Honest answers needed.

PapaGeno21

PapaGeno21

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Alright so basically today I did my longest ride yet. 436 miles in one day, about 350 were highway miles. What I am wondering is how many of you can do longer than that, or about the same but get rid of your ass having insane pain from the seat?

I got another stock seat and removed some foam and cut the walmart gel seat pad that everyone loves and put that in there. Deff a huge improvement over stock, but still leaves a lot to be desired.

OR am I asking too much?

I would say I was comfortable until around 140-160 miles worth of riding as we had a gas stop in the middle of that but the rest of the day it seemed like every hour or hour and a half I had to get off the bike for a few mins.

I have installed satans highway pegs, and those paid them selves off today. Never thought I would like them as much as I do now, as I did not use them much in the few weeks I have had them but today they really shined. However, I am still not able to just get super comfy for really long rides. OR like I said, am I asking too much?

Is it normal even for you people with expensive aftermarket seats to want to get off the bike every 100 miles or so? I basically cannot figure out if I am where the normal is for ass pain and long riding, or if my seat just sucks the big one.

For the record, I have not found a bike out of the 6 I have owned this has not happened with, but I love this bike to death and that is not going to change. Just wondering if where I am at now is basically the norm. I just don't understand how these people in the IBR are doing 1000 mile days, and I read about other people doing 6-700 mile days and not complaining.

Thanks for any input!
 
Don't feel bad. When I saw how many miles you guys did, I was so impressed! No way am I doing over 400 miles in one day unless I make frequent stops. My old legs are falling asleep at 120 miles, as well as my butt! Try getting a decent pair of Biker's Shorts. Quite a few people use them with good results. I guess they have padding in the "cheek" region which relieves some of the harshness of the bicycle seats, and you know how uncomfortable those are! I'm still proud of you guys!
 
I am the same as Billy. I could do more but when I go on a trip I don't want to feel rushed or feel like I have a schedule that must be kept. I try to limit it to 350 - 380 miles a day. That gives me plenty of time to relax, eat, rest and see the sights on the way.

My fun single day rides usually top out no more than about 250 miles but we do that in about 3.5 - 4 hours with about 4 stops. Maybe another for food.
 
FZ1riderNY said:
Don't feel bad. When I saw how many miles you guys did, I was so impressed! No way am I doing over 400 miles in one day unless I make frequent stops. My old legs are falling asleep at 120 miles, as well as my butt! Try getting a decent pair of Biker's Shorts. Quite a few people use them with good results. I guess they have padding in the "cheek" region which relieves some of the harshness of the bicycle seats, and you know how uncomfortable those are! I'm still proud of you guys!
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we're really starting to test limits. i have the yamaha gel seat, which i think made me a bit more comfortable than geno, but make no mistake, my ass was sore as hell
 
Papa, after going through 7 different bikes and putting plenty of 1000km (600 mile) days on them, I've come to the conclusion that most bikes have adequate stock seats as long as you've given the bike a chance to break you in and are well-hydrated and relaxed.

The only exception was my supermotard which had a horrific nightmare of a 2x4 for a seat and would be unbearable after 6 hours on a highway (or any road you did more than 60mph)

Perhaps a different take on what you've heard from others but not necessarily right. :)
 
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The longest I've done in one day on the FZ is about 550 miles or so. To do that you need a few things:

1) Lose the stock seat, it is way too soft and feels like its trying to climb up your ass. I'm running reshaped Corbins, very nice. (I can't stand the stock Corbin)
2) Powder your ass. Gold Bond powder, etc. Keep the sweat from chafing you. Reapply as required.
3) Don't wear cotton underwear, try something like a cycling short. They don't trap sweat like undies do, and they don't wad up on you.
4) Throttle lock so you can relax your wrist
5) Ear plugs - the best .89 cents you'll spend
6) Drink water, a Camelback with ice water is a god send here in TX.

I've done about 950 in one day back when it was 55 mph. What a long day...
 
stock seats suck!

i don't know if the roads near and including the kank were damaged as much by the winter as the roads in vt. but i bought a sargent seat from raven fz 1 on this site and it has transfomed my bike,sort of!i have to stop every 130 miles for gas anyway,but now ican burn 3 tanks a day and still walk the next day.i had a spinal injury in '01 but lately i've been riding like i was 25 again,it helps that the rain has been letting up!!!!i reccomend an aftermarket seat to any gen 2 owner.
 
I just picked up a new to me 2006 FZ1 yesterday. I road it home 150 miles. I could have gone more but I was hurting. My last bike was a 2002 R1 and that ride would have killed me. Both have stock seats and the Fz is much better.
 
PapaGeno21 said:
I just don't understand how these people in the IBR are doing 1000 mile days, and I read about other people doing 6-700 mile days and not complaining.

Thanks for any input!
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Papa, I have done 1,033 miles in 17 hours for my IBA certification plus many 600+ mile days on my FJR (04 with 77K) so here's my take for what it's worth.

