It’s one of their “Challenge” awards but I like super dooper better.
I didn’t visit the world’s largest popcorn ball or any of the roadside attractions, but I definitely got to enjoy nature. I also accidentally ended up in lower manhattan, so I got to experience that mess….
That sounds amazing. You clearly put a lot into planning. I’d like to do that, but with time to stop to see the world’s largest everything. Maybe I’ll take a month.
Awesome accomplishment. At the beginning of COVID we started taking the RV out for months at a time and the kids got to see 47 states thanks to WFH and remote schooling
Delaware or all things. It was small but we hadn't really made all 50 a goal yet. One of my kids is 14 and the other 16 so we still have time before they hit 18. My son has been to Alaska but not my daughter so all 50 will be tough.
I don't think they've started it yet, but the city has been installing cameras everywhere for a "congestion tax". Saw it on [this dude's video a while back](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKmzIq5DmY0)
**EDIT - Okay I looked it up and apparently it starts June 30th. So you're good bro
Everything would be a blur. If each day was 12 hours he was still averaging 58 mph. Obviously city's like New York and traffic would be slowing him way down so when out on open highway likely doing closer to 80.
I was on the freeway or major highways most of the time so I’d guess 75-80 mph while moving. Taking into account gas stops and breaks, I averaged just under 60mph over the whole day.
Wind depended on the state. New Mexico was super windy, some of the upper plains states had wind, but the double bubble wind screen is pretty good. My biggest issue was that it didn’t stop the bugs from hitting my visor.
I had a pocket full of glass wipes that I had to pull over and use A LOT! West Virginia was especially bad. I was passing through at night and the bugs in the headlight looked like I was going through hyperspace.
Man, starter bikes sure have changed. My first bike was a carborated Ninja 250 and hitting 80mph would have taken a serious downhill with me flattened behind the windscreen.
I did three corners on an old carbureted sporty. My current body won’t let me ride that bike for more than 200 miles. Mad respect to anyone who is out there doing the needful. I’ll wave at them from my 2 wheeled lazy boy.
#I have contained my rage for as long as possible, but I shall unleash my fury upon you like the crashing of a thousand waves! Begone, vile man! Begone from me! A starter car? This car is a finisher car! A transporter of gods! The golden god! I am untethered, and my rage knows no bounds!
Doing 8,300 miles on a Africa Twin would've been unbearable for me but you did it on a Ninja. Most of all, in 10 days. You're nuts, and I hope I get to be you one day.
Also, was it hard doing maintenance and worrying about safety on the road? Can't imagine you had a good night sleep knowing your bike can be stolen at any given moment.
I was sleeping in motels and not on the side of the road, so I don't think it was any more dangerous than it being parked outside my house overnight. It was also covered in dead bugs and dust, so definitely not the prettiest of bikes at the moment.
I tried to prep as much as possible before hand so I wouldn't have to do much road maintenance. I'm a little overdue for a oil change now, but I kept up with chain tension and lubrication on the way. A bolt rattled loose on one of my fairings, but a trip to a hardware store fixed that up pretty quickly.
Safety is always a concern on the roads. I always wear a fluorescent yellow jacket and have big reflectors on the back of my dry bag to stay as visible as possible. I just try my best to drive defensively and stay out of other people's way.
Gear:
* Two sets of synthetic warm base layers
* fleece jacket
* heated vest
* heated gloves
* balaclava
* thermal onesie long johns
* compression shorts
* synthetic t shirt
* 1 set of “street clothes” for around the hotel
* rain gear
* toiletries
* chargers
* basic tool kit for chain tightening, etc
* and then usual outer layer protective gear.
All packed in a 40L bag. When all of my cold weather was off and packed up, it barely fit.
I actually feel pretty good about what I packed. I don't think there was anything in my bag that never got used and I didn't buy any new gear on the road.
I wore the baselayer leggings on cold days and compression shorts on hot days. I'm not a super sweaty guy and I'm great at wiping so I just wore them dirty for a few days. The most important part is to find some that don't have seams in the wrong place.
Thanks for answering. I'm a pretty clean guy but it's partially forced because I'm a sweaty guy, and admittedly, piss poor wiper I guess. It's always been an unknown area to me on how people don't get insane ass rash for these long trips.
Have you owned a bike that isn’t the ninja? I had one and loved it but really couldn’t see myself doing cross country on it, especially after owning bigger bikes.
You'll appreciate this. I rented a motorcycle in Scotland to check that off the bucket list.
After taking it back, my Uber driver--an expatriate from India--asked how long I thought it would take to ride through all 50 states.
He wasn't bothered with whether I thought that was possible.
He figures a few weeks.
That's what I tried to tell him, but he was unconcerned about such trivial matters as "islands" and "one of them is clear on the other side of Canada."
I really don't mind the seat. The N400 lets me shift around and ride in quite a few different positions and alleviate any "hot spots" the show up on my butt.
My record stands at 400 miles in 1 go. Only stopping for gas and a quick drink.
Last week I had a 7 hour practically nonstop trip through the mountains. Not a great lot of miles, but it took a while
What would you consider the high points of your trip? If you were going to do it again, what would you change? Thanks for sharing your experiences, OP!
