Long distance riding?

[ninjabrewer]

Longest ride on the ninja, rode from Olympia WA to Burbank CA in 2 days, stopped somewhere north of Sacramento at a Motel 6, then finished the next day. All of it down I-5. A bit over 1100 miles or so.

nb

[ally99]

Originally Posted by FrugalNinja250

The hardest part of a long ride has very little to do with the bike itself, or even the body so much. The hardest part is the mind. If you can imagine yourself doing a long ride, and you actually use that visualization to set goals for both physical and bike prep, then you can pull it off pretty easily. The thing to realize is that lots of people have ridden really long rides on the little Ninja with little or no problems. Heck, even the problems were generally surmountable, look at this epic ride: http://forums.ninja250.org/viewtopic...ghlight=mexico

As to the actual physical prep, IMHO the best thing to do is to build up to long rides with shorter rides of increasing length. This allows you to both get the confidence and experience in long-distance riding as well as identifying deficiencies in gear, bike, and technique. I started small, with 100-250 mile rides which quickly pointed out the problems with the stock seat. I found a Corbin to fix that. I also developed a riding style using a well-stuffed and padded tank bag to support my torso and chin such that I could fully relax my body when I ride, other than two fingers for throttle. That allows me to do very long legs repeatedly without noticeable physical or mental tiredness, and no soreness in the following days.

My very first ride as a licensed rider was in March of 2009. In June of that year I'd worked up to a 240 mile one-day each way ride. In August I did it again, 225 miles each way, one day each. After several more rides in that class over a year I did my first really long ride in October '10, 740 miles, which I easily did in one day. It had been nineteen months and 18K miles since beginning to ride. I stopped every couple of hours for breaks, etc. On the way back I decreased my stops to once every 3 hours or so, and in later years I've done similar rides stopping only for gas. This year I'm seriously contemplating an IBR run, and am completely confident in being able to complete it.

FWIW, there's nothing like an adventure, and long rides across this country definitely qualify as that. It starts with that first step, and all that.

Also, it's better to do it while you're still young and bendy, if you wait until you're an old fart like me it's a lot harder.

All of this is golden! Awesome advice! Thanks!

[voidrider]

Originally Posted by ninjabrewer

Longest ride on the ninja, rode from Olympia WA to Burbank CA in 2 days, stopped somewhere north of Sacramento at a Motel 6, then finished the next day. All of it down I-5. A bit over 1100 miles or so.

nb

MUCH respect!

I recently rode up to Salem Oregon. I think the one hour or so I rode on I5 between Eugene and Salem was more exhausting than the three hours I rode to get to I5 at Eugene. The traffic, the bit that is always overtaking because some people speed no matter the speed limit. Lumbering freight trucks...the overall "head on a swivel" the demanding situational awareness...just damn!

Its really one of only two places were I find myself wishing I had "MOAR POWAR". (The other is on steep long hill climbs).

On the way home I took a more relaxed route on secondary highways. It added more than an hour of travel time, but when I got home I was still more rested.

It seems like traffic isn't so bad on I5 from Eugene down to Redding.

I guess as with other pursuits, if I rode on the interstate more frequently, over time I would get more used to it.

[wardie]

I did three of them last year.

Youngstown, Ohio to Moto GP in Indianapolis, Indiana (1 day)

Youngstown , Ohio to Watkins Glen, New York (1 Day)

Youngstown, Ohio to Daytona Beach, Florida for Biketoberfest (2 Days)

Bike was loaded with camping gear for the Watkins Glen trip the other two I just had my clothes in saddlebags. Daytona was an 8 day trip. So cool my little Ninja parked at daytona with all those Harleys

Go to Iron Butt site. There is a "wisdom" section. Check it out and learn what not to do before a big mileage trip.

[alex.s]

[ninjabrewer]

Originally Posted by voidrider

MUCH respect!

I recently rode up to Salem Oregon. I think the one hour or so I rode on I5 between Eugene and Salem was more exhausting than the three hours I rode to get to I5 at Eugene. The traffic, the bit that is always overtaking because some people speed no matter the speed limit. Lumbering freight trucks...the overall "head on a swivel" the demanding situational awareness...just damn!

Its really one of only two places were I find myself wishing I had "MOAR POWAR". (The other is on steep long hill climbs).

On the way home I took a more relaxed route on secondary highways. It added more than an hour of travel time, but when I got home I was still more rested.

It seems like traffic isn't so bad on I5 from Eugene down to Redding.

I guess as with other pursuits, if I rode on the interstate more frequently, over time I would get more used to it.

Ty.

Only reason I stopped when I did was because of the bugs, it had cooled down, making for some cool riding, but the bugs were all over my visor, getting into the vents of my helmet, so I said screw it and looked for someone that left the light on for me.

Certain parts of I5 wasn't too bad, IIRC, traffic was only bad around the cities/towns that you pass through, the worst was the 2nd day after I drove in to the oven of the San Juaquin (sp) valley area, Pulled in somewhere about every 45 min or so to wet down my T shirt that I was wearing underneath my mesh jacket. But it was mid July, so that was to be expected.

nb