how long before taking my 1st real long distance ride?

[ofblong]

hehe longest ride for me was 1 hour. I wasnt even close to being fatigued but it was my very first time on the road and only the second time being on a bike (first was the MSF course). However I took my time and learned to relax. I was tense for probably the first 20 minutes till I got the hang of it .

[storysunfolding]

Problem solved. Take a decent sized trip up around dc during rush hour or a national holiday! You'll get plenty of practice driving in traffic there.

[Fathertork]

Wind her up, point her the direction you need to be, and pop the clutch. !

You'll find when you first start doing trips a 3 hour one will kill you. But gradually take longer and longer rides and you'll be able to pull 8 hours in the saddle without trying.

Sev is right.... I look at a long trip as several short rides the more you travel, the easier it gets every day. On a ride across Canada last year we were tired after only 480 KM the 1st day. Each day we could ride farther with no fatigue and the last day totalled over 1200KM, and felt fresh as a daisy. Remember, It's a trip...have fun.

P.S. Bike type can make a big difference in comfort levels, as well.

[Z (fka Sweet Tooth)]

Wind her up, point her the direction you need to be, and pop the clutch. !

You'll find when you first start doing trips a 3 hour one will kill you. But gradually take longer and longer rides and you'll be able to pull 8 hours in the saddle without trying.

Right on the money... it's all about getting out there and building your endurance. Granted 8 hours on a bike is a long haul for pretty much anyone, but the key is to know your limitations. Just make sure you keep hydrated, take brakes and the more time you give yourself to dirve that distance, the better it is.

[halouis]

Problem solved. Take a decent sized trip up around dc during rush hour or a national holiday! You'll get plenty of practice driving in traffic there.

HAHA. i've said that after living in the NY tri-state area and doing a lot of driving up thre, that i couldn;t imagine anything worse. THat was until I spent a few trips heading into or around DC. LOL! It's just crazy up there.

[Sicko]

Longest one day ride for me was from Key West, Fl. to South Georgia. About 650 miles. This was on a 750 Honda Shadow with the stock seat. I was a Zombie with a numb butt at the end of the day.

[JCS]

On your 750 Spirit, check out National Cycle's Deflector windshield. I have used them and my neighbor put one on his Spirit. For a smaller, fairly unobtrusive screen it does a surprising job of easing the wind blast. Easy to put on and take off, too.

A different seat or a pad of some sort will help a lot, too. You can strap a duffel bag on the passenger seat to get a little back support. If running highways a simple throttle lock can allow you to stretch your right hand a bit.

400-500 miles in a day are actually not that hard to do on a bike. Work up to longer rides. Stop often to stretch. With the fuel range on your bike you will be stopping fairly often anyway.

A lot of the trick is to keep your stops fairly short. A short stop for fuel and to stretch and walk around for a couple of minutes will do wonders. Wear earplugs. Drink plenty of water. Take rain gear and stuff to layer for cooler temps. Extra gloves.

Again, longer rides are not as bad as some think. You will be more tired than driving your car. When you get used to it a 400 mile day is not so hard. If you are running interstate highways it is even easier if more boring.

[Scott58]

Problem solved. Take a decent sized trip up around dc during rush hour or a national holiday! You'll get plenty of practice driving in traffic there.

In my opinion this is the larger issue over just fatique. You can always stop and stretch your legs, but when your in the middle of hundreds of cars (especially when most of them are acting stupid) that's when your ability starts to show. 8 hrs on quiet lonely roads is much better then 30 minutes in downtown chicago.

[storysunfolding]

DC during rolling thunder. It's a fun ride, but getting around during or after is some fairly taxing riding.

[halouis]

JCS: thats some awesome advice. thanks so much.

storysunfolding: i'll have to try it sometime. my uncle used to commute in from Bethesda into DC on his BMW bike for many years.