The girlfriend and I just got back from a 5 day trip from Akron, OH to Memphis, TN (Graceland Baby!!) It was our first long trip and we did it like this - 2 days for the ride down stay in graceland for a whole day, then 2 days back to Akron. It's about 725 miles via Highway, but I get a little squmish on the Highway, espcially in KY and TN where it's 70 and the trucks do 85+ so half way through day 2 we stuck to secondary roads. I learned a few things about long trips.
-400 miles on a bike on backroads takes about 12 hours when you include stops
-The stock seat is rough on long trips
-I hate the Highway
-If you luggage (T-Bag on the sissybar/luggage rack) isn't centered the bike handles like crap
-Stop every 50 miles (unless you have a better seat than the stocker)
-Wearing a helmet when you're not used to wearing a helmet is the pits
-Carry as many maps as you can fit
-Rain gear is a nice idea, but when there's no place to stop to put it on it's useless.

It was a cool trip, but from now on 300 miles or less is what I'm going to plan for each day on future trips. I'm going to do something about the seat before I go on another trip (memory foam + gel inserts most likely) and I'm getting some floor boards for the back...maybe the front too.

 

i hear you on the seat. i reworked mine. cut some foam out so i sit back about 3 inches. also cut some out off the bottom and inserted memory foam. it mace a big difference

 

Agree with the 250 to 300mi/day is comfortable, wife and I did 2000mi + into Canada last month. I di d350 in a day and was more tired, but think I could do 300/day easy enough. Like the back roads much better too. Sounds like you had a good time!

 

I went with the Sundowner seat...lots better than the stocker that was kiilin me. Hey hakron...I grew up in Ellet....live in Daytona now.