| Author | Message | ||
     Silence_of_the_clams |
How far have you gone on your XB? I want to do a road trip on my buell firebolt. I have heard of people doing long distances on a uly but I have and love my firebolt. Clams | ||
| Polish_assassin |
Hi clams, Back in the spring seven of us rode from central Jersey to summit point West Virginia (340 miles one way)four of us on firebolts, only stopping for gas and to stretch out the legs. I thought I was going to be in worse shape at the end of the trip but I could have kept going if I had to, My friend and I both averaged 57 MPG me on a 9 and him on a 12 and we were by no means babying it, we could have gotten into the 60's if we tried. I hope that helps.... MARK | ||
| Xring |
1350 miles in 3 days (from central WV, east to the Blue Ridge Parkway, then south to Deals Gap, and back) I've done it twice on my 9S and my only comment is it was easier with the Streetfighter seat. Otherwise,no big deal. The cruiser guys I sometimes ride with did a similar trip (they wimped and came back via the interstate) but did 1000 miles in 5 days.  | ||
| Silence_of_the_clams |
OK, So it can be done. I am in Chicago and want to go to Utah (my mothers grave is there) What Bags if any did you use, or were you "traveling light"? I was looking at http://www.sporttouringusa.com/www/bags-connection .htm BCK.SP4001. Thoughts? Clams (Message edited by silence_of_the_clams on October 13, 2007) | ||
| Forerunner |
Hey Clams, Last year we rode 370 miles from Houston to South Padre Island for the South Padre Island Bikefest. Me on my Ss, my wife on her Ducati Monster, and my buddy on his Scg. All of us new riders on new bikes with no more than 300 miles on the bikes(or us). We only stopped twice for gas and lunch, those cute little tanks on Monsters and Scg's don't hold a whole lot.  I used a Ceebailey's windshield on the Ss for the trip but swapped it for the stocker when we arrived. Trip wasn't too bad except we got rained on severely when leaving making for half the trip back with wet drawers... Planning a 7-day 4000+ mile trip now from Houston to Napa via Los Angeles and the Pacific Coast Highway. Nels | ||
| Geofg |
I've done 550+ mile days on my '03 Firebolt (Key West to Gainesville, Florida), but it was a little tough on the knees. Longest multi-day trip was 2100 miles. It's do-able, no question. Get the custom seat. Stock feels like you're sitting on plywood after a bit, and the custom is slightly taller so seat->footpeg is a little more. I used Tourmaster bags for the "tank" and over the back seat and chase stealth saddle bags. No problems. -Geof | ||
| Bake |
I used my Firebolt to do touring duties for the past 3 years. Revelstoke to Ontario 3000k each way Revelstoke to Sunshine coast and Vancouver island. 2500k round trip Revelstoke to California 3800k round trip I spent a bit of time and money to make it a better bike for touring, like S bars, select seat, soft bags, touring windscreen and removed the pillion seat and put a oversized aluminum plate in it's place to make a flatter area to lash things down to. It is doable but there are some short comings. (Message edited by bake on October 13, 2007) | ||
| Chainsaw |
770 miles in 14 hours on the XB to Sturgis and back, that's the longest trip on it. about 5400 miles in 9 days on my Sportster | ||
| Xl1200r |
I haven't done any multi-day trips on my Firebolt, but I have done some long day trips, two in a row kind of thing. Keep in mind that HOURS mean more than MILES. I've had days where I spent 8 or 10 hours in the seat, and only covered 250 miles. All depends on the roads. At the end of a long day, my ass is what starts to hurt. I use a Corbin saddle and it's generally more comfortable, but the hardness does start to cause some cramping towards the end of the day. Generally a 20-30 minute break is enough, just to let the blood back into my legs. The stock bars work okay for me. I get a little soreness in the wrists, but usually nothing I can't just deal with. I alternate between my arms and my lower back to hold me up, so as to keep both as pain free as possible (I have a bad lower back, otherwise i'd use it all the time). The stock pegs have never bothered me. Every so often I'll drop my feet and let them hang for a minute or two, but that's all. For luggage, I'm using the Buell detachable saddlebags and tail bag. I can fit a rather bulky 2-peice rain suit in one side, enough clothes for a couple days in the other, and all my extras, toiletries, cameras, extra gloves, etc in the tail bag. I'm thinking of adding a tank bag only to hold change for tolls and such. It's doable for sure. I say go for it - only one way to know for certain. | ||
| Doncasto |
17 1/2 hours/1042 miles . . .Dana Point to Boulder, Colorado 2007 XB12X Uly with seat rebuilt by Dan Ballard of Bitchin' Stitchin' (gel pads, extra height (more padding), pocket set further back, passenger pocket thickened with more back support and gel pad) | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
A friend of mine who is a perpetual lurker here has rode his 9r from Ohio to the enchanted twistys a couple of years ago. 4 thousand miles in a week and a half. I have ridden mine 12 hours non stop. Didn't check the milage I was exhausted. (Message edited by Lost_in_Ohio on October 13, 2007) | ||
| Cataract2 |
4600 miles. | ||
| Socalbueller |
I've done 2300 in 7 days. 3 of those days were at the MotoGP so I maybe did 10 miles each of those days. I have the Cortech sport bags for luggage and they hold more than you think. The longest day was Eureka to Los Angeles, 18 hours, half highway and half back roads. I was a little sore after that but my bike is pretty much stock as far as comfort goes. | ||
