Team-BHP - How many KMs a day is feasible on a long ride?
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I have not been as ardent a biker to put in my advise here nor clock so many kms...highest I have driven is about 400 kms from Pune to Nasik and back in 10 hours including 3 breaks.
Be safe while zooming past slow goers , as on the way back I tried to whiz by one (no fun intended) yet he got so scared that I lost my balance and skid for a good 10-12 metres before getting back on two wheels (God saved from kissing the tar).
All the best for your drive.
I am planning one long ride on my Bull 500 by the way.

My first hand experience:

450 kms spanned over 12 hours with generous breaks for breakfast & lunch. That includes loo breaks, water breaks and breaks for a refuel. Also faced a jam inside a city. All that on a very humble Honda Stunner. During the last 150 kms, the roads were very average.
In my opinion, anything around 500 should be feasible on good roads in a day with comfort.

But the bottom line remains that ride as much as one is comfortable with. No pushing your limits. Nothing to prove to anybody. No riding after dark. You need to live to tell the tale of whatever you clocked that day!

500kms in one day like most have said is feasible and have managed few trips of 500kms in a day so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by saket77 (Post 3480883)
...No riding after dark. You need to live to tell the tale of whatever you clocked that day!

While i agree with everything else you have said, i have a different view about riding after dark. Down south, there are some stretches which are better if covered during the night. It depends on one's own preference I agree but when riding towards TN, the flat stretches of 4/6 lane highways will dehydrate you much much faster during the day due to the intense heat. During the night, the traffic of small vehicles is less and trucks are mostly well behaved. Again, like i said, it depends on which part you are riding to, the traffic/road conditions etc.

For example, my in-laws were settled in Coorg and my son was also born there. I used to do a trip every weekend on my RTR but would never ride during the day time due to very dense traffic, bullock carts/tractors coming on the wrong side of a divided highway, cows/dogs/humans running across the road etc. The same road during the night was much better with lesser traffic of all kinds.

Sharing my minuscule experience hoping it will be useful for someone...

Stints with Car
Year Mar 2006 - Even a 20 Km drive I was shivering & my legs were shaking; later the same year, when I drove to Bangalore without even knowing the route (took over 5+ hours & return journey...ssshhh) I felt a mild numbness at calf muscle.

Year 2007 - When I drove to Trivandrum, my whole life changed; ofcourse I had 2 near to death experience which is my own fault, but then I was still learning & I consider myself to have got out of it alive to make (or ramble) a post here today

Beyond this, there was no looking back, be it doing 835+ Km to Kollur on a single day through super bad roads or doing a 22.5 hour drive from S.Bathery to Madras after AIM 2012, I think I'll be able to do about 600 Km a day by car

Stunts with Motorcycle
Be it a 90 Km round trip to Mahabalipuram in 1999 or 100+ Km round trip to Vallakottai in 2002 on my humble Yamaha Rx, I've never felt a bit of tired (all of them makes sense today)

When I broke my own limits with Amirthi Forest (Vellore) in 2010 on Yamaha again, I was feeling a little happy; but the height of happiness was when I rode from Madras - Munnar - Madras for 729 Km, one way (Around 1500+ Km round trip), just with 2-3 breaks.

It was with the advent of CBR when the bike started challenging my limits, be it Madras-Trichy-Madras or Kolli hills (distances over 600+ Km) in some 7-8 hours which was a stepping stone to 12 day road trip to RJ. Due to time crunch I was forced to ride from Madras to Pune in a single day that boosted my confidence to do Jaipur - Udaipur - Bombay & Bombay - Madras later with a total distance of some 8000+ Km for the entire trip.

When I came from RJ trip, my whole attitude changed & my outlook towards life also started changing. This also provoked me to try GQ in 10 days, ofcourse we did that in 6 flat days which is a different story as we could do few stretches like Madras - Bombay, Mohania to Bhadrak & Bhadrak to Madras in a single day with a total distance of 5890 Km.

Having done these many Km & gaining a little experience, I ventured to GJ 2013 Dec for HVK's All India Meet, but riding through the entire West Coast of India with a total distance of 7405 Km & today I think I'll be able to do cross KA/AP & touch MH/OR in a day or so.

There're several other ride in addition to above, but, my point here is to state that, take baby steps & you'll get where you want to go one day. Today many folks are astonished as how I'm able to do this. But they seldom know how much I too struggled in the initial days to even cross 100 Km or what does it take to ride even after a shoulder dislocation & breaking my wrists.

Adding to top of it all, if HVK Sir wouldn't have been there for me, I wouldn't have gone out of TN for sure. This is one point where I would strongly say, one should need a Guru/Teacher to guide you & walk you through difficult times.

Point - Rome was not built in a day, practice makes perfection & passion beats everything

I usually do Chennai- Coimbatore. The distance comes to a little over 500kms. Its usually done in 7-8 hours with a few breaks.

A friend of mine did Chennai - Mumbai in 16 hours with 2 breaks. The driving time was 14 hours. He averaged at 100kmph in the old Swift.

