[Dannyboy1949]

Just returned from a road trip a buddy and I took. He rode his Kaw ZRX 1200 and I the Blackbird. This was a scenic trip that took us into OR, CA, NV, AZ, CO and NM. TONS of incredible scenery and interesting roads. My longest day was when we parted company at Kingman, AZ at 5:30am and I rode 900+ miles arriving home around 9pm that evening.

A few thoughts and stats:

Travelled 2950 miles
Departed on a Thurs, Returned following Thurs
Moving average 60 mph
Moving time 49:05
MPG ranged from 33 to 46 (buddy's ZRX about 10% better on average)
Max speed 98 mph (musta been passing someone)
Highest elevation observed 11,084' (really zaps the horsepower)
Highest temp observed 101 degrees (mid-upper 90s much of the time)
Mechanical issues Zero
Saw countless other motorcycles, and 95% were Harleys
8 of 10 other riders waved a friendly "howdy"
99% of cars/trucks were courteous and gave us lots of space
Killed approximately 1,432,512 bugs
Found the Beaded Seat cover to be helpful in the heat
Found the evaporative cooling vest to be priceless in the heat...wore
it under armoured mesh riding jacket.
Could NOT have ridden the 900 mile day home without highway pegs as they allowed me to easily lift the weight/pressure off my tired
old behind frequently.
The most beautiful country was in Utah and Colorado
Able to make good safe time generally riding about 5 mph above posted
speeds...we had no interest in attracting police attention. We often
rode below the speed limit as we were in no hurry.
Took very few photos...very inconvenient to use a camera in this mode
of travel.

This was a wonderful trip and I brought home many fond memories. We've already begun thinking of where we'll go next year!

 

[Dannyboy1949]

Who in their right mind rides 900 + miles in upper 90's ..hmmmmmm? Thats just craaaazzzzyyy!!!

I've never claimed to be in my right mind!:raspberry:

Honestly I didn't start out to get home in one day, but there was just never any reason to end the day early. I was able to maintain excellent comfort with the bead seat, highway pegs, and cooling vest and surprisingly, other than a 15 minute period of feeling fatigued about 3 hours from home, I felt great. On the other hand, during the other days of the trip I was real happy to get off the bike at 300 miles + or -.

I'm unsure if I'll ever do another near-1000 mile day...but I won't rule it out. Last year I was coming home from New York and marathoned it to Gallup, NM before getting a motel, only stopping for gas and snacks: about 2200 miles (around 36 hours in the car)...so I'm known for doing stupid driving tricks. My wife was none to happy with me when I confessed that demonstration of poor judgement.