I can agree with you on everything but the aftermarket seat, I still have my stock seat and love it, maybe my butt has molded to it or something…lol.
I left out of Pittsburgh early in the morning and got to Rolla Missouri late at night, its around 750 miles of riding, about my limit for a day at my age.
I always wear a helmet,
I always wear goggles,
I always wear gloves,
I have that expensive machined aluminum throttle lock that disconnect with the front brakes, I would recommend that to anyone.
I do have crash bars and hi-way pegs so I can prop my feet up.
I wear glasses so I use those airfoil over the glasses goggles, Love Em!!
The more you ride long, the more comfortable you get doing it, just don’t let your mind wander to far as the miles melt away, it will bite you in the ass if you do!
I try to ride a little faster than the traffic so they are not passing me, I am passing them or the really fast cars are passing me.
One thing to remember,
Treat all the big metal things out there as the enemy; they all want to kill you.
It’s your job to stay alive.
Howie