30,179 miles in 30 days

[MarkEngland]

I read this and was impressed.

 

"Another incredible world record was set MERA member Bill Newton, who rode an incredible 30,179 miles in 30 days on his Honda ST1100!!"

 

Source: http://www.utah1088.com

[JayW]

Yep, that's some serious endurance riding. It would be interesting to sit and chat with him about the experience. He must be retired.

 

Jay

[wolcott]

I was just chatting with an older, retired gent the other day onboard a ST1100 Honda with aftermarket luggage and a set of driving lights as the only perks. No custom seat, no GPS, intercom, etc. The bike had something like 90K on it. We met in a little Handy convenience store in Alva, Florida bordering the river. He had his girlfriend with him, and his passion for motorcycling was evident (as well as for his gal-she had just flown in for a vacation). Nice to see a bike that old (forget what year), just keep chugging along. I asked if he had a custom seat and he laughed like hell; I believe he told me the driving lights were from Wal-Mart and hand-fabricated to fit with a relay. We talked a bit; and then he and his lady disappeared into the late afternoon... Nice to see someone set an endurance record on an older bike.

[DavidEBSmith]

Phil Mattson did 30,603 on a H-D FLHTCI, whatever model that is.

 

How about Ardys Kellerman doing 100K+ in a year at age 75?

[Eckhard Grohe]

What does this prove other than his selfishness and disregard for his own safety and that of others. We motorcyclists should be condemning such behaviour in the face of the onslaught from law makers, law enforcers and insurance comapnies.

[Wyn]

What does this prove other than his selfishness and disregard for his own safety and that of others. We motorcyclists should be condemning such behaviour in the face of the onslaught from law makers, law enforcers and insurance comapnies.

 

 

Huh??????

 

 

 

ISYHTRAH

[jfremder]

We motorcyclists should be condemning such behaviour

I'm ready to salute the guy, having just one SS1000 under my belt. to 30 in a row

[Huzband]

What does this prove other than his selfishness and disregard for his own safety and that of others. We motorcyclists should be condemning such behaviour in the face of the onslaught from law makers, law enforcers and insurance comapnies.

 

 

I'm hoping your tongue is planted firmly in your cheek.

 

 

 

 

[wrestleantares]

What does this prove other than his selfishness and disregard for his own safety and that of others. We motorcyclists should be condemning such behaviour in the face of the onslaught from law makers, law enforcers and insurance comapnies.

 

 

 

I understand the point you are trying to make.

 

In truth, your point COULD hold water. The only person that really knows is the individual that did it. What his endurance and ability to stay alert is.

 

If I had done this it would have been irresponsible, I do not have the endurance for that type of riding. A few thousand in a week or two is enough for me - once in awhile an 800+ day.

 

But don't assume projecting your abilities or average abilities upon him is correct.

[notacop]

jealous, simply jealous! Ya'lls stuck in Quebec and Mr ST1100 is seeing all sorts of places you'll never see.

Probably for a figure in mind for how far a body should travel in a day.

Stay at home and arm chair all you exploits.

[smiller]

Ya'lls stuck in Quebec and Mr ST1100 is seeing all sorts of places you'll never see.

30k miles in 30 days? He didn't see anything.

[Eckhard Grohe]

Nope. I am serious. If some guy like this T-bones your car or that of a loved one you'd have a different point of view. Because nothing happened, we applaud him. Had he had a mishap and cause the hurt, of say a bunch of school kids, we would be outraged. He probably broke numerous laws each day of his ride but didn't get caught.

 

His time would have been better spent helping build houses in New Orleans or Africa and contributing something other than smog.

[zbassman]

Nope. I am serious. If some guy like this T-bones your car or that of a loved one you'd have a different point of view. Because nothing happened, we applaud him. Had he had a mishap and cause the hurt, of say a bunch of school kids, we would be outraged. He probably broke numerous laws each day of his ride but didn't get caught.

 

His time would have been better spent helping build houses in New Orleans or Africa and contributing something other than smog.

 

I can see your point about 30k miles in 30 days being risky behavior. If you figure he had to spend an average of 6 hours a day not riding, between eating, fueling, sleeping, then he would have had to average 56 MPH while riding. And that's being generous on the amount of time off the bike. Realistically can someone RIDE for 18 hours a day, while averaging 56MPH? And do it safely?

