I am considering the purchase of a very nicely re-done 93 GS.  It is located in Iowa(great state BTW), and I live in Richmond, VA.  I haven't ridden in almost 20 years, but raced and rode quite a bit when younger.  Got a wife and got rid of the bikes.
Any way, I was going to have my brother ship the bike out here, but now thinking that would be a great way to get familiar with riding again.  And the cost probably won't be much more to take a bus out and ride back.  But I am 37 now, and my back and knees aren't what they used to be.  So would a 1000 mile road trip be too much?

1000miles with lots of stops will take you more than a day...

I just did a 1000km run this saturday and we stopped for breakfast, lunch, dinner and breaks in between...we left at 8am and came back at 12midnight...and we weren't exactly going slow either...

1000 straight? yeah that would be too much I think!

I've done 500+ miles in a weekend and was fine. I was 24 (25 now) and in good health, and I am not that big of a guy so the GS's ergonomics suit me perfectly...one of the main reasons I bought it.

So I think if you took a leisurely ride back home, you could definitely do this. I would want to stop and get some sleep atleast once somewhere along the way, tiwce if I could afford it. And drink a lot of water; dehydration can make you sleepy. And personally, I am not too keen on riding much at night, but thats just me.

Is this do-able? Damn right, but only with the proper planning. And make sure the bike is in really good mechanical shape and up to date on it's maintenance so you don't have any issues along the way. And bring enough gear so you are always prepared in case it rains, get cold, etc.

Head out on the Friday and make a weekend trip of it.
Take someone in a car with you on the way out to run as support vehicle for the return trip.  Could be fun.

If you have not ridden for a while, everthing will ache get cramp and sore, palms of your hands, neck, back all of it.

Take a couple of days, relax, plents of stops and enjoy it, look at it like a holiday, not the chore of shifting the bike and it will be fine.

I was just thinking of getting my wife and daughter to go, but I don't think my daughter can get off work.  Wife has MS, so she can't really drive much anymore.  But if I could get my daughter out of work, would take that route.  Also would take at least 2 days to get back, I drive straight through with the cars.  But nice adjustable seat, AC, cruise, etc. don't mind driving then.

I bribed David.    But I would do the ride myself if I had the time.  

Unless you want a newly rediscovered hatred of riding, make a three-day weekend of it - at least.  Four would be better.  Iron butts are doable, but you don't want to make it your re-introduction ride.

No. But I would walk 500 miles. And I would walk 500 more. Just to be that man, who walked those 1,000 miles to fall down at your door. Da da daaaaa. Da da daaaa. Da da dum dum dum da da dum da da dum.

Dave  

:lol: Mabe some of the forums with more young-uns are good, none of them would have remembered that , that song died for a reason    LOL

Young-uns? Slow down, cowboy; I'm only 25. Granted, I was old enough to be listening to popular radio when that came out, but I'm still relatively young. Right??? Anyone.... :dunno:  

When I wake up, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you.

Jesus, I remember that whole song. But of course, it always falls right between Paula Abdul and Milli Vanilli on my Pop Classics mixes.  

Dave  

That's a youngun song.  

That came out when I was in high school, 85 or 86.  Paula Abdul and the fakers were after I got married.  But I must be going through mid-life a little early, can't get the vette though.  Insurance is 2k every six months while my daughter is living at home.

I had my quarter-life crisis in January, and I went for the trifecta: Got a nose ring, a motorcycle, but never did a third extreme thing. I guess these don't seem so extreme unless you know that I'm a white, straight, accountant. You don't see too many of them with a nose ring.

As for the Vette, I bought one when I graduated from college in 2003, so I got that out of the way; I'll plan on the young girlfriend for the mid-life crisis.

OK, if we're gonna get on with talk of late-80s/early-90s, please tell me how sweet these haircuts are. My sister is a hair stylist and my buddy and I secretly planned on getting them done at the coast last weekend:

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I've got 3 on each side and he has one on each side with 2 on the top. By the way, I got tackled; we're not doing anything creepy.

Dave  

:lol:

personally....on a bike that I don't know much about....I wouldn't do that much initially.....I wouldn't want to get stranded in some backwater place....I'd say trailer or ship the bike.....

I'm torn.

A 1,000 mile road trip sounds very tempting to me, but that could just be because I haven't done a LONG ride for 2 years now.  

You said that the bike is

Quote from: jimbo1a very nicely re-done 93 GS

so I will assume that you feel it is in good mechanical shape.  (Including good brakes, chain and new-ish tires.) If that's the case, then the bike should make the trip no problem, which leaves YOU as the major unknown.

Only you will be able to venture educated guesses about your

* Stamina
* Pain (OK, call it "discomfort") threshold
* Tolerance to boredom (do you plan to ride the "superslab" the whole way?)
* Mental / muscular preparation for potential hazards (traffic, road conditions, rain, etc)[/list:u]If I were in your position, I would consider the following options (in this order)
1) Look for a nice bike closer to home
2) If the seller will hold the bike for you, take the MSF course or find another way to get some riding experience before the trip
3) If you think all (of

your) systems are GO and you don't have the luxury of time ... Go for it! [/list:u]BTW, are you getting a killer deal, or is there another "1,000 mile factor" involved here?

PS - In answer to the original "Would you ride 1,000 miles?" question, see the TRIPS links on my webpage (link in my signature below).

Quote from: KerryBTW, are you getting a killer deal, or is there another "1,000 mile factor" involved here?

I've never had a way with women,
but the hills of Iowa make me wish that I could
And I've never found a way to say "I love you",
but if the chance came by, oh, I, I would
But way back where I come from, we never mean to bother,
we don't like to make our passions other people's concern
And we walk in the world of safe people,
and at night we walk into our houses and burn.

Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, ooohoh, Iowa.

How I long to fall just a little bit,
to dance out of the lines and stray from the light
But I fear that to fall in love with you
is to fall from a great and gruesome height
So I asked a friend about it, on a bad day,
her husband had just left her, she sat down on the chair he'd left behind
She said, "What is love? Where did it get me?
Whoever thought of love is no friend of mine."

Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, ooohoh, Iowa.

Once I had everything, I gave it up
for the shoulder of your driveway and the words I've never felt
And so for you, I came this far across the tracks,
ten miles above the limit and with no seatbelt (and I'd do it again)
For tonight I went running through the screen doors of discretion,
for I woke up from a nightmare that I could not stand to see:
You were a-wandering out on the hills of Iowa
and you were not thinking of me.

Just to put it out there, those are pink silk shorts with a black lace trim and chain suspenders.

Just to it out there.  Or pink pants and a wallet chain (hoping for the latter).

Haven't ridden in 20 years...  Bike you've never seen...  Presumably good (although totally unknown) mechanical condition...  Unknown ergonomics...

I'd say you'd have to be a little crazy to do it.  How much would it be to drive out there, rent a trailer, and drive it back? :dunno:

Now, I'm not recommending this, but my girlfriend got a KILLER deal on an SV650.  It was in Arizona.  We are in Oakland.  She rode, after having about 100 miles under her belt in her lifetime of motorcycling.  Again, I was not wild about this at all.  But she did it in three days.  She avoided major highways, took lots of breaks and did her best to be intelligent about her limits.  She now has a few thousand miles on the bike and rides from Oakland to LA in a day (400+ miles) down route 1.  We also rode a 1983 Sabre 750 from Oakland to Portland Oregon in a day.  That was about 600, but 2 riders switching off.  Just be smart, prepared to stop and rest.  See if you can do a route that has some scenic reasons to stop and check stuff out.  Good luck!!!

-John