How many miles to a gallon does a typical mid sized bike get and how big is the gas tank...that's what I would want to know. So let's say you have a 4-5 gallon tank and get 40 miles per gallon. That gives you a 160-200 mile cruising range. I would think that after 4 hours on a bike you'd want to stretch your legs and fill up. But if the fill up takes 8 hours after 100 miles, it's not a long ride.
Yeah, the math doesn’t add up. My old Honda (currently a paperweight in the driveway) could go about 110 miles on a single tank of gas, which was (if I recall) 2.2 gallons. That’s great mileage, but before that I had a BMW R/90 and it didn’t get that great mileage, but the tank was HUGE. So I would just cruise and cruise on that bike but on the Honda I would have to keep an eye on the odometer to make sure I stopped at a gas station in time.
I thought having to stop every 100 miles or so to get gas was, you know, sort of a drag, but having to stop for 8 hours every 100 miles - um, no.
Compared to the same trip in my F150, I was more aware of the smells of the air in many places. I aimed for a break every 100 miles to stretch my legs and drink a 16 oz bottle of water. You get very dehydrated in the wind. I left San Diego at 5 PM so the desert crossing would be less hot. I deliberately stopped in Mesquite, NV to sleep at a hotel so that I could ride through the Virgin River Gorge with morning sun. Beautiful.
The temperature range on the trip ranged from +42F in Idaho after dark on day 2 and 116F passing through Baker, CA the first night. On the roll through the valley near Beaver, UT, I was hit with heavy rain from mile marker 120 to mile marker 222. Fortunately, I had my "Frog Togs" in the tail bag.
Could you do this trip on Harley LiveWire? Not in 2 days. The Fat Bob has the "touring class" V-Twin designed for long range highway riding. The LiveWire electric is in "in town" commuter bike. Rip around town and bring it home for an overnight charge. It isn't even good enough for a round trip to Idaho Falls from Pocatello (106 miles).