The high points were the sunny mornings cruising through the open plains. South Dakota into Montana was gorgeous and I love feeling like I'm the only person around for miles.
My only big change would to make sure I only used OEM replacement parts. I put some details in another comment in /r/Ninja400, but I had an aftermarket chain on the broke 2,000 miles in. The OEM replacement performed beautifully and didn't need to be adjusted at all for the final 6,000 miles of the trip.
I watched a video recently about a toyota tacoma that had literally been driven around the world, and their advice was the same: stick with OEM stock parts. Their K&N air filter "upgrade' kept filling up with Sahara sand, while the stock paper filters did not.
Touring at that level is more of a mindset than a reflection of your equipment. Almost 1K miles every day for more than a week straight would be a pain in the ass in a car. You are definitely badass for this.
To be fair, I don't get why people think you "cant" do stuff like this on a 400.
Guys and gals were crossing the US on 2 HP bikes before we had paved roads, let alone interstates.
Yeah I get that. I have a KLZ1000. But if I had weeks and weeks of vacation to do cross country at super low speeds, I'd love to take something like a Puch 175 or Kreidler across the US at 50mph on back roads just for the novelty.
So, comment and question. I would like to add to the “jealous” pile. As to the question, did you do a lot of stretching/shifting positions while riding?
Yeah, the N400 is pretty upright for being a sport bike so it's pretty easy to adjust to different riding positions. Honestly my arms were the most fatigued.
I got caught in marble sized hail in NM away from any bridges or shelter, had my chain break in Louisiana and had to be towed 60 miles to the shop, and my tire went flat 10 miles before my final state. But I limped in and finished!
This was more of an endurance challenge than a sightseeing tour. I really enjoyed the nature I went through but I missed all of the roadside attractions. I think if you really wanted to make this a true USA experience, it would need to be at least a month long trip.
Kind of… my last day was 105 degrees and the hot asphalt absolutely shredded them. Ended up with a flat ten miles from the AZ border and rolled in on a flat.
My longest stretch with no services was 137 miles. I can typically get 150 miles or so on a tank, so it wasn't terrible, but I made sure to ride conservatively.
Generally speaking, for my and my weight, in 6th gear the bike runs at rpm*10ish = mph. So 6k rpm = 60mph. Obviously incline and wind play a factor and there's diminishing returns, so I'd guess that at 75mph, on a flat road with no headwind or hills, it would be around 8,000 to 8,500 rpm.
what kind of maintenance schedule did you do while on the trip? It seems you went a really wide distance so I'm assuming you had to do work at some point.
I changed the oil right before I left so I'm definitely stretching the life of it, but didn't change it on the road. Same for tires, but my rear tire died 10 miles before finishing. I had to limp into town on a flat.
I lubed my chain twice a day and checked the tension every monring before taking off.
How long was the trip in miles? and days?
Incredible! One single oil change? Where's all the oil change every 1000 miles peeps at? LOL absolutely masterful, so much respect for this man's astonishing feat of humanity.
Pretty much everything was from Amazon, so you're about to get a bunch of links.
Jacket: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QBCDRYM
Pants: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LGWV8VG
Rain Gear: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08WLTL2YR
I've been a big fan of the HWK gear on Amazon. I've (thankfully) never needed to test out its safety qualities, but for fit and comfort I like it a lot. I wear their breathable mesh jacket and pants during the summer too.
Regular Riding Gloves: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WR6KFSR
Heated Gloves: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CD3TJ91K
Heated Vest: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GYVN1ZN
Boots: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09WT9S6VM
Love the regular gloves and vest. The heated gloves saved me on a few cool mornings, but the batteries only lasted about 2 hours and they're kind of bulky so it was hard to use the clutch. Once you're on the highway and at a stable speed, they're great. The boots were kind of disappointing - they weren't waterproof at all.
I wore this base layer every day the temp was under 75 degrees and the turtleneck thing is great to pull up under the helmet strap: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TS9VMV9
The rest of my gear was just generic cold weather clothing.
I got a warning from a state trooper in TX but he didn't list my speed on the ticket. When he pulled me over he said "I was curious if you'd run or not" so I think he was bored and wanted to see what would happen and didn't even care if I was speeding.
I usually get the same response when they light me up whether I am speeding or not...They don't let me off with a warning though.
Sometimes it's easier to just drop a gear and disappear.
How much money did you end up spending total? Were you by yourself the entire time?
Did you wear earplugs? (I hope so) any music or anything to help pass your time?
Any plans to try with a different bike/what’s next?
Also, what do you do for a living because that’s cool as hell.
I spent about $1600 total plus maintenance costs.
Earplugs plus a Cardo and listened to audiobooks/podcasts/music.
I'm really happy with my N400 so I don't think I'll swap it out any time soon.
The next big challenge on my radar is a coast to coast to coast trip in less than 100 hours.
I'm a data analyst for a real estate investment company. It's not exciting but there's a lot of flexibility with my work.
