Ride Texas to D.C. yes? no? maybe?

[Redfish Hunter]

RyRec I am curious about what modifications have been done to your '07. A few minor things will make your trip much more enjoyable. A few warm up rides would get you more familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of your bike.

Dad's '07 has easily made it from South Louisiana to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and many other parts of this country. As others have stated this bike is a wonderful long distance platform.

Perhaps we could meet in the middle one day and compare modifications and share some miles.

 

[BkerChuck]

One thing I have yet to see mentioned on this thread. If you and your brother don't yet have them seriously consider some form of Bluetooth communicators and a way to charge them for the ride. Wife and I have started doing some rallying and find the ability to talk to each other priceless. The simple things like bathroom breaks and gas stops or heaven forbid mechanical issues need to be communicated to your riding partner.

On my '07 I was normally riding with the seat in the low position all of the time. It was recommended to me that on long trips I try to ride with it in the high position. While it makes flat footing impossible for me it made a huge difference in rider comfort on the slab. Keeps your thighs and butt off the hard parts underneath the seat.

You can do this!

 

[Intech]

NAFO 2012 was in Castlegar, BC. My wife, as pillion, and I did 7500 miles in 14 days of riding for that trip. That was 14 500+ mile days. The bike is made for these type of trips. I had a Corbin seat at the time. I now have a Russel. I loved the Corbin, but I love the Russel even more. So does Spanky.

As for DC and the marathon, I would suggest staying somewhere south of the district and ride the train into DC for the marathon. I have ridden into DC several times. I was up there for the marathon a few years back. I parked my truck in Springfield and rode the metro into the district. Easy. I am in VA just south of DC. Feel free to PM me and I would be happy to help any way I can.

Bob(FYB)

 

[majicmaker]

My *** would be on fire but, for my dad? I'd do it.

 

[jmdaniel]

One thing I have yet to see mentioned on this thread. If you and your brother don't yet have them seriously consider some form of Bluetooth communicators and a way to charge them for the ride. Wife and I have started doing some rallying and find the ability to talk to each other priceless. The simple things like bathroom breaks and gas stops or heaven forbid mechanical issues need to be communicated to your riding partner.

I have a Sena 20S getting delivered today, in prep for a run to the Ozarks soon. Just got tired of running a cord to the Zumo, and think it may come in handy when riding with other like equipped folks.

 

[Big-B]

A pair of LD Comfort shorts for $45 make a big difference in the stock seat.

https://ldcomfort.com/mens-dryline-shorts.html

 

[RyRec]

RyRec I am curious about what modifications have been done to your '07. A few minor things will make your trip much more enjoyable. A few warm up rides would get you more familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of your bike.
Dad's '07 has easily made it from South Louisiana to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and many other parts of this country. As others have stated this bike is a wonderful long distance platform.

Perhaps we could meet in the middle one day and compare modifications and share some miles.

Redfish, thanks for the encouragment. So far I have added MV bar risers, MCL highway pegs, HVMP bar ends, Grab-on grips. Stock seat, stock shield. I haven't taken a trip long enough to know if I need either one of those. If I head east for a day ride I will PM and maybe meet up.

 

[RyRec]

One thing I have yet to see mentioned on this thread. If you and your brother don't yet have them seriously consider some form of Bluetooth communicators and a way to charge them for the ride. Wife and I have started doing some rallying and find the ability to talk to each other priceless. The simple things like bathroom breaks and gas stops or heaven forbid mechanical issues need to be communicated to your riding partner.
On my '07 I was normally riding with the seat in the low position all of the time. It was recommended to me that on long trips I try to ride with it in the high position. While it makes flat footing impossible for me it made a huge difference in rider comfort on the slab. Keeps your thighs and butt off the hard parts underneath the seat.

You can do this!

We both have the Sena10 and it has changed our rides too! Priceless is a good way to put it. And I also ride with the seat in the low position because I like both feet on the ground for stops. And I've thought about the high setting to help relieve hip and knee angles but I haven't thought about the seat being off the brackets underneath and being a softer ride. That's a great point, thank you!

