Long distance with a S4RS

[ducman82]

So this fall and or this spring, i am thinking of doing a long distance ride from Los Angels up to Seattle, over in to Idaho, down idaho, and back to LA from Boise....

i have ridden long distance on my old KTM 950 adventure, but that is a WAY different bike than my S4RS......... 

Has anyone done any long distance on an S4RS?  any tips?   i plan to break it up to about 6-8 hours of riding.  but i still need to do a few hours out and back to see how i like it.   i get around 35 MPG driving in LA, what do others see?


Just throwing this out there.   Thanks everyone

[DucRS]

I've ridden from Sacramento to Port Angeles Washington, all on HWY 1 and 101 (Highly recommended) outstanding scenery. The S4RS does quite well on long hauls except for the most obvious, the small tank issues and positioning. I found fuel to be the biggest issue. At 95 miles I'm pretty much done. So, carry extra fuel. Seating Position may start setting in after 6-8 hours, back and arm pain can be a problem. For that, I installed risers. Before you go be sure to do some long practice runs.

Definetley doable and Good luck

[Speeddog]

I went from LA to Coos Bay, Oregon and back, along the coast, and it was spectacular.

I was on an M750, so can't offer any relevant info on the fuel range of your RS.

I did a mix of hotel, camping, and staying with relatives.
Camped at KOA's.

How much time do you have for this adventure?

[SpikeC]

 The ergonomics are so personal that no one can speak for you. I have done coast to coast on a BMW K1200 RS with the bars in the low position and the pegs high, which would kill some, butt was fine for my old body.
 Mechanically speaking there is no reason why it should be an issue.
 As far as luggage is concerned it all comes down to to ingenuity and how much stuff you need.
 An Airhawk seat coshion goes a long a long way for comfort as well.
 

[ducman82]

i should have about 2 weeks.

thanks for the tips!  i have a few MSR camping fuel containers i used when i had my KTM adventure for extra fuel.

[He Man]

So ive done NYC -> New Orleans and similar legs of trip.

Some Tips

1. Fuel, our tanks are small, i would get a small MSR 1 liter of fuel, sometimes thats all you need to get back to where you want.
2. Join AMA, they will be helpful if needed.
3. Get the biggest sliders you can get to rest your calves on, and a crambuster/throttlemister, anything to relieve some stress when you have to inevitably hit the superslab.
4.Stretch often.

Obviously one down fall to the monster is that you cant stand up and even removely ride it (well unless ur short like me, but its not very useful since your bent way the make the beast with two backs over.

You don't want to end up looking at this sign. My bike will do 145miles to empty at 80mph in one shot. If i stop, or theres some traffic, im looking at 120 otherwise.

[Heath]

There was someone doing a long trek on an S4RS a while ago but I can't find the thread. I just remember they had a JW Speaker LED Headlight as one of the mods. I'll post a link if I can find it.

[pitbull]

Done a few coast to coast trips on my old 01 monster 900, which I imagine is a fairly similar seating position. A sargent seat makes a huge difference. I've heard the DP comfort seat is good too. The corbin sucks balls.

On long, straight stretches I found lying on a tank bag with my feat up on the passenger pegs, helps a great deal.

A throttle lock also gives your throttle hand a nice break and I wouldn't ride distance without one now.

The bike itself will do the trip no problem, it whether the rider can or not.


Now that I'm middle aged and broken (48) I no longer wish to torture myself on the monster, for long trips. I picked up a cheap, old (01) ST4 for that job, which has increased the comfort of long trips exponentially.

After 110,000 km's the old monster is now used for around town riding or day long rides. Occasionally I will take her on overnight rides, but it's usually much easier to throw the hard bags on the ST4 and sit in comfort.

[Privateer]

you could also consider getting a smaller rear sprocket just for the trip.

[1.21GW]

There's a member on here named Eric who did SoCal to Prudhoe Bay (AK) with an S2R.  Here is his blog, which has info on that trip and on other trips, some of which are similar to the one you posted:

http://thesunhaswings.blogspot.com/

He even has a photo and discussion of the bike identifying all the gear/accessories he used for the trip:

http://thesunhaswings.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-machine-and-gear.html

[GK]

Great write up! 👍🏻

Cheers 1.21 GW

[motolocopat]

It's only 2500 miles when I googled it. 2800 with some wandering. 1400 miles a week, 200 miles a day. Piece of Cake.
Should have plenty of time to stop and smell the roses a few non riding days visiting family/friends.

Settle on how you are going to carry the goods and try and to an overnight trip beforehand to test your setup.
Avoid cotton clothes as they take to long to dry, go with stuff that you can hand wash in the sink at night and it is dry in the AM.
Take a six pack of socks and throw them away as you use them, buy another six pack of socks when needed at a walmart.
Ride halve a tank take a stretch/photo break ride till you fill up .. repeat... 3-4 tanks a day you won't be beat down.

Setup a Ram Mount and a USB port to run your phone as a GPS... Carry a REAL atlas that you can look over when you are sitting enjoying the view and having a latte

[GK]

Good suggestions!