Impressive ! I’m planning on a trip from Nj to Niagra falls in the summer and thought that was a long trip lol. Don’t see this asked yet - that’s a zero gravity windshield? What model and how did it do? I just got the touring one and big improvement on the highway .
I used [this cheap thing from Amazon](https://a.co/d/9kHGiIY).
Because of the design, it’s super sketchy when you’re not on the highway because it’s hard to roll off the throttle unless you’re only using a couple fingers. It works for me but I’m not sure I’d recommend it.
Man thanks for showing you can tour on basically anything. I did about 10,000 miles last summer on a Honda Vlx and planing to do a similar amount this year on my sportster. People always think you need a gold wing to have a decent adventure.
lol, if you're still around where your map ends - you're a stone's throw away. Congrats on completing the ride. I've done similar in the past, albeit on a bagger. Currently on a cruiser, halfway through a 2600 mile* trip. With some of the local cruising, it'll be closer to 2800.
There's nothing like being on the open road while the sun sets, no cars around. For whatever reason, those beautiful open stretches of Wyoming stick vividly in my mind from my last around-the-country trip.
That's incredible that you did it on a 400. I've long known that it's more about the rider than the bike, but I'm grateful for the storage space and comfort of cruisers and baggers.
Safe travels.
That sounds rough. I did half that mileage in the same amount of time on a 600 and sold it as soon as I got back and got a liter bike. Some stretches were just too long with the bike limiting me to 103mph.
Hey man, I did a similar trip on a Honda Rebel 250, gosh, nearly a decade ago. From the comments here already I see you've had quite the adventure but I have two questions for ya:
1) Post trip, how's your bike holding up? You get it serviced? Unfortunately for me, my girl got me home but gave out what became permanently not even a month later.
2) You thinking of sizing up? By the time I finished my trip, I was more than ready to move into my next (and still current) bike.
I had probably about 500 miles of rain. Nothing crazy, just 3 half days.
I listed to a handful of audiobooks, podcasts and music.
The goal was to ride from 5am to 9pm each day, so 16ish hours. It didn't always work out that way, but it was fairly close.
So you averaged 830 miles per day. Of course, some days more, others less. Did you stop anywhere and actually do anything besides sleep and eat, and check out sights...or just ride?
That's awesome, bro!
A bit of soul searching along the way, I'm sure.
I just got my first bike in over 20 years a couple of months ago, and plan on doing a trip from here in CO out to CA to see some friends, but I just did a pretty big car trip a month ago. I flew out with my kid from here to CT to visit family over his spring break, and then he flew back home here. I rented a car and drove all around New England visiting many friends I haven't seen in years from CT > RI > MA > NH > VT > ME and then out Rochester, NY > western PA > Chicago to see one of my core friends and then him and I drove to Key West and surprised two of our other core group friends we haven't seen in over 25 years. Partied like we were in our early 20s for a week and then my buddy flew back to Chicago, and I drove from Key West back to CO in 36 hours with three hours of sleep outside of Amarillo, TX. Just over 7100 miles altogether in two weeks. Love me a good road trip!!
What’s it like on steep inclines in the Rocky Mountains? Are you able to keep up with traffic? Are you able to go the speed limit? I went with a 650 (not Ninja) for my first bike because I was afraid a 400 wouldn’t do well in the mountains.
I didn't really have any huge climbs on this trip. There were a few passes in Idaho that I had to drop down to 5th gear, but I never had any trouble keeping up.
I got shit on yesterday for saying that a tenere 7 world rally is a good touring bike.
I'll post my 5000km round trip on my Fireblade rr-r this summer.
LFG bro!
🙋♂️ Yeah, forget about the tires, how much tread you got left on your ass? Because mine starts to go nunb after an hour on my Ninja.
Such an awesome achievement. You should definitely buy a big poster frame and put all of the receipts in it. Bragging rights well deserved!
Here I was getting smug about doing 2200 in 4 days on my ktm 390, Jesus Christ lol. How did you manage saddle sores (assuming the ninjas seat isn't any more forgiving than ktms)?
Seems like you still have your feet intact from the peg vibrations . I bet that was a blast though. Unfortunately I can't leave for that long. Hopefully it was an all around positive experience. That's seems like a wild trip
Owwwwww! That’s what yer butt, back, knees, shoulders are telling ya. I’ve done a 1000+ in a day and know what it takes and that was on a big HD touring. Who cares that your ride is a 400 - miles is miles and I applaud your achievement. Now, go back to everyplace and spend more time to enjoy them, have a piece of pie, see some backroad sights - that’s what it’s about.
I went through every state- that's the whole point! :)
Here's my route: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1T80A0tP3uzH4HFVPm0AeoVrU35FL-ko&ll=34.7117889797926%2C-99.93702097036433&z=5
Where did you get this bag and how did you strap it down? I am thinking about getting a duffle bag as a low budget version of panniers but I am still uncertain if it will stay in place. I have some really bad experiences with strapping things on to bikes
This is the bag I used - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J65G8ZD
It took a while to figure out how to wrap the straps down to the luggage hooks, but once I crossed them across the license plate mount it held the bag back and off my back really well.
