Body in tension, mostly. That eases up with time and miles, but you still have to hold yourself upright against the shifting forces. That's why you see backrests and forward pegs on cruisers, so we can relax a bit more on those longer rides.

 

You use pretty much every muscle in your body to ride. If you've ever ridden off road vigorously you'll really appreciate all of the muscles that come into play.

 

I went out on a full tank trying to see how far I could ride before running out of gas. People that own Yamaha Virago's told me that I could go about 110 miles. I found that mines starts sputtering close to 90. I filled it up again and headed home, and by the time I got there my body was so stiff and sore I could hardly move my legs.

I walk at least two miles every day of the week and travel up and down several flights of stairs quite often. I thought I was in better shape than this.

Then again.. this was only my second ride and I still have a lot to learn as far as riding experience goes! :tongue:

 

The more you ride the more your body adapts to riding. Just keep plugging away you'll be able to log more and more miles as time goes on.

 

Oh yeah. I know for sport bikes at least you are suppost to support yourself by holding on with your thighs so your hands do not get fatigued, so I am definitely sore after a long ride!

That and just having to constantly be tense and alert. Takes a toll on you for sure!

 

Most likely you don’t have a windshield on your bike so your body is breaking the wind all the time, that alone can tire someone out. You are using your arms, legs, back and stomach mussels all the time. Now add the tension of being a new rider and I can see how you would be tired and sore in such a short distance. My bike has a fairing and windshield, I ride 45 miles each way to work every day. I have also ridden three hundred mile days without too much discomfort. I wouldn’t do it without at least a windshield, but I’m also in my 60s so the body isn’t what it once was.

 

At this stage, a lot of it is just tensing up your body because of nerves. I sispect, also, a lot of newer riders are afraid to move around; throwing your shoulder into a turn, moving your butt forward and back and side to side, etc.

Riding without a windshield, you want to lean forward some so the wind supports your body- otherwise you're a sail and pulling on the bars all the time. This position distributes weight through your thighs more, too.
OTOH, leaning too far forward (rae-replicas) can really take it out of your knees, shoulders, and wrists. (Racers adopt this position because it provides way less wind drag and much better control of the front end)

Cruisers need back support because sitting up straight is hard on your back. If you don't believe me, sit up real straight right now for a while- at your desk. A windshield helps the "pulling" part, but it's still hard on your back. Plus, this position has you sitting squarely on your tail bone.

Another huge factor to fatigue is wind noise (loud mufflers add to that noise). Many touring riders use ear protection of various sorts.

Conditioning -concentrating on upper body strength- will help.
On long rides, I like to add a kidney belt, too. They're not just for hardtails.

Finally- dehydration. You simply don't feel your bodies moisture literally getting sucked out of you. This makes you tired and less focused (and cranky).

 

Another huge factor to fatigue is wind noise (loud mufflers add to that noise). Many touring riders use ear protection of various sorts.

8 hours at 85dB can cause permanent hearing loss.
15 minutes at 100dB can cause permanent hearing loss.

dB or decibel is a logarithmic scale, the math equation is 10^(x/10) where x is dB. So 10dB is 10x louder -10dB is 10x quieter. 20dB is 100x, 30dB is 1000x and so on. It also works out that every 3dB is almost exactly double or half depending on which way you are going.

In the above example the 15dB difference works out to 10^(15/10) = 31.62 times louder.

I recommend hearing protection if your bike is loud enough to warrant it (my tiny one is 80dB so neener neener It is my opinion that loud pipes do not save lives I think they just cause hearing loss. Modern autos are well insulated against road noise, this includes the exhaust from a bike. Add to that the radio in the car being turned up and the exhaust noise is generally only loud from behind the bike. They cant hear anything until the bike is right there, usually in front of them. A good horn which only emits a loud noise briefly and occasionally is far better in my opinion (and can actually be much louder than exhaust systems). Most bikes (all?) come with poor horns so this is a DIY project if you want a good train airhorn on your bike

 

Welome new rider. I agree with the above posts. More seat time will cure your issue. Enjoy your new ride.

 

I went for my first "real" ride (more than the 1.1 mile loop around my house) the other day. My wrist on the outside by where the bone knob sticks up hurts a little, I think its muscular and not skeletal. I am sure its not from death gripping because most of the time my fingers were open over the clutch lever. I have come home tired but not sore or stiff (other than my wrist). My wrist may have been from the day before when I almost dropped the bike while mounting the prosthesis so I could work the throttle and having to muscle it back upright while still kinda sitting on it. Either that or I am using some muscles in my forearm that I have never really used before.

