7 years later, and a R1200GS with a little bit of a bar rise has been a fantastic, comfortable long-range ride (consecutive 500+ mile days on tours) for this 193cm rider.
The same is with a car. When I first learned to drive I would get exhausted after an hour. Now I can drive 1000km in one go and still be fine. Over time, your brain learns to do things on autopilot which unloads your brain, you learn to set yourself up in a comfortable position, you learn to not be tense all the time, you learn to predict more things more time in advance which means you can handle them with more ease. And the body itself just learns the new position and things shorten/lengthen to make that position a little bit more comfortable.
The main difference between bikes and cars is that people rarely spend so much time on a bike as regularly as in car. So we get accustomed to driving quickly but it takes time to do the same on a bike.
- Good riding posture.
- Stretching and walking around for a few minutes at gas stations.
- Stretching on the bike: standing on the pegs for a few minutes every so often, switching riding positions, putting your feet on the passenger pegs.
- Walking, standing up, lying down... anything that isn't sitting when not on the bike.