400,000 Miles on Motorcycles

Thursday 21st July 2005

12,141 days after I got my first motorcycle I completed 400,000 miles, that's 33 miles a day or 12,046 miles a year, not that much really but it adds up over 33 years. The event occurred on Colorado route 24 about 1 mile south of its intersection with I70, considering the rest of the scenery in the area the actual spot wasn't that impressive.
Of course the vagaries of various odometers on the bikes I have ridden and the fact that I don't have exact numbers for some of the early bikes - mileages were rounded down - means that this is certainly not the exact spot where this milestone was passed, but it is accurate based on the numbers I have, I have made an effort to keep track for over 20 years now.

The miles were covered on one Puch, eight Hondas, a Yamaha, three Kawasakis and a BMW as well as a several thousand miles on borrowed bikes. I rode on three continents and in 14 countries as far north as the Arctic Ocean at Inuvik in the North West Territories of Canada and as far south as Tierra Del Fuego at Ushuaia, Argentina. (Furthest east: Berlin, Germany - furthest west: Kodiak Island, Alaska)

If I am to make a million miles by the time I am 70 I need to ride 79 miles every day for the next 21 years, that's about 28,855 miles a year, acheivable but I don't expect to do it, if I ride until I'm 80 maybe I'll get there.

Paonia 2005 trip

The picture was taken just north of point 18.