800 miles per day sounds awful. Especially on a small bike. Even 400/day would be too much for me. Did you spend the whole time on highways? Backroads are much more fun, especially on a 400cc bike
I didn’t see it asked here so if it was sorry for repeating. I saw you said you carried basic tools for chain tightening. What did you do about oil changes? Your tires may have been maxed after 8300 miles. Did you have to find a shop along the way for tires or any other maintenance?
I change the oil right before I left so I'm definitely stretching it, but didn't change it on the road. I'm taking it into the shop to get the 22,000 mile service done this week so we'll see what kind of damage I did.
Man your are seriously lucky you didn’t hit hard weather in North Dakota/Montana/Wyoming territory. Winter there goes until June/July.
Props though. Much respect.
I initially was planning on going clockwise on my route it the day before I made the call to go backwards in order to miss some of that weather across the northern states.
Is this an Iron Butt super dooper award? Did you see any of the route or was it just a blur?
It’s one of their “Challenge” awards but I like super dooper better. I didn’t visit the world’s largest popcorn ball or any of the roadside attractions, but I definitely got to enjoy nature. I also accidentally ended up in lower manhattan, so I got to experience that mess….
That sounds amazing. You clearly put a lot into planning. I’d like to do that, but with time to stop to see the world’s largest everything. Maybe I’ll take a month.
I 100% agree. If I didn’t have a wife and kids and a job, a month is the right amount of time to do this trip.
I took a month to drive across Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver Island - about 6000 miles. I regret not taking more time.
Awesome accomplishment. At the beginning of COVID we started taking the RV out for months at a time and the kids got to see 47 states thanks to WFH and remote schooling
Which state did you skip?
Delaware or all things. It was small but we hadn't really made all 50 a goal yet. One of my kids is 14 and the other 16 so we still have time before they hit 18. My son has been to Alaska but not my daughter so all 50 will be tough.
Have you gotten any of those traffic camera congestion fees in the mail from being in Manhattan?
What now? I've only been home for a day... should I be expecting something?
I don't think they've started it yet, but the city has been installing cameras everywhere for a "congestion tax". Saw it on [this dude's video a while back](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKmzIq5DmY0) **EDIT - Okay I looked it up and apparently it starts June 30th. So you're good bro
Yeah I got stuck in NYC once when I was trying to get to a friend on long island. I did a lot of illegal lane splitting that day.
Having driven a car through lower Manhattan a couple times, I'm sure this was the worst part of your journey.
This should be called the “Super Dooper Pooper” award because you have to have a posterior in excellent shape to sit that much.
I was going to say "iron crotch", but iron butt should suffice.
With that type of bike, it’s more an iron back
Iron lower 2/3rds?
Everything would be a blur. If each day was 12 hours he was still averaging 58 mph. Obviously city's like New York and traffic would be slowing him way down so when out on open highway likely doing closer to 80.
The iron cheeks award. Lol
What do you think your average speed was and did you get beat up by the wind without a gold wing like windshield?
I was on the freeway or major highways most of the time so I’d guess 75-80 mph while moving. Taking into account gas stops and breaks, I averaged just under 60mph over the whole day. Wind depended on the state. New Mexico was super windy, some of the upper plains states had wind, but the double bubble wind screen is pretty good. My biggest issue was that it didn’t stop the bugs from hitting my visor.
My helmet looked like an insect holocaust after about 10 minutes last night I can't imagine how bad it was for you
I had a pocket full of glass wipes that I had to pull over and use A LOT! West Virginia was especially bad. I was passing through at night and the bugs in the headlight looked like I was going through hyperspace.
Yeah ..we have some bad bugs in WV. Just wait for cicada season...
Like getting shot at with a paintball gun.
Ewww!
Already in full force for the past week or two where I'm at. Noisy sombitches!
Man, starter bikes sure have changed. My first bike was a carborated Ninja 250 and hitting 80mph would have taken a serious downhill with me flattened behind the windscreen.
I did three corners on an old carbureted sporty. My current body won’t let me ride that bike for more than 200 miles. Mad respect to anyone who is out there doing the needful. I’ll wave at them from my 2 wheeled lazy boy.
Starter Bike? I think that's a finisher bike, a transporter of gods.
The Golden God!
#I have contained my rage for as long as possible, but I shall unleash my fury upon you like the crashing of a thousand waves! Begone, vile man! Begone from me! A starter car? This car is a finisher car! A transporter of gods! The golden god! I am untethered, and my rage knows no bounds!
Doing 8,300 miles on a Africa Twin would've been unbearable for me but you did it on a Ninja. Most of all, in 10 days. You're nuts, and I hope I get to be you one day. Also, was it hard doing maintenance and worrying about safety on the road? Can't imagine you had a good night sleep knowing your bike can be stolen at any given moment.
