West coast cannonball run, 9 days, 10,000KM.

[Lightcycle]

The IBA goes by elapsed hours since departure in the case of time zone changes, so it's a cumulative total since departure, local time zone doesn't matter.

ooooh, this is IBA certification stuff!

Now it's me not reading the post properly. I thought it was you trying to make it to your destination by a certain time.

My bad. Then MM is right. 36 hours would be 3PM CO time. But it sounds like you were only calculating distance and time, not time zone changes anyway.

 

[shanekingsley]

Now, everyone proceed to tell me how crazy I am. Wouldn't be the first time I've done a crazy thing on 2 wheels.

I don't think that plan sounds crazy - sounds pretty doable with a bit of planning and you have the bike for it.

I'd offer to tag along for the SS1000, but highways and interstates are the death of me.

Good luck with this ride and safe travels!

 

[oioioi]

I don't think that plan sounds crazy - sounds pretty doable with a bit of planning and you have the bike couch living room for it.

I'd offer to tag along for the SS1000, but highways and interstates are the death of me.

Good luck with this ride and safe travels!

FTFY

 

[PrivatePilot]

My experience is you're going to be comfortable at 80mph from Sarnia to Omaha.

Indeed. I remember that we were averaging north of 150kph for 1.5-2 hours at a time on our trip through the flatlands to Sturgis a few years ago. Find someone to pace, run Waze for speed trap alerts, set the cruise, and go. We made spectacular time because reality is that so long as you're not dawdling at every stop (gas, piss, stuff a rollerdog down your gullet (lol), go!), averaging 140kph while moving means that in a 10 hour riding day you're covering north of 1300km. A 1600km Iron Butt can be done in under 13 hours.

Tip: Lots of camping available, expect $30/night for a tent site. Motels and restaurants are dirt cheap on the IA side, a Red Roof or Windham room goes for about $60USD in May.

Upper midwest Interstates are the worst in the country for deer collisions, I don't like riding those areas after twilight (8:30 in May). If you're after the Ironbut Badges and plan night riding, i71-I70 is a safer choice.

Yeah, I'll play the accommodations by ear. I enjoy motocamping, but this might be a trip where it happens out of necessity as opposed to anything else, IE I find myself somewhere at the end of my day without any accomodations nearby, or available...or not $200+/night. Queen Mary excluded.

If Eureka is on your list, I'd think about crossing the Rockies on I80 starting in Cheyenne and ending in Salt Lake. End in Ferndale or Eureka, then take Mattole Rd across the costal highlands, along the sea, then back through the giant redwoods of the Humbolt forest. Mattole Rd is desolate, and scenic and could use repaving in places. It's one of my drives/rides in California.

It was only on my list because it's in the vicinity of where the 101/PCH starts based on some time at motorcycleroads.com. It also has a few good east/west options listed there to get to and from the area. Eureka is at the top of the blue line in the top left corner of the map.

I presume you mean 101 to the PCH (Hwy 1) that runs down the coast. I think you'll find that's closer to 1300KM if you take the coastal highway. Eureka to Long Beach takes about 20 hours along the coast, 12 hours on the interior Interstates.

2 10 hour days is no problem. I'm there to ride.

Ive found the easiest drive, quickest, and least expensive bee-line route home is I40 -> I44 -> II70 -> I75

Noted, thanks.

You're crazy, but it's OK if you're a long-distance driver/rider and you're in shape. I wouldn't underestimate how tiring it is to ride the mountains, canyons, and coastal highways in the west. It's work, the altitude messes with you, and you will get tired and sore.

Lol. Not in shape. But have meds, a really comfortable couch on wheels that is built for sillyness like this....so...YOLO!

I'm no stranger to riding in the mountains and such, I know the twisties and such will really drag down your average speed, but if things go as I suspect they will on the to and from segments (especially the to segment westbound), I suspect I will log a lot of miles very fast. It's entirely possible I will some some very big miles on Day 1 and 2, possibly putting me a full day ahead of the plan by day 3.

Thanks for the notes.

 

[PrivatePilot]

I'd offer to tag along for the SS1000, but highways and interstates are the death of me.

As much as I enjoy the backroads and such, it's hard to make miles on that sort of stuff, so a SS1000 turns into barely squeaking in under 24 hours endurance fest.

And honestly, sometimes I love the slab. I know it's not a common thing to hear in the motorcycle crowd, but I find it relaxing, especially once you're out of the big cities and you don't have to constantly be on edge about traffic around you. The big long stretches across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota were just total zen time for me.

 

[Mad Mike]

As much as I enjoy the backroads and such, it's hard to make miles on that sort of stuff, so a SS1000 turns into barely squeaking in under 24 hours endurance fest.

And honestly, sometimes I love the slab. I know it's not a common thing to hear in the motorcycle crowd, but I find it relaxing, especially once you're out of the big cities and you don't have to constantly be on edge about traffic around you. The big long stretches across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota were just total zen time for me.

