Just returned from 5,000 mile 3 week trip to Grand Canyon. Butt sore!

[Navy Warrant]

Just got back from a 5,000 mile 3 week trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on my RT-S, where I stayed for a week. NC, TN, AR, OK, TX, NM, AZ, NV, UT, CO, KS, MO, IL, KY, TN, NC. I have now become more than familiar with Tired Butt. After an hour or so the nerve in my left butt bone began to hurt. After a few hours it was excrutiating, even with an Air Hawk cushion. One day I rode for 10 hours, and the last day 12 hours from Missouri to North Carolina spanning 5 states. At first, standing on the pegs a little for a few seconds helped with blood flow and decreased the pain for a few minutes, but after a while it didn't help much. The edge of the Air Hawk cut off blood flow in my left leg, but removing it didn't help much so I just moved it back quite a bit so it supported only my butt bones, which did eleviate some of the pain that radiated down my left leg into my knee and foot. My left hand is still a bit numb from the nerves on the left side being pinched for so long and so often. I used a leather sissy bar clothing bag bungie corded on the back seat as a sort of backrest but it didn't help much. The Spyder itself performed magnificently in 113 degree desert heat. Used a half quart of oil by Flagstaff (2100 miles), and another half quart by return to NC, and the oil was still clean and clear. Even did well at the Grand Canyon at elevations of 9,000 feet and where they only had 87 octane gas and I had to add octane boost (better pingin' than pushin'), though it did very well. Found out all gas west of Tennessee is lower octane. Premium is 91 octane, and in NM or somewhere out there it was 86 for regular, 88 for mid grade, and 90 for premium. My Spyder was glad to get back East to 93 octane where it's performance jumped back to optimum/maximum. Needless to say I have one helluva tan.

 

[ABQAndy]

Sounds like one heck of a trip! I would like to do a long trip some day, just haven't got up the motivation to do it. Need to take a few shorter ones first to get used to it. Thanks for your story.

 

[daveinva]

:congrats: That's a heckuva trip!

RE: cushions, I find that I have the best luck on long trips when I pack *two* cushion options. In my case, I rely on my Ultimate Seat as my "stock" seat, ride that for a while, then add in either my Beadrider or my Airhawk, then after a while riding with one of those, switch out for the other cushion.

Yeah, it's a chore packing *two* cushions when one would hope to get by with one (or none!), but really, the key to long distances is just keep swapping them around, and taking long-enough breaks (I find that walking around during a break helps better than just finding another seat to sit on). It's impossible to NOT hurt on a long enough trip, but with a little practice, you can make it a *good* hurt. :thumbup:

 

[pwm]

Sounds fun although the monkey butt doesn't. I will be riding a while longer before I attempt the long ride.

 

[ARtraveler]

Glad to hear your ryde went well as far as mechanical issues. The body issues can present a problem though.

RE: Gas--it is interesting to see the regional variations in gasoline. 90 is the highest octane I can find in AK. No ethanol--so the :spyder2: runs pretty good on that.

 

[NancysToy]

The pain in your leg/butt sounds a lot like it actually could be sciatica. If that is the case it may originate in your back instead of in the piriformis muscle of the butt, where the very similar malady of piriformis syndrome originates. It might pay to have it checked out by a physician or physical therapist.

 

[bruiser]

Had a problem with pain shooting down right leg while driving. My chiropractor told me to take my wallet out of my pocket while driving. It helped. Mind you, my wallet isn't very thick but sitting on it caused pressure on the nerves. Now whenever I'm on a long trip either in the cage or on the Spyder, I put my wallet in the glove box. Just something to consider.

 

[GloryRyders]

Sounds like you had a great trip except for the sore butt! :gaah: We did the North Rim last year prior to the Owners Event in Durango, all together different than ther South Rim, really beautiful!

I am surprised that you couldn't find 93 octane in Missouri, it is readily available in most of the state. :dontknow:

As far as the sore butt, we have a full size sheep skin for our RT Ltd from Misty Mountain ( vendor at Spyderfest this year) and it really makes the ryde comfortable. We have done 700 mile days with no problems. :2thumbs:

 

[smoky]

Had a problem with pain shooting down right leg while driving. My chiropractor told me to take my wallet out of my pocket while driving. It helped. Mind you, my wallet isn't very thick but sitting on it caused pressure on the nerves. Now whenever I'm on a long trip either in the cage or on the Spyder, I put my wallet in the glove box. Just something to consider.

Since having back pain and three surgeries in the 80's and 90's I quit putting anything in my back pockets for that very reason. I cannot even put a hanky there now without having discomfort. Makes good sense....

 

[Navy Warrant]

Thanks all.