 

Guess I could add if you get sore muscles from riding (or whatever) milk is actually a good thing to drink. It will break down the lactic acid (what makes you sore) and help speed recovery. To prevent from being sore in the first place you can stop and get some milk somewhere. Its not the manly drink that coffee is but it does help prevent sore muscles in the first place.

 

I know I am sore after puttin a little over 100 miles on my bike yesterday. A big part of it is that my body is not used to riding distance once again. (sux having several months of evil white sh!t all over the ground) That and the fact that I have a more agressive stance on the bike and I do muscle it around more makes for a tiring ride. In another month I guess, I will be able to do twice as far, and be no where near as tired or sore. Just gotta get back into the swing of things.

 

Animedevildog, my advice is MOVE SOUTH.......yawl can have that WHITE stuff....only white stuff I want is the white sandy beaches in Gulf shores....

 

Dont you mean black oily stuff

 

starguard it will take time but you will get use to the bike, when you do some of the soreness will go away. I'm 50 in a 70 year old body, the last 4 disc in my back is non-existent so long spells of sitting on a bike slumped with no support will KILL a rider, well it does me anyway, but DAYUM it's worth it...I"ve had my bike 6 weeks and I ride everyday except when raining, sorry guys but I'm not that hardcore yet, 30 degree weather is ok, but rain hurts like heck...anyway each day I ride I find that I don't have some of the pains I had when I started, a lot of it is muscle memory the more you do it the better it gets.....

 

Maybe someday, I might head to AZ, but Maine, for good or bad, is my home.

 

I always wanted to take a trip up the east coast to Maine, maybe someday...

 

Walking, running, exercising...you are moving around, sitting still for that amount of time and your joints and muscles are gonna get stiff. You will get used to it over time and it won't be so bad. Be sure to stretch whenever you get off the bike for gas..etc.

 

Let me know if you ever do, whe shall have to meet up somewhere

 

Starguard, the problem is you are using muscles, or sections of muscles, that seldom get used. Your arms, shoulders and neck musles are not used to pushing against wind resistance. Your thighs, knees and abs are not used to shifting about the mass of a bike using "body English" to make it do your bidding.
Some of this will ease up as your muscles become conditioned to riding. After a two hour ride, my neck & shoulders still ache from fatigue after all these years...that's just part of the game unless you use a large windshield. (I don't...sportbike guy). My suggestion is to ride as often as you can, your body will condition itself and the sore muscles issue "the day after" will cease to exist. Your neck and shoulders...well, it's like doing sprints. A good workout will always leave you fatigued.

 

All of the working out of the muscle groups is right....just like any exercise, stretch out before and after a ride...I do some yoga...in the morning before long rides....walk some of the ride off during stops...then yoga at the end of a long ride...if it is really long (600+ mi) I soak in epsom salts.

http://http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-burned-motor-scooter-a466

Once I probably burned 3315 calories on one ride...you have to drink water and eat too...if you begin to dehydrate it will hurt more....drink more water!

 

Raven, I tried your link but couldn't get it to work, can you shoot it out again?

 

I'm still new to ridin but when I first got my bike(ninja 500) for the fisrt day wasn't sore,but the second I was walkin around like the guy in a movie that just rode a horse for the first time. I have 3200 miles on it now and I can go about a hour before I know to get off and just walk around. Ill check my phone, drink water, and smoke a cig. 15 min later back on and good for another hour. For me this method works. Its all about conditioning and passing your self. Time is key here. The more you ride the more your body will build up.

 

trixter, no i mean WHITE sandy beaches....Gulf Shores has done an outstanding job with the beaches...:thumbsup:

 

I'll have to take a ride out to the beaches at Gulf Shores and verify that :biggrin:

 

Doing some stretching exercises before can help also. All the above is correct and can help you along with just simply getting out more and riding.
If you're going to be out for an all day ride try taking an aspirin before you leave or at first fuel stop.

 

you if you havent rode before or for a while, you will be sore after a ride agreeing with the above you tense up and use alot of muscles your not used to using or never thought you had. at first my back,wrist and inner legs were sore but with time it goes away. the more you ride your body will become acustom to using those muscles and will be more agile to the way you ride.

 

Right now I can only ride weekends. I wish I could ride more!

 

hmmm I tried it too...didn't work...here is what it says...try to link it again...


Calories burned with Motorcycle

170 calories per hour

Assuming a body weight of: 150 lbs

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-burned-motor-scooter-a466