Twistiest are fun, kinda like going out for a game of flag football or beer leave hockey game is fun.

Rolling down a slab sounds boring… but I kinda like it too.

Lots of people like rolling RVs and touring cars across the country on interstates, they like peacefulness of munching big miles. They have little interest in carving thru the Dragon.

I like both. I’ll do either in an RV or bike.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Twistiest are fun, kinda like going out for a game of flag football or beer leave hockey game is fun.

Rolling down a slab sounds boring… but I kinda like it too.

Lots of people like rolling RVs and touring cars across the country on interstates, they like peacefulness of munching big miles. They have little interest in carving thru the Dragon.

I like both. I’ll do either in an RV or bike.

Ironically when we’re travelling with our camper I always gravitate towards the backroads, only doing slab when there’s no other option for route, or necessary for speed based on how much time we have to work with.

 

[shanekingsley]

As much as I enjoy the backroads and such, it's hard to make miles on that sort of stuff, so a SS1000 turns into barely squeaking in under 24 hours endurance fest.

And honestly, sometimes I love the slab. I know it's not a common thing to hear in the motorcycle crowd, but I find it relaxing, especially once you're out of the big cities and you don't have to constantly be on edge about traffic around you. The big long stretches across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota were just total zen time for me.

I can appreciate that.

As much as I dislike the slab I did really enjoy riding across the TransCanada between Ontario and BC despite many telling me I would hate it.

 

[Sunday Rider]

As much as I enjoy the backroads and such, it's hard to make miles on that sort of stuff, so a SS1000 turns into barely squeaking in under 24 hours endurance fest.

And honestly, sometimes I love the slab. I know it's not a common thing to hear in the motorcycle crowd, but I find it relaxing, especially once you're out of the big cities and you don't have to constantly be on edge about traffic around you. The big long stretches across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota were just total zen time for me.

I loved the openness of the prairies and the big land/sky feeling.
Hwy 2 through Wisconsin and North Dakota was high speed limit, I took it all the way out west but it does slow down as you get midway in Montana. It might be too far north for your plans. It is a good compromise between smaller roads and the slab.

 

[MacDoc]

Indeed. I remember that we were averaging north of 150kph for 1.5-2 hours at a time on our trip through the flatlands to Sturgis a few years ago

Yeah when my kid and I were coming back from the west coast ride we were steadily at 140-150 kph all across the prairies - the poor 650 Vstrom fully loaded was struggling.

PrivatePilot I think you are crazy in a good way. That bike you have is the ultimate distance machine...I would have loved to own something like that.
Go for it.
Do you use audio books for the long stretches?
My kid got me into them on that trip and it's been a constant ever since. I also learned how to quiet down a noisy helmet on those fast long stretches.
Good memories

 

[kurtrules]

As much as I enjoy the backroads and such, it's hard to make miles on that sort of stuff, so a SS1000 turns into barely squeaking in under 24 hours endurance fest.

And honestly, sometimes I love the slab. I know it's not a common thing to hear in the motorcycle crowd, but I find it relaxing, especially once you're out of the big cities and you don't have to constantly be on edge about traffic around you. The big long stretches across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota were just total zen time for me.

I second the “sometimes I love the slab” comment. Sometimes I find long distances on straight highways meditative. Lost in trance kind of a feeling if you get what I mean.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Do you use audio books for the long stretches?

Audiobooks
Podcasts
Sometimes, satellite radio

I tend to swap back and forth between the three as a long ride goes on, although if I find a good Audiobook I tend to stick with that for hours and hours.

I also learned how to quiet down a noisy helmet on those fast long stretches.

I have a helmet intercom that I use for all of the above except my satellite radio which is part of the bike, and I use Shure SE215's with the earplug attachments to do double duty as earplugs and piping the audiobooks and podcasts gently into my ears while listening.

I agree, not wearing hearing protection can be exhausting on it's own. Even a good old fashioned set of foamie earplugs is a game changer. I'm surprised at the number of riders that don't use them.

Sometimes I find long distances on straight highways meditative. Lost in trance kind of a feeling if you get what I mean.

Exactly. I need to find a groove, and going through twisties or in real scenic areas, it never happens, which is why a 500km day can feel like a 12 hour riding day sometimes when you're on the backroad, but a 1200km riding day can feel like a 5 hour day when you're zenning out on slab.

I get that it's not everyones thing, but perhaps not everyone has ever had an opportunity to hit that zen state on a really long ride either as they don't ride far enough, or long enough.

 

[deejizzle]

rooting for ya bud. cant wait for the write up.

 

[Lightcycle]

I get that it's not everyones thing, but perhaps not everyone has ever had an opportunity to hit that zen state on a really long ride either as they don't ride far enough, or long enough.

I've ridden far and long, on interstates and backroads.

Personally, for me, I enjoy that feeling of engagement, not being zoned out. Twisties and dirt roads engage my brain in a way that normal life off two wheels doesn't. Long, straight superslab doesn't do it for me.