Some good skinny to check out. I was pretty toasty round about Missouri coming back so I may be wrong about the octane there, but west of there and west of Tennessee it was all lower octane. Occassionally ethanol, occassionally not. In the east the octane is better but many if not most gas is 10% ethanol unfortunately. I read somewhere the feds are considering 15%, but that would be the end of my motor I suspect. Oh, I almost forgot. The Management at the North Rim Grand Canyon Lodge liked my Spyder so much they asked me to be in their 4th of July parade. They give everyone, employees and guests alike, water canons and huge squirt guns. I had one of the front desk girls on the back and brought up the rear of the parade. Everyone was throwing buckets of water and squirting everyone including us and it was a blast. The parade, made up of Park Service vehicles, rangers, fire trucks, and the Grand Canyon Cookout train with us behind, went around twice and then circled the campgrounds where the campers had hoses, buckets and squirt guns. So much fun. The Japanese tourists at the North Rim flipped for the Spyder and all wanted their picture taken on it so bad that they each offered to pay me for it. I declined of course, but they had fun sitting on it. They'd never seen or heard of anything like it. Questions galore, and a marketing lesson for BRP. Everywhere I went on the trip people surrounded me with questions. Very few people have even heard of Can Am. I must have greased the skids for at least two dozen demo rides because people were so impressed. At Pappa Joe's, a small hole in the wall gas station in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the desert six people were drawn to it and a woman who used to work for Harley Davidson corporate. She now has a marketing business and after asking every question in the book was so impressed she is contacting BRP to discuss marketing the Spyder. I mean, there are only two Can Am commercials and they don't air in most markets, and they don't go into the technicals or about how the Spyder overcomes all of the drawbacks of two wheeled bikes and even traditional trikes with safety and stability. There's something for everyone. Young, old, men, women, and none of that is pointed out in the commercials. Maybe we'll see some better marketing soon.

 

[gottago]

Had a problem with pain shooting down right leg while driving. My chiropractor told me to take my wallet out of my pocket while driving. It helped. Mind you, my wallet isn't very thick but sitting on it caused pressure on the nerves. Now whenever I'm on a long trip either in the cage or on the Spyder, I put my wallet in the glove box. Just something to consider.

:agree::agree: I was told years back by doc to do the same thing. After about two weeks my hips and lower back stopped hurting as bad, now I only hurt most of the time except when on my:spyder2: . We have 92 octane Premium in Wa. that and Startron every other tank and bike runs great!! Rest well and I hope your back and leg heal soon so you can get back on the road..

 

[Chupaca]

Good to hear..!!

Sorry about the discomfort, but glad the trip went well and the roadster performed great. Hope you get the seat, butt, siatica, whatever aligned for your next adventure..!! hyea:

 

[SpyderAnn01]

Sounds like you had fun despite the sore butt!

 

[SpyderDon]

I'd suggest investing in a backrest. The Utopia is the best investment I've made in comfort. Still sounds like an awesome trip.

 

[SPYD3R]

SIMILAR RUN

:congrats:.......... :clap:
i did a similar run on my '09 RS, back in May, 4804 miles in 14 days... we saddled up here in SoCar @ my house in Easley, and rode out to UTAH via Rt. 82 and others, to ride Rt. 12, America's Most Scenic Highway.... we're planning another such ride for next year up to the Dakota's over to Yellow Stone, down thru Colorado, NM and back home... join us if you can... send me a PM if interested...

glad you had a safe ride...

 

[Ronbo]

Butt pain

Just got back from a 5,000 mile 3 week trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on my RT-S, where I stayed for a week. NC, TN, AR, OK, TX, NM, AZ, NV, UT, CO, KS, MO, IL, KY, TN, NC. I have now become more than familiar with Tired Butt. After an hour or so the nerve in my left butt bone began to hurt. After a few hours it was excrutiating, even with an Air Hawk cushion. One day I rode for 10 hours, and the last day 12 hours from Missouri to North Carolina spanning 5 states. At first, standing on the pegs a little for a few seconds helped with blood flow and decreased the pain for a few minutes, but after a while it didn't help much. The edge of the Air Hawk cut off blood flow in my left leg, but removing it didn't help much so I just moved it back quite a bit so it supported only my butt bones, which did eleviate some of the pain that radiated down my left leg into my knee and foot. My left hand is still a bit numb from the nerves on the left side being pinched for so long and so often. I used a leather sissy bar clothing bag bungie corded on the back seat as a sort of backrest but it didn't help much. The Spyder itself performed magnificently in 113 degree desert heat. Used a half quart of oil by Flagstaff (2100 miles), and another half quart by return to NC, and the oil was still clean and clear. Even did well at the Grand Canyon at elevations of 9,000 feet and where they only had 87 octane gas and I had to add octane boost (better pingin' than pushin'), though it did very well. Found out all gas west of Tennessee is lower octane. Premium is 91 octane, and in NM or somewhere out there it was 86 for regular, 88 for mid grade, and 90 for premium. My Spyder was glad to get back East to 93 octane where it's performance jumped back to optimum/maximum. Needless to say I have one helluva tan.

dont ignore butt/sciatic pain. I was doing long- distance bicycle riding. Had same experience. Decided I'd ignore it no pain no gain it can turn in to devastating pain and neuropathy. Be careful

 

[CurtG]

As far as the sore butt, we have a full size sheep skin for our RT Ltd from Misty Mountain ( vendor at Spyderfest this year) and it really makes the ryde comfortable. We have done 700 mile days with no problems. :2thumbs:

Do you have the sheep skin fastened some way or just sit on it? I've been considering the same thing on mine.

Ride safe,

 

[Raknid]

Alaska Sheepskin sells skins formed for various seats with adjustable straps...use them on my BMW

 

[Flanker]

The pain in your leg/butt sounds a lot like it actually could be sciatica. If that is the case it may originate in your back instead of in the piriformis muscle of the butt, where the very similar malady of piriformis syndrome originates. It might pay to have it checked out by a physician or physical therapist.

I was thinking the same thing; I've had a couple friends who've complained of the same/similar symptoms over the years; both of them turned out to be sciatica.

Mondo ride to the canyon and back though! Too manly for me! LOL! :bowdown: