How many miles ,How many days?

[knossos]

Hi Tommo,

You rode 127 miles, 4 hours 24 mins is 28.8 miles per hour. So maybe we should be estimating an average speed of 28 miles then for the rally. At 6 hours riding, you would have gone 168 miles. If you hadn't stopped to eat, or to look at the sights, fix a slipping belt, etc.

If the rally is 3500 miles, that is 21 days of continuously riding at your average speed of 28mph, for 6 hours a day. No days off, no stopping at swimming holes, no meals while underway, no time to dry the rain out of your magneto or fix a flat, no time to find the little nut that fell off your choke and got sucked into the carb, etc.

I know that everybody wants to do it in 2 weeks, and wants to prove that they can ride 300 miles, but the math doesn't look good.

Tommo has ridden some miles on a veteran bike, as has 10E (Victor), and few more of us on the forum. My personal record is 200 miles a day, 5 days straight, on a relatively modern 1925 bike with chain drive and 4 speeds, when I was 30 years old... Nowadays I do 150miles on a belt drive bike, 1-2 days in a row.

What do y'all think about biting the bullet and making this a 24 day ride? I'd be glad to skip work for a month! Or ride from San Diego to Seattle, doing the THREE FLAGS ride like Cannonball Baker did. It took him a few days, we could do it in a 7 or 10, and really enjoy it.
Pete


[quote='Tommo' pid='171' dateline='1253563642']
As a trial run I got a 1913 clutch hub Triumph 500cc sv out and went riding on Sunday. Hills, flat going, through towns, the whole bit and only stopped for fuel and adjustments. 4 hours 24mins = 127 miles.
At times on the flat I was running close to 55 mph which was very close to being flat out. On some hills I was down around 10 mph pedalling hard but I never had to get off and push. By the time I was finished I was pretty sore but would have been able to do a whole day if it had been required.

[10E]

(09-25-2009 03:10 PM)flatman Wrote:  

(09-25-2009 12:58 PM)jurassic Wrote:  also if anyones bike has lighting already that is adequate ,then use em.

I met a guy called Victor at a girder-fork run last weekend in Woodside Ca. He had rigged up a wooden box with flashing red led's on the luggage rack of his 1914 Harley J. That should keep the cops at bay.I also used to be in the habit of running on the pilot light and tail light on Limey bikes with marginal charging systems: a good battery extending tactic in places like New York State, where a 'lights on' law has been enforced on motorcycle since the seventies.
Charlie

I have been using the two flashing red LED bicycle lights at the rear for over a year( they don't even flash at the same rate--an advantage?)
I put them on so I stood a better chance of not getting run over.
The only time I had police trouble :-) was on a two day solo run in the central valley.
A police car followed me for about a mile. I needed to transfer gas from the auxillary tank - I pulled over - he pulled in behind me- he said "great bike, do you mind if I call my buddy- 5 mins later I'd got two police cars checking out my bike. They never mentioned the lights.
It's my experience you could get away without lights in California permanantly - the police seem pretty cool about this type of thing. I'm more interested in staying alve.
There is a little different mind set when you ride alone as against with a group-lots of warnings for auto due to many riders spread out - trouble trucks etc.
Richard from Seattle area rides all the pre 16 runs and puts on a hell of a lot of miles each year- great mechanic and tough as nails.
His elegant solution to lights on his HD 15 is a small generator driven by the primary chain. Only for the mechnically inclined.
I beleive he said they have to have lights on all the time in Washington state. Without getting too carried away it would be good to have the correct lighting for the states being ridden. One persnickady cop
could cause endless delays. There is a story out there about a old bike rider getting kicked out of a state for incorrect lighting --not sure of details--maybe someone knows.

[jurassic]

thank you victor, your knowledge is very valuable to us greenhorns. i am getting so many great suggestions every day that i think we can probably pull this off.i have heard from several people about the small generator idea ,and may need to look into that. this is a trancontinental run ,west to east, ocean to ocean. if we can do it in 12 days ,16 days ,or 48 days i dont care,i´ll make it happen,guaranteed. check out the riders section ,its not finished yet ,but we got 23 of only 45 allowed entrants signed up and confirmed,that means soon we will have a congress of riders here on this forum ,and we can hash it all out.

[knossos]

Lights are required full time in Oregon. I organized and hosted a rally there a few years ago for 100 antique bikes. But in reading the details, I found out that old vehicles are excluded from the rule. I think that you'll find that is the case in almost all states. Certainly in California you can ride forever without front or rear lights, brake lights, speedometer, turn signals, mirrors, etc.

(PS, there are some great roads in Oregon....)

