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Comment by jlgaddis | Hacker News Reader

I've rode ~1000 miles (~1600 km) in a day before but I had a 1690 cc V-twin engine under my ass every time.

Those trips were exhausting enough, I can't imagine doing half of that distance on a two-wheeler that I had to pedal!

I would imagine, distance aside, that sitting on a bicycle and moving is actually easier than sitting on a motorcycle and being mostly stationary. Whenever I would get off a motorcycle after a long ride I quite literally have to unfold in stages until I can even walk normally again, I have never had that kind of problem on the bicycle, even after lots of hours in the saddle.

This is easier on dual sport motorcycles where it's easier to shift position while riding, as well as stand on the pegs to stretch out (at lower speeds of course).

My longest days of riding were around 650 km and I was totally exhausted by then. I typically shoot for 250-300 a day maximum.

Standing on the pegs to stretch out is not a big deal at highway speeds. Just lean forward a little bit as you do it.

I drove from Lands End to John O'Groats on a sportbike (700 miles ish) and it was hell.

> Whenever I would get off a motorcycle after a long ride I quite literally have to unfold in stages until I can even walk normally again

Try an adventure bike, I can ride mine for over 10 hours and feel fine with just basic stretch breaks.

For me personally it's not even physical, and I don't even drive long routes, 400km roundtrip at most. But I'm just mentally numb after doing that. I think it's because I drive fast on the highway so I'm alert all the time, super taxing even after < 3 hours on the bike.

400 km on a motorcycle is a lot. At least, in my experience.

Yeah but that's a round trip (200 in the morning and then 200 back in the evening) so I would not say it's physical.

Ah ok, so that's more like two 200 km trips. I thought you meant 400 km in one shot.

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