Long Distance Touring on an A.T.

[Tonyross1]

Hi All,

A theme seen on this board from time to time seems to be whether the @ is any good at covering distance particularly bearing in mind the plank/seat, so I thought I'd just add my two pennies worth!

I went on my @, with a mate on his Varadero to Innsbruck in Austria last week. Distance from Windsor (U.K.) was 769 miles door to door and we did this in a day. I'm sure there are people who have done more in a day but my point was to say how competent the @ was over this distance.

There have been numerous posts relating to seat comfort and I confess that I weighed in the required £135 to get an Airhawk before leaving. Not pretty to look at but bearing in mind I wanted to A) get there in a day and B) be able to walk the next day I saw this as a good investment.

I have to say that it was exceptional. My mate on his Varadero was suffering after 100 miles or so which is ironic bearing in mind the armchair like appearance of the Varadero's seat! Set the air pressure right in the Airhawk and it is superb.

Average speed on the motorways was about 90-95 mph with occasional blasts up to 100 which gave 160-170 miles before switching to reserve. I didn't think this was too bad bearing in mind a 115kg rider, full throwovers and a tank bag! Without all the luggage and touring round Austria more sedately meant that reserve was kicking in at 200-220 miles.

The chain, whilst lubed with a Scottoiler touring kit, now needs adjustment but after 2500 miles in a week no less than expected. The Bridgestone Trail Wings are looking a bit squared off and whilst they were ok I will probably change them to Metzeler Tourances as I never felt overly confident of their wet weather abilities.

The bike performed faultlessly taking all in its stride and more than justified my decision to purchase it earlier in the year. It is certainly a different experience to my previous ride, a Daytona 955i, but great fun and immensely competent. Nuff said.

[robelst]

Same here, did a 2700 miles Austra/Italy tour last year in May on the AT, with 700 miles on the 1st day and 800 on the last. I have the original seat, bum was a bit sour after the first few days but got used to it (I am a fanatic cyclist, so probably more trained to small, wooden seats), no problem whatsoever. Great traveller, always enough oomph, you wonder why many people think they need 2 or even 3 times as much bhp on a bike.

Did a similar trip (3100 miles in 8 days, French Alpes and Switzerland) only a few weeks afters on my 2000-model Buell M2, this bike was definitely more comfortable (big fat seat, in contrast to most other Buell models) and used far less fuel, but less space for luggage, not very good on badly damaged- and unpaved roads and slightly scary reliability-wise (although all went fine).

[iswoolley]

The bike is more than up to doing 800-1000 mile days. However the original seat will cripple you to a varying extent. I've ridden Paris to Madrid (800 miles) in a day, but the experience made me go out and get my seat modified very soon after.

[robelst]

The bike is more than up to doing 800-1000 mile days. However the original seat will cripple you to a varying extent. I've ridden Paris to Madrid (800 miles) in a day, but the experience made me go out and get my seat modified very soon after.

I must say the first day is still fine, after a few hours your nervous system simply shuts down the bum-area and lets you carry on with just a remote tinkling feel, vaguely reminding you of the destruction that is going on. It is those next two days when you carry on your journey that reduces the will to live down to a dangerous level :P After that, in my experience, the worst is over and live starts to be nice and jolly again.

[Tikka]

Just back from a trip to luxembourg with the AT, 1236 KM in 4 days. The AT did a excellent job. Got a little saddlesore but everyone from the group had that so no problem, just take more breaks

[kiroh]

I have to agree with robelst here - the seat on the AT is fine and I'm surprised that so many find it uncomfortable. I'm used to moving around on the bike when cornering and often end up hanging on the side of the tank with my knee instead of sitting on the saddle. So if you don't want a sore backside - get off that motorway and ride some twisties.

Another thing to consider is the weight of the rider. Strap all your bags to the bike and don't carry much on your shoulders.

[fewtrees]

I get a numb arse at around 150miles or 5 hours, whichever happens later.. I'm tempted by those air-hawk thingies but concerned it can be lifted from the bike..

[jabba]

I find my seat uncomfy after about 50 miles but I think that might be down to back problems and besides I have the best comfy seat money can buy! My huge ass

[samih]

I have done about 900 miles in one go twice. At roughly half way through my *rse began to hurt and it wasn't getting any better over the miles.

Thanks for the rear footpegs and a tankbag it was possible to lie down on the bike to stretch from time to time. Later on I noticed that it was actually possible to change lanes without steering by using trailing legs as rudders (it was very boring to ride across Sweden and I had some time to experiment. I also found sleeping bag/tent combo on the rear seat an excellent backrest.

I did grand total of 6000 miles reliably in three weeks and I trust and admire Jap engineering a lot since.

[Muckybill]

I haven't sat on a bike yet that doesn't get uncomfortable seat wise after awhile. Done plenty of long hauls on the @ upto 1000 miles at a go and my backside is no more uncomfortable after 1000 miles than 100miles. The place I hurt most is between my shoulder blades, but mostly in my ear from my wife wanting to stop.

Bill