How far could I ride in 24hrs?
 

Not in a position this year both financially and because of work to go away for more than a week on the bike. I feel like doing something challenging without breaking the bank. I got to thinking, wouldn't it be fun to see how far abroad I could get in 24rs, so I had an idea from Manchester to Riga, latvia is approx 1100 miles. Do you think it is achievable to do this distance non stop in 24hrs? I would spend a few days having a look at Riga, then spend a couple of days getting back.

Has anyone any experience of endurance riding on here? Interested in hearing about long distances covered in a short amount of time.

Cheers

baluchiman

Hey Baluchiman,

An interesting idea, there are a few people that like the challenge of long distance riding. There are a few groups and sites that you may want to refer to (Iron Butt, etc.) to get an idea what some limits are. It'll be interesting to see the responses you get here, but in the past it's not a style a riding that a lot the users here adhere to and hence aren't that supportive of. To each his own though, enjoy your adventure.

1100 km is doable in 24h. many people did this, including me. if you only take motorways, it should take something like 16017 hours.

best of luck

Thanks for replying but you will note I said miles, approx 1900k. Cheers anyway.

[quote=MountainMan;224620]Hey Baluchiman,

There are a few groups and sites that you may want to refer to (Iron Butt, etc.)

I forgot about Iron Butt, cheers.

Remember that most who do a marathon are not much good immediately after it! Setting yourself up for a physically draining thing and then expecting to be good for further activity is bad planning .. you'll need more time to recover than if you were to do something less taxing - say the same distance over twice the time, it would also eat less fuel, ware on tyres etc... think about it .. you don’t want to collapse after the ride there.

Yeah, good advice, thanks.

Did 1000 miles around Ireland with a few mates last
year in 24 hrs ( not many motorways in Ireland)
The last six hours was a killer.........

NO, not in Europe, stop lights etc
but I have gone from Laramie, Wyoming, to New Orleans, Louisiana, a distance of 1620 milles on the ODOMETER (2592 km on GPS) in 21 hours 29 minutes. Also from N.O., LA to Key West, Florida, 2400 miles on the odometer, in 35 hours. Both rides fuel stops only. In my opinion these rides can probably be done only in the USA on the Interstate Highway System, where there are no stop signs and the speed limits vary from 65 to 75 m/hr (104 to 120 km/hr) depending on state laws. (You can exceed these limits by 10% w/o getting fined). Sample:
I-10 runs E/W from Jacksonville, Florida to San Diego, California, approximately 2400 miles that you can ride without putting a foot on the ground except to pump gas (petrol?).
Iron Butt has a tightly controlled bi-yearly rally that requires you to ride 1000 miles/day (1600km) for eleven consecutive days. I participated in -05 and -07, Very,very tough.
Good luck with your ride, Hans Karlsson (hansthebiker@yahoo.com)
PS Perhaps Australia's Outback could also accommodate these long haul rides.

if you must be ready for it. here is some people that like to do miles like that. IBA - World's Toughest Motorcycle Riders

I would think that you should break down the trip to 2 days getting there, 2 days back, with 3 days there. The recovery time either way will be too exhausting to get back to a somewhat normal state after a 24 hour ride, I would think, but could be done with a post-ride nap after 12 hours.

You never did say what bike you plan to use. This will definitely be a factor.

I don't think reading up on the Iron Butt rally will have much use to you, and your intended trip, unless you wanted to turn your trip into a personal endurance run rather than sightseeing.

Stop lights? On motorways?
You can do this easily on European motorways, especially Germany, France, Spain.
I've often driven, not ridden, between Slovenia/Croatia and northern Germany with kids in the car in far less than 24 hours. Plus a couple of times between Frankfurt and Granada, 2200km or so in about 27 hours - and that's with breaks for the kids to have a run around.

If you wanted to do it I don't think you'd have any problem. We regularly do the 750 miles between our house near Oxford and a flat in the alps in around 15 -16hrs, including the ferry and without breaking any speed limits. I've even done it a couple of times in the winter on my old XR600 on knobbly tyres in about the same time.

If you're starting in the UK timing the channel crossing is the biggest problem. It could take under an hour if you use the tunnel and get your arrival time right or about four hours if you use the boats and get it wrong.

If you are just wanting to see 'far flung' Europe rather than specifically wanting the challenge of riding a huge distance then another option could be the Auto trains.

OK so it adds extra expense but it does mean that your bike and yourself can cover a good few hundred k overnight while you rest, taking you into pretty much whatever part of Europe you want. Autozug in Germany and Rail Europe in France are two such examples that I am considering for a possible mini european tour this year.

One thing you don't mention is what bike you are riding, while it is possible to ride 1100miles in 24 hours on pretty much anything, it would be a lot more comfortable on some bikes than others.

Done just over 1000 miles a couple of times only stoping for fuel and cram some food in before going again. As someone else said the last miles are killers on the bum and mentally. Both times I've done it I sleep for a good 14hours after. So no real gain but I just love doing it.:D

Everything is worth doing once!

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.

