my long ride questions, comments

[doubleu]

I went on my first long ride last week. Rode 586 miles (split into 2 days) to the Black Hills, and 632 miles (all in 1 day) home. While up there I stopped by the AirRider guy's booth in Sturgis and looked at his gel pad/memory foam pad things. I'm curious, if I already had the $90 Memory Foam mod from meancitycycles done, would this pad have helped with comfort at all? I felt $134 for his large tourer (http://www.airrider.com/store/product.php?id=67) pad was a little high, so I wanted you guys' input on it. Although after 5-6 hours riding home, I occasionally had to shift my weight and seating position around to feel a little better, I was still amazed at how good my butt felt after i got home and into the next day.

I thought at one time I saw someone mention a '550' distance thing or something on here. I know I didn't do anything official, but is there anything for a 550 miler (other than a pat on the back?) :D

Everyone thinks I'm crazy for riding back all in one day, but man was it fun! I'm sure you certified Iron Butters have similar responses from other people too. I'm already planning my next trip to do something down to Monument Valley, over to the Grand Canyon, then up to Yellowstone, back via the Black Hills, etc. Now if I could only get more than 10 days of vacation a year :roll: :cry:

edit: I know what my other question was. The velcro backpad thing that came with my Kuryakyn GranTour is a little........lacking. Does anyone have any suggestions for a better, more comfortable velcro back-pad?

[ironbutter]

To answer your questions:

Iron Butt Association doesn't give out any certificate for less than 1000 miles in 24 hours. There is another LD outfit that does offer recognition for 500 miles, but you have to do it in 12 hours (exactly one half of an Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000): www.longdistanceriders.net (http://www.longdistanceriders.net)

By FAR the BEST removable luggage/backrest combo I've ever found is this thing: www.cruiserbag.com (http://www.cruiserbag.com)
It'll make you throw rocks at any of the others. Works as good or better than most of the expensive backrests that require a special seat.

Speaking of seats forget add-on gel pads, inflatable pillows and all that useless crap if you're serious about long distance comfort. Spend the money and get your seat rebuilt by Russell www.day-long.com (http://www.day-long.com) because the work they do is the only thing that's truly worth every penny, even if it costs more than those gimmick contraptions.

Ride safe,
ironbutter
IBA #9464 Mile Eater Member

[2002VTX]

+ 1 on the Russell custom seat. I have one on my 2002 VTX 1800c and one on my 2001 Kawi Concours. Logged about 100K miles on the seats so far.

Also you might consider adjusting your handlebars to exactly fit your body, and get a set of highway pegs for stretching out your legs while riding.

While not everyone agrees, I prefer driver's backrests and have one on each bike.

Biggest limitation I have is DEER! Damn things are always trying to kill me at dawn and dusk. By the time you either back off speed or stop for the time passage, you loose a few hundred miles a day. No matter how much light you throw out there, you just keep on seeing their beedie little eyes glowing back at you.