28 Riders Divulge Their Motorcycle Touring Preferences : Liz Jansen

When you tour, do you prefer long distances and lots of riding, or shorter distances and more stops at points of interest?

Here’s how these Motorcycle Mojo Magazine’s FaceBook fans approach motorcycle touring.

What’s your preference?

28 riders divulge their motorcycle touring preferences

Andrew P. I usually plan long trips but keep the daily mileage target down. I get distracted easily, and some of the best places I’ve ever found were totally unplanned.

Pam B. Yes I do [have a new bike], Liz! It’s a Triumph America 2010 and I am in love. Definitely long rides with few stops.

Mike P. Typically we do one hard day to get to a particular area, and then lots of stops

Karen G. Long distances, lots of riding, but never at the expense of missing the scenery or points of interest along the way. I like to get an early start in the morning and stop by suppertime when I ‘m travelling, allowing about 10 hours to do about 6 hours of riding.

Robert B. Depends, if I am riding to a destination to meet someone I ride steady till i get there. Other times, I just ride and stop along the way to take in what Mother Nature has to offer. Sometimes it takes me 2 hours to get to the hardware store.

William H. shorter distance and more stops … life is too short to be rushing everywhere

Jim R. Prefer less of an agenda to insure time to stop regardless of the distance.

Noel H. It would pretty much depend on what there is to look at. Also, if the road is twisty then I just want to ride. That said, the first time I did the Highway to the sun in Montana I like it so much I turned around and rode back the other way.

Matthew I. [In response to a plan for 2-up, 2 week 7,500 km tour] Mark that is an ambitious amount of mileage per day. Remember the summer heat and sun as well as the wind buffeting will create fatigue. on a multiple day trip you will need a lot of physical endurance. If you over do on day one that saddle will look like a torture device and not your rest and relaxation spot. Take some day trips and find out what your daily max is and then shorten it a bit for projected daily totals so you have some energy left to continue the trip. Early starts are a really good idea too as fewer people are on the road and later in the day is when there are more people in a rush. 400 to 500 kms a day may be a more reasonable daily number for a long term trip.

Lindsay D. Both. Some slabbing [highway] it on long road trips gets me where I want to go (and makes me feel productive!) but there’s no point going anywhere if you don’t give yourself time to “smell the roses” too so to speak.

Susan D. Long distance rider but like to visit points of interest along the way.

Woodie L. 2 part answer:1. If riding solo I can do 10 hours or more a day 2. If traveling with the boss I tend to do about 5-600 [km] or a little more in little spurts.

Tony M. I enjoy any ride but leave myself time to enjoy things on the way. Nothing like pulling over to enjoy a view or site that you may never see again!!!

John T. 1 week or more for a good ride, North Carolina, West Virginia, Northern Ontario, the longer the better!

Mark H. plan for the big trip this summer is to ride 4 hours (7-11) then break and hike/tour for a few hours, and then ride again for 4-5 hours before sun down.

Matthew I. I ride for the riding. I look for great roads. The scenery and stopping points are secondary to the road quality. That being said if I can’t find a great road I will look for a great destination with great scenery along the way.

George M. Slow and easy is the way we like to travel. No pressure, lots of time to enjoy the ride, get in early. get cleaned up and have a nice meal. Possibly do a local ride in the evening.

Life is a journey. Have done the booking ahead and the free wheeling thing. If you book ahead it does provide a goal and the satisfaction of staying with it. Free wheeling provides the flexibility to follow your whim, or an interesting road. Advantages to both ways.

How do you like to tour?