| Sslowmo |
487(s)miles. day ride. sierra foothills to coast and back. and every twisty road along the way. i live in northern california. anybody, want to ride?  | ||
| Cereal |
You can switch out your foot pegs with the Lighting pegs for some more leg room. My knees start to bother me after a couple of hundred miles with the bolt pegs. Haven't had that problem since I switched. It's real easy to do, and you can pack your R pegs and swap them back out if you want. I also swapped tails with a lighting and have the street fighter seat. It's much more comfortable than any of the bolt seats. | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
Did a little over 1500 miles in 3 days. Averaged 500 miles a day. Cityx stock seat. Hardest day was returning from Kalispell MT to Seattle in one day, this was after I decided to cart wheel my bike. My shoulder felt like Jello when I got home (injury + distance). As for luggage I have a full set of Ortlieb bags. I would not use anything else, except for hard cases. It keeps your stuff clean and dry, even through a car wash. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
2500 miles in 7 days, from sea level to 4800 ft, and a good 1/4th of it was off road. Custom seat w gel pack, and hard caribou cases, pic in profile. Looking for an exodus east to include Pikes Peak | ||
| Midknyte |
Finally got around to doing some real distance this summer - 800 mile weekend... Take an Aleeve before you head out. Really helps. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
one of the tricks to riding long distance is just moving your legs around while your riding if your on a road that you have that opportunity with though. i'll move the feet back to the rear set stretch them out in front of me and just let them hang where my feet are just an inch above the road(watch doing this going around a bend in the road). unfortunately they don't make highway pegs for the buell although i have heard of someone doing it for the long ride. | ||
| Xring |
I used a generic-fit tank bag and tail pack. I've done the same trip with the tank bag only, and a similar trip with a tank bag and backpack. I keep my rainsuit strapped to my right-side fork leg. Standing up for a minute occasionally is a big help. Pic from Killboy.com  | ||
| Gearhead |
I've done several 400 - 550 mile days on my XB12R with no issues. In fact, I just rode to the Slimely Crud Run last Sunday, near Madison, WI., 405 mile day, no problem! Jump in it and ride! | ||
| Spike |
~550 was my longest day on my XB12R, that was part of a 3 day trip to Florida. We rode from Raleigh, NC to Daytona Beach, FL on a Friday, rode around on Saturday, then rode back on a Sunday. Total mileage was probably about ~1200 miles. On that trip I used a set of Joe Rocket soft saddle bags, but they were overkill. When riding solo my tank bag and a duffel bag bungee'd to the passenger seat is plenty. I've done several 200-300 mile days, more than a few of them two-up. My knees get a little stiff if it's cold out and my shoulders will get sore if I get lazy and rest on my arms too much, but those issues are minor. My only real complaint is the stock seat. | ||
| Hdbobwithabuell |
I've done about 300 miles on my Firebolt. Way to far for me but then I've got a nasty busted up pelvic bone injury that really starts to scream. I break out the big touring bike ('04 Ultra) for anything longer than 100 miles these days. Thinking about trading it for a Uly though, it just feels like a pig, err hog? | ||
| 984gasm |
~1800 miles. Brooklyn, NY to Colorado. All back roads. One backpack. I would love a Uly for long rides. Just took a 3000k mile ride in July through Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana on a rented '07 BMW F650, and it was nice to have room to pack stuff. | ||
| M2nc |
Uly - 720 miles in one day M2 - 650 miles in one day | ||
| Cataract2 |
My favorite site to read about a road trip. Link | ||
| Strato9r |
I've ridden over 1000km in a day a number of times on a Firebolt. One thing I did find that helped a lot was to get a set of pegs for a Lightning; they lower your feet about an inch and a half, and they are cheap. | ||
| Irideabuell |
I rode from Orlando, FL to Warrenton, VA (859 miles) in one day. That trip consisted of 2500 miles total in 5 days going to Deals Gap from VA then home to Orlando from there. I felt surprisingly good once I arrived at my brother-in-law's house in VA that first day even though I had traveled through every possible weather to get there. | ||
| Jimmys |
Clams, I've done 350 per day for 3 days without any problems (rode Chicago to Minnesota via back roads then back) on my Firebolt, and could definitely go further per day. Stock seat with the lower S pegs. No comfort issues at all. I used the Buell large tank bag and the Buell tail bag to carry 3 days worth of stuff around. Jimmy PS - I have a blue / bolt bolt if you ever see one around the Chicago area. | ||
| Punkid8888 |
I did a 695 miles trip in one day, left my house south of Boston at 6am, met up with some guys in southern NH at about 8am, rode all day with them up to Maine and back to NH around the white mountains I think we touched Vermont. Then I split up with those guys at southern NH and finally got home at 1130pm. 695 miles and about 17.5 hours Needless to say I went right to bed and I only rode like 50miles around my house the next day haha. |
