What do you think you do that helps ride long distances.

Consider adding potassium and see if that helps reduce the cramping. Have a banana with the water.

 

I actually think setting up the bike for a long ride is the most important thing you can do, my bike is set up for short trips right now-my dunlops would just burn up too fast if I took real long trips. They do seem to be lasting quite good how ever and air pressure is one reason why-35.5 front and 37.5 rear seem to be good-too much air and the bike bounce's too much over rough roads. I would add more air if I add more weight, not that more though. I think the seat is very important and the heli-bars and lowing pegs do help a lot-they look cool too. Working on my light s today maybe-its very nice out today -close to perfect.:bluesbros:

 

Lowing pegs will help a lot for cramped legs.

 

Definitely hydrate and stretching at stops. But, even with that, my right shoulder/upper back gets very painful after multiple long days. Happens on any style bike. Have never solved that one.

 

Setting the bike up without have a strong body core and being somewhat physically fit is a waste of money. I have seen hundreds of riders address the symptom but not the root cause of the issue.

If you have back pain, numbness in hands, sore neck and shoulders, achy knees, etc. they are all things dealing with your body. Yes ergonomics do play a factor but only address the symptom not the cause.

Also don't make your bike what it isn't. Don't make a sport bike in to a touring bike and expect it to act like a sport bike. the same hold true for others. I see many folks want to make their Sport Tour in to a touring bike and then wonder why it does not perform the same. Long distance riding may require something different. Do some riders use sport bikes for long distance? Yes. That does not mean we all can. We are all different and require different tools for those long distance rides.

 

The vfr is like a Cadillac to me-my last bike was real bad in comfort -the Yamaha R6-thats one reason why I got rid of it-it also had the second gear-problem that I didn't won't to bother with. I lide my vfr today with one bad light-it just too nice to fix it right now. I have joined a health club and work out with weights-it does help a lot-I also do like fixing the bike myself if I can-I make mistakes but that is part of the fun- I get a pee shooter when get around to it- the cw380 tiny but well made-I think it would be fun to go to a gun range and see how good I good shoot with that tiny monster.

 

I have spent a lot of time with chiropractors and they have impressed on me that muscle balance is the key to this type of problem. Just like on the bike, I am somewhat slumped forward on my keyboard the entire day. The muscles that promote this slumping are shortened and over-used and the muscles that counter this movement are stretched and weak. After a while this becomes permanent and the constant pain (well mine is) indicates that our geometry is wrong. To counter the effects we are suppose to strengthen all of these muscles to get them back to their correct length, and to balance them against each other. Consider exercises: pull-downs and pull ups vs lifting dumbbells, butterfly vs. reverse butterfly, and row vs. push up (is there a reverse row?). A light dumbbell raised and lowered behind the neck is an excellent exercise as well.

I feel compelled to include a warning: Be careful and do not overdo the weight or the reps. A large number of people who put dumbbells in their hands create injuries. Small weights, medium reps, and do not over strengthen one muscle or the other. Twenty pull downs at 50 lbs per side means that twenty lifts of 50 lbs per side should feel exactly the same for example. Even without massive Arnold-like strength, a perfect balance will make you feel better.

The constant battle is because work burns me out, it has been too easy to get out of this routine and not stay with it.

 

I am 62 and started my workout program almost 2 years ago. The wife and I do all exercising in the home and we elected to higher a training for 12 weeks to design a program that would fit each of us. We did this instead of buying a gym membership and not knowing what to do. The first 6 weeks used only core body weight after that light weights were introduced. Even now our heaviest weight is a 30 pound dumbbell.

At about the time of the end of the first 6 weeks I started to have severe neck and lower back pain. It brought tears to my eyes. I too went to the chiropractor and found out I have arthritis in my cervical and lumbar regions of my back and all disks are collapsed. He wanted me to continue to exercise and added exercises to add flexibility to my back and neck. My vertebrae were fusing and he had to break that up by contorting my body in way you cannot image. My back pain will never go away and may get worse over time but exercising and doing the right exercises is key to being able to move. It is also the only way I will be able to continue riding motorcycles.