This weekend was my first 2.5 day, 930 mile ride on the FZ1 (thank goodness I have a Sargent on it) and it was not near the comfort of my FJR.

The FZ1 is not the bike for long distance riding.
Look at the bulk of what LD riders ride- FJR, BMW, Goldwings etc. Why? Because they are not a sport bike but offer better wind protection, smother ride, longer wheel base for a more relaxed ride and they are heavier which is a plus when fighting strong cross winds all day. Also many LD riders have upgraded their suspension for even better ride, I love my GP Suspension upgrade on my FJR. As a side note my FJR is not that much slower than the FZ1 either and is much easier to cruise in the triple digits across Nevada

Yes you will find a few folks who can and do like to LD on a FZ1 but that's not the norm for most of us.

Pete had many good tips, I went to under armor type wicking base layer clothes and that really helps plus stopping for a few minutes between fuel ups helps a lot. The Iron Butt website has 27 tips for LD riding that may be worth a look.

But I must admit as the years go by I really do feel those big mile days more than I used too.
 
Hail said:
I am the same as Billy. I could do more but when I go on a trip I don't want to feel rushed or feel like I have a schedule that must be kept. I try to limit it to 350 - 380 miles a day. That gives me plenty of time to relax, eat, rest and see the sights on the way.

My fun single day rides usually top out no more than about 250 miles but we do that in about 3.5 - 4 hours with about 4 stops. Maybe another for food.
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I'd have to say the same as Brad and Billy. 4 hours worth with stops in between is my limit.
I do however want to upgrade my seat one of these days and see if I can ride longer.
 
Longest I have done in a day would be about 350 Miles. The stock seat didn't bother me.

Do am planning to keep the seat stock and hope that next year when I do about 2500 miles in 9 days I won't hate myself for doing so.
 
FZ1 is a twisty machine. It is not made for istate cruising. FJR/C14 are for that. FZ1 does ok on 300 mile istate trips though and I didn't have any issues with my sargent seats. Haven't tested out my spencer seat though.
 
I can do about 350 miles comfortably (without breaks), then I start to feel it. Not pain at first, it creeps up on me slowly as the miles increase. I have gone just over 700 in a day but I stopped a few times. I COULD have pushed it further (like I have read of guys going over 1K) but I wouldn't have enjoyed it. LOL PLUS my ass hurt from the 700!!!! LOL I can't even imagine what those guys that do the "Iron Butt" rallies go through.

Geno- I bought a spare seat off the other forums classifieds (got it at a steal for $40) and I'm reading a lot of DIY seat building. There are TONS of "kits" that run from a simple gel insert to multi-layered/different types of foam approach. There are also a good number of websites that explain the different options in foam, padding, gel inserts, etc.
I haven't settled on a replacement yet but I just can't bring myself to spend $400 on a seat. So I'm going to DIY - I am still reading and planning which approach to use.
 
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With the Top Saddlery seat, my longest day was 578 miles on our trip to Michigan. I only ever had to stop for gas. I cannot say I was 100% comfy for that many miles but I can say there was no pain. TS seats are, to me anyway, TOTALLY worth my money. Third bike with the TS seat and I'll have it no other way.
 
When you get right down to it, if you want to tour on a bike, you want to be able to enjoy the country you are covering and stop and check out the scenery and other points of interest that makes taking a trip fun. If the goal is simply to cover as many miles as possible in a given amount of time a person might as well take a car. I just took a trip into northern Ontario and we covered about 1200 miles in four days. We stopped and took a lot of pictures and talked to a lot of riders who were also touring the area. We also got to go through customs a couple times and chat with the locals about this and that. We decided that about 300 miles a day was comfortable for both of us and we weren't in a hurry to break any kind of records. We had a blast and enjoyed the ride and the shoreline of Lake Superior. That's what makes our sport fun.
 
Well I only did about 200 miles yesterday, but spent at least 5 hours in the saddle. Even with the Sargent seat toward the end I was really uncomfortable. The FZ1 is far from an ideal long distance touring machine that's for sure, but what I have found to work the best is to take breaks around the 150 mile (or 2-2.5 hour) mark. If you wait to the point of feeling great discomfort then it takes that much longer to recover.
 
So basically I am right on the money as far as how I feel and using a seat that is maybe 15% better than stock.

That makes me happy, was just hoping It was not just me. Me and Paul are going to swap seats hopefully this weekend for a 70 ish mile ride so I can try out his Yamaha Gel seat. If that is no good I will have to find someone semi local with a sargent that I can try out.

Thanks guys.
 
PapaGeno21 said:
So basically I am right on the money as far as how I feel and using a seat that is maybe 15% better than stock.

That makes me happy, was just hoping It was not just me. Me and Paul are going to swap seats hopefully this weekend for a 70 ish mile ride so I can try out his Yamaha Gel seat. If that is no good I will have to find someone semi local with a sargent that I can try out.

Thanks guys.
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Come see me and you can try the Top Saddlery too. ;)
 
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