Long distance travel- possible on the hawk?

[motorcycleman]

In the thread about Joels bike he mentions a 1200 mile trek- I'm wondering what long distance travel is like on the hawk- what is your longest day mileage wise, how long have you been out (ie week, month, forever :P ) and what you have to say about the comfort level of the ride, etc. Are there mods that make it more possible? I'd love to ride my hawk down to Deals Gap, something of a 1500 to 2000 mile round trip for me which I have done on other bikes (harley softail and suzuki madura) comments?

[Doc]

Re: Long distance travel- possible on the hawk?

In the thread about Joels bike he mentions a 1200 mile trek- I'm wondering what long distance travel is like on the hawk- what is your longest day mileage wise, how long have you been out (ie week, month, forever :P ) and what you have to say about the comfort level of the ride, etc. Are there mods that make it more possible? I'd love to ride my hawk down to Deals Gap, something of a 1500 to 2000 mile round trip for me which I have done on other bikes (harley softail and suzuki madura) comments?

I have ridden my Hawk from my house to Route 17 and back without any problems. (with a Corbin seat). Of course this is not all that far but I haven't been riding long distance alot.

My farthest Day trip was to Bangor, Maine from Burlington VT, On my 900ss. Taking the long way, I had about 6 hours in the saddle (Corbin Again). It is amazing what I would do for a woman in my early years.

I am up for longer trips, even camping. I want to model myself after Peter Egan.

[LeftRightLeftThrottle]

I spent a whole day on the hawk tearing around the mountains without any complaints. Stock seat and pegs, F2 bars. I'm a little tall so moving the pegs back would be nice. Even on the super slab back to central NC it wasn't too bad, wind is kindof annoying but i just folded down onto the tank for a rest once in awhile.

[joel]

The longest trip I've done on a Hawk is ~4200 miles in 8 days.Deals Gap from VT is a good trip,if you want to do it-make it coincide with a Hawk rally and you'll be golden.The NT's tank range in some ways makes distance riding on it easier than if it had more fuel as you're then forced to get off,stretch and get out of the wind blast but at the bare minimum a Corbin and a fly screen make life easier.There have been many Iron Butt rides completed on Hawks- it just takes dedication.Personally,I'm not a sadist and don't force my arse to ride great distances just to do them: I really don't get much enjoyment from riding on the slab for hundreds of miles,I'd rather be in a car...but break the trip down,take some state roads when possible and enjoy the ride.I see the trip from here to the beginning of Skyline Drive as a necessary evil but I loathe the trip from here to there.Depending upon how my shoulder heals,I might be down for a complete BRP run next spring - 3 of us have been planning on it,probably none of us on Hawks but once we'd be down to Front Royal,you'd be on the more fun bike.Packing for long trips on a Hawk gets a little complicated but you sorta just embrace the funk and go with it,bugs and all.

My personal best on a little bike was making it from Boone,NC to home in 17 straight hours: me on an MZ Skorpion single and my brother on his Hawk.That ride was HOOOOOORIBLE and we both got careless and reckless awards-not recommended,but we've done the East Coast several times on Hawks and have done other stupid stuff like MA to WI on singles... Last year I rode my ZX-7R from here to GA and it's like touching your toes for 20 hours-well,it seemed like a good idea at the time.

[motorcycleman]

4200 miles in 8 days.... that certainly qualifies as at least a rubber butt ride! Pretty impressive. I'm inspired! As spring arrives I'll be watching for the hawk rally.... although with this weird global warming weather that seems like it could be this week.... in the 50's today in Vermont?! I guess white Christmases may be a thing of the past up here.... I'd better get some electric clothes because I don't have snowy roads to stop my riding now, just cool temps and damp! I hear that Europe is sorta experiencing spring! True?

