Passes & Canyons Blog

For the first time in more than 20 years on motorcycles I rode more miles than I drove last year. In fact, nearly double. I’m pretty amazed.

Every year on January 1 I check my odometers on all my vehicles to see how many miles I covered on each. This year I rode my Kawasaki Concours 10,004 miles. Not surprisingly, that’s also the first time I’ve ridden more than 10,000 miles on a bike in a year. In 2009 I rode the Kawi 5,016 miles.

My car, on the other hand, racked up only 5,581 miles. That compares with 8,660 miles in 2009.

I didn’t do much on my Honda CB750 Custom, partly because it spent too much of the year in the shop. Mileage for 2010 was only 662 miles, compared to 1,037 the year before.

Altogether that puts my bike mileage at 10,666 or a bit less than double the car. Double the car would be 11,162, so that’s about 500 shy.

I’m happy to say that a lot of those miles came from the fact that I took a lot more trips this past year. I went out to the Laughlin River Run, I went to the Sturgis Rally, and of course I went on the annual OFMC trip.

But all those miles also mean I rode more at home. I made it a point to use the bikes for transportation as much as possible, even when it would have been more convenient to drive my car. And I’ll continue doing that, too. I like being on the bike more. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Riding the dang thing!?

Oh, and by the way, those figures actually don’t even represent all the miles I rode this past year. They do not include the four days I spent doing the EagleRider media tour in California, the dual-sporting I did on other people’s V-Stroms, or the week I got around exclusively on a scooter. So if you add those miles I did ride more than double the miles I drove in 2010.

I don’t know about you but I kind of like the sound of that.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
New motorcycle-related laws kick in with the new year

Biker Quote for Today

Warning: If this bike is on a trailer it is being stolen.