Figuring out how many miles to ride each day on a motorcycle tour is one of those questions that everyone faces at some point in their touring journey.
Riding a coast-to-coast tour of America on smooth tarmacked roads might mean covering around 350 miles a day. But that doesn’t mean you should aim for the same distance when you’re off-roading through Mongolia with mud up to your armpits.
The two scenarios are quite different.
It’s tempting to set a specific number for how many motorcycle touring miles you should ride each day, but what really matters is the time you allow yourself to cover them and the quality of those miles. Personally my maximum is 1034.6 miles in 25 hours 40 minutes whilst completing the Longest Day Challenge (LDC) 2025, this I aim to break and manage 1000 miles in 24 hours (this will be set out on to be achievable).
The secret is more time and fewer miles
It’s tempting to just keep going, adding more miles to your trip to see more places, do more things, and chase more adventures. And that’s okay—we’ve all done it, and it’s something you have to figure out for yourself before you know what works best. But here’s the best advice I can offer.
Don’t increase the number of motorcycle touring miles per day you ride. Increase the amount of time you have instead.
If you can’t find more time, just cut back on the total miles. From my experience, the longer the trip, the less enjoyable it tends to be.
Too Many Miles Leads To Motorway Miles!
First of all, I’m not suggesting that you should completely avoid the motorway (or freeway, autobahn, interstate – whatever it’s called where you live).
The motorway has its own time and place.
If you’ve ever spent an entire day on a motorway, you know you end up seeing very little and experiencing even less. Motorway miles rarely add to the joy of traveling, yet adding more distance to your route almost always means more time on them. That leads to longer daily distances while trying to shorten the travel time. Don’t fall into the trap of adding miles to save time—you’ll just return home having seen nothing but endless stretches of motorway.
Motorcycle Touring Miles Per Day: External Factors
Unless you’re tackling the Iron Butt challenge, motorcycle touring isn’t about cranking out as many miles as possible in a day—it’s more about the time you have to enjoy the ride. With that in mind, here are 10 things that can add time to your day. Planning for them will make your journey far more enjoyable!
1. Breaks
Driving 500 miles in a car is doable, but on a bike? Forget it. You’d need a fuel tank like a truck’s and a backside tough as steel.
Every biker needs to take breaks to refuel both themselves and their bike. Since breaks take time, plan for them and make the most of the pause instead of rushing through it.
Grab some food, some water, and a nice cup of coffee. Enjoy a slice of cake, take in the scenery, and appreciate where you are. It’s all part of the fun and an essential part of the experience.
2. Motorcycle Touring Miles Per Day: Road Conditions
Unexpected roadworks, loose gravel, and rough road surfaces can really slow you down.
I remember riding through Luxembourg on my way to the Alps, eagerly anticipating the sweeping bends of the countryside – a highlight I’d been looking forward to. Instead, I arrived to find the local council had covered the entire road in gravel. For miles, I was stuck on a gravel-covered stretch with no way to escape.
Another example was the LDC 2025, we had got into the Highlands and were stuck with a road closure, meaning a three hour diversion or wait for an unknown period of time whilst they recovered the overturned lorry.
If you venture onto the higher, less-traveled roads in the Alps, Pyrenees, or Scotland, you can expect a similar experience.
3. Motorcycle Touring Miles Per Day: Weather Conditions
Your route might seem straightforward with little chance of trouble, but hitting a thunderstorm in the mountains can change everything fast. At best, you’ll crawl along through the storm just to keep moving. At worst, you might have to pull over and wait it out before you can get back on your way.
Either way, you’ll be adding valuable time to your day, and covering long distances will be a real challenge.
4. What About Your Bike?
The type of bike you ride can make a big difference in how many touring miles you can cover in a day. Riding 400 miles on a Honda Goldwing is no problem, since its whole purpose is to devour miles. That’s why it comes with a massive 1800cc, 6-cylinder engine, two comfy seats, and an impressive fuel range.
But what if you’re riding a sports bike?
There’s no doubt you can ride 400 miles in a day on a sports bike. It’s totally doable. But would you really want to? Day after day? For two weeks straight? Probably not.
5. Soreness
You could buy the most comfortable bike in the world, add a custom-made seat, and fine-tune the suspension to perfection. You could do everything imaginable to make it comfortable, yet you’d still end up with a sore backside—it’s just the nature of the beast. To make matters worse, that ache never truly goes away; in fact, it often gets worse the longer the trip. At first, you might manage 250 miles before the discomfort sets in, but by the journey’s end, you might only last 50 miles before needing to stop and give your behind a rest.
All this stopping and starting just adds extra time to your day.
6. Motorcycle Touring Miles Per Day: The Tolorences Of Others
When riding in a group or with a pillion, you might find someone wants to stop more often than planned. Maybe their backside is sore, they need a bathroom break, or their sports bike is making their back or wrists ache. Either way, you could end up adding extra time to your day due to unplanned stops for reasons you didn’t expect.
7. Planned Stops
It’s easy to get so focused on how many miles you need to cover each day on a motorcycle tour that you forget the whole point is to enjoy yourself. The trouble with planning around mileage is that if you fall behind schedule, you end up sacrificing other experiences to make up the time. Those lost moments are often the best parts—scenic viewpoints, museums, historic churches, or even a relaxing day off.
It’s always a shame to miss out on these highlights, planned or spontaneous, just because you’re racing to cover miles before dark.
8. Distance vs Enjoyment
When you’re wondering how many motorcycle touring miles to cover in a day, think about the time it’ll take instead. Is it a day for making distance, or for enjoyment? If it’s all about covering ground and you’re fine with a boring stretch on the motorways, go for it. Use that day to rack up miles. But if it’s about enjoyment and exploring, plan based on time rather than setting a goal of riding a certain number of miles.
9. The 50% Rule To Determine Motorcycle Touring Miles Per Day
When you plug your route into a planner and it estimates 6 hours, tack on an extra 50% and plan your day accordingly. In this case, the software says 6 hours, but you’ve given yourself 9 instead. That way, any unexpected delays won’t be a problem because you’ve built in plenty of extra time to handle them.
If Google Maps says it’ll take 6 hours and you leave at 9 a.m., you’ve probably got around 12 hours of daylight to cover that trip. Suddenly, the time you have has doubled, turning the journey from a chore into something much more enjoyable.
10. Countries Don’t Move!
Remember, countries will always be there. Missing out on Italy this year during your Alps tour doesn’t mean you won’t have the chance to visit in the future.
Italy will still be there next year.
Instead of adding extra miles to your trip just to cross into Italy, plan to visit it another time and spend more time enjoying the Alps.
Motorcycle Touring Miles Per Day: Conclusion
Planning your motorcycle tour around time instead of daily miles opens up more possibilities. It gives you a richer experience and the luxury to create and savor memories. Time lets you truly see and accomplish things. When you’re focused on chasing miles, you become a slave to the journey—and that’s not what touring is all about.
Remember, the tour isn’t there to make your life a misery!
Touring is all about you. It’s not about anyone else, and it’s definitely not about the bike. It’s not about how many miles you cover each day or even the trip itself. It’s about you—and coming back as a richer person than the one who set out.
Covering fewer miles each day (and giving yourself more time to savour them) lets you stumble upon unexpected treasures and unplanned stops, simply because you have the time to explore.
Ultimately, you’ll have a way better time!