I agree with Doc... Peter Egan rules. I want his job! (and Doc- buells gap is our own little version of the dragon )

My personal best was about 900 miles, accross Colorado into Kansas, well into the night. Deer everywhere, but mountain dew keeping me sharp. Or at least jittery

[isaac]

Wow you guys can really ride. The longest I've been on my bike was four hours last thursday for the shuttle launch that got scrubbed. It was pretty comfortable, but pretty damn cold too. Thankfully I'm used to riding in cold weather and had on about 4 layers.

This makes me think I could do California and back to visit my relatives. That'd be awesome.

Anybody ever camp on the way?

[motorcycleman]

Camping is the way to go- cheap. But you need much more gear. When I was 30 and between jobs I took a seven week, eleven thousand mile ride. Vermont to Oregon via Michigan, Sturgis, the tetons, etc, then down the west coast highway to LA with a side trip to Crater Lake, then back via Arizona, Colorado, etc. I only drove on one interstate (Maryland to NYC). I camped a total of 35 of the nights, 28 of those in free campgrounds or spots I found- some great, others, well, just a place to sleep. Nowadays I find cheap motels much more comfy- plus you don't need the sleeping bag, tent, etc, and if they have cable you can watch the weather channel and try to make a plan that goes around the storms, rather than through them -good luck on that one . But the price per trip jumps alot. On my long trip I was lucky- only a couple of wet days in the entire seven weeks! and the cost was cheap too- I took my 401k money and spent it- about $200 per week on average (this was 1990)

[joel]

If you're not on the Hawk mailing list,you might want to at least pop on and lurk or say hi.Plenty of Hawk people who'll offer at bare minimum couch and garage space or give advice on local riding/camping/entertainment spots.

I currently have 9 streetbikes,2 of em Hawks, and the Hawk community is freakin amazing and nothing like any other bike group.Harley or BMW owners can't put a patch on it. I regularly go visit Hawk people up to 1000 miles away without even bothering with bikes- I dunno,just lots of chill people are attracted to NT's I guess

[Doc]

If you're not on the Hawk mailing list,you might want to at least pop on and lurk or say hi.Plenty of Hawk people who'll offer at bare minimum couch and garage space or give advice on local riding/camping/entertainment spots.

I currently have 9 streetbikes,2 of em Hawks, and the Hawk community is freakin amazing and nothing like any other bike group.Harley or BMW owners can't put a patch on it. I regularly go visit Hawk people up to 1000 miles away without even bothering with bikes- I dunno,just lots of chill people are attracted to NT's I guess

+1 We Hawk peps should get Vests!!!

Hey Joel where are you located?

[joel]

I live out on the Island of Misfit Toys: Martha's Vineyard,MA.Me,my bro,bunch of bikes,heap of guns and a zoo of abandoned animals - no place on the mainland will put up with us :cry:

[Doc]

Hmmmm, My wife has always wanted to see Martha's Vineyard. You got camping accomodations? Or a couch and a Garage?

[Soul]

The longest trip i have done in a day was 400 miles on the 900rr..Most my body was sore from being tucked up. It also ended up being 200 miles of twisties..I think just highway cruising i could ride abit longer, but when riding aggressive for that many miles it really takes its toll.

[joel]

Well,at least to me there's the physical and mental issues:

I HATE riding in the slab,constantly on the lookout for debris/inattentive drivers/po-po - that and just sitting in the wind with the constant roar,that just wears me out.

In the twistiness,it's fun and your're moving around and changing position so it's not as bad as feeling the discomfort of being locked in cruise position.

Rides seem to go much faster in the twisties than an all day stint on the slab,even if the average speed is 20% lower.I'm less physically tired at the end of a sporty ride day - mentally,about the same.That said- I'm not a fast or aggressive rider.I rarely do group rides at rallies as I don't like the feeling of _having_ to ride a given pace.


BTW Doc: we're planning on some sort of Hawk-e-que either here or in NYS this spring.Here kinda sucks for riding:very crowded,not many roads and there's the cost of getting here.I've had plenty of Hawk people come and chill - once I get back to work,my schedule is pretty hit or miss but hell yeah,c'mon down!