytona all around Daytona and back in three days. It was almost exactly 1000 miles. I stayed on backroads as much as possible. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
st paul, minesota to chelan washington, 5 days later turned around and did it again. on the way back we stayed the night in billings montana, left the next morning and made it home in 15 hours. roughly 3400 miles round trip.
I'm surprised no one has brought up the fact that this is a really difficult question to answer. So much depends on the individual, the gear, and the situation.
I'm great up to about 150 miles. By 200 miles I'm ready to be done for the day. But I don't do it that often. Most of my rides are the 50-100 mile variety. When I first started on my bike, I could barely do 50 before my back would begin to hurt, my neck would tire, etc. It's just something you get used to.
Your size matters. If you're a more Medium-Large sized person, you'll just have more room on the bike and be more comfortable. If you're an XXL-Sized person like I am, well, there's only so much room to move about. I'd be more comfortable on a larger bike, physics just dictates that.
People who ride hundreds of miles every weekend grow accustomed to riding such distances. They build up the right muscles for the job and they're fine. I sometimes ride with a group of guys that have no problem doing 500-600 miles in a weekend. To them, it's no problem (ok, ok, a lot of them ride big cruisers with seats more comfortable than my couch at home).
Gear makes all the difference in the world too. Someone with the proper riding attire; a good quality, well vented, properly fitted, quiet helmet, good gloves, comfortable jacket & boots, and a throttle lock can go a lot further than someone in a T-shirt, shorts, and sandals. Heck, just wearing earplugs can make a big difference in how far you can go.
2150 miles, from chicago to San Diego.
It took about 42 hours of riding, including meals and stopping for gas.
On about the third day, my right hand stopped working very well. I wouldn't do it again without a throttle lock and a nice pair of leather gloves (I was wearing some skiing gloves). The noise and wind was way too much on the first day, so I bought a windshield in Lincoln on the second day.
You can't feel your butt after about 8 straight hours of riding. The legs hurt pretty bad after about ten. Excrutiating after 14. I could barely walk in the mornings until I took a hot bath.
I probably wouldn't do that ride again, But I am considering riding down to LA from Oakland, and wouldn't mind going as far as bryce canyon or las vegas.
My prerequisites for doing another long ride:
windshield
throttle lock
leather gloves
leather jacket
no more than 8hrs per day
snickers bars
less than 80 lbs of luggage.
jolly ranchers, gotta have those.
that 56 hour ride was from Jacksonville NC to Silverton OR with a 4 hour detour to Srinath's house. 3029 miles according to yahoo. I am the king, neener neener neener.
I did 140 miles once.... In the rain!
I'm planning on doing weeklong road trip around the 4th of July holiday...
Hey Sinthrath.... how long does it take to reach deal's gap from Charlotte?
Hey,
I've rode 3 hours straight, but then again i've only had the bike for a week :).
Planning on longer rides.
I just had a question though if anyone knows. After riding for longer than an hour i have trouble shifting into neutral and into first when stopped? Is this normal or whats going on? This isn't the case until i've been riding for at least an hour.
Thanks
San Francisco to Dallas, took my time over 5 days, stopping at Lake Tahoe, crossing the deserts of Nevada, and cruised east from Flagstaff. Could not have done it without my Airhawk and windshield, that's for sure. Won't be doing anything like that on the GS again, though, she's an in-town ride now.
Quote from: davipujolly ranchers, gotta have those.
that 56 hour ride was from Jacksonville NC to Silverton OR with a 4 hour detour to Srinath's house. 3029 miles according to yahoo. I am the king, neener neener neener.
You can't help but rub it in, can you? But going from jacksonville from silverton doesn't sound as sexy as going from Chicago to San Diego. Plus, my GS was green when I did it. Definitely an added sense of danger in driving across the midwest on a green bike.
It's impressing to read how many miles you all have ridden on your GS500s! Chicago to San Diego - WOW!
I have had my GS500 for 6 months and use it as a commuter to work (60 miles round trip). I am just now getting use to the wind noise and road vibration. Quite a different ride with the GS compared to my VFR800.
Proud of you all!
Ride Safe
With the GS I've only ridden something like 400 km per day; Last thursday I got tasked to visit a customer by my boss while at work. Nice trip, other than the few rain showers (I *always* wear gore-tex riding gear) and heavy side-wind.
But I have to say that when you're driving longer stretches, I'd take a break after some 200km, or rather 2 hours. Longer than that and you're just plain stupid -and increasing the risks unnecessarily.
Yeah, I know that it'll increase the time to get there... but hey, you'll get there. In one piece, safe & sound.
-J
Quote from: jvkelleyWhat is the longest road trip you have done on a GS500 that you wanted to do again?
1 hour? 6 hours? 20 hours?
Hmmm. I don't think I've DONE the longest road trip that I would want to do again ... yet.
Longest day? 16 hours, 770 miles ... from Garden City, KS to Orem, UT. I wouldn't particularly want to do THAT day again, since the last 6 hours were after dark and I had no windshield (I was shivering) and the occasional deer made me perpetually nervous....
Longest trip so far? 3,800 miles. Same trip, as a matter of fact!
For some of my other memorable jaunts, see the
Trips section on
my home page.
Quote from: jvkelleyI'm thinking about getting one next week, but I'd like to make sure that I get a bike that I could ride 300 miles on if I wanted to.
The bike can definitely go from one town to the next ... and the next ... and the next. But like PAC said, a lot depends on the rider. I have a decent "discomfort threshold" and a lot of patience when it comes to going up some hills. ;)