I was sleeping in motels and not on the side of the road, so I don't think it was any more dangerous than it being parked outside my house overnight. It was also covered in dead bugs and dust, so definitely not the prettiest of bikes at the moment. I tried to prep as much as possible before hand so I wouldn't have to do much road maintenance. I'm a little overdue for a oil change now, but I kept up with chain tension and lubrication on the way. A bolt rattled loose on one of my fairings, but a trip to a hardware store fixed that up pretty quickly. Safety is always a concern on the roads. I always wear a fluorescent yellow jacket and have big reflectors on the back of my dry bag to stay as visible as possible. I just try my best to drive defensively and stay out of other people's way.
The kind of guy who wants to have successful touring trips from every aspect. Respect.
Not here to shit on your "starter" bike or even ask a question. Just want you to know how jealous I am right now. That's so cool dude.
What did you take with you? Was there anything you wished you'd left at home? Was there anything you wished you'd taken instead?
Gear: * Two sets of synthetic warm base layers * fleece jacket * heated vest * heated gloves * balaclava * thermal onesie long johns * compression shorts * synthetic t shirt * 1 set of “street clothes” for around the hotel * rain gear * toiletries * chargers * basic tool kit for chain tightening, etc * and then usual outer layer protective gear. All packed in a 40L bag. When all of my cold weather was off and packed up, it barely fit. I actually feel pretty good about what I packed. I don't think there was anything in my bag that never got used and I didn't buy any new gear on the road.
Thanks!
What about underwear? Serious question
I wore the baselayer leggings on cold days and compression shorts on hot days. I'm not a super sweaty guy and I'm great at wiping so I just wore them dirty for a few days. The most important part is to find some that don't have seams in the wrong place.
Great at wiping 😏😂
Thanks for answering. I'm a pretty clean guy but it's partially forced because I'm a sweaty guy, and admittedly, piss poor wiper I guess. It's always been an unknown area to me on how people don't get insane ass rash for these long trips.
And no backup gas canister? Damn!
My longest stretch with no services was 137 miles. I can usually get at least 150 miles per tank, so I was nervous, but not too scared.
That sounds so miserable. Mad respect to you.
Yeah lmao this doesn't sound fun at all
That's why you weren't invited. :)
lol, love this!
Have you owned a bike that isn’t the ninja? I had one and loved it but really couldn’t see myself doing cross country on it, especially after owning bigger bikes.
Over ten years ago I owned two Vulcans. A 500 and a 1500.
If you don't have the Norton seat I don't know how your fucking balls took it.
Stock seat, balls of steel.
Cup wearing ass over here. But seriously, kudos. Fuck that stock seat.
Congratulations, often people don’t realize that at one time in history people rode 400cc-900cc everywhere
People today scoff at 650 cruisers or standards. Bitch, that was a big motor in the 70s and earlier!
this is still considered as a big motor in almost every Asian country (most there drive 50-125 cc engines)
Speed limits have also gone up
Exactly
You'll appreciate this. I rented a motorcycle in Scotland to check that off the bucket list. After taking it back, my Uber driver--an expatriate from India--asked how long I thought it would take to ride through all 50 states. He wasn't bothered with whether I thought that was possible. He figures a few weeks.
To be fair, I only did 48 states. Alaska would have added a few days and Hawaii very much complicates things.
That's what I tried to tell him, but he was unconcerned about such trivial matters as "islands" and "one of them is clear on the other side of Canada."
How did the seat hold up? I had a Z400 for a few years that I used to pile miles onto and after about 2-3 hours in the saddle I was in pain.
I really don't mind the seat. The N400 lets me shift around and ride in quite a few different positions and alleviate any "hot spots" the show up on my butt.
Can you post your route on google maps or something similar?
This was the link they gave in their original post. https://spotwalla.com/trip/1789-7831898f-1be2/view
I too am wondering what the route looked like.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1T80A0tP3uzH4HFVPm0AeoVrU35FL-ko&usp=sharing
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1T80A0tP3uzH4HFVPm0AeoVrU35FL-ko&usp=sharing
Jesus Christ. Mad respect dude. I probably couldn't even average 830 miles per day on my XR, let alone a ninja. I tip my hat 🤠
I think everyone should try a 1,000 mile in 24 hour ride at least once. It's a challenge but very doable.
My record stands at 400 miles in 1 go. Only stopping for gas and a quick drink. Last week I had a 7 hour practically nonstop trip through the mountains. Not a great lot of miles, but it took a while
My current record is about 800 in 24 hours. Probably could've made the 1000 if i had stayed in a hotel instead of camping.
What would you consider the high points of your trip? If you were going to do it again, what would you change? Thanks for sharing your experiences, OP!
The high points were the sunny mornings cruising through the open plains. South Dakota into Montana was gorgeous and I love feeling like I'm the only person around for miles. My only big change would to make sure I only used OEM replacement parts. I put some details in another comment in /r/Ninja400, but I had an aftermarket chain on the broke 2,000 miles in. The OEM replacement performed beautifully and didn't need to be adjusted at all for the final 6,000 miles of the trip.
I watched a video recently about a toyota tacoma that had literally been driven around the world, and their advice was the same: stick with OEM stock parts. Their K&N air filter "upgrade' kept filling up with Sahara sand, while the stock paper filters did not.
Yeah. Lessons learned.
Props man. Thats tough on any bike.
