How I Broke The Coast-to-Coast Motorcycle Record 

None of the planning, electronics, 3D printed brackets, or expenses will ever show his TOTAL commitment more than the catheter and adult diaper. Nothing.

"If you get stopped it's at least a half hour or jail."....words to live by. lol

Just a reminder that riding is WAY more exhausting then driving a car. Awesome accomplishment

I want to hear more about this guy's life he owned a chopper shop in Jacksonville Florida he's a trained engineer he wrote and recorded his own soundtrack to his own movie about a solo ride across the country as the fastest man on a bike and I've literally never heard of this guy before he must have more interesting stories you got to have him back

"Half Red Bull, half Gatorade", what an absolute legend.

Nice to see the mention of being courteous to the other drivers. Obviously these runs are questionably legal at best, but it's always good to see that the people running them are actually trying to avoid endangering anyone else. All in good fun, so long as no one else can get hurt. Also riding by Flir is absolutely terrifying.

I've done 30 hours on a bike, straight. What he said about seeing things is true. It's hard to "fall asleep" on a bike - you start to hallucinate even when you can't relax and fall asleep like you would in a car.

My hat is off to the guy, if I were ever to try something like this my plan would've been way more half baked than his. Half of the points he brought up or discussed wouldn't never even crossed my mind, very detailed analysis.

This makes cannonball look like child's play

As soon as I saw the S1000RR I thought to myself “no he didn’t” lol. I need a Goldwing if I was ever going to attempt something like this. Much Props.

I rode a stock 99 Katana from the Mojave desert (29 palms) to South Carolina in May 1999. Young and dumb. Brave to a fault. I was getting sore by the time I got to Holbrooke, AZ. Spent the night in a cheap hotel in the desert on 40, when got too frigid. I would switch my hands from left to right on the throttle. And put the free hand through the hole in the fairing to warm it on the fins if the block and head on the air cooled bike. Then was hating life in pain by the time I got to New Mexico. I sucked it up and drove on refusing to fail. I remember the carbs loading up climbing the hill into Albuquerque, NM due to the elevation change. I was wide open throttle and couldn't get past about 80. Got my first speeding ticket from Vega County TX justice of the peace. After topping off at a truck stop somewhere near Amarillo. Caught a huge break out of pity from the officer/sheriff or whatever he was. He made me sit in the car and saw my orders. Ask me if I was crazy or just plain dumb. I told him a little of both. Gave me a 64 in a 55 instead of putting me in jail or giving me a mandatory court appearance ticket. Thank goodness cuz I was due to he in Okinawa in fifteen days. Made it to Oklahoma City and weather got rough. Woke up and drive on at 4am when there was a break in the weather. Barely missed the tornado that tore up the i40 overpass. Got sunburnt in Arkansas where my wind breaker slid up my arms. These ugly red stripes between my Nike baseball gloves and my elbows. Got poured on while crossing the Mississippi river coming into Memphis. Nearly froze to death going up the hill to Nashville at night. It was the ride of my life. My family (parents and brothers) and some friends knew about it. A couple other jarheads knew I did it. Folks that know me today don't believe it. I don't show the few pictures that I had taken by a native American, stranger in Gallup or some random trucker in AZ before I zoned out like this guy spoke of. All alone, no music, no companion, no cell phones, none of the fancy stuff this guy had. The only "friends" we're the truckers that I would leap frog while refueling. I would tuck behind them to get out of the noisy wind and to save fuel. The truckers were cool and then dudes were rolling triple digits sometimes on 40. Turn the page. Ride til I was freezing at night. Fell asleep one time while in Tennessee. Nodded off and woke up when the deceleration slammed the face of my helmet into my gauge panel.. spooked me enough to pull off and rest at Centreville TN. Rode through blistering desert heat of Amboy, CA and through AZ/NM in the day. Like this guy in the video, I laid on the tank when I could to give my physical ass a break..feet on the back pegs. Then my stomach abs would hurt so I was stand up and squat til my legs hurt. A little sport bag with some drawers and a pair of pants and a wind breaker was my only luggage. No cruise. No tech. No cell phone, no gps, no radio Just.ringing ears from a cheap HJC helmet. I would do it all over again.

Avg 72mph was much slower than I expected …. but makes sense with all the real world challenges - 🔥🔥🔥

Best thing to do after open heart surgery… race across the country on a motorcycle fueled by Red Bull and Gatorade.

This guy is a great story teller

The part about "tomorrow becoming never" is so true. I've been telling myself for the last ten years I was going to get back on a motorcycle after laying one down pretty bad in my early twenties. Something about the pandemic and being cooped up inside finally kicked my ass into gear and I went out and picked up a new Husqvarna Svartpilen in the fall of 2020. 8000 miles on the Husky later and I just put down a deposit on a new Triumph yesterday. So glad I didn't let tomorrow become never.

I well acquainted with what you experienced on your record ride. 45 years ago a mate and I established the around Australia by sidecar record. 15,200 km (9,450 ml), rotating riding and sleeping in the sidecar non-stop for 11days and 20hours. Fatigue, hallucinations, dirt roads, bull dust, kangaroos, cattle, closed fuel stations in the outback, terrible weather (heat in the north, cold and rain in the south