I think you are lucky and perhaps haven't been riding the same places I have. The worst places to pick up the sort of detritus that causes punctures is farm yards (where small tracks pass through) and service stations that serve trucks. Thorn punctures in warmer places are a pain, but it's a while since I had one of those.

I've looked at the IBA and talked to a few members. I'm a sales rep, so turning in 1000 miles in 24 hours or whatever doesn't worry me. I've done similar trips on a bike for the simple reason I decided to try and make a ferry after staying too long in Sweden. What worries me with IBA is that they first of all promote this as something to aspire to and they promote it in Europe where travel is a lot more complicated than sitting on a paved highway and watching the diner adverts go by for hours at a time.

If you want to practice this sort of riding in the UK try the National Road Rally. 600 "official!" miles in 18 hours, plus whatever run you make to the start and home and whatever you cover while lost. The control structure makes speeding and not resting pointless, unlike IBA where it is rewarded unless you get caught (you could get an award from IBA so long it wasn't a real copper who did you in the UK, what's the chances of that!). I did the NRR last year and with the weather only about 1/3rd of riders finished. This to me shows the sort of restraint required to do this without risk, you have to be prepared to change plans as well as having a plan to start with.

I'm guessing we'll never agree over the IBA, so lets call it :offtopic: ? :thumbup1:

Andy

having tried daft distances in the whole two years ive ridden bikes i'd say 1200miles is the limit on a comfy bike. its more like 800 if you want to wake up the next day though.
I've done Essex, England to Bad Grund, Germany in a day each way including ferries & it was a full day. i think on the way out i left about 5am & got there around 6pm. i was on my gsx1400 so not hanging about either - also it gets drafty holding 120-140mph without even a flyscreen down the autobahns :innocent:

There does seem to be alot of the knocking here, and that is not necessarily a good thing. I suggested that the poster split his ride up to two 500 mile days not because I think the IB is not a good thing, but for the riders intended purpose, which was to see Latvia for a few days and ride back for his one week off.

The Iron Butt is obviously for the ride itself--to test one's personal limits over time/distance and some ego thrown in, not to sightsee or getting to a particular destination. I would consider doing one just to see if I could do it, not to get anywhere in particular.

If you don't have much time and you want to go somewhere far I think it's a good idea to combine IB and a holiday. I've done it (well not officially, just ridden the distances) for a few times and at least for me it suits fine.
For example: I start my trip in Finland by riding to Helsinki. From Helsinki I take a ferry to Estonia and arrive there, let's say, 7 P.M. From Estonia I ride 24 hours in which I cover at least 1600 km, find a place to stay overnight, eat, have a beer, go to bed and wake up the next morning fully rested at 7 A.M. to start a normal day rhythm. Now I'm closer to my destination and that gives me extra time to go sightseeing something that I really want to.

I can't say that it works for everyone but for me it does.

Jami

Hey, Baluchiman. If you're going to be in Riga for the weekend of 7-8-9 August, I'll buy you a beer! I'll be there for the Latvian Sidecar Motocross Grand Prix in Kegums, very close to Riga.

I must be completely lazy, because I never underestimate sleep. The more, the better for me. Maybe that is why the IB would be such an accomplishment for me--I would have to stay awake longer than sleep, LOL! From my (non-motorcycle) trips to Europe in my college years, I could never understand how people could drink all night,and be awake for the breakfast that usually came with the bed and breakfast!!

Hey baluchiman,

Last year we (2 up on a africa twin) went from the midlands to romania in just over 2.5 days. We made the same decision as you, e.g. rush to the spot you want to look at and slow down there! Day one we went from home via the tunnel to just outside linz (total trip: day one was about 900miles). It was do able and we decided to not ride at night. I do have to say by the time we ended each night i was completely exhausted and each day I got tired earlier. By the 3rd day (in Romania only 4 hours of riding) I was so tired that all i wanted to do was get off the bike, we checked into an 5* hotel (which we never do) and collapse. So one up and if you are willing to ride after dark you should be able to get a lot farther then us. So go for it and have fun but be careful, and there are tones of roadside good/cheap/clean hotels so stop when you want to (a schedule is no fun if you are exhausted)!

Go for it
 

1000 miles or thereabouts on a modern bike on proper roads is no big deal, really. But, as several posters have pointed out, you'll need have a really good sleep after that. In order to prevent snoozing off and wasting a day, perhaps scheduling the trip carefully would be a good idea, ie, departure at 7 pm, so as to arrive at the same time or before at your destination. You will miss out on one day (or is it night?) of nightlife, that's all.

Careful scheduling and planning is the key here, you should know whether you are on time or behind schedule, and know how much time you have to burn at any point of time. You should also be comfortable sitting on the saddle for hours at a stretch - the biggest enemy of high average speeds is not low speeds, but frequent stoppages.

Unless you are grossly unfit (or have never ridden for 20+hrs at a stretch), you'll be firing on all cylinders the next day. You'll have much more time in Riga as opposed to taking two days each way, and you just might meet more interesting people there than on the motorway.