how many Miles Per Year are you riding?

[klaviator]

Note:   to ride big miles, bike/scooter needs to be comfortable!  Most are not:  after 11 new maxi-scooters, their problem for long days in the saddle=buffeting, regardless of windshield=nose it too far from tip of shield!   Motorcycles: seat comfort---best Harley big twin solo, up down model, BMW 1955 on twin solo saddle, rubber, sprung model---Fairings/windsields....Heinrich uppers and lowers on BMW. and HD big twin winter windshield kit and tin knee shields---comfortable. big back draft due to amount of air pushed.   And surprise Big frame Vespa with windshield cut to height to look over=worked and comfort going down the road.If you are not somewhat comfotable, long days in saddle not worth it....and proper riding/non flapping/warm when necessary/ clothes and of course waterproof, too.    Gloves/mitts I have never really solved.   Rubber overshoes for real wet and or cold days, nice.

To me---people changing seats/custom seats=joke.   They are usually too fat/out of shape/don't know when to get off or take a break or do not ride a lot.

Some bikes are better for high mileage days than others.  I bought my bikes for various reasons but doing really long days was not one of those reason.  I don't think I would have any problem doing 500+ mile days on my Versys or Majesty but I just haven't been interested in doing that.  My two smaller bikes, My Kymco Like150i and KLX250 are not designed for really long days.  I have done 300+ miles days on both of them but I generally prefer to stay closer to 200 miles on those.

As for custom seats, they can make a big difference especially with the crappy seats that come on some many of today's bikes.  Only my Like 150 has a comfortable stock seat.  It put a custom seat on my KLX because the stock seat is about as comfortable as a 2x4.  I have a seat pad on my Majesty and an Airhawk on my Versys.

I had an R1100GS.  My but would get sore pretty quickly with the stock seat.  I put a Corbin seat on it and did up to 800 mile days without a sore butt.

I would have trouble riding 25 miles without the Airhawk on my Versys, the stock seat is that bad.

[Iahawk]

klav - interesting about the mileage not being much different pre vs post retirement! You seem to be a guy whose hour meter is ticking faster than your odometer...nothing wrong with that!

I'm similar to an extent...all rides are local and my typical ride is for 1 hour covering about 25 miles. Maybe get crazy on a weekend on my Ninja and do 100.  I do notice that I fatigue quite a bit after a few hours on the bike, making my inputs less smooth.

[Stig / Major Tom]

klav - interesting about the mileage not being much different pre vs post retirement! You seem to be a guy whose hour meter is ticking faster than your odometer...nothing wrong with that!

I'm similar to an extent...all rides are local and my typical ride is for 1 hour covering about 25 miles. Maybe get crazy on a weekend on my Ninja and do 100.  I do notice that I fatigue quite a bit after a few hours on the bike, making my inputs less smooth.

I notice I'm a little tired after my rides.
I put some of it down to the tension of riding through the city - staying alert, watching for deer/road debris in the dark, etc.....and I guess some of it down to rolling out of the sack at 5:00AM, and onto the scooter at 5:30! Doc also says I've lost some vision in my L eye.(glaucoma)

70°F sunrises are  e a s y...... 24°F mornings take a bit more out of me.

I'm generally out in the weather for a little over 3 hours each ride.....minus the 10 mins socializing with the Liar's Club gang indoors at Dinos warm & dry coffee shop.
I don't wander off too far.
My pup misses me a lot - and eventually my daughter and wife might wonder where I am.

Stig

[randyo]

I have found that yer underwear are more important than your saddle, for long mileage days, no cotton, no seams

bike shorts, or more motorcycle specific, like LD Comfort, has been my answer to long distance days,

that said, I do wanna get a RDL for my V-Strom 

[klaviator]

klav -  You seem to be a guy whose hour meter is ticking faster than your odometer...nothing wrong with that!

I guess I didn't think of it that way but you are correct.  Time in the saddle is more important than actual miles.  The fact is that all miles are not created equal.  25 miles in town is probably at least as much riding as 100 miles on the highway.  I remember when I used to do some pretty hard core dirt riding.  35-50 miles would be a full day of riding and I'd be sore from head to toe the next day.  100-150 miles of dual sport riding is a full day if a lot of the riding is in the dirt.  When I go ride twisty roads I probably do more curves in an hour than many riders do in a week.  I don't ride just to watch the odometer roll over a bunch of miles.

Another thing that cuts into my miles is that I like to stop and take pics, socialize or just enjoy the scenery.  I normally don't ride much over an hour without stopping.

[Neil955i]

Since retirement and losing the commute miles it's averaging 3,000 per year split between the bike (c10%) and the scooter (c90%)!  It's not nearly as much as I'd hoped, but I guess Covid has clipped most people's wings the last year or two?

[Stig / Major Tom]

I have found that yer underwear are more important than your saddle, for long mileage days, no cotton, no seams

bike shorts, or more motorcycle specific, like LD Comfort, has been my answer to long distance days,

that said, I do wanna get a RDL for my V-Strom

See, that's where riding in the dark is such a bonus.
On warm nights I'll often ride naked....sitting on the neighbor's late cat.
Major Tom

[klaviator]

but I guess Covid has clipped most people's wings the last year or two?

When Covid hit last year it cut back my riding for a couple of months but after that things pretty much went back to normal around where I live.  I'd say that maybe I lost a couple of thousand miles last year.  I don't think it made much difference this year.  We didn't have the kind of lockdowns that you did across the pond or even in Canada.   

[Stig / Major Tom]

When Covid hit last year it cut back my riding for a couple of months but after that things pretty much went back to normal around where I live.  I'd say that maybe I lost a couple of thousand miles last year.  I don't think it made much difference this year.  We didn't have the kind of lockdowns that you did across the pond or even in Canada.

I don't think I lost any riding mileage during 2020.
Before a vaccine was available .......
My destination coffee village was the first town to mandate mask wearing in the state of Ohio.
Dino went to carry-out only, 4 customers at a time in the shop - and he enforced that loudly
Village police carried spare masks and could issue citations.
Etc.

During 'lock-downs' in my City I suppose police figured I was on my way to work when passing through city streets at daybreak on my scooter - sealed up inside a helmet.
My destination never went to 'lock-downs'.
Stig

[Iahawk]

On warm nights I'll often ride naked....sitting on the neighbor's late cat.
Major Tom

I...um...I've got nothing....

[randyo]

can't say as I have ever ridden naked..... but I don't remember much from the sixties, you know the saying, if you remember the 60's, you weren't there

I do recall water skiing naked once or twice

[pa-outdoorsman]

I put on more than 2,500 miles this year on my Honda ADV 150, which I felt was pretty good for a first-year rider who also has no interest in riding in the cold. So, basically mid-April to mid-October is riding season here in Pennsylvania.

I not only throughout enjoyed riding around on two wheels, but also loved the economics of going to the gym and running other errands on my 98 mpg scooter vs. my 14 mpg SUV. If I can get 2,000-3,000 useful miles on my scooter each year in lieu of my other vehicle, that's a win-win in terms of enjoyment and financial savings.

[Neil955i]

... The fact is that all miles are not created equal.  ...

Klav, nail on the head.  Like you, I'd far rather do 25 miles of twisty country roads than 000's of motorway miles.

[randyo]

Klav, nail on the head.  Like you, I'd far rather do 25 miles of twisty country roads than 000's of motorway miles.

I don't mind doing 000's of highway miles to get to twisty miles that I haven't been on before, 25 miles of the same twisty roads gets boring after a while

[Neil955i]

Fair point Randy!