Long distance advice

[Marino]

Air hawk seat, or over seat, highway pegs. Best combination. When on the way to Croatia I usually do 1300 km or 800miles on first day and 700 km/ 400miles on second day. Yes it is all on motorways. 

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by Marino

[Throttled]

What has improved comfort for me

- as big a gap as possible between seat and pegs

- Airhawk seat

- smaller meals during trips.

- earplugs (cheap foam work fine for me).

[M620]

“When on the way to Croatia I usually do 1300 km or 800miles on first day and 700 km/ 400miles on second day. Yes it is all on motorways”

 

The best I have ever done in a day is Huesca in Spain to Alencon in France (about 950km) not all on motorways though and I was wiped out for two days. 2000 km in two days - your the man

 

[Marino]

2 hours ago, Throttled said:

What has improved comfort for me

- as big a gap as possible between seat and pegs

- Airhawk seat

- smaller meals during trips.

- earplugs (cheap foam work fine for me).

Yes that’s right, I forgot, reduce amount of coffee (diuretic), small meals and sip of water every so.

[Marino]

1 hour ago, M620 said:

 

“When on the way to Croatia I usually do 1300 km or 800miles on first day and 700 km/ 400miles on second day. Yes it is all on motorways”

 

The best I have ever done in a day is Huesca in Spain to Alencon in France (about 950km) not all on motorways though and I was wiped out for two days. 2000 km in two days - your the man

 

It is not so bad, first time it was bit difficult, but after few runs I found all goodies I need to travel in comfort. And it is all motorway. 
before my wife used to go with me and it was bit more entertaining, now is bit boring going alone

anyway once in Croatia it is better when I’m alone, as blasting over there is not for pillions.

[Essem]

On 09/07/2021 at 16:29, jedibiker said:

Great info thankyou. For the 433 miles we were thinking of setting off early morning around 3am ish and allow 12-14 hours to do the 8hours of riding. so we can get plenty of rest and stop when needed. But looking at your plan it may be too much.

That’s a long old day, I’ve done that in the past but always ended knackered and just wanted to get there by end of day. Dangerous territory. I avoid this sort of stuff these days. If I were in your shoes, instead of blasting north in one hit, I’d break the journey to the top of Scotland into three days and make them a pleasant part of the trip. Choose quieter roads up through the Borders and west coast of Scotland.  
 

If long days are necessary, I prepare - good sleep, no alcohol day before, no heavy food, stay hydrated. I get 150 miles in the bag early - gets mind into it. Then regular stops after that - every 75 miles or so. I ride as smooth as I can, gets my head in the right frame. I pick a quiet back road early afternoon and have a half hour kip on a grass bank. Avoid anything that causes stress. All sounds a bit OTT, but it works for me. 

 

 

[jedibiker]

On 16/07/2021 at 10:44, Essem said:

That’s a long old day, I’ve done that in the past but always ended knackered and just wanted to get there by end of day. Dangerous territory. I avoid this sort of stuff these days. If I were in your shoes, instead of blasting north in one hit, I’d break the journey to the top of Scotland into three days and make them a pleasant part of the trip. Choose quieter roads up through the Borders and west coast of Scotland.  
 

If long days are necessary, I prepare - good sleep, no alcohol day before, no heavy food, stay hydrated. I get 150 miles in the bag early - gets mind into it. Then regular stops after that - every 75 miles or so. I ride as smooth as I can, gets my head in the right frame. I pick a quiet back road early afternoon and have a half hour kip on a grass bank. Avoid anything that causes stress. All sounds a bit OTT, but it works for me. 

 

 

weve now booked to stop near berwick which weve done in a day before and felt fine, about 220 miles. everyone here has made great sense.. lol

[John Metcalfe]

Me and the missus recently rose our 27yr old k1100 over from Yorkshire to here in Tunisia. We rode down to the channel tunnel with one stop after about 120 miles. Once over in France we did another 250 with a stop after about 150 before the overnight stop. We then did about 300 to 350 per day to the ferry in Genoa stopping around every 100 to 150 miles for a food and drink rest of about 1hr with 15 minute stops as we felt we needed. These stops we tried to coincide with a fuel stop. These mileages we did easily with no major issues regarding comfort or aches and pains

[Steve398]

I would agree with the tips given here, but when you’re sitting in front of a map or computer it’s easy to look at the mileage and think “I can do that no problem ” but all depends on the route.
Motorway gives you the ability to do the miles but it’s boring and you’ll ache after a short while, this will get worse as you’re sitting in one position for hours, and hours… we once did the Mount Blanc tunnel to the Channel tunnel at Coquelles in 11 hours, all on motorways. It was hellish and I walked like Quasimodo the next day. 

Lovely, picturesque back roads are great but your speed and mileage will be dramatically reduced. 

Touring, we try and limit ourselves to a riding time of around 4 hours a day, leaving about 9am and aiming to reach our overnight stay at around 4pm = 7 hours on the road. Stops for fuel, water, comfort, and food  take up the other 3 hours (especially with my wife aboard!) and makes for a relaxed day, leaving you ready for the first beer after a shower and an hours kip.

Lots of breaks, stay hydrated with water, light meals, and dress to be comfortable.. but most of all -

Take it easy and enjoy it, it’s not a race. 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Steve398

[jedibiker]

Since this advice i have booked a room at the 220 mile mark, then continue up to inverness the next day, totally agree it would do us in for sure. cheers