Tourning on a sports 400.

[Dan 4RR]

Hi. I'm thinking about doing some long distance tourning next year, probably to the Dales, Scotland and Europe. But the thing is earlier this year whilst riding to the Dales which is about an hours ride at speeds of say 70-90mph my thighs,buttocks and lower back/spine where absolutley killing me and I was in so much agony. I don't know if this was cause of the vibrations or just not 'used' to riding for that long in that position, but a few friends are thinking about doing the tours and I know how annoying it would be to stop every hour or so to ease the pain when people want to make progress. Anybody else suffer with this? Maurice,m1ke,etc?
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[EuropeanNC30R...]

My arse starts acheing after a couple hours on the motorway but not getting pains as you describe. Usually when we're doing boring motorway distance we prop ourselves up on the tankbags so there's hardly any weight on wrists, which helps quite a bit.

I don't know what sort of distance/mileages you've done already, but maybe try to build up, then do a few 150+ mile day trips when the weather gets a bit nicer?

[Al]

I've only really done one longish journey on my 400, riding back from when I brought it.
My neck,back and wrists were ok,but I was really glad to stop after 2 hours riding.
My biggest problem was the top of my legs, I kept getting cramped feelings and needed to stick them out straight from time to time just so they didn't go numb.
In fact it was nice to stop in traffic so I could put my feet down.

I don't get any problems now, I'm not sure if I've adapted to the riding postion or just because I don't ride for more then about an hour at a time.
I'd do a semi long journey before committing to head across Europe.
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[Itchy]

[The Tot]

I did the south coast from kent to cornwall on my ZXR250 last easter, got it onto Bike. It wasn't too painful and i did the stint from wollacombe to london non-stop via the a39 and the a4. I did have a numb arse by the time i got to heathrow, but that was due to 2 hours hard riding along a roads.
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[h00dwink]

on my cbr400 the most i'v done was birmingham and back in a day, for the NEC show. about 400-450 miles. leaving at 6am, home at 10pm.
wasn't planning on coming home on the same day but there you go.

i know what you mean, it can take it out of you. but if you're up for it and used to it, its not that bad.

has been said before, a full tank bag does work wonders as you can rest on it whilst motorway riding.
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[JonB]

I have done many 300 mile + trips on the bike in one go before and thankfully having a Bandit, this is quite easy.

What concerns me if 7 days almost non-stop riding, not sure I could cope with that, so before Scotland, i'm gonna do a nice almost 400 miles mix of motorway and A roads and then the next day see how I cope with it.

As I said the Bandit is much more comfortable for touring anyway.
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[Dan 4RR]

Hmm, interesting mix of replies. I don't have a tank bag at the moment but I'm hoping to purchase one before I do these tours. Hopefully it might make the riding position a bit more relaxed, although I've never had any problems with my wrists, arms getting tired whilst riding the bike. Just a total loss, numbness and painfull feeling along lower spine, buttocks, etc. Definitley gonna have to do a few mini tours and try and get used to it.

Your not selling your Bandit are you Jon B? The look to be good touring bikes, sit and beg position.

Oh, and Itchy, the cbr aint for sale
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[Whosthedaddy]

[MouseDog]

Had a 500 mile trip in a single day on the R1 a couple of years ago, I was totally stuffed for a week after that, couldn't walk properly, could not even have sex properly. NEVER EVER EVER again will I try to tour on a full on sports bike
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[Annabella]

[MouseDog]

[natv4]

I've just come back from Russia on a bandit, they are pretty comfy, but any bike will be ok once you are used to it. Its probably just a case of building things up as Maurice said.

For what its worth, if you are serious about big miles, then consider some padding for your bum, bar ends if you don't have them, an after market screen (to keep the wind off) and definately a tank bag (put something soft like a jumper toward the front).

Failing that, look for a bike which is more tour orientated. Any of the sit up right bikes will do, the bigger and more grandaddy the more comfortable as a rule of thumb.
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[sanchezz_182]

just go out an build up the miles/time u spend on the bike. iv got a cbr4 dont realy get much pain unless iv been riding hard for most of the day. i sumtimes get that pain in the hips but only when sat ont he motorway for hours. in the dales / lakes its not so bad coz your moving about so much.
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[colin1]

when at the nec waiting to do a test ride, i heard one seasoned biker talking to another

apparently a sheepskin cover over your saddle greatly improves comfort on a bike

so im gonna cut up my grandads old sheepskin coat and make seat covers

im not quite sure how i will secure them

since then, i have also seen a website of a woman who is touring africa on a ttr250 who also uses a sheepskin over her seat

however she has the wooly bit on the outside, whereas i think is should be on the inside for max cushioning effect

https://www.loisontheloose.com/africa/images_af/ttr_ready.jpg
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[Whosthedaddy]