- Joined
- Nov 20, 2005
- Messages
- 9,521
- Location
- Cedar City, Utah
- Bike
- 12/04 ST 1300s
- 2024 Miles
- 000420
- STOC #
- 5901
Good question, and the answer is: It depends!
Besides my 125 mile commutes, between 2008 and 2020, I have done a number of long-distance rides. Some were day trips, some were over nighters and others were a week and onetime, two weeks, covering over 3,700 miles.
For me, it took a couple of years to “Dial In” my first (05) ST1300. The first mod I did was to add a Heli GenII handlebar raiser. I had to wait a few months for my first ST1300 RDL. And during that wait time, over a weekend (3 days) I did a 1,200-mile ride with the stock saddle. The first 600 miles, I did OK, but that last 600 miles was pure torture! The trip up to Sacramento, was about 400 miles and I hit a bunch of rain, which made it harder to make good time. Then we rode about 400 miles for the "ride", and then the 400 miles back home. Halfway thru that ride, is when the TB really set in! That’s when I knew, there was no way being able to ride long distance on the stock saddle.
Five months later, my brother, Dave and I did a 2,600 mile ride up thru Northern CA, into Oregon, then back thru the Eastern side of CA into Reno, Nevada and back into CA, riding over several of the passes, US89, US108, US120, back over US89, to US50, then down US99. I was on my first RDL, and Dave was on his one-piece Corbin. For the most part, we did pretty good without the TB I had experienced that ride five months earlier. One day, we were in the saddles for 13 hours (with some short breaks) and no TB.
Besides the MCL “wings”, updating the Heli GenII raiser to a GenIII, made a big improvement for my back. Before then I always had a back ache. I also have had to have a Throttle lock. That gave my numb right hand a rest for a few moments and I was good to go, until it got numb again.
I have done a number of other long distance rides as well. Years ago, my plan was to ride 120 miles, take a break, ride another 120 miles, gas up with another break. Since then I modify it to the roads I’m riding and how I’m feeling. I find that “Five-Hour” has helped when I need to ride anything beyond a couple of hours.
The longest ride I’ve done was about 870 miles over 22.5 hours, with no sleep. I don’t plan to do that again!
Recently I rode out to Las Vegas, spent the night, and then rode to Santa Barbara. About 530 miles. And due to weather, I had to make it back, those 530 miles) in one day. Besides a few gas stops, I had one other stop to put on my rain gear. That was a long ride. And I had to continue watching the weather, so I wouldn't get caught in a flash flood. If I would have been just 3 hours later, riding thru Las Vegas that night, I would have been in the middle of some of the flooding they had.
So, to answer the question? It depends on the route/roads and weather!
Here are most of my rides over the years:
Most of Bob's Rides
Besides my 125 mile commutes, between 2008 and 2020, I have done a number of long-distance rides. Some were day trips, some were over nighters and others were a week and onetime, two weeks, covering over 3,700 miles.
For me, it took a couple of years to “Dial In” my first (05) ST1300. The first mod I did was to add a Heli GenII handlebar raiser. I had to wait a few months for my first ST1300 RDL. And during that wait time, over a weekend (3 days) I did a 1,200-mile ride with the stock saddle. The first 600 miles, I did OK, but that last 600 miles was pure torture! The trip up to Sacramento, was about 400 miles and I hit a bunch of rain, which made it harder to make good time. Then we rode about 400 miles for the "ride", and then the 400 miles back home. Halfway thru that ride, is when the TB really set in! That’s when I knew, there was no way being able to ride long distance on the stock saddle.
Five months later, my brother, Dave and I did a 2,600 mile ride up thru Northern CA, into Oregon, then back thru the Eastern side of CA into Reno, Nevada and back into CA, riding over several of the passes, US89, US108, US120, back over US89, to US50, then down US99. I was on my first RDL, and Dave was on his one-piece Corbin. For the most part, we did pretty good without the TB I had experienced that ride five months earlier. One day, we were in the saddles for 13 hours (with some short breaks) and no TB.
Besides the MCL “wings”, updating the Heli GenII raiser to a GenIII, made a big improvement for my back. Before then I always had a back ache. I also have had to have a Throttle lock. That gave my numb right hand a rest for a few moments and I was good to go, until it got numb again.
I have done a number of other long distance rides as well. Years ago, my plan was to ride 120 miles, take a break, ride another 120 miles, gas up with another break. Since then I modify it to the roads I’m riding and how I’m feeling. I find that “Five-Hour” has helped when I need to ride anything beyond a couple of hours.
The longest ride I’ve done was about 870 miles over 22.5 hours, with no sleep. I don’t plan to do that again!
Recently I rode out to Las Vegas, spent the night, and then rode to Santa Barbara. About 530 miles. And due to weather, I had to make it back, those 530 miles) in one day. Besides a few gas stops, I had one other stop to put on my rain gear. That was a long ride. And I had to continue watching the weather, so I wouldn't get caught in a flash flood. If I would have been just 3 hours later, riding thru Las Vegas that night, I would have been in the middle of some of the flooding they had.
So, to answer the question? It depends on the route/roads and weather!
Here are most of my rides over the years:
Most of Bob's Rides