300 to 600/800 kms. Depends on a lot of situations/combinations.

Bad roads/hills etc - You would be lucky to do 200+

Very good roads, plenty of daylight riding, early start & a good Motorcycle can comfortably see you doing ~800kms.

Ride as much as you are comfortable with. Riding at night as well should be started with small steps. But I would any day prefer a proper two lane road (with diversions) to ride at night and usually get behind a car which aides me. Something between 80-90kmph the car doing and I tail it with a safe distance.

I have done 700 kms twice and ~400 kms a few times. I was fresh after the 400 km rides and a little tired after the 700 kms one. I have found the secret of being fresh is to keep your body isolated from the elements as much as possible. Full riding gears and a nice cool (winter) climate is ideal for a real long tire-free ride. Also important is a comfortable bike whose ergonomics suits you completely.

I believe, it has all got to do with one's capacity, mental and physical and also which machine you are doing it on.

I haven't done any long rides, but a friend who lives and earns just to ride did Bangalore - Mumbai in some 17 or 18 hrs (which was with many small breaks of chocolate bars/water etc.) on his r15 v1.0..

-Bhargav

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octane_Power (Post 3482838)
I believe, it has all got to do with one's capacity, mental and physical and also which machine you are doing it on.

I haven't done any long rides, but a friend who lives and earns just to ride did Bangalore - Mumbai in some 17 or 18 hrs (which was with many small breaks of chocolate bars/water etc.) on his r15 v1.0..

-Bhargav

2009:
Did the appx 1200 km stretch from Siliguri to Behrampur (Odisha) in a new DZire. Had to keep the vehicle under 70-80 until the 1st service. Took 30 hrs of continuous drive to cover the distance through some of the worst roads at that time. Left Siliguri at 0530 on Day 1 and reached Behrampur at 1130 on Day 2. Gave the car for its 1st service and got it delivered by evening. Day 3, left for Chennai at 0530 and reached by appx 2130 for a distance of appx 1100 km in 16 hrs.

2015: 1250 km Bhubaneswar - AP drive for time bound work in my Pajero covered in appx 16 hrs.

Considering the quality of the NH nowadays, depending on the vehicle and your driving habits, 800 km a day seems pretty simple.

Depends a lot rider to rider, bike to bike, type of road, condition of the road and traffic, and of course the weather, not to mention other factors like altitude.

I think on a one off ride where you have a rest day the next day (or a light riding day) it should be possible to do between 800 to a 1000 kms in a normal day's riding. Start early, ride steady, and stop in time for dinner and a good night's sleep.

Beyond that you have to push. And then its more often than not going to be tough riding heavy the next day.

On a tour, where you are riding day after day, with rest days after a few days of riding or even a week, my personal experience says you can average about 700 odd kms each day. But here to a rider will go through cycles of freshness and fatigue. Some days you'll feel waves of sleep in broad daylight. Some days it be be pitch dark and energy levels will still be high, ditto concentration levels.

Its best each rider learns his own rhythms and limitations and not push the boundary in efforts to impress someone or set records.

In the mountains anything over 300-350 kms is a good day. Over 400 a very good day. But that's pushing.

With the advent of bikes like the 390, I'm sure the bar would be higher. But even with the older crop of bikes, its the rider who is the limiting factor. The bikes can do a lot more.

I've once done a 580 kilometer trip in a day, a lot of 440~ kilometer trips in a day, in my humble Indigo. On more than 90% occasions, with boot full of luggage and 4 people on board.
While on the bike front, I regularly do 140 kilometer round trips in a day on my XCD.

My first long ride consisted of 540 kms in a single day, around 10 hours total, keeping a 2 hour break. It was a massive upgrade from my weekend rides, because I had a lot of luggage around me as well. It was probably the only day I hated the sight of my bike after parking it once we reached.

I feel I could have done more kilometres, had I not been the navigator and leader of our group. Moreover, the process of dodging maniacal bus drivers of Kerala all along mentally strained me. It was a total nightmare.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebonho (Post 3731285)
I think on a one off ride where you have a rest day the next day (or a light riding day) it should be possible to do between 800 to a 1000 kms in a normal day's riding.

I have never done that even in my car !!! Driving at the highest speed of 130 kmph and on 4-lane highway, my maximum is Delhi to Benares. And this was in my Duster, mind you :)

I don't think I would ever be able to do more than 400 km in a day on a bike.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team (Post 3731546)
I have never done that even in my car !!! Driving at the highest speed of 130 kmph and on 4-lane highway, my maximum is Delhi to Benares. And this was in my Duster, mind you :)

I don't think I would ever be able to do more than 400 km in a day on a bike.

On most Indian roads, a fast bike ridden fast and steady without too many breaks has a slender advantage over an average Indian sedan or SUV, provided the driver is not in a competitive/aggro mode and taking a few risks in cutting through traffic.

600 to 700 kms maximum per day is best on Indian roads. This is assuming that you take 10 minute breaks on an hourly basis. It also accounts for longer breakfast and lunch breaks. This is on highways and after avoiding night driving.


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