Thanks to everyone for the info. I just wanted to know if the average Joe could do it. Afterall, i'm no Nick Sanders. I'm, really interested in the challenge, but not at the cost of mine and other road users though!

Do a search for IRONBUTTS. That will give yo sme ideas what you can do in 24 hours.

1000 miles is not difficult in 24 hours. I did it on my Intruder 800 last year.

Having said that you do not have to travel long distances to have a good holiday. The more you are on the bike the less people you are meeting.

Steve

Hi Baluchiman

I think that's a good idea. I've done 1700-1800 km in 24h few times through the Baltic states for the same reasons, just to save time. It's totally doable but it's definetely not fun all the time. It's all about the rhythm between riding and pauses. And you REALLY don't have extra time on your pauses. I really like the feeling you get after riding a distance like that: When you've just been riding all day it takes you a while to realize you're in another country. It's like you haven't really ridden but instead teleported yourself there. Well that has been my feeling anyway. What's your route? BTW, Poland can be somewhat slow but Lithuania and Latvia are quite fast. It's a good thing that they're Schengen countries now so you don't even have to stop at the borders.

Jami

Hi Jani

Thanks for replying. I would take the train from Folkstone UK to Calais, France. I would then travel North through Belgium, Netherlands, East Germany, Poland, Lithuania and into Latvia. I would then spend a few days partying in Latvia then take a couple of days to return home.

Cheers

baluchiman

Sorry, I meant JAMI

No worries. You've got so much motorways on your way that 1100 miles shouldn't be a problem. That is if you really have decided to do it. I've found on my travels that it gets easier after 800 km because my ass goes numb. But I am traveling with an R1 though.

Jami

Last september I came back from the German bike raly in Hamm to western France in one go (1200Km). Leaving after breakfast there and stopping only for fuel/food and comfort stops. It was ok, but the following day I developed backache which got bad and really took best part of two months to completely heal, first back pain I have had since 1971. Whilst it can be a challenge i dislike as a matter of principal anyone 'stretching their limits' on a public road.
Why not ride around in circles and see if you can beat the 24hours 2400+ mile record Velocette set in 1961 on a 500cc Venom?

i dislike as a matter of principal anyone 'stretching their limits' on a public road.


You make a very valid point, hence, my remarks further up ie, 'not at the cost of others on the road'. To go round in circles really would seem pointless. As an overlander, I like to set out in one direction to somewhere I haven't been before. I do understand what you say though.

Cheers

baluchiman

I think that the purpose of Iron Butt is to learn to pace your trip and to know yourself so that it would actually make your riding safer when you learn to know when to rest. I think. And the same propably goes with backaches, etc. too. Personally I've never had any backaches because of riding so far so I can't really say anything about that.

Jami

Yeah, the Iron Butt seems very well organised.

The speed limit in our 'Northern Territory' (we have 7 states covering the country [yes 7 - covering about the same area as mainland US] - this is one of them in loose terms) was unlimited .. now it is 130 km/h. Elsewhere in the country the main roads are 100 to 110 km/h. As a generalisation most of the roads in heavy population centres bypass the towns.. but in the vast open places they go straight through the town - so you have slow speed bits where you can have traffic lights etc..

Personnally I see little point in doing long distance rides just to do long distances.. I usually have some sights to see and a loose plan of how to do it and go with that.

I was trying to say, setting over ambitious targets for daily mileage is counter productive.. Sometimes to get to a ferry etc. it might have to be done, but I seldom enjoy those trips, dont get to see much or relax, so might as well spend the time on a track and get the adrenalin going. You will have about the same amount of interaction with the locals and scenery

Totally agree.

Iron Nutt thing aside (it's a one off, unstustainable ride without any time dependant issues), what would a plan actually look like? OK, you are on the road at 0600 and can ride at 80 mph for 160 miles before you are low on fuel. Fuel/comfort stop then takes 15 minutes. Four of those means 640 miles in 9 hours, so it's now 1500. You take an additional 30 minutes for a meal break (1530), then put in another 8 3/4 hours. You are now 1280 miles from the start point and it's 0015. You can be in your bivvy bag of hotel room by 0100 and get five hours sleep :(.

The problem is a list of what if's. I'm a sales rep and doing 6 monthly resets on my GPS I can tell you the average, mostly motorway speed is under 45 mph. I have a bike puncture about once a year and they take half an hour to fix, more if you find somewhere to wash up etc. I've known fuel stops take over an hour due to tanker delivery problems and so on. Even with just bad traffic, you could find yourself 250 miles or five hours away from your destination when you planned to finish. Will the hotel be open? Does the campsite lock it's gate, it all causes stress.

I'd rather plan a 500 mile day even if I do nothing but lube the chain and have a beer with a spare three hours before bed time. For an overnight ferry I will do 700 mile days, but only if I can be on the road, do the miles at 45 and still be there for when they lower the ramp.

Oh, if you do plan high speed, do a test run. The time and money spent feeding a bike that's doing 40 mpg not 50 is a real waste and I've known bikes that drop 20% of the fuel economy for 10% extra speed.

Enjoy you trip however you do it.

Andy

Before anyone starts knocking the Iron Butt organisation it would be good if they don`t rely on their own ignorance and do a little research to find something about what they do and what their aims are.

I consider myself to be a safe rider and driver and do all I can to promote the good side of motorcycling to anyone I meet.

I am also a member of the Iron Butts.

It is not all about speed but it is about careful planning.

Steve

three wheel wrote "I have a bike puncture about once a year and they take half an hour to fix, more if you find somewhere to wash up etc."

This year I had a new tyre and also had a tube fitted at the same time ( porous ally rim) on my 1985 R80RT. after 2,000 miles it failed because the tube had perished where it had been folded at some time. Prior to that my last puncture on a bike was 1961 on my tiger ciub :)

Am I lucky or you unlucky ???
But then I was only stopped twice in over 100 K miles on 60's Triumphs and neither was the bikes fault.