 

Electronic cruise control and good music are the ideal touring companions for me.

 

Grabcon, that hurt just reading it. Stretching is the key, atleast for me.
I feel your pain

 

Grabcon, you and me are twins.

So what caused your back condition? Career? Or decades of riding?

I wish you well my friend.

 

I too get leg cramps. Here is what I find is the problem. If you drink a lot of soda the co2 helps promote the cramps so back off carbonated drinks. Dehydration is a big cause of leg cramps. This being said I had a nurse tell me that the doctor she worked for prescribed Quinine for leg cramps. She said to drink Tonic Water for the quinine that is in it. I guess the quinine is more impotant then the CO2. I drink Tonic water from time to time and it helps. When I am done for the night Gin and tonic works good as well!

 

Leg cramps, and I get severe ones, plain old water is the only way for me to get rid of them, they are obviously caused by dehydration in my case

 

Who knows. arthritis is just one of those things. I have had it in my hands for year and I would suspect in has been going on in my neck and back for 20 years. The collapsed disks are from lack of EXERCISE!!!

 

lack of exercise should be easy to fix join a health club

 

Joining a health club doesn't do much if you don't know what exercises to do, what equipment to use, etc. We do all exercising at home. It is cheap and the trainer we hired at the beginning (expensive, but cheaper than a gym in the long term) of this nearly two years ago put together programs for us. Warm ups, cool downs, 12 week programs for cardio and strength, dietary needs, and most important an upfront evaluation of where we were physically, recovery time, fat and muscle measurements and then a 6 and 12 week evaluation. This sets the stage for your progress and changes required in the program and dietary needs. Plus working out at home saves at least an hour a day in travel time. You only need a 10 x 10 area to workout in. I have yet to see a health club offer this kind of program.

 

I have to agree with grabcon on the conditioning issue. I dropped 75 pounds and started to seriously work out 36 years ago. I'm now 66. The VFR is very comfortable for me. As I mentioned previously, I just finished a 5k ride in 13 days with stock ergos on the bike. I also ride my CBR1000rr at the track twice a month. All my friends say I'm sooo lucky to be able to still ride a sportbike. But I know it's taken a sincere effort on my part since I was 30. It may not be easy, but anyone can benefit from increased conditioning. You don't have a become a monk either. It also pays dividends in every aspect of your life! I also consider myself lucky because some of you have had life altering injuries that can't be ignored.

 

I couldn't agree with you more. Keeping fit is the best way of ensuring that you can ride distances comfortably. The problem with a lot of people when they start a fitness regimen for the first time, is that they overdo it. They are interested in getting quick results so spend a fair amount of time, too much time, in the first few weeks. Then they lose interest because it takes too many hours out of their week.

I go to the gym twice, sometimes 3 times a week. I have a regimen of 6 exercises. Five for my body and one for my legs. I only take about 40 minutes for the whole routine. It's about a 10 minute walk to the gym, and after the workout I walk very briskly taking 20 to 30 minutes to get home. That's about 1.5 hours tops. There are days I feel tired but still go. It always energizes me. If I was doing this 4 or 5 times a week I would soon loose interest, too time consuming. You just have to pick a regimen that fits your lifestyle.

 

Yoga.. and wiggle a lot on the bike. Sitting still will kill you. I agree with the last few comments on working out, or what ever you want to call it. I see a physical therapist for PT and a Chiro just to keep things where they need to be. That last get off 6 years ago really wadded me up. Now 61 I actually feel ok except for the stiffness that sets in for sitting in one place to long. also been diagnosed with arthritis in L1-2 with some sort of SI thing too. So yes stretching, yes Yoga , working the mind as well. I also mix in riding the bicycle, 10-15 miles a week, I was going to say ride the bike, but figure it wouldn't have been understood

 

My sargent seat helps a LOT, the stock seat is a piece of wood.