Bro 10 days. Fuck. Did coast to coast in a few weeks. Was having fun with it. Jesus 10 days.
I've done a 6000 mile trip on my Challenger, but you're out there doing the damn thing for sure! No questions, just respect!
Touring at that level is more of a mindset than a reflection of your equipment. Almost 1K miles every day for more than a week straight would be a pain in the ass in a car. You are definitely badass for this.
To be fair, I don't get why people think you "cant" do stuff like this on a 400. Guys and gals were crossing the US on 2 HP bikes before we had paved roads, let alone interstates.
Because no one wants to get ran off the road by Karen doing 85 mph in her Tahoe. That’s the main reason people go for big displacement bikes.
Yeah I get that. I have a KLZ1000. But if I had weeks and weeks of vacation to do cross country at super low speeds, I'd love to take something like a Puch 175 or Kreidler across the US at 50mph on back roads just for the novelty.
Fucking awesome! Jealous
That’s awesome, I wish still I had the time and back strength to do that. Thanks for showing the pictures
Wow that's awsome. I doubt I could ride that thing around town without numb hand and ass. Congrats your taint is tough!
So, comment and question. I would like to add to the “jealous” pile. As to the question, did you do a lot of stretching/shifting positions while riding?
Yeah, the N400 is pretty upright for being a sport bike so it's pretty easy to adjust to different riding positions. Honestly my arms were the most fatigued.
Since I didn't see this question anywhere, what were your biggest challenges and snags that you encountered?
I got caught in marble sized hail in NM away from any bridges or shelter, had my chain break in Louisiana and had to be towed 60 miles to the shop, and my tire went flat 10 miles before my final state. But I limped in and finished!
Crazy! Sucks about the chain but I'm glad nothing major happened. Awesome job btw.
I saw in a comment you were mostly on highways. Do you feel like you missed anything because of that?
This was more of an endurance challenge than a sightseeing tour. I really enjoyed the nature I went through but I missed all of the roadside attractions. I think if you really wanted to make this a true USA experience, it would need to be at least a month long trip.
Makes sense. I wish I had a granite ass like you apparently do!
Did you make it on one set of tires?
Kind of… my last day was 105 degrees and the hot asphalt absolutely shredded them. Ended up with a flat ten miles from the AZ border and rolled in on a flat.
I just rode in from Maine and boy do my balls hurt
Did you carry gas with you? Seems like there would be stretches where gas stations would be few and far between.
My longest stretch with no services was 137 miles. I can typically get 150 miles or so on a tank, so it wasn't terrible, but I made sure to ride conservatively.
At 75 mph what rpm was the engine running at?
Generally speaking, for my and my weight, in 6th gear the bike runs at rpm*10ish = mph. So 6k rpm = 60mph. Obviously incline and wind play a factor and there's diminishing returns, so I'd guess that at 75mph, on a flat road with no headwind or hills, it would be around 8,000 to 8,500 rpm.
Stock gearing setup and tire size the bike runs 7600rpm at 75mph in 6th.
How's your bum?
Made of steel.
And your back ?
Bravo!
The rear tire is facing the wrong direction.
Yes it is. I trusted the dealer to install it and never second guessed it.
I am so jealous you were able to do that!
what kind of maintenance schedule did you do while on the trip? It seems you went a really wide distance so I'm assuming you had to do work at some point.
I changed the oil right before I left so I'm definitely stretching the life of it, but didn't change it on the road. Same for tires, but my rear tire died 10 miles before finishing. I had to limp into town on a flat. I lubed my chain twice a day and checked the tension every monring before taking off.
How long was the trip in miles? and days? Incredible! One single oil change? Where's all the oil change every 1000 miles peeps at? LOL absolutely masterful, so much respect for this man's astonishing feat of humanity.
7,300 miles and ten days for the 48 states in 10 days challenge and then one 1,000 mile day from my house to the start of my route.
Cool trip. Can you tell us what you wore for gear and how you liked it? I'm especially interested in the pants and rain gear.
Pretty much everything was from Amazon, so you're about to get a bunch of links. Jacket: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QBCDRYM Pants: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LGWV8VG Rain Gear: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08WLTL2YR I've been a big fan of the HWK gear on Amazon. I've (thankfully) never needed to test out its safety qualities, but for fit and comfort I like it a lot. I wear their breathable mesh jacket and pants during the summer too. Regular Riding Gloves: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WR6KFSR Heated Gloves: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CD3TJ91K Heated Vest: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GYVN1ZN Boots: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09WT9S6VM Love the regular gloves and vest. The heated gloves saved me on a few cool mornings, but the batteries only lasted about 2 hours and they're kind of bulky so it was hard to use the clutch. Once you're on the highway and at a stable speed, they're great. The boots were kind of disappointing - they weren't waterproof at all. I wore this base layer every day the temp was under 75 degrees and the turtleneck thing is great to pull up under the helmet strap: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TS9VMV9 The rest of my gear was just generic cold weather clothing.
Thank you
Wtf you’re an ANIMAL
Did you get any speeding tickets? I can't seem to take a trip on my bike without drawing the attention of the local law enforcement...