(09-26-2009 11:03 AM)jurassic Wrote:  thank you victor, your knowledge is very valuable to us greenhorns. i am getting so many great suggestions every day that i think we can probably pull this off.i have heard from several people about the small generator idea ,and may need to look into that. this is a trancontinental run ,west to east, ocean to ocean. if we can do it in 12 days ,16 days ,or 48 days i dont care,i´ll make it happen,guaranteed. check out the riders section ,its not finished yet ,but we got 23 of only 45 allowed entrants signed up and confirmed,that means soon we will have a congress of riders here on this forum ,and we can hash it all out.

[flatman]

(09-26-2009 11:03 AM)jurassic Wrote:  thank you victor, your knowledge is very valuable to us greenhorns. i am getting so many great suggestions every day that i think we can probably pull this off.i have heard from several people about the small generator idea ,and may need to look into that. this is a trancontinental run ,west to east, ocean to ocean. if we can do it in 12 days ,16 days ,or 48 days i dont care,i´ll make it happen,guaranteed. check out the riders section ,its not finished yet ,but we got 23 of only 45 allowed entrants signed up and confirmed,that means soon we will have a congress of riders here on this forum ,and we can hash it all out.

Reality check: I rode a 50 cc.Motobecane moped from Pamplona to Madrid (Spain), appprox distance 250 miles, on excellent roads in 1963.Top speed was 30 mph on level ground, and there were a lot of serious mountains (slow up, fast down) It took me almost 14 hrs to do the trip, so the average speed was a little less than 18 MPH. A 60's Motobecane is no doubt a more reliable proposition than any of the belt drive singles we're talking about, with similar performance, I'd guess. The part of Spain I drove through is where they made a lot of spaghetti Westerns, and looks and feels a lot like the American Southwest: hot, dry, dusty. And the big thing: I was 19 and didn't know any better.The motobecane, by the way, never skipped a beat while being driven flat out for the entire trip.I still remember the bath I took in Madrid when I arrived, but the trip is a blur.
Charlie

[outside looking in]

pa.has a law no antique tags at night (dark) car or bike. you must be able to do 10 mph under the speed limit

[HendersonB]

I haven't done any pre-16 motorcycle touring, and my Henderson won't be ready for next year's run, but I have driven a 1912 car across Canada. Even in the relative comfort of a touring car, a 150 mile day is a long one. The weather, vibration, and alertness (to both traffic and machine) required can easily combine to wear you out. Add in the inevitable setbacks and latenight repairs and it could be a tough trip. I'd say plan conservatively for this first attempt - for the sake of both man and machine. If it's too easy, you can always up the ante for next year's participants.

Great to see this happening, though! Touring in the old machines is like nothing else! Good luck.

[Buzz Kanter]

After spending a few hours playing with maps and my calculator last night I'd say we can fantasize about whatever we want. BUT when it comes to putting rubber on the road most of us would be hard pressed to maintain a 250 mile day for 14 days (which is about what it will take).

And what are the plans for weather issues? Many of us will ride through light rain, but what about heavy rain, sleet, thunder, etc? Especially for the bikes with no lights?

So our options seem to be either:
1) Take our time and plan for at last 14 (or more days) and enjoy the ride with stops at interesting places,
OR
2) cut the route shorter and not go coast to coast.

What other options do we have?

[cory]

Maybe a plan could be alternating mileage days. One longer day and take it a little easier the next? If weather screws up a day or two then maybe a couple long ones should be done to make it up? If we have to balance riding and roses then a little extra time should be added to the ride. It would be nice to have more input from the riders themselves. What are they up for? It's their ride and Lonnie and Ken have supplied a place to provide input.

[knossos]

Hi Buzz. I agree, we need to think about other options. My math shows that it takes 24 days to get across the USA, doing a realistic mileage each day. Add time to get to the start, and time to get back home. That's more than a month total. Probably fine for the retired guys, a bit tougher for folks that still work.

I've started a new thread on the Routes section of the forum to discuss a 3 flag route. It could give us all a good 10-14 day ride, whatever the group wants...

Pete

(10-01-2009 08:51 PM)Buzz Kanter Wrote:  After spending a few hours playing with maps and my calculator last night I'd say we can fantasize about whatever we want. BUT when it comes to putting rubber on the road most of us would be hard pressed to maintain a 250 mile day for 14 days (which is about what it will take).

And what are the plans for weather issues? Many of us will ride through light rain, but what about heavy rain, sleet, thunder, etc? Especially for the bikes with no lights?

So our options seem to be either:
1) Take our time and plan for at last 14 (or more days) and enjoy the ride with stops at interesting places,
OR
2) cut the route shorter and not go coast to coast.

What other options do we have?