Last october I went on a decent length ride (at least to me) from joliet,il to galena,Il which was several hours long (a couple tanks of gas) and then the next day was heading to fennimore wisonsin. Its the longest ride I'd been on and proves you cant beat an old sohc:)
I was overhauling my bike the month leading up the ride trying to track down a strange loss of power I was having. I put the bike back together 2 days before my departure date without solving the problem. I decided we were going to make it becuase it was a sturdy bike and wouldnt fail me.
I rode out to galena with my buddy (83 suzuki gs750es) to meet up with the rest of the group. ALong the way the loss of power happened only once but my speedo cable fell off a quarter of the way there. With no speedo cable I was unable to tell how long I had to go before running out of fuel so it was a touch stressful.
Everyone else there were riding old suzukis and everyone was amazed that I was going to put my bike through a 300+ mile trip without solving the issue or making sure everything worked from my overhaul.
Next morning we went to leave and another of my friends blew the seals on his piston and flooded his fuel source with oil. He ended up buying a new bike and trailering that one home. Another friend lost his chain on the way back from wisconsin.
My bike got there and back with minimal problems and had no problem pacing the more expereinced bigger bikes:)
If anyone is looking for a good scenic area in the midwest I highly suggest taking a ride up to fennimore wi. If you like twisties there are some not too far from the town or you can just stick to the major routes and they are more sweeping styled curves.
best ride I had ever and proved that you cant kill an old sohc no matter what:)