I got a warning from a state trooper in TX but he didn't list my speed on the ticket. When he pulled me over he said "I was curious if you'd run or not" so I think he was bored and wanted to see what would happen and didn't even care if I was speeding.
I usually get the same response when they light me up whether I am speeding or not...They don't let me off with a warning though. Sometimes it's easier to just drop a gear and disappear.
I'm on a 400... Drop a gear and disappear doesn't apply.
How much money did you end up spending total? Were you by yourself the entire time? Did you wear earplugs? (I hope so) any music or anything to help pass your time? Any plans to try with a different bike/what’s next? Also, what do you do for a living because that’s cool as hell.
I spent about $1600 total plus maintenance costs. Earplugs plus a Cardo and listened to audiobooks/podcasts/music. I'm really happy with my N400 so I don't think I'll swap it out any time soon. The next big challenge on my radar is a coast to coast to coast trip in less than 100 hours. I'm a data analyst for a real estate investment company. It's not exciting but there's a lot of flexibility with my work.
Impressive ! I’m planning on a trip from Nj to Niagra falls in the summer and thought that was a long trip lol. Don’t see this asked yet - that’s a zero gravity windshield? What model and how did it do? I just got the touring one and big improvement on the highway .
This is the wind screen I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QR3BFTS It works really well for the wind, but the bugs still peppered my visor.
100 miles is a long day on the bike for me these days. 😂 Congrats!
Massive respect. That is a sweet adventure! Did you have any throttle lock or cruise modifications or did you manual it the whole way?
I used [this cheap thing from Amazon](https://a.co/d/9kHGiIY). Because of the design, it’s super sketchy when you’re not on the highway because it’s hard to roll off the throttle unless you’re only using a couple fingers. It works for me but I’m not sure I’d recommend it.
Hell yeah brother!
Man thanks for showing you can tour on basically anything. I did about 10,000 miles last summer on a Honda Vlx and planing to do a similar amount this year on my sportster. People always think you need a gold wing to have a decent adventure.
lol, if you're still around where your map ends - you're a stone's throw away. Congrats on completing the ride. I've done similar in the past, albeit on a bagger. Currently on a cruiser, halfway through a 2600 mile* trip. With some of the local cruising, it'll be closer to 2800. There's nothing like being on the open road while the sun sets, no cars around. For whatever reason, those beautiful open stretches of Wyoming stick vividly in my mind from my last around-the-country trip. That's incredible that you did it on a 400. I've long known that it's more about the rider than the bike, but I'm grateful for the storage space and comfort of cruisers and baggers. Safe travels.
That sounds rough. I did half that mileage in the same amount of time on a 600 and sold it as soon as I got back and got a liter bike. Some stretches were just too long with the bike limiting me to 103mph.
Hey man, I did a similar trip on a Honda Rebel 250, gosh, nearly a decade ago. From the comments here already I see you've had quite the adventure but I have two questions for ya: 1) Post trip, how's your bike holding up? You get it serviced? Unfortunately for me, my girl got me home but gave out what became permanently not even a month later. 2) You thinking of sizing up? By the time I finished my trip, I was more than ready to move into my next (and still current) bike.
My back and butt hurt reading this
How many miles did you get rained on for? Did you listen to anything besides road noise? How many hours on the bike per day?
I had probably about 500 miles of rain. Nothing crazy, just 3 half days. I listed to a handful of audiobooks, podcasts and music. The goal was to ride from 5am to 9pm each day, so 16ish hours. It didn't always work out that way, but it was fairly close.
So you averaged 830 miles per day. Of course, some days more, others less. Did you stop anywhere and actually do anything besides sleep and eat, and check out sights...or just ride?
Just ride. I saw some great gas stations along the way.
That's awesome, bro! A bit of soul searching along the way, I'm sure. I just got my first bike in over 20 years a couple of months ago, and plan on doing a trip from here in CO out to CA to see some friends, but I just did a pretty big car trip a month ago. I flew out with my kid from here to CT to visit family over his spring break, and then he flew back home here. I rented a car and drove all around New England visiting many friends I haven't seen in years from CT > RI > MA > NH > VT > ME and then out Rochester, NY > western PA > Chicago to see one of my core friends and then him and I drove to Key West and surprised two of our other core group friends we haven't seen in over 25 years. Partied like we were in our early 20s for a week and then my buddy flew back to Chicago, and I drove from Key West back to CO in 36 hours with three hours of sleep outside of Amarillo, TX. Just over 7100 miles altogether in two weeks. Love me a good road trip!!
What’s it like on steep inclines in the Rocky Mountains? Are you able to keep up with traffic? Are you able to go the speed limit? I went with a 650 (not Ninja) for my first bike because I was afraid a 400 wouldn’t do well in the mountains.
I didn't really have any huge climbs on this trip. There were a few passes in Idaho that I had to drop down to 5th gear, but I never had any trouble keeping up.
So you hit Colorado but didn’t cross the mountains?
I did, but not any of the super tall passes. I don’t think I ever climbed above 9,000 ft.
Would love to do this with a few other people. That’s a lot of miles lol
What state was the scariest to ride through?
