Miles per day/per hour/Longest trips : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

Rickstar321 · 10-15-2012, 04:26 PM

Maybe there is a chart out there somewhere, and I know it has a lot to do with conditions, tolerance of the rider, etc... But what would you guys estimate is a good rule of thumb for long trips... Miles per day, Average Miles per hour...

Let's say I wanted to take a cross country trip, stick mostly to back roads as much as possible... Enjoyment ride, and if you want to give a "best time" trip you made pushing hard to get somewhere, that would be interesting as well... :-)

Also thought this was interesting... 1 Million Miles

NJ Rider · 10-15-2012, 06:27 PM

Generally, the guys I ride with (we're old) do 500 mile days when going to Sturgis, for example. That's on the super slab with a few breaks.
If we take backroads, stop to eat, bathroom, gas, etc., it could take forever to go 100 miles to a destination.

FLHTDan · 10-16-2012, 02:40 PM

That's kind of an open ended question. You have way to many variables.
What type of roads? Open country, like the midwest or twisties, like the mountains? Stops for places of interest? Etc.

When a friend and I took off to the Smokies (80% back roads) we were doing about 250 miles a day until we hit the more windy roads of easter Tennessee and the we were only doing about 150 a day

1bdBagr · 10-16-2012, 03:36 PM

Like the others said, too many variables. Just ride your ride. Ride until you aren't comfortable any more. Different people have different goals and levels of pain so to speak. A ridin' fool friend of mine used to take off and ride straight thru to Sturgis from So Cal. An Iron Butt for sure. The more seat time you get the easier it is to go long distance(s). Some like that challenge of hauling a$$ and some like to see more scenery, gotta find out works for you.
Tim

<G Man> · 10-16-2012, 03:46 PM

I agree it is kind of open ended, but I have some general rules I use for planning.

I like to figure about 50mph average for riding on a long trip. That allows me gas stops, smoke stops, and ability to mix up super slabs and maybe some 4 lane and 2 lane rural highways. 500 miles is a reasonable day for me. If my destination is 600 miles away, it will be 1 day. If my destination is 1500 miles, it will be 3 days.

Planning and doing don't always work out the same, but you have to start somewhere.

huskerbob · 10-17-2012, 04:51 AM

If i'm trying to "get somewhere" I'd vote for the 500 mile (maybe 600 tops) yardstick.

Like most, I've done more but 500-600 is comfortable for me.

(of course my bike ain't Larkspur so what the fug do I know)

<G Man> · 10-17-2012, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huskerbob

If i'm trying to "get somewhere" I'd vote for the 500 mile (maybe 600 tops) yardstick.

Like most, I've done more but 500-600 is comfortable for me.

(of course my bike ain't Larkspur so what the fug do I know)

probably nothin'

93Horse · 10-17-2012, 09:53 AM

I was interested in knowing my average miles per hour. Reset my GPS
trip log to zero approx. 8800 miles ago (June 28) Since that time my moving average 42.3 miles per hour.

Rickstar321 · 10-17-2012, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huskerbob

If i'm trying to "get somewhere" I'd vote for the 500 mile (maybe 600 tops) yardstick.

Like most, I've done more but 500-600 is comfortable for me.

(of course my bike ain't Larkspur so what the fug do I know)

Ok... I'll ask...

What the hayell is "Larkspur"...?

<G Man> · 10-17-2012, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickstar321

Ok... I'll ask...

What the hayell is "Larkspur"...?

This.

And that thing in my signature.

If you did a search of the site, you might find some interesting conversations about it.

ncmedic · 10-18-2012, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickstar321

Ok... I'll ask...

What the hayell is "Larkspur"...?

Dont ask about his chaps..

Rickstar321 · 10-18-2012, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ncmedic

Dont ask about his chaps..

LOL... no danger of that here...

... and G-man, I like that my bike is different..! And since I'm the very proud owner of a very purple bike... I doubt I would bust anyone's chops over their "Larkspur" bike :-)

... Some bikers remind me of that movie "Pleasantville, where everything was black and white and the way they treated anyone that had color... lol...."IF it ain't black... it ain't cool" ... lol...

<G Man> · 10-18-2012, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickstar321

LOL... no danger of that here...

... and G-man, I like that my bike is different..! And since I'm the very proud owner of a very purple bike... I doubt I would bust anyone's chops over their "Larkspur" bike :-)

... Some bikers remind me of that movie "Pleasantville, where everything was black and white and the way they treated anyone that had color... lol...."IF it ain't black... it ain't cool" ... lol...

So your bike and mine are the same color. not black

Rickstar321 · 10-18-2012, 02:18 PM

That is correct.

... color is good.

Greg MacD · 10-18-2012, 11:10 PM

On my Harley or Aprilia I can do about 600 miles in a day any longer and I can no longer move....my back starts giving me some trouble, anyway, my DRz 400 is good for about 250 a day as the seat is like riding on a 4X4 railroad tie......few things to remember is stop about every 150 mile for gas and to walk around for a little while and to drink a lot of water (or gatoraid).