NAFO 2012 was in Castlegar, BC. My wife, as pillion, and I did 7500 miles in 14 days of riding for that trip. That was 14 500+ mile days. The bike is made for these type of trips. I had a Corbin seat at the time. I now have a Russel. I loved the Corbin, but I love the Russel even more. So does Spanky.
As for DC and the marathon, I would suggest staying somewhere south of the district and ride the train into DC for the marathon. I have ridden into DC several times. I was up there for the marathon a few years back. I parked my truck in Springfield and rode the metro into the district. Easy. I am in VA just south of DC. Feel free to PM me and I would be happy to help any way I can.

Bob(FYB)

Thanks Bob, I may be in touch when the time comes. Your suggestion of staying lodging outside of the city and riding the train is helpful. I was wondering about that.

My *** would be on fire but, for my dad? I'd do it.

Haha!! Hell yess!!

 

[HotRodZilla]

The first time I made the trip to Johnson City, the only farkles I had on my bike was a car GPS attached to a ram ball and a Vista Cruise. No special seats, risers, back massagers, *** rubbers, or super duper gizmos. Just balls and rain gear.

Just ride the thing. You can do it.

 

[erixun]

Where do I get an *** rubber? That sounds like the cats meow.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Where do I get an *** rubber? That sounds like the cats meow.

Owosso, or Chandler!

 

[RyRec]

** I want to share pics but not sure how to load media to the forum in order to add the pics to my post. I'll research and add later

I logged 506 miles yesterday with my brother and my dad. My brother and I on the trip for the purpose of seeing if our Texas to D.C. trip is within reason. And my dad on the trip wanting to make some memories. Started from home in northeast Texas and rode up to Mena, Arkansas. We hopped onto Talimena Scenic Drive and then headed home. Seems short and simple and for some of you that is child's play but this has been, by far, my furthest ride. The bike was awesome! The roads were great! The scenery was beautiful!

A couple of things to note...

1) The stock seat felt pretty good. And the stock windshield gave me no fits. I've never owned an aftermarket seat for any of my bikes so I don't know what I am missing. But I shifted on the seat quite a bit. And I used my MCL highway pegs to relieve the knees and hips when needed. On longer rides like this, do you guys moved around and change posture?

2) My throttle hand vibrated pretty bad at different times. I noticed that sitting up straight with my arms bent and loose seemed to help with this. And there were even points in the day that I felt like I was "in the zone" and didn't notice it. I'm wondering if rubber washers on the handle bar bolts would help eleviate these vibrations? Any of you have tips or tricks?

I think if I could log a few more of these long rides I would become more conditioned to the mileage. But I'm not sure I'll have the opportunity. If we had to make a decision today, I would say, YES we are riding to D.C. To be continued....

-Ryan

 

[Niehart]

I logged 506 miles yesterday with my brother and my dad. My brother and I on the trip for the purpose of seeing if our Texas to D.C. trip is within reason. And my dad on the trip wanting to make some memories. -Ryan

LIKE!

 

[rushes]

*snip*

"But I shifted on the seat quite a bit. And I used my MCL highway pegs to relieve the knees and hips when needed.On longer rides like this, do you guys moved around and change posture?"

I stand up on the pegs quite a bit on long rides. Even when using a *custom seat. Seems to help feeling and blood flow in my legs.

*edit (Russell Day Long)

I stand every now and then no matter how my butt feels.

 

[Geezer]

I rode some long days on the stock seat the first few years I had my FJR. It was uncomfortable on hot days, but I got used to it and thought it was OK. Then I saw a used Russell Day Long on the forum for sale and bought it. I will never go back to stock. So, yes, you can ride long days on the stock seat but you'll be happier after you upgrade.

 

[Twigg]

A couple of things to note...

1) The stock seat felt pretty good. And the stock windshield gave me no fits. I've never owned an aftermarket seat for any of my bikes so I don't know what I am missing. But I shifted on the seat quite a bit. And I used my MCL highway pegs to relieve the knees and hips when needed. On longer rides like this, do you guys moved around and change posture?

2) My throttle hand vibrated pretty bad at different times. I noticed that sitting up straight with my arms bent and loose seemed to help with this. And there were even points in the day that I felt like I was "in the zone" and didn't notice it. I'm wondering if rubber washers on the handle bar bolts would help eleviate these vibrations? Any of you have tips or tricks?