 

I'd have to say not. It sounds good and impressive. But in reality it likely involved some saddle time where he was either way above the speed limit or riding when he was too tired to be an effective rider.

 

Of course its possible, however unlikely, that he's one of those very few people who can operate on 2-3 hours of sleep and be perfectly fine.

[Jim VonBaden]

While I agree there is some possible risk in this type of riding, the majority of it is to the rider.

 

Besides, when is the last time you heard of an Iron Butt rider crashing when it was his/her fault from being tired? I have never heard such a story, though you hear it about cars all the time.

 

People like this have an ability most of us lack to be able to focus for day after day with 15 hours in the saddle.

 

I certainly could never do it, and 99% of us probably could not either, but I bet it wasn't all that bad for him.

 

Oh, and how about we stop mountain climbing, horseback rideing, and boating for fun, and spend all our free time working on charitable projects?

 

Nice idea, but humans need recreation, and this appears to be his. It is not for you or I to say he/we shouldn't do it, or that we should instead be made to do stuff for others.

 

Jim

[Deadboy]

I agree 100%...it is simply an accomplishment looking for a purpose....he saw nothing, risked his and other lives and I for one don't get it....they make airplanes for a reason.

[Bob Palin]

I read this and was impressed.

 

"Another incredible world record was set MERA member Bill Newton, who rode an incredible 30,179 miles in 30 days on his Honda ST1100!!"

 

Source: http://www.utah1088.com

Excellent, not something I would want to do but I fully support his achievement.

[Huzband]

His time would have been better spent helping build houses in New Orleans or Africa and contributing something other than smog.

 

 

Same could be said of your post.

 

He probably broke numerous laws each day of his ride but didn't get caught.

 

 

I suppose, by that statement, anyone whom has ever ridden a motorcycle for more than one consecutive day, had also " probably broken numerous laws".

 

Eckhard, I don't know you, nor do I know how you ride. Therefore, I would not dare take such an elitist position & judge you for any accomplishments you might make based on my lack of personal knowledge of your abilities.

[DavidEBSmith]

I can see your point about 30k miles in 30 days being risky behavior. If you figure he had to spend an average of 6 hours a day not riding, between eating, fueling, sleeping, then he would have had to average 56 MPH while riding. And that's being generous on the amount of time off the bike. Realistically can someone RIDE for 18 hours a day, while averaging 56MPH? And do it safely?

 

Yup. Absolutely. Under conditions where all you're doing is racking up the miles, it can be done.

 

It may not be interesting to you. You might not imagine that you could do it, therefore you might imagine that nobody could do it. It doesn't necessarily require speeding or riding tired or engaging in risky behavior. If you want to compare safety records, I'll take Iron Butt riders over a gathering of people from this DB anyday. Calculate accidents per mile ridden in the IBR versus an El Paseo weekend sometime.

 

Anytime the discussion turns to mileage, the responses remind me of the George Carlin line, paraphrasing: "Have you ever noticed that anybody riding fewer miles per day than you is an idiot, and anyone riding more miles per day than you is a maniac?"

 

At some level, all recreational motorcycle riding is a waste of resources that could be better devoted to feeding starving children in the Third World. Indeed, most of our daily lives could be devoted to better purposes. Unless you're another Mother Theresa and have given up all your toys to go run an orphanage in a slum somewhere, I don't think anybody has standing to be criticizing people for the wastefulness of their particular branch of this hobby.

[CraCol]

What does this prove other than his selfishness and disregard for his own safety and that of others. We motorcyclists should be condemning such behaviour in the face of the onslaught from law makers, law enforcers and insurance comapnies.

 

Lighten Up... If you have the stones, you can ride 30K in 30 days without risking anyones saftey, including your own if you use common sense.

 

TinMan.

[CraCol]

Had he had a mishap and cause the hurt, of say a bunch of school kids, we would be outraged.

 

So your saying if any motorcyclist has one of these mishap's, they are now a social deviant? Remember, most accidents happen within 70 miles of your home..

 

TinMan.

[wellcraft]

30,179 miles in 30 days may be an accomplishment to some but to me it's foolish. i don't care what kind of condition he's in because that many miles in that short a time period will take it's toll on the human body. driver fatigue is one of the leading causes of accidents which is one of the reasons why CDL drivers are only allowed to drive so many hours per day.