Well I took my roadie for the first real road trip this past weekend. I drove from Dallas to San Antonio and back(600 miles total).

What I learned....

1. The biggest danger while riding on the highways is road debris and/or things falling out of trucks ahead of you. The second biggest danger is cage riders changing lanes into you if for some reason you hang out in their blind spots long enough.

2. Riding during the day is a whole lot less stressfull than riding at night. Why? At night time I found myself constantly glued in to the limited areas of the roadway I could see up ahead for that ever so present road debris; mainly blown out 18 wheeler tires. I was constantly evaluating other cars in front of me to see if they suddenly swerved. Talk about mentally exhausting. Even with my brights on, I could only see enough road to where if I did see an upcoming blown out tire, even at 70mph, I would barely have enough time to take evasive action.

During the day, I didn't have to worry about that and could actually relax and enjoy the scenery more. The only downside to daytime riding is your visibility to other cars around you and the heat, but that didn't seem too bad with the wind.

3. If I had not been wearing riding glasses, I would be missing a right eye today.

4. It's not "if" you will come up on large road debris, it's "when" and how you avoid it.

5. At highway speeds, with a windshield, saddle bags and moderate winds, I would only average 30-32 mpg.

6. Never take a road trip without aftermarket seats.

7. Some sort of cruise control mechanism is a must.

8. Comfortable gloves with gel padding is a must as well.

9. The extra money I spent on Sony plug-in head phones was well worth it.

10. And last but not least, my Road Star is a beast

I-35 from Dallas to the Mexican border is, IMHO, one of the most dangerous roads in America. It's like driving 400 miles on Central Expressway during rush hour. No way would I make that ride on a scooter. Heck, I go out of my way to avoid it in my truck.

I just did my first long long run 3 wks ago.[550mi],and i agree with you. 1} how fast where you riding? 30-32mpg ,i averaged low 40;s 2} did you know stock seats can grow teeth? im buying an ulimate seat ASAP .cant wait for my next long run!

underdog2003 wrote:


6. Never take a road trip without aftermarket seats.

7. Some sort of cruise control mechanism is a must.

8. Comfortable gloves with gel padding is a must as well.

9. The extra money I spent on Sony plug-in head phones was well worth it.

10. And last but not least, my Road Star is a beast

How did we ever get along in the 'old days'.... remember, kick start on 1200+ c.c. engines, drum brakes that faded and quit after 7 seconds, gapping your points, No pressurised oil circulation.. ahhh memories.

ironman wrote:
I just did my first long long run 3 wks ago.[550mi],and i agree with you. 1} how fast where you riding? 30-32mpg ,i averaged low 40;s 2} did you know stock seats can grow teeth? im buying an ulimate seat ASAP .cant wait for my next long run!

I was running around 80mph average into some pretty good headwinds so I'm not surprised. On the way back, I didn't have too much headwind and I averaged about 70-75 mph and I was back up to the low 40's

thats what i thought, normal cruising speeds

I went from Brownwood, Tx to Pagosa Springs, Co stock seat, no throtle lock running 70-75 about 800+ miles averaged about 43-48 mpg on trip and lived to tell about it. By the way the Co guys are so lucky spent 3 days riding around and needed 30 to get everything done I wanted to.

A couple of things help when riding on an interstate. Ride in the tire tracks of where four wheelers run, they knock all of the road debris out of their tire tracks. Don't ride in a car's blind spot unless passing them, and this is more true for big truck's blind spot. Try to anticipate when a car will switch lanes because they are coming upon another car.

My last suggestion is to ride just a little faster than most of the traffic. Then you are coming upon traffic instead of it coming up on you. I think it makes you more aware of what is happening. Works for me.

hillbilly wrote:
I went from Brownwood, Tx to Pagosa Springs, Co stock seat, no throtle lock running 70-75 about 800+ miles averaged about 43-48 mpg on trip and lived to tell about it. By the way the Co guys are so lucky spent 3 days riding around and needed 30 to get everything done I wanted to.

800 miles on a stock seat... that's painful.

Ride my bike to work in traffic most every day, plus rides with the Mrs., solo rides, and group rides. I've got lots of lights and loud pipes so I can be seen and heard easier (also run high beams during the day and spot lamps too). I make sure to roll the throttle when in blind spots so hopefully the cager will know I'm next to them; but with an escape plan in the back of my head in case they don't. Had a few close calls. I would say the most important thing is to be aware of your surroundings and be constantly vigilant. Taking a second to look at something out the corner of your eye when in traffic can be life ending.

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