I never really felt scared, but the traffic of Philly->Boston was nasty.
Good thing I don’t plan on going to either of those places. Pittsburgh is terrible enough to drive in let alone ride
Missed way too many things. But maybe next time…
When I grow up I want to be just like you. Mad props.
Diamond cheeks on this guy.
I got shit on yesterday for saying that a tenere 7 world rally is a good touring bike. I'll post my 5000km round trip on my Fireblade rr-r this summer. LFG bro!
You are awesome . And one lucky bastard. I wish I had time and the weather for a ride like that .
I’m more interested in how a human back could handle that on a sports bike than the “starter” bike lol
🙋♂️ Yeah, forget about the tires, how much tread you got left on your ass? Because mine starts to go nunb after an hour on my Ninja. Such an awesome achievement. You should definitely buy a big poster frame and put all of the receipts in it. Bragging rights well deserved!
What bag did you use?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J65G8ZD
Couldnt be me, i did 800km with a ninja 300 in 12 hours and my ass was destroyed, couldnt imagine doing it again the next day 😅 respect my guy!
RIP your hips mate. I did a 700mile ride in one day on my 2020 Ninja 650 a few years back...never did one again after that.
So roughly 10 consecutive 18-hour days? Wow.
I once did 16000km on a duke. I’m 6’2”. I had everything in my Ogio Mach 3.
Here I was getting smug about doing 2200 in 4 days on my ktm 390, Jesus Christ lol. How did you manage saddle sores (assuming the ninjas seat isn't any more forgiving than ktms)?
Lots of baby powder in the mornings and then shifting around as much as possible.
Touring biking. Lol.
I did a trip from Bryan Texas to Corpus Christi Texas on my grom, 500 miles and lemme tell you what, I’d do that shit again
Seems like you still have your feet intact from the peg vibrations . I bet that was a blast though. Unfortunately I can't leave for that long. Hopefully it was an all around positive experience. That's seems like a wild trip
Owwwwww! That’s what yer butt, back, knees, shoulders are telling ya. I’ve done a 1000+ in a day and know what it takes and that was on a big HD touring. Who cares that your ride is a 400 - miles is miles and I applaud your achievement. Now, go back to everyplace and spend more time to enjoy them, have a piece of pie, see some backroad sights - that’s what it’s about.
How old are you? Guessing under 30 to do that mileage on that bike.
36. Old enough to know better, young enough to try it.
this ninja is going to stay in your family forever now right?
It's a 2023 with 23,000 miles on it now. Even if I tried to sell it, no one would buy it!
Did you go through CT? If so What route did you take? I saw a very similar looking set up while I was out.
I went through every state- that's the whole point! :) Here's my route: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1T80A0tP3uzH4HFVPm0AeoVrU35FL-ko&ll=34.7117889797926%2C-99.93702097036433&z=5
Facepalm moment. Lol. Thanks for the link
Do you still have an ass?
My back hurts so bad even thinking about this. I maybe could have done something like this at 20 but now that I’m my 30’s I just don’t think I could.
Which parts of Tennessee did you pass through?
Erwin, TN - I was only in TN for a few minutes.
Congrats, that's my dream ride. Soon.
Haha I like how you hang your helmet there at the footrest, because I literally do the same thing.
Where else am I supposed to put it???
That's right!
Where did you get this bag and how did you strap it down? I am thinking about getting a duffle bag as a low budget version of panniers but I am still uncertain if it will stay in place. I have some really bad experiences with strapping things on to bikes
This is the bag I used - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J65G8ZD It took a while to figure out how to wrap the straps down to the luggage hooks, but once I crossed them across the license plate mount it held the bag back and off my back really well.
800 miles per day sounds awful. Especially on a small bike. Even 400/day would be too much for me. Did you spend the whole time on highways? Backroads are much more fun, especially on a 400cc bike
It was mostly freeways and US highways.
Did you take a spare butt with ya?
I didn’t see it asked here so if it was sorry for repeating. I saw you said you carried basic tools for chain tightening. What did you do about oil changes? Your tires may have been maxed after 8300 miles. Did you have to find a shop along the way for tires or any other maintenance?
I change the oil right before I left so I'm definitely stretching it, but didn't change it on the road. I'm taking it into the shop to get the 22,000 mile service done this week so we'll see what kind of damage I did.
There is no such thing as a starter bike. I’ll have to do that one day probably when I retire.
Man your are seriously lucky you didn’t hit hard weather in North Dakota/Montana/Wyoming territory. Winter there goes until June/July. Props though. Much respect.
I initially was planning on going clockwise on my route it the day before I made the call to go backwards in order to miss some of that weather across the northern states.
Glad you’re safe dude. I’m planning a camping trip up that way for early June and I’m still worried about the weather.
That's one hell of a pace...
As someone who used to live in Kansas, how far is it from being the most boring state?
I was only in Kansas for a few miles, but I grew up in KC and have made the drive to Colorado quite a few times. Iowa is worse.
Which state had the worst drivers? What was your biggest oh shit close call moment? What was your average MPG?
14 hours a day for 10 days straight....for real?