Here is a ride report I posted on another message board after I did my SS1000 in 2007 (sorry about the length, but it tells pretty much the whole story)
My Butt Is Now Made of Iron.... But My Spine Is Crepe Paper
Well I (we) did it... 1057 miles in 22 hours! Been planning this ride since March and Friday was the day. With trepidation, about 5 minutes after I woke up at 1:30 am began to get ready...
Decided to plan a route that most people could picture in their minds and give them some idea of the distance ridden. Instead of saying "we went to (insert state) and back", it is much easier to say we went "in a big circle around Lakes Ontario and Erie".
Friend was on a 2007 Harley Streetglide
Nephew was on a 2007 Hayabusa - he's 25 so we figured he could handle the physical part of being hunched over.
Me, on my 97 Valkyrie Standard
The Preparation:
Loaded up the Valk with couple changes of clothes, some handtools, a camera (more on the lack of photos later), rainsuit (more on that too, later), cell phone, 12 forms of ID (border crossings), MP3 player, and most of my nephew's stuff; he was on a Hayabusa after all, he only had room for money and keys pretty much.
Time to go:
Met at a local gas station at 3:00am. Planned to go clockwise around the lakes - Youngstown, OH to Toledo, up to Detroit, across the border, east, etc. Well before I left the house checked the weather map and a low pressure - cold front they had been talking about all week was bearing down on Ohio moving southeast. The weatherchannel.com radar showed a huge blob of green/yellow over Toledo... damn! Well we met at the gas station and decided to go counterclockwise to stay ahead of front and to loop around hopefully north of it and then back east behind it. Well that's what we thought, but more on that later. Kickstands up at 3:10 am and off we go...
The Ride:
Actually the ride was pretty uneventful. All interstates, for the sake of time. Averaged about 70-80 the whole way and we were making pretty good time until the weather problems. Nothing major mind you, just a shower here and there that lasted 5-10 minutes - except for one, but more on that later. Took all of 22 hours for various reasons.
To summarize it all...
The Good:
Was a great ride! Not too much scenery as all interstates look alike pretty much.
Very cathartic riding, lost in my thoughts and my music mile after mile.
The Valk ran great and was very comfortable throughout.
The Mustang seat and Alaska Leather sheepskin, with the addition of some special unmentionables (no, they were not silk or lace ) allowed for great comfort.
Traffic was reasonable for 1050 of those miles, only two cager problems.
1 - PA Trooper - flew past us going somewhere, 2 - NY Troopers - paid us no mind, 1 - OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) Officer - helping someone else. We were intrigued by the speeding fines of $300 for 80mph (whatever KM that equals). Ouch!, 0 - Michigan Troopers - they don't like to get wet. 1 - Ohio Trooper - too dark to see us.
Another quick Canada story, my nephew wanted to stop at a fast-food place in Gananoque, Ontario after we got gas. I drove right past it... once we turned around and went back I told him... what do you expect, the sign was in Canadian (ba-dum-ba- chink!)
The $30 Army-Navy Store rainsuit did its job amicably.
Great company, we all cooperated and had no personailty issues.
No issues at either border crossing... 1000 Islands region of New York/Ontario going in to Canada...Detroit to get back in. Both customs guys were very nice and after they heard about what we were doing, they got us through very quickly. The wait at either crossing was only about 15 minutes.
The Bad:
Going up I-79 towards Erie, PA at 4:00 am is nervewracking! This highway is pretty desolate at night only a few other cars/trucks on it. It is farmland... I was looking for glowing, beedy, deer eyes the whole time and praying I didn't see any. A few times caught a glimpse of a road reflector that ended up in the weeds (eyes! eyes! everywhere!) and had some maalox moments.
We hit a few 5-10 minute rain storms w/light rain, maybe 3 or 4. Not a problem because we had rainsuits but when it wasn't raining, it was warmer and humid making the raincoats unbearable so we had to stop to put them on, then take them off, then on again. Finally I just kept the pants on and only switched the coat on an off...still this made for extra stops, even a 5-10 minutes it added to the time.
We made great time for the first 350-400 miles and it looked like we were going to get home in 16 hours or so... but the stops got longer, the above mentioned rainsuit foibles, and traffic (later) and it quickly stretched.
I got horrendous gas mileage! Usually get about 120-130 miles out of a tank on the Valk. Because of the speeds, was getting about 100 out of a tank. That meant more gas stops. Had to go on reserve a few times and was worried that I was going to run out before the next gas station.
Because of the above mentioned things, stopping to take any pictures was impossible, too worried about time.
We were literally 1/2 mile from our home exit... a drunk in the interstate was doing his/her best to take up all the lanes.
The Ugly:
Toronto Traffic! Rush hour. On the original plan to go clockwise this would have put us in Detroit right before rush hour and in Toronto (which some Canadian riders warned me about) around 11am +/- 1 hour. Well by going counter clockwise we hit Buffalo morning rush hour which wasn't too bad, but we hit Toronto afternoon rush hour. Holy Crap! it took us 1.5 hours to go about 10 miles! My clutch hand was swearing at me and I had my raincoat on! Pant, Pant, Pant! The second worst part of the trip.
Woodhaven, Michigan. Just south of Detroit, and I really shouldn't blame the city but I had no idea that they got MONSOONS there!!! We hit a rainstorm from hell there. Luckily had the rainsuits on but my clear glasses got wet outside and inside. I could not see anything and decided that when I ran over the plywood sheet in the middle of the freeway that it was time to get under a bridge. I figured at that point if it had been a 2x4 or a truck tire carcass, I would be on the pavement. We got under a bridge only to find that in Michigan the shoulder under the bridges near Woodhaven are about 36 inches wide! Real fun feeling watching/feeling the truck drive past you, in a monsoon mind you, at 80mph! The other guys could see much better then me so they tucked me in between and they rode with 4-ways on at about 50-55 in the right lane until the storm past.
The Aftermath:
The Valk is dirty, dirty, dirty - I couldn't stand it and as soon as I woke up on Saturday I washed and waxed it.
Physically, it was not bad at all. My back is a bit sore, shoulders and neck moreso... 3 Advils cured that.
Would do it again in a second! ...Well maybe next year.
