I don't think the VFR is a long distance bike

Since buying my '06 I went on a 400mi. 1-day ride and said "That's the most I ever want to ride this in one day". Then 2 years ago I rode it down to Arkansas doing a 550mi. day coming home. Now this past weekend we went to Arkansas again riding 2,000mi. in 4 days with 2 - mi. days. I have to say as much as I like riding this bike, sure hurts to do these long days.

Now distance isn't a big deal for me since I rode my ST1300 6,200mi. in 2 weeks back in June. I have done an 1,100mi. day on my '99 Buell, with all kinds of 'almost' 1,000mi. days on the ST. But this VFR just makes me hurt.

I have heli-bar risers, lowered pegs, a Corbin seat. I did ride a guy's BMW K1200S and as much as I liked that bike, there is no way my knees would have liked that bike.

 

Clicked off 5000 miles in the last three weeks and would say you are correct that there are more comfortable bikes but none that I could do the double duty like the VFR. 600 miles to Long's with Ortega Hwy and Mount Palomar along the way in the same day.............the VFR is at the top of the list for that.

 

I just went on vacation to the dragon and back and I know what you mean. I know that getting some heli bars and BLS peg lowering blocks or Sato pegs are going to do a LOT for me. I've already got a Sargeant seat but after a while there is only so much you can do to keep the ass from going numb. 480 miles each way and about 400 while we were down there. I don't even want to know how you managed to do almost 1k miles Tink.... It took us 9 to almost do 500.

And yes, I would love to trailer my VFR on the back of my Goldwing.. if only I had a Goldwing. (Go ahead. Call me GFAR, I've got it coming for saying that).

 

My longest ride in one sitting=840 miles

The Sargent seat made all the difference. Otherwise...I have no complaints

I like long days in the saddle

 

The longest day that I went in the last 3 years was on my wife's VTR250 We rode 400 miles two up. The next longest distance on a bike was 344 in 2005. Cept that I was on my bicycle.

 

1200 miles in 3 days... on the STOCK seat! I wanted to throw the bike off of a cliff when i got home. Now with the Sargent seat rode I did the same distance to Long's party in 3 days and it wasn't that bad; it's just that first rush of blood to your when you first get off the seat that makes you want to :censored:

 

Anybody here in that club that does 1,000 mile days with no seat?

 

I find the bum sure does hurt with the stock saddle.

My main discomfort is inbetween my shoulder blades.

I still think it's a perfect bike. Eats up the Highway miles, and handles great on the twisties.
Great fuel economy too!

 

Hmmmmm... maybe it has something to do with weight? I don't think I'm anything extraordinary, but I regularly do 500-700 mile days on mine. I recently did an Iron Butt ride... 1020 miles in 18.5 hours. The last 2 hours my wrists started to get a little bit sore, but other than that and little bit of fatigue from being up so long, I was fine. Typically if I know I'm gonna be on a long ride, I start changing positions right out of the gate. I'll ride "normally" for a while, lean forward more to take weight off my butt for a while, sometimes I lean over the windscreen, putting my left arm on the windscreen with hand hanging over in front. Sometimes I sit half-assed, with body turned a little bit and one knee ends up sticking out a little bit. Sometimes I turn back and grab the passenger grab bar with my left hand to get a small stretch. But I find, if I'm not moving due to twisty roads and I'm just slabbing it, I MUST change positions regularly. If you guys are already doing that, then I guess I don't hurt because I'm probably 40 to 80lbs. (or more) lighter than all of you....

All I've done for comfort purposes is get a Sargent Seat and Vibranators in the handlebars.... I admit, the stock seat killed my arse after only about 2 hours.

 

I'm 140lbs.

If you're 40 to 80lbs lighter than me, than I've got questions.
lol

 

it is very individual, to do with fitness plus body type, some of us are longer in leg or torso or arm, even for the same height

years ago, a buddy needed to move two of his bikes from one house to the other, and enlisted me to drive one of them. We are about the same height, he maybe an inch taller than I. So the two bikes are a Ducati 996 (maybe?) and a MV Agusta Senna. Ride of I don't know, maybe 150 miles. I started off on the Duck, he on the MV. Part way along the route, we stop for gas, he asks to switch, I of course oblige. Little while later, we stop for food and switch back. The Duck is killing me, but I don't say anything. Figure at the time I ride more than him, so it is going to bother me less than him. And the break on the MV was good and refreshed me a little. After we get back and drop off the bikes, go out to dinner with the wives and talk about the ride. He aplogizes for making me ride the MV for a while, saying something like "I know it is brutal, but I just couldn't handle it anymore and needed a break". Come to find out, while I found the MV quite comfortable and the Duck quite uncomfortable -- brutal really; he was just the oppisate, finding the MV brutal and the Duck more comfy - totally different impressions. We both rode the less comfortable bike, trying to be nice to the other, when we each could have been comfortable just being self centered and grabbing the keys to the one we liked better! ;-)

 

I figured size would enter in to it, I'm 6'1", 200#. My knees have a tendency to be the biggest problem but when I hang my heels on the rear pegs it helps (also takes the weight off the butt too). On this ride I was cramping a little just above my right wrist. A little disconcerting when hot in a curve.

My wife wants me to get a Wing but I keep telling her that I'm not ready for a grampa bike. Maybe when I retire and I can ride mega trips all the time.

 

Sounds like ol Spike would rather switch than fight. The opening paragraph is just bloody brilliant too.

 

Passenger pegs are meant for one thing, a pillion not ur dogs :smile:

Its a simple matter of physics, with your dogs on the dedicated operator foot pegs you gots LEVERAGE your gona have to do some evasive maneuver one day, maybe avoid a dawg or a cinder-block in the road and your gona be fucked cause you got your dogs all the way in back of yah. Just my two cents of course :wink: If my old lady suggested getting a gold-wing I would throw a shoe at ErrrRRR

 

How bout a couple of hose clamps on the fork tubes and some of those chrome pegs that look so cool on HDs? IMO a few minutes on those passager pegs is fine but only until a person is through texting.

 

Maybe in California where you have all those nutty drivers, but I'm in the Midwest where we just have to worry about tractors