Advice for Long Distance Trip?

A

AD Johnson

Registered
Two friends of mine and I, are planning a motorcycle trip at the end of April from St. Louis, Missouri to Coco, Florida. We'll be staying at my buddy's sister's house, so we're not too concerned with bike theft. We're all LEOs so I'm not really concerned with crime, either...just aspects of the long ass ride.

One of them will be riding a 2003 R1 :rofl: (his ass will hurt) and the other will likely be on a Hayabusa.

We're planning on shooting down there in one fell swoop. :whistle: We're still kinda young, so we'll rough it.

This will be the bike trip I have ever done. Prior to this trek, the farthest I have ever gone was from KC to StL.

We're going to purchase some kind of bike-to-bike communication and we're leaning towards the Chatterbox X1 Bluetooth.

Does anyone have any input that might be valuable to us?

Thanks in advance

(BTW, I'm enjoying this forum- y'all respond swiftly!)

AJ
 
Rain gear!
Seats!

Pace your selves, dont try to do it in a day, it will ruin the whole trip!
 
advil
bicycle shorts under your jeans or riding pants
handlebar risers for both bikes, gen-mar or helibars
 
start getting in as much seat time as possible now to toughen up the muscles
waterproof luggage
a good GPS is worth it's weight in gold when on the road (locating fuel, food, distance to next stop)
 
Good call on the Chatterbox! :thumbsup: In addition to good inputs above, may I add camelback & power bars.
Last but NOT least, hit up pashnit (an SV here) for tips on anything and everything about touring!
 
No real advice or input. You may want to sign up for AAA they have a package that will tow a bike for up to 200 miles just in case. Congradulations though and have fun.
:beerchug:
 
For your Busa:

- Hump MOD for extra storage
- Saddlebags and a tank bag
- DB Windscreen

BusaJim08 said:
You may want to sign up for AAA they have a package that will tow a bike for up to 200 miles just in case.
Click to expand...
Since when? I have the AAA Gold, and they don't offer anything for motorcycles.
 
ogio no drag backpack, a change of clothes, rain gear, the suzuki gel seat don't help at all so ignore that idea... and don't forget a bottle of your choice of pain reliever cause yor sitter is gonna be killing you. Most of all enjoy yourself.:beerchug: If comfort is your number one concern buy a new bike...maybe a goldwing or such:thumbsup:
 
I do a lot of long distance riding myself. A lot of good suggestions were already made. One thing I can't live without is a quality seat, I use a Corbin myself. If you cannot swing a good seat, and aftermarket bead-rider or sheepskin pad will do wonders. If you are new to riding LD, Advil is your friend. The trick is to take it before things start hurting, and take it every 6 or so hours during the ride.

Plan Ahead for everything you will need!

Have rain gear, and put it on before it starts raining.

Also. a lot of good advise can be found on the Ironbutt site's archives of wisdom - IBA - World's Toughest Motorcycle Riders
 
I did a 2 week 4k mile trip this last summer, we averaged about 450 miles a day. Here is the list of things I think made the trip bearable.

1. Cruise control -- not a throttle lock but real cruise control... 130.00
2. Luggage -- I have the ventura kit and 2ea 51 liter bags... about 400.00
3. Bike to bike radios, XM and phone w/ GPS -- Autocom with FRS radios - about 1500.00

I used a stock seat, stock bars and stock pegs....

CAp
 
:cheerleader::cheerleader:

EnduranceK8-side5.jpg

EnduranceK8-side5.jpg
 
Iba. Is awsome. some hard core guys on there. Every story is worth reading.

They have Monkey Butt lol check it out.

I have everything I need to do a LD trip. Except time.

I did a bunch of 200-300 mile days on my gs500 in north Carolina. Comfort is not standard on that bike.
Starting off fully loaded on shorter trips will allow u to adjust ur load plan, seating arrangement, learn ur communications system, and most important break your body in.

No one buys new running shoes or new boots. And runs a marathon or hikes up a mountain WITHOUT breaking them. Allow the bike to break your body in. After 3.5 yrs on my gs I was never able to break my bike in.

Good luck.. bring a camera.. cig lighter socket to power all ur digital goodies.

Fun fun fun. Wishing I was going too.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
From my long distance experience--much of what has already been said. Don't try to do too much in one day. About 450-500 miles is my limit. I always over pack--be prepared for break downs--I always bring duct tape (kudos to the guy who invented that stuff!), electricial tape, stuff to inflate a flat tire, extra key (in case you lose yours), electricial zip ties-oh yea--then if there's room--extra clothes! LOL I always save up my old socks, and undies all year long then throw them away on the trip as I change. Also, do some leg workouts-I get leg cramps after a few days of riding. Of course, I'm 6'6", so I got really long sticks! Last-but not least-the biggest smile in the world, 'cause you're gonna have a BLAST!:thumbsup:
 
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