If you want to make your bike a happier tourer, throttle rocker and vista cruise make a huge difference. Wearing a camelbak to keep yourself hydrated goes a long way too.
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70-Year-Old Guy Out-Rides Me In His Trike (Can Am)
- Thread starter Pegassus
- Start date
Yes really - it's not that uncommon and you have a pretty good bike to do it with. I have led lots of group rides with fine folks from this forum.
When I had a Ninja 1000, I took many day trips from Toronto up through Algonquin, over to Calabogie and then back home, all along secondary roads. 1000kms/day is a normal good day of riding. Start early, pack a lunch, and get home safely before dark for a nice dinner. Also did these exact same roads and rides on a VFR750, a KLR650, and multiple V-Strom 650's. Even though I've owned cruisers, the most I've ever done was around 800km on a Virago1100. I just don't like cruisers so I found it rather boring.
On many of these rides I'm riding with others on sport bikes also doing the same roads and distances. Some are on supersports, but most are on sport touring or adventure type bikes.
Most of my trips into the states are 5-10 days long of 800-1200km/day on secondary twisty roads. l don't think I've ever taken a trip and averaged less than 800 km/day and that's not pushing it - it's just enjoying the day. And lots of other people - old and young - do the same thing on a wide variety of bikes.
Personally, I need a few things to do the longer days. A Corbin seat let's me do 2-3 hours between stops, some sort of throttle lock helps, some good quality gear to keep me protected while comfortable, non-stop music while I ride w/noise cancelling earbuds to reduce the wind noise and associated fatigue, a camelbak, and lastly, it helps to have a windscreen so I'm not fighting that wind all day.
Look at the sticky in the cruising/touring section here for lots of roads and routes.
Sure thing - once we get the all clear from our medics, I'm back out there having fun.
kiley
Well-known member
Want to stop for an hour at Tim Hortons every 2 hours? Well, now...we may have a problem.
See this here just drives me mad!
I have friends like that…they cant ride through a town without stopping at a Tims.
On one trip we rode home from Huntsville…6 hours to Kitchener ffs.
Everybody has their own likes and dislikes with travel.
Doing it via motorcycle just adds to it.
I’ve done plenty of miles over the years…more than anyone I ride with.
To me, there are 2 basic rides
1-cruising around and enjoying the sights.
2-trying to make distance
If your cruising around it really doesn’t matter hove far you go…your taking pics and stopping for lunch.
Maybe stopping at a bike museum or a waterfall.
Maybe a cold beer in the middle of the day…or watching hang gliders at the top of Hyner Park.
Or you're enjoying the twisty’s through the mountains
Trying to make distance…or travel day…I’m just trying to get as far as possible.
About 1000km and that’s when I start to turn into a pumpkin lol.
Last year in the fall I rode home from Maggie Valley NC and that’s about 1360km.
The sun was setting when I got to Erie PA…temps were anywhere from 25c in the middle of the day to 10c crossing the Fort Erie bridge.
It had been a while since I had done distance like that.
And it felt good for someone over who is over 50.
I like traveling in the states…I don’t let politics dictate whether I’m going to have a good time or not.
I’m hoping to travel Canada more this year as the world changes.
There are many ways you can make changes to your ride to make it more comfortable.
For me, 2 keys things added make it better.
A better seat and hwy pegs
A better seat just makes it more comfortable and hyw pegs allowing you to move your feet and legs in different positions really helps.
These are the things that work for me…I understand they don’t work for everyone.
Heres to hoping we all get to travel somewhere this summer.
Pilot if endurance is your thing you should look into The Hoka Hey
9000 miles in 11 days and you get to sleep beside your ride in the dirt
Iceman
Well-known member
I've been on several rides with Shane, great ride leader. He knows all the best roads, sets a fun pace and rarely stops lol. Good times indeed.
Sent from my SM-A530W using Tapatalk
I do these sorts of rides sometimes (although I try to keep the Timmies stops to 30 minutes or less and no more than every 2-3 hours) but it's because as a member of a RC I do try to keep in mind that for some people...this is what they really enjoy. And I recognize and appreciate that.
On the flipside, I'm totally aware that not everyone enjoys the endurance thing and don't expect everyone to keep up to my pace of "enjoyment" if I'm leading a big group.
