Who tours on a sports bike?

[Resto lad]

First and foremost.
I will not start with "my sports bike is a ??blagh blagh??
AND i rode from X to b then back to z ,
"ride what you like, were eva you chose"

Here are some practical tips for those of us who rack up the kilometers
in the sports bike position.

1 fitness is your friend ( strengthen your core )
2 build up the miles before the big holiday, progressively increase distances until your in the saddle, for 2 hours +
3 when coming in to 50km zones, lift the throttle hand up by your helmet
wiggle it around maintain speed & lift off again as much as you want,
this gets the blood circulating again. amazing how much further you can ride
pain free.
4 try a neoprene/Velcro wrist support on the throttle hand. (amazing)
5 you'll love the twisties & gorge's, but long straights mean pain!!
so change where you hold the grips, i find out wide (on da bar weights)
is a pleasant relief when things get straight & boring.
6 Focous on touring, its no race, take in the sights,Quality time with the missus? stop where and when you want, no hard and fast plans.

Hope this helps??
ENJOY

[98tls]

Damn this thread is getting lame,next thing there will be a book on "how to survive riding past a cafe".If its got 2 wheels you can tour on it.

[nallac]

what are these cafe things you speak of ???
are they like a pub? they have beer ?

[Yanosh]

I'm doing a 2 up tour of both islands in the summer on my R1... If the missus says she's happy to do it, then I'm sure as shit not selling my R1 to get something 'comfortable'!!

[justsomeguy]

Damn this thread is getting lame,next thing there will be a book on "how to survive riding past a cafe".If its got 2 wheels you can tour on it.

Yeah - but it doesn't hurt if you can do it comfortably.

A bit of fitness, a bit of attention to decent posture and one would have a lot more energy for the rest of the fun stuff one does on holidays.

That way - you can do 600-1000 kms of riding - and have the energy to go out for dinner - and have the energy to support the shareholders of Durex later on.

Then do it all the next day.

[Boob Johnson]

Yep just did a shade over 1300km's on a 97 ZX7R in 3 days, bloody magic, loved every minute of it

[dpex]

Hi,

Looking at doing a tour of the north island with my wife (she will be riding her own bike) over xmas and want to do it on a sports bike (e.g. R1, Fireblade, ZX10R, not sports tours) and want to know if people have done this and regreted it due to riding position etc and getting to tired/sore to actually enjoy the ride.

Currently don't have a bike and will be buying one again for this (and for fun after of cause).

Thoughts? Am I crazy?

Cheers.

The big affair here is time-in-the-saddle. I tour far and wide on my Yami 600. For the first little while I used to get quite tired after just a couple of hundred Ks, but now, having done over 10K Ks in about three months I find a quick 600k ride, a ride in the park.

Last weekend I did AK-to-Taupo. Taupo-to-Turangi. Turangi-to-Tokaroa, all on Saturday....and believe me, because my throttle kept jambing open, some of it (read a lot) was hard work. Then Sunday I did Turangi-to-Tauranga. Then home to AK. Had it not been for a suspect puncture repair I would have done the Miranda-to-Ak just for drill.

Didn't feel at all tired.

But three months ago I did my first tour to Rotorua. Sure, the weather was the pits, but I was knackered when I got to Rotorua and stupidly pushed on to Tauranga.

I think it's important to remember that bike-riding is a very physical thing. And so a good metaphor (here ya go katman, a new metaphor for you to salivate over) would be day-one at the gym. One hundred days later you wondered what all the fuss was about on day-one.

Same with tour riding. So...Just take it easy. By the end of the tour you'll be a different rider.

I'm going to 'do' as much of the South Island as poss over Xmas.

And so yes, you will get tired at the start. New bike=stress. Lack of time in saddle= stress and fatigue. But hey? What's the hurry? Stop a lot. Make love in the bushes. Have fun.

One last point. Apart from the head-trip of owning something bigger than 600CCs, personally I can't see the point. A good rider on 600 will dick any egg on a bigger bike. And so what if it takes you 3-tenths of a second longer to get to 100k in first?

Sure, when you're moving at 200+ a heavier bike is 'probably' a bit more stable, but how often will you get into that zone?

If that makes sense let me say that Frosty has a very 'hot' Suzuki 600 for under 6K. I must admit I've been eying it myself.

Hope all that helps.

Dpex-The-Loquacious

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

Damn this thread is getting lame,next thing there will be a book on "how to survive riding past a cafe".If its got 2 wheels you can tour on it.

But that's weekend riders for you...


The other half is happy to tour about on her VTR 250...

• The main trick is to stop and do the sight seeing thing, I mean you are on tour...
• Don't hoon about... it can get tiring... ride smoothly at a steady comfortable pace. Again remember for sight seeing you are on holiday, no point going somewhere and not actually see where you have been ...
• Sheep Skin can add extra comfort.
• Stop, Eat, take photos, Keep fluid intakes up
• ... blah blah blah...

[-df-]

The big affair here is time-in-the-saddle. I tour far and wide on my Yami 600. For the first little while I used to get quite tired after just a couple of hundred Ks, but now, having done over 10K Ks in about three months I find a quick 600k ride, a ride in the park.

Last weekend I did AK-to-Taupo. Taupo-to-Turangi. Turangi-to-Tokaroa, all on Saturday....and believe me, because my throttle kept jambing open, some of it (read a lot) was hard work. Then Sunday I did Turangi-to-Tauranga. Then home to AK. Had it not been for a suspect puncture repair I would have done the Miranda-to-Ak just for drill.

Didn't feel at all tired.

But three months ago I did my first tour to Rotorua. Sure, the weather was the pits, but I was knackered when I got to Rotorua and stupidly pushed on to Tauranga.

I think it's important to remember that bike-riding is a very physical thing. And so a good metaphor (here ya go katman, a new metaphor for you to salivate over) would be day-one at the gym. One hundred days later you wondered what all the fuss was about on day-one.

Same with tour riding. So...Just take it easy. By the end of the tour you'll be a different rider.

I'm going to 'do' as much of the South Island as poss over Xmas.

And so yes, you will get tired at the start. New bike=stress. Lack of time in saddle= stress and fatigue. But hey? What's the hurry? Stop a lot. Make love in the bushes. Have fun.

One last point. Apart from the head-trip of owning something bigger than 600CCs, personally I can't see the point. A good rider on 600 will dick any egg on a bigger bike. And so what if it takes you 3-tenths of a second longer to get to 100k in first?

Sure, when you're moving at 200+ a heavier bike is 'probably' a bit more stable, but how often will you get into that zone?

If that makes sense let me say that Frosty has a very 'hot' Suzuki 600 for under 6K. I must admit I've been eying it myself.

Hope all that helps.

Dpex-The-Loquacious

I ended up getting a 2001 R1 that has been mostly streetfightered (just doing the rest now). The main reason I like the litre bikes is if you just want to cruise you have a shitload of torque to play with...and if ya want to make it scream...she's happy to.

Been out riding a little bit and finding it great to be in the saddle again, this bike seems to have it all, comfort, performance, etc.

My biggest concern was that I've turned into a lard arse over the last few years...but I'm working on that as we speak.

BTW, good to see my old bike getting used like it should have been when I had it (yours is the blue YZF with a dent in the tank?)

EDIT: sorry, must have been someone else on here with my old bike...same as yours but just seen your one in ya profile...different bike.