I think if I could log a few more of these long rides I would become more conditioned to the mileage. But I'm not sure I'll have the opportunity. If we had to make a decision today, I would say, YES we are riding to D.C. To be continued....

-Ryan

Talimena is an awesome ride not typical of the riding you will experience between Texas and DC. Talimena is technical and easy enough at a modest speed, rather more difficult at rally pace, in the dark I'd recommend that road to everyone if I wasn't trying to keep it quiet

1. The stock seat sucks. They all do for most people. In the 500 miles you rode you would not be shifting around, or squirming ... at all. What you might do on a custom seat is stand sometimes, change your leg position, etc. That is not to relieve butt pain because the seat is uncomfortable, it is to relieve the pressure on knees and hips, and let the blood flow a bit.

2. Rubber mounting the handlebars would make the steering vague and unpleasant, it's not the solution. Getting the bars at the correct height and angle helps a lot. The OEM grips are way too hard and slim for me. Grip Puppies was a total cure. Before them my hands were tingling after twenty miles, afterwards they were fine for 1000 miles. I paid $12 on Amazon for that fix.

Hope that helps.

 

[Fred W]

Part of what bugs your throttle hand is the need to grip it tight enough to hold the throttle from turning itself closed. There are a couple of things that you can do to alleviate that:

You can unwind the throttle return spring one turn on the throttle body. There are several springs and you'll only be unwinding one, so the spring should still be sufficient to close the throttle when released. Reducing the spring tension makes it so you don't have to hold it so tight. Legally you want the throttle to close itself when released. But that's not what happens when you go with option 2

You can get one of many types of throttle locks. Some of the most popular are the Vista Cruise or the Throttlemeister. Both of them just add enough friction that the spring is no longer able to close the throttle on its own and it stays set wherever you put it. This allows you to lighten your grip on that right bar and only re-grip it when you need to adjust the throttle

If you don't already have this, you can buy and use a "Throttle Rocker" or similar type of "wrist rest". The advantages of these things (after you get used to it being there) are that you can completely release your grip on the right bar and the pressure of the heel of your right hand is enough to hold the throttle steady. I started using these things early on, and they pose no issue in the least for me. Some other folks have been miffed by the rocker applying throttle when they didn't want to, mostly because they are first getting used to it being there. After decades of use, I would be miffed if it wasn't there, and I even used one on my dual sport bikes and V-Strom when riding off road.

Cruise control is another option, and a totally worthy one to have, but that only helps when you are in a situation that allows you to set it. The previous options will help both on and off the slab.

 

[BigOgre]

2) My throttle hand vibrated pretty bad at different times. I noticed that sitting up straight with my arms bent and loose seemed to help with this. . . Any of you have tips or tricks?

This is what jumped out at me. Someone awhile ago told me to think of weddings and doing the 'Chicken Dance' with your arms flapping. This should remind you to keep them loose as they naturally tighten up during a ride. Of course a huge downside to this is having that damn song stuck in your head during a great ride.

To take the whole posture thing a step further, Google **** Frantz' Master Yoda's Riding Position when you've got a few minutes.

 

[RyRec]

To each and every one of you, thank you for taking interest in making this trip a possibility for me. I have read every comment and will be revisiting it between now and the fall to keep our pointers fresh on my mind.

I do have grip puppies and that might be the best $12 I've spent on the bike. It changed the entire feel of the bike. And the MV bar riser is also a great mod! Without those, my back and wrist would have been tired or painful. But after the ride my back felt like new and my throttle wrist was only a little tired.

I think I will keep an eye out for a used seat in the classifieds. And the throttle lock sounds like a worthy upgrade too.

Thanks again for y'all's time and encouragement!

-Ryan

 

[jmdaniel]

The numb hand is the only thing I don't like about my '07, and I have tried everything short of the throttle spring release. Used to have Grip Puppies, they weren't bad, but have taken them off, and changed to BMW grips, which to me were better. I also have bar risers and Throttlemeister bar ends installed. Had a Crampbuster/Throttlerocker on, but took it off, as I don't like the size of the paddle right there on the throttle. As always, YMMV, keep trying stuff to see what works for you.