LA to Vegas Run

[wookie]

I woke up from my afternoon nap at 2 PM and felt a little bored. So I put on my gears and decided to go to Vegas on my SV650s.

After about 6.5 hours of riding and 4 fuel stops and a 4 by 4 at the In-n-Out on the Strip, I returned home safely. My thighs are sore from gripping the gas tank for 508 miles, my arms are hurting from full race tucks behind the windshield and from fighting the bloody cross wind and attempting to keep the rubber side down, and my ears are still ringing from the wind rushing over the helmet at 80+mph.

Man, what a day.

[inspiron]

But you still have to go another 492 miles (in 24 hours) to get an iron butt!

[wookie]

Do I at least get a "lead" butt ?

It was a pretty good run, except for the cross wind, which is what got me a little concerned. At least I didn't get blown to another lane.

[CManT1914]

Dang dude, that's hard core. The farthest I've ridden is like 110 miles!

[wookie]

I've done a few of those 200-300 miles per day runs (spreaded over an 12-hour period). but never before had I ever done 500+ miles in an 8-hour period.

Doing that many miles in such a time frame on a sport bike was a little tiring. Makes me wonder about that dude who traveled around the world on his R1....

The crazy part is that there's no planning at all; I just woke up and decided to do it....

[wookie]

damn it, I am still hearing things....

note to self: next time wear ear protection.

[ForbidInjustice]

I took a 200 mile ride with a few co-workers about ten days ago. We went to Temple TX to find a biker leather shop or something, and never did find it.. so we took the highway to find the back roads, and ended up at Lake Buchanan Dam. It was real nice to go somewhere that I had never been before, and experience the respect and acknowledgement that you receive by riding in a group.. we had plenty of people waving, saluting, and of course.. yielding, during our trip. It felt great.

2004 Honda Goldwing GL1800
2002 Honda VTX1800
Harley custom 1300
2000 Kawasaki Vulcan 800
2003 Suzuki GSX-R1000

Notice me there at the bottom? The only sportbike, so I looked a little funny in that crowd, but had the quickest bike nonetheless! Here's why the ride sucked:

A couple of the riders were leading, and caused cruising speeds of 85-90mph on the back roads.. a few twisties and some HUGE hills.. and at times I had to do 110mph to catch back up to them, but you know, I'm in it for the sights too.. and I would rather see them.. than focus the whole time on not crashing, road hazards.. etc.. and it was hot outside, peaking at 102°F. I was the only one with gear and a helmet, too. So anyway, I heard that the Harley guys want to get from place to place, and are not concerned with the ride in between. Yes, I like to go fast too, but not for 100 miles straight.

Another nice site over there is Falkenstein Castle. You can just barely see it from the road.. we didn't get up close to it, but next time I will. Completely gorgeous.