www.zxrworld.co.uk

its possible, but f*** me it hurts!

im tired, so keep it brief, the plan: epic journey 2013 cov to inverness, minimal motorways, a- and b-roads if possible at all times on bikes not meant for touring - im on my 19-year old zxr400 l4.

532 miles up there on the first day - took 16.5 hours as max speed is 60mph (thats all the enfield could do until it blew up going up a hill...) and with the X7 only being able to do 95 miles at a push to a full tank we have to make pit stops every 70-80 miles.

return leg 522 miles completed in 14.5 hours

total for the 4 days 1165 miles.

top tips:-
your wrists and butt are the things that hurt the most, padded cycling shorts are the best thing for the butt pains, or look at getting a more "touring" seat, i took codeine for the wrist pains...ive not found anything better so far (after 500+ miles give yourself a day to recover from the beating). deer are plentiful in the scottish highlands, one nearly took 3 of us out before it got (literally) obliterated by an audi a3 on the A9 in the pitch darkness that was overtaking us, so look out especially at night. the tank gets warm so lean on it to relieve back pain/butt pain whilst warming you up (also gets you out of the wind chill somewhat).

touring is definitely possible on the bike, 200 miles a day is easy if broken into ~40-50mile chunks, 300-400 is ok but not pleasant, 532 miles in a day is horrible...but the awesome roads and even better company/banter more than make up for it...if you happened to see a group of people hooning around today, led by a GS850G with a sheep's skull cable-tied to the front headlamp...that was us

Jamz used to courier on his ZXR, not sure of the mileage he used to do, but day in day out despeatch riding would he was quite happy with.

Riding from mine to yours was a bit painful, Bedford to Coventry is what? 50-60 miles, my back was fecked but it is normally, luckily im quite small so the bike is quite roomy in my eyes, I found just one arm on the tank and sitting forward helped alot

Can imagine the wrists hurting a lot on those sorts of distances.

How did you manage to pack all the gear you needed around the bike?

GibboN wrote:Can imagine the wrists hurting a lot on those sorts of distances.

How did you manage to pack all the gear you needed around the bike?

i took a backpack with 1 pair trousers, 1 pair pants, 1 pair shoes, 3 pairs socks, a bit of food and a spare t-shirt...dont need anything more

i carried the backpack up there on my own on the way there, but i dumped it in the support vehicle for the return leg. our support vehicle was a 2001 ford galaxy with all the back seats removed, we had it in case of breakdowns...like when the enfield bullet decided to blow up 10 miles before the scottish border...

Best way to go. Did it cost you much for four days?

I'm looking at getting out to Taiwan with some mates and touring around the island, hopefully this time next year although I doubt it'll be on my bike. Will more than likely end up renting one out there.

i was doing about 80 miles to 5.5L of fuel, we couldnt go above 65mph or else the 2 stroke would seize, and we did a mix of long straight A roads and tight/twisty B roads, 5.5L of fuel (~£1.37 per liter) works out to around £7.50 for every 80 miles, so it cost me ~£110 for the trip in fuel, i took food up, about £10 for food on the return, about £50 on beer, so it didnt cost £200 for the weekend.

Not bad at all!

Nice to see you're back Banner.

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GibboN wrote:How did you manage to pack all the gear you needed around the bike?

With great ease
The ZXR can carry shitloads of stuff.

CaNsA wrote:Nice to see you're back Banner.

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GibboN wrote:How did you manage to pack all the gear you needed around the bike?

With great ease
The ZXR can carry shitloads of stuff.

Oh my god that is awesome. Any stability issues on bends or otherwise?

Did you secure the saddlebag by going underneath the pillion seat?

Wow! Haha

jimsym wrote:Any stability issues on bends or otherwise?

Did you secure the saddlebag by going underneath the pillion seat?

no and yes

in that order

3 days later, and my butt has only just recovered from the journey its a bloody long way 530 miles in a day...

we have got next year fleshed out, even crappier bikes (max capacity 250cc) down to dover then channel tunnel to calais, ride over northern france towards normandy, do a battlefield tour or two, then ferry to jersey for a few days before ferry to portsmouth and a blast up home.

Max capacity 250... Rs125 vs old bikes, 60 on that isn't a problem

ross46 wrote:Max capacity 250... Rs125 vs old bikes, 60 on that isn't a problem

ill be needing something upright and comfortable...remember im 14 stone and 6ft tall...if i look small on my zxr400 imagine what i would look like on a kids bike...