Triumphrat

Motoboard · 06-24-2007

For anyone considering doing a long distance ride on a Bonneville, DO IT!. I completed my first Saddle Sore 1000 mile ride on June 16th. It was an awsome experience, and one I wouldn't hesitate to do again, maybe even a 1500 mile/36 hour ride. There were six of us that went, five Harley's and my T-100. She performed flawlessly, and proved once and for all that British Steel has no problem hanging with American Iron. Before this ride, I had only ridden 400 miles in a day. You must have a determined mind, as well as an iron butt to complete it, and here are the GPS readings after the ride was finished. 1061 miles in 18:55, avg.speed 58.2, top speed 107.8. Here is the route we rode and I recommend it to all, as we hit no road construction, and the road conditions were excellent. We left Findlay, Ohio at 4:00am and headed south on I-75 to Lexington, Kentucky. Then turned east on I-64 to Huntington, West Virginia where we stopped for a one hour brunch break. Continuing east on I-64 to Charleston, West Virginia, we turned northeast on I-79 to Morgantown, West Virginia. Then turning east on I-68 we rode to Cumberland, Maryland. From there we took US-220 north to I-70, turned west and followed I-70 through Pennsylvania to Columbus , Ohio. The sun was just setting as we rolled into Columbus. Then all that was left was a 75 mile stretch north on US-23 to SR-15, then back to Findlay, Ohio. We had our final gas stop at 10:55 pm that same day, and finished with five hours to spare. We stopped for gas every 100 miles(there was a V-Rod with us) for 15 minutes, and our one hour brunch were our only stops. Once again, with the right attitude and iron butts and guts, you can do this ride.

[ This message was edited by: Motoboard on 2007-06-24 07:47 ]

imafunkyman · 06-24-2007

Very cool! So far I've only done 350 in one day. Once I change out the seat, I'll do longer rides. Bottoms up!

Spyder94 · 06-24-2007

:-D welcome to the Club. It is a quite pleasant exhaustion.

I try to do 2 or 3 rides like that a year.

Glad you had fun.

Steve, gears and Iron Butt

:yayyy: :chug: :yayyy:

Sheepdog · 06-24-2007

That's a fantastic accomplishment. Did you do any particular mods to your bike to prepare? Did you regret not making any certain preparations?

ohiorider · 06-24-2007

Good riding! Could you let us know how your bike was set up for this ride (shield/no shield. stock bars/low bars, etc, etc). Stock sprocket or geared higher? Saddle type.

Maybe more importantly, your age and physical condition.

And did you do anything in preparation for the ride? I know some of the Iron Butt riders are into lots of exercise and special diets prior to the rally.

Bob

Big_Rick · 06-24-2007

Welcome aboard Motoboard!! Sounds like you had a good ride and the weather gods were smiling on you which helps a lot. The ride is enough without extreme cold or rain or both.
Congratulations!
Proof once again that the Bonnie is a great long distance bike.

merlin · 06-24-2007

Congrats, man.
Something I aspire to, but may never achieve. That's great!

NYCyclist · 06-25-2007

good stuff. most i've done in a day was 360 but i hope to change that but not too much. i like my butt the way it is.

jfenton · 06-25-2007

So the question I have is......were the other people on the HD's as sore as you? Do you have a stock seat? How bad is longs rides really, I ask cause I am looking at picking up an 07 T100, but concerned about long rides on it and how comfortable it is.

Hedge · 06-25-2007

Congrats - I just finished my first 45 mile ride with the wife and when she got off she was complaining. Does that mean I can now safely buy the solo seat?