So I do try to do both. If we're just out for a leisurely day trip where theres lots of time to stop and smell the roses, get some cool photos with my drone, sit and enjoy some laughs over coffee or a good long lunch somewhere....I will run the nice slow pace. I do enjoy that as well within reason.
But I have also done a few rides led by others where it was 45-60 minutes of riding followed by 1+ hours at Timmies, repeat. I just don't really have the patience for that sort of thing....particularly on a beautiful riding day while daylight is burning.
How well do those work for cancelling wind noise? Do they hurt after a while? I use the disposable foam earplugs and they work pretty well but start to hurt after an hour.
Just so everyone knows....noise cancelling headphones "cancel" noise by producing an exact mirror image waveforms. They do NOT protect you against damaging levels of noise - a 100db noise is cancelled out by 100db of "reverse" noise. You're still exposed to 100db either way - even though your brain processes it as quiet, your eardrums know otherwise.
I own a nice set of JBL noice cancelling headphones but I don't use them for damaging noise cancellation, just "annoying noise cancellation". The wind noise you're exposed to on a MC can reach damaging levels over long periods.
I use good old fashioned earplugs or regular earbuds that dampen the noise but don't try to forcefully cancel it.
Not exactly. Assuming they work well and assuming the noise is constant, your eardrums are exposed to a lower sound pressure level (the incoming high pressure wave is met by a low pressure wave from the NC driver and you end up with less of a spike). If the noise is rapidly changing or higher frequency or bad NC design, it is actually possible to get higher sound levels on the cancelled side as you may end up with addition not subtraction. NC works best for constant low frequency noise like airplane engine drone. For something like wind, passive noise cancellation is a better bet as much of it is at higher frequencies and it is constantly varying.
Sorry my mistake - mine are noise isolating - basically earplugs with speakers in them. They do an excellent job of blocking out wind noise - what feels the same level of protection as the disposable type earplugs.
I guess whether these hurt or not is all about the shape of your ear. For me, one ear starts to hurt after about 8hrs of riding, but the other side is fine all the time. Most of the decent brands come with different tip sizes so you can fit the size that matches your ear canal better. For some of the popular brands there are also aftermarket tips that can be used. I used to ride with the disposable earplugs on the highway, but then wanted to try out riding with music for long trips. Now I ride w/ music every time on get on the bike.
The first brand I bought were the Shure 500 series and they are like have a concert in your helmet. Amazing sound, but cost around $400 and a bit bulky for use w/ the helmet. I would have kept them if not for the size of them.
The second brand I bought was the Etymotic er6i's. In my opinion these are the best ever made for motorcycling use, because of the low cost, coupled with very good sound and they were really small so it was never an issue with hurting ears or getting the helmet on. The only problem with them was the weak wires that were prone to getting damaged easily.
Now I use the Shure se215's, which can often be found new on Kijiji for under $100. I like the sound, the fit is pretty good and there are many tip sizes. One of the best things with these is that separate components (speakers, cables etc) can be detached and replaced easily so if one part broke it's not hard to get them fixed up without having to replace the whole unit. The only thing I don't like about them is that the cable is an over the ear design, which tends to hurt after the helmet has been pressing up. They do have an inline controller to mute, adjust volume and skip to next track. If I'm parked, they can also be used to talk on the phone.
I also have a Scala G4, but I only use that to talk to my wife on the bike or very rarely with other riders on group rides. I much prefer the wind noise being blocked out with the Shure earbuds, so I rarely use the G4.
I cant stand IEM's on the bike. Assuming you are listening to music with them, I find you are way too cut off from the outside world to be safe. If you are using them for the occasional message from the wife, different story.
I agree that more sounds are cut off, especially in urban environments when the music is on. Since being deaf wouldn't stop me from riding either, it's on me to make sure I have good observational skills and situational awareness regardless of me environment. Some of it must be related to being a DJ for so long and constantly listening to music in most things I do.
Usually I keep the volume down in the city and turn it up in the twisties.
Usually I keep the volume down in the city and turn it up in the twisties.
All your senses are used when you're riding...even when you're not really aware of it.
But like others the constant wind drone bugs me and I almost always wear earplugs unless I'm only going a very short distance.
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