I listen to podcasts in the truck on long road trips and it makes the time fly by, literally the hours feel like they turn into minutes. Great for a four-wheeled slab ride. But listening to a podcast on a bike, I didn't remember anything of the trip, which I didn't like at all. Zero engagement, and worse, it was like empty calories. At least listening to music it doesn't take your mind away from what's around you, and it's like a soundtrack to the movie you're playing a part in.

Everyone's different though. If you've found what you like, at least you know the road you want to travel. Just gotta hit it!

 

[GreyGhost]

The IBA goes by elapsed hours since departure in the case of time zone changes, so it's a cumulative total since departure, local time zone doesn't matter.

Yeah, I didn't take that into consideration in my original post when quoting times. Brain fart.

This is the reason I probably won't run any IBA rides on the eastbound legs as the daylight hours are shorter when making big miles eastbound. Going westbound with the sunset I'm gaining daylight hours. Going east against the sunset, I'm losing them. It may not sound like a big deal, but when you're covering 1000+km in a day directly west or east, it has a real world effect both ways.

A friend was running a plane on a ferry flight from ON to the west coast (harvard or norseman iirc). Started with the sun and kept the hammer down. Got there just at dark by chasing the light.

 

[PrivatePilot]

I've ridden far and long, on interstates and backroads.

Personally, for me, I enjoy that feeling of engagement, not being zoned out. Twisties and dirt roads engage my brain in a way that normal life off two wheels doesn't. Long, straight superslab doesn't do it for me.

Indeed, different strokes for different folks. It’s likely the many years of commercial driving for me that has allowed me to let my brain spin into neutral on a long trip as otherwise driving for ~12 hours a day for potentially weeks or years on end can become maddening.

I have found it a lot harder to let me brain get into this stage in the last few years however, particularly noticeable on my last trip coming back from WV a few weeks back. I was solo for the last 2 days and never really got there, although the longest uninterrupted portion of slab was only 1.5 hours from east of Rochester to Buffalo I guess, and a lot of it was secondary roads or scenic areas. No hope of that going through the Golden Horseshoe insanity of course. But I’m left wondering if it’s still lingering concussion stuff causing that. I think I’m doing a SS1000 IBA ride in a week or three so that’ll be the test I guess

A friend was running a plane on a ferry flight from ON to the west coast (harvard or norseman iirc). Started with the sun and kept the hammer down. Got there just at dark by chasing the light.

In a high speed jet it’s possible to experience sunrise and sunset as many times as you want flying west at the golden hour and varying speed and direction. Not that I’ll ever experience that. Closest I ever experience was a “rapid fire sunrise” on a red eye flight eastbound once.

 

[GreyGhost]

Does the square rear tire cause any wandering/tracking issues on highway runs? I am assuming you still have a motorcycle front tire? Have people tried a car tire on the front?

 

[PrivatePilot]

If there is a severely concaved lane caused by the road collapsing under heavy loads (you sometimes see this in front of bus stops for example), or just crappy road construction, you do feel it to an extent, although you would feel that on a motorcycle tire as well.

There is a little more effort required for initial tip in through a corner at speed and a little more effort required to maintain the tip in through it.

Neither of these are particularly noticeable after the first few hundred kilometers. I tell people it’s a lot like when you get a new (traditional) motorcycle tire on your motorcycle after riding tens of thousands of kilometres on the old one, that presents a noticeable difference in feel as well until you get used to it. This is no different.

I would say the biggest thing you have to keep in mind is that at very slow speed (like, walking or crawling) in an angled asphalt type situation, you do have to be very careful as the bike very much will want to sit flat on the tire. I’ve noticed it before at gas pumps where the asphalt slopes away from the pump, or extremely angled entrances and exits to parking lots, that sort of thing.

When you are moving at speed, with a properly chosen tire at the right pressures, many riders wouldn’t be able to tell the difference honestly. I consider myself a pretty observant type of guy who can feel a brake dragging a tiny bit, or a tire being slightly out of spec on tire pressure and that sort of stuff, and honestly, 90% of the time while underway at speed, even I can’t tell.

 

[Mad Mike]

...Do you use audio books for the long stretches?

I find it too hard to concentrate on audiobooks while driving or riding. Not that they distract me, but I can't thoroughly absorb the book when I'm rolling down the road as my concentration shifts between riding, sights, and the audio content.

I prefer music and comedy, less concentration is required.

I bought a Schuberth helmet to get better noise protection. I've been using it for 3 seasons and my hearing no longer gets seasonally impaired. I don;t use earplugs, and have the Schuberth audio attachment. The quietness of the helmet is worth the price.

 

[MacDoc]

GreyGhost said:
A friend was running a plane on a ferry flight from ON to the west coast (harvard or norseman iirc). Started with the sun and kept the hammer down. Got there just at dark by chasing the light.

Kid and I flew the bikes to Calgary ...left Toronto at 9 am, arrived 10 am, got the bikes and on the road by 11 with a full long day in June ahead.