I did a Saddle Sore 1000 on a 1987 VFR700 5 years ago with a friend who had a 2002 Road King. It was an awesome memory and I would recommend doing it with a friend if you can. Although much harder to plan stops, etc with two it's so much fun to share afterwards. We road from Cincinnati, OH - Nashville TN - St. Louis, MO - Indianapolis, IN - Dayton, OH and back to Cincinnati, OH. Interestingly enough, my planning was similar to what was described below. I had maps that I rotated at each stop and it told me how far my next stop was. We made 3 unplanned stops, but otherwise we kept to the planned route.
Things that I would have done differently on our ride. Test all gear really well. Radio's we took worked at home and on a few short rides, but we could not talk to each other after the first 200 miles...not sure what went wrong with them. It was too cold in the morning (had to make an unscheduled stop to warm up) and it was too cold at night again. Temperatures were lower than forecasted by about 10 degrees and I would have liked to have had something to keep my hands warmer. Also our mid day stops and late night stops were too long. We also got lost in St. Louis trying to stop to see the Arches. That cost valuable time and energy that you want to conserve for the end of the trip. Todd Hamilton 02 ZX6E 85 CB700S AMA #414386 ________________________________ From: Average Joe <[email protected]> To: Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers! <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 2, 2009 2:22:54 AM Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: Saddle Sore 1000 on my Nighthawk 750 Surfswab, Thank you for your service to our country! To answer your questions about the ride, my gear was relatively simple- I used a Cortech mini-tank bag with magnetic attachments, a Cortech seat bag, and a small 6pack style cooler on the luggage rack. Inside the seat bag I carried a spare headlight, taillight, raingear, chain lube, small and large crescent wrenches, hex wrenches, channel locks, needlenose pliers, electrical tape and duct tape. I always carry some spare fuses under my seat with a small first aid kit. I also wear a Leatherman every time I ride....if you've seen the movie "Speed" you will appreciate the value of one. In the seat bag were some towels, rags, extra socks and a spare shield for my helmet- tinted for day and clear for night. I planned my route using Microsoft Streets and Trips, and then wrote out on index cards the key stops and directions where I would be changing roads. As I got to one stop I would just change out the index card and it would tell me where and how far the next stop or two would be. I kept the card in the clear section on top of the tank bag. Inside the bag was my log journal, a baggie to hold receipts and some snack foods. One of the ladies at work has a small business and is marketing a granola product called "Granola Road", It uses all natural ingredients and when I told her I was doing the ride she gave me a big batch of it. I kept some in my bag and I have to say it was the perfect snack to munch on with an apple and an ice cold water from the cooler. In the area of clothing I didn't have much- I wore a t-shirt, longsleeved denim shirt, and my riding jacket. In the early morning and evening I had long johns under my pants, then changed when the weather got warm. My only regret in this area is that I should have brought my fleece sweatshirt along. After 9pm I encountered some fog and misty weather that made me feel cold. I usually ride with earplugs, but on this ride I also brought my Walkman MP3 player along for some music while on the long stretches. I also have a cruise control on the bike which helps with fatigue on the throttle hand. As for the route- I started in Ventura, CA, travelled out to the Eastern Sierra Hwy 395 north to just before the Nevada border, cut up over the Monitor Pass on Hwy 89 to Hwy 50, then west to Sacramento. >From there I took route 99 to Merced, then cut down to the Pacheco Pass highway (#152) west to the "Garlic Capital of the World"- Gilroy, CA. From there I took Route 101 south back to Ventura. I kept my speed mostly between 70-75 where the road allowed. I didn't want to risk a ticket and was focused mainly on a safe ride. Most of the roads had speed limits of 65 or 70, so this was reasonable. The road conditions were fine, although I did hit a couple locations where there was construction and had to stop for flaggers twice. Hwy 89 over the Monitor Pass is a winding two lane road that is a beautiful ride, but it takes some time to get through. My average speed was about 40mph here. The fatigue factor never really came into play, it was more the chilly moist air that got me when I still had 140 miles to go. Realizing how close I was and that I still had a cushion of time gave me the confidence to fight off the elements and just keep going. Granola Road and coffee helped too. My windshield is a Plexifairing 2. It really cuts down on wind and makes a huge difference when riding. I would not attempt this ride without it. What would I do differently? In retrospect- I would have set two alarms, since I slept through the one and got a later start than I wanted. Also, I would have brought my fleece sweater and taken more pictures than I did. Other than that I am satisfied with the way things turned out. On Jun 30, 11:43 pm, surfswab <[email protected]> wrote: > Awesome job of turning coulda-woulda-shoulda into been there, done > that! > > Especially on a "vintage" bike. Tell us armchair pundits more about > the practical aspects of the ride. What sort of gear did you tote? > Comfort/convenience items, tools, clothing -- that sort of thing. Any > problems with weather or temp extremes? > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. 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