I recently traded my '08 Heritage Softtail for a new '14 Ultra Limited. This is my first touring bike, and I'm planning a three week cross country road trip.
I've done many 300+ mile days and a few 700+ mile days, but I've never ridden that many miles day after day for weeks.
What tips do you long distance riders have to improve comfort in the saddle?
The one lesson I learned a long time ago was to wear bicycle shorts under my jeans (the padded kind) and those work great. Anything else to make long distance riding more comfortable?
Thanks for any suggestions!

 

the right seat and handle bars make all the difference in long distance rideing, IMHO.

 

I would just make sure your bike is set up ergonomically. Neck, Back, Butt. If those are reasonably comfortable, the rest just good planning and preparation. Make sure your seat and bars are the right ones for your body and long distance. It always costs me a couple grand to get the ergo's right regardless of bike/brand. Then it's just good rain gear, tools and communication.

 

Rider backrest. Spacers to move the floorboards out a bit. Compression underwear (bicycle shorts probly suffice). Highway pegs to stretch out a bit. You might try a sheepskin seat cover too. Helps w/ butt burn.

 

Tip for long rides: get ape hangers

 

+1 on backrest, and highway pegs.

 

x2 on the sheepskin cover for the seat.

 

Ape hangers, seat, sheep skin, highway pegs, and backrest. = long rides. The rest is just for show.

 

From Lake Chuck LA, we rode 2 to 300 mile days often to get in some hills or somewhere interesting. Often pushing hard the first couple of tanks. Once, in a summer storm along I-10, we had stopped under a bridge, waiting it out a while. Up came a harley and joined us. We talked, shared destinations, then on to stories of previous trips. This guy had been up to Sturgis, Daytona, grand canyon and more.

One of his biggest suggests that we put into practice right away and I found to help was... take breaks. 'Once you get tired stiff and hurting, you are done' he told us. Not a big long time consuming stop, but get off, get some blood flow back, smoke one... if that's you thing, stretch out a bit.

I started stopping and at least walking around my bike a couple of times at 50 miles... about an hour.. and had to stop around 100 miles to fill up. This helped me, even on those 500+ mile days. Big touring bikes, maybe not so often but find your zone. Your milage may vary

 

Last year we did a 6,300 mile trip in 3 weeks including some 500 mile days. Did nothing special except for a Corbin seat. Bars and everything else was stock.

We stop about every 100 to 150 miles for gas, bathroom, and a walkabout. The key to long distance riding is to ride enough to be used to riding. If a person is only riding a few miles a week around town, it's going to be hard to get used to being on the bike for long periods.

Bill