I am planning on riding from New York to Vancouver with my brother in law next summer, taking about 15 to 17 days. We have both ridden for many years, but do not currently own bikes. We are planning on buying Harley's here in Vancouver area, and shipping them to New York. We are both in our late 30's and in good physical condition. We would not have any passengers. Between the two of us we have owned the following: Yamaha Warrior, Victory Vegas, Honda VTX 1300C, and a Kawi Meanstreak. At this point we are thinking road or street glides, but I am not sure if I would be happy with either as a daily ride once the trip is over. I have always been drawn to sportier bikes. Could I expect to comfortably ride 500 miles a day on any of Harley's "non-touring" models and not be completely worn out? On all of the bikes listed above, anything over 300 miles was very tiring (no windshields on any of them) I really like the look and style of the street bob, and some of the other dyna's, but am worried that they would not be very good for cross country touring. Any feedback would be great.

 

I think you will have many chiming in that ride dynas and even sportster many miles. With a properly set up dyna touring should be no problem. Get some bags, a removable windshield and pack that baby up and ride. Just make sure you have the seat, bars set up for your dimensions...

Welcome to the forum!

 

Well the touring bikes are hard to beat for long trips, cruise control, storage, etc. I ride a heritage and take it on many long trips as well, but when you are at home you can strip it down quickly to just be a local rider as well. Main thing is to have enough room to store all the needed gear. And have a tough rear...... or a really good seat.

 

Maybe a Electra Glide, Road Glide.

 

One thing that is often over looked in the comfort department is the rider him/her self. People go out and buy a bike after not riding for awhile. They get on it ride 50-100 miles and complain about discomfort. Seats need time to break in bodies need to be conditioned for long rides. Lets face it you might be able to do a 400-500 mile day right off the bat but by day 2 or 3 your hurting if your not conditioned for it.

 

Anything in the FLH family will suffice. If these are too heavy, consider a Heritage Softail or Dyna Switchback.

 

The more long rides I take, the happier I am with the Road Glide.

I've done hundreds of miles a day on a Fatboy, Softail Classic, Road King, and a Road Glide. Nothing compares to the Road Glide for eating miles on the highway if you ask me. The fixed fairing is great in crosswinds.

Personally, I'd want cruise control and well adjusted highway pegs on any bike I'd be riding for hundreds of miles a day for multiple days.

 

I love the Dyna but no way would I ride that far on any Dyna .

 

Why buy and ship bikes when you can just rent or buy them and ride to New York and back?

 

Thanks for the input, I am kind of drawn to the roadglide custom, it's a bit different and stands out in a crowd.