Speed versus time question

Auburn

Premier Member
#63
For the same price as the Ultimate Seats product you can have a full custom Russell Day Long seat made for YOU, not the generic market. Seat Code S3 for a solo seat. LINK I've had two mail in RDLs and didn't need a re-work on either. Maybe a bit more if you're over 230 lb/104 kg or want leather, etc.

snip....
I tried the Ultimate seat for the Gold Wing while waiting for my RDL appointment. The backrest was great, the seat looked very nice. But it sucked bad. 200 miles in and I had to get off the seat. It was better than the stock Honda seat. But not much. I even tried to use a purple gel pad on top, which helped but the seat was terrible.

My RDL appointment which was the same amount of time to do the mail in was 6 months. We did the ride in appointment back in October, what a difference. I expected that, since my FJR RDL seat was awesome. I did have Russell add a back rest and heated seats (theirs). It is great.

I would recommend the Russell even if you have to wait for it. Maybe try to do something locally while you wait for your build date.
 
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cacomly

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#64
One weary morning on Leg 3 this past year I picked up some egg and cheese croissant from BK and tank bagged them. Ate one while underway and kind of forgot about the other. Sometime well after dark I discovered it and happily ate it. For the record ... it didn't age well. But it did the job :)
I'm sure it was much better than mu chili powder coated pistachio's. They tasted great at 1am somewhere in northern AZ/southern UT, but getting the chili powder in my eyes rather sucked!
 

Marc11

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#65
One weary morning on Leg 3 this past year I picked up some egg and cheese croissant from BK and tank bagged them. Ate one while underway and kind of forgot about the other. Sometime well after dark I discovered it and happily ate it. For the record ... it didn't age well. But it did the job :)
BK Croissant? WHO ARE YOU??? No wonder you ride a BMW, I'm surprised.you didn't say you use only Starbucks for your iron Butt motel stops too.

Croissant....Snob. Real riders only eat 10 hour old egg McMuffins and like it.
 

keithu

Premier Member
IBA Member
IBR Finisher
#70
Assuming 200 / fuel stop, 1500 mi ÷ 200 = 7.5 fuel stops = 8 stops.
Actually it's 7 stops since the last one is the end of the ride.
Practically speaking, this ride would most likely require at least 8 fuel stops, maybe more depending on where you're riding. The original assumption was stops every 200 miles on a bike with a theoretical 211 mile range. That assumes there are gas stations perfectly placed every 200 miles, which never happens. Or maybe there's a strong head wind that cuts fuel economy.

So if you think your bike has a 211 mile range, the real frequency of your fuel stops will be 150-200 miles. Call it 175 on average. So for planning purposes one should definitely assume a minimum of eight stops.
 

Shawn K

Professional Cat Confuser
Premier Member
#71
So if you think your bike has a 211 mile range, the real frequency of your fuel stops will be 150-200 miles. Call it 175 on average. So for planning purposes one should definitely assume a minimum of eight stops.
That part bears repeating.

I almost learned the hard way (twice) on my last bi-coastal trip that it's VERY easy to find yourself behind the 8-ball if you think in terms of "maximum range".

Both times on my last trip, I found myself sucking fumes in Texas because I made incorrect assumptions about "Where's the fuel" and "How much farther can I go?" On one of those occasions I ended up purchasing 6.51 gallons, and the other occasion I purchased 6.57 gallons. This, on a bike with an advertised 6.6 gallon fuel tank.

I learned my lesson - Don't push your luck, especially in western Texas or the desert southwest. Stop early.
 

Shawn K

Professional Cat Confuser
Premier Member
#73
Try doing a SS2000 2-up on a bike with about a 100 mile range. (3 gallons to reserve) with towns spaced out at 80 and 120 mile intervals. That becomes very frustrating to say the least.
Been there, done that. My first 1000-mile day was on a 1982 CB900C. You'd better find something quick at 100 miles because you were pushing it at 120.
 

Stephen!

Flivver Flyer
Premier Member
IBA Member
IBR Finisher
#74
Our K11LT had only 4½ gallons usable fuel before the fuel pump started screaming. By 160 miles I was typically looking for fuel and rarely stretched it beyond 180 miles. Near the end of our 50-State tour we found ourselves in NorCal late at night. Last fuel stop planned for the day was in the Circle K in Port Orford, OR (about 160 miles from Blue Lake, CA, the previous stop). When we got there, they no longer had fuel pumps. We did not find an open station until we coasted into Coos Bay, OR. That was a LONG 54 miles... One good thing about the ridiculously slow speed limits on that part of 101 was improved fuel economy. That tank carried us 211 miles. The longest we ever went on the K11 without stopping for fuel.
 

kerrizor

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#76
RE coffee... yes, yes, "words of wisdom" but.. end of the day, the words of wisdom are just guidelines, not rules. You'll have better results figuring out what YOUR body needs instead of what someone wrote down on the Internet :) When riding or in a rally, I think about food and beverage as fuel - I've got some really efficient filters in place, but some stuff gunks up the system if I'm not careful :)
 
#77
@kerrizor has a fantastic and often overlooked point about body fuel and "listening" to what YOUR body needs.

I am a coffee drinker normally, and therefore require some type of caffeine in the mornings during rallies/LD rides. My go to is usually those small canned starbucks drinks. They pack small, come in a 4 pack and are pretty good warm or cold. I don't drink caffeine normally after like 12 noon, so I follow that routine on the bike. For me the 5 hour energy is a wicked mistress, but I know others love them. If I need a 2 hour boost and then am getting off the bike, they are fine. But the rebound affects about hour 3 are BAD with some really dangerous sleep inertia.

With food, I know many focus on mostly protein snacks such as beef jerky, etc. However, my body "needs" a few carbs or it is not happy. I can feel the difference in how my energy level is. So, I fuel it accordingly. I still do heavy on protein with jerky and nuts, but I add a few carbs too such as peanut butter crackers, dehydrated fruit, fruit puree pouches like apple sauce, and trail mix with some fruit mixed in. Of course my road crafter pocket with a couple McDs cheeseburgers (no onions) is usually a staple as well. I've never tried this trick with egg McMuffins, but I did try a sausage biscuit once and it was like eating a cold hard chunk of lard at about 2AM. : (

Finally, with hydration, listening is key as well. Yes, I have a mounted hydration system with easy access, but I have to be diligent about drinking even when I "don't think I am thirsty". My trigger is a slight headache that starts in the back of my neck. That is my body's signal of dehydration and it is there both on the bike and in everyday life. If I feel that start, I know to start hitting the water more routeinly and it goes away in a few minutes.

Good luck and Happy LD riding. Jay
 

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#78
In regards to the Trans Canada Gold ride, it's a 75 hour ride window. The IBA doesn't list times on your cert. No one will care what your actual time was except you. I suspect you refer to the "record" in Thane's blog, which was only a record for him. No one keeps public records for rides on public roads. He was using a fuel cell. His average speed was 99.9 kph, which is a challenging average to maintain on that ride. Note that he only took his helmet off three times. IOW, he kept moving. Not everyone can maintain that pace, or should.

Fuel - At some point you need to go for a ride with a small bit of extra fuel and find out for yourself on your bike what it really does to true empty at your normal travel speeds. When the bike dies, then you can toss in the extra fuel and go find a gas station.

Also, awesome that Chevron offers 94 non-ethanol. Wish we had that option in the US. But don't forget that you'll get fewer kms/L on E10 if you can't score the non-E fuel.

Part of endurance riding is about routines. Food and Caffeine - It's better to keep to your normal routines/rhythms for the most part, but what you're trying to do is avoid peaks and valleys in hydration/hunger/caffeine/etc. You shouldn't be relying on caffeine to get you farther down the road. Learning your body's 'tells' as @Jay Bolinger mentioned is key to this. For me, if I think about taking a drink, that's my cue to take a drink and I do. Many small sips are better than few large ones. I often read about people only slugging down a water or gatoraid at gas stops and not drinking while riding. That's not an effective method. You will NOT recover from dehydration during a ride if you allow yourself to get dehydrated.

When you need sleep, nothing is better than sleep. We all sleep in cycles. Understanding what your cycle duration is helps. I sleep in 3 hour cycles. If I just get up after a 3 hour cycle of sleep, I'm rested and alert. If I set an alarm and make myself wake up in the middle of that cycle, I'm groggy and out of sorts and not at my best mentally for a while.

Sleeping next to the bike is sometimes counter intuitive. It seems like the quickest and easiest idea, but if you're not getting restful sleep, it's just wasting time that you could have spent in a bed getting restful sleep. I would suggest you plan at least one sleep stop at a motel into your Trans Canada attempt, if not two. Riding a 10 day rally, I rode 20 hours a day, was off the bike for 4 hours and slept for 3 hours. As long as I stuck to that rhythm, I could easily maintain it. That gave me time for a hotel and a shower each day. Sometimes the shower was as beneficial as the sleep cycle for getting me fresh and ready to ride another long day.

Every bike and rider is unique in how things fit and what works. I personally found the Mad-Stad set ups for my Super Tenere to not be helpful. There were other issues at play and having an adjustable screen didn't help them. On some bikes, moving the screen farther forward is a bad idea and creates more buffeting. If you like what you have, stick with it.
 

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#80
Rolling up in a bike cover works for me on occasion. Double duty. Look at what the Hoka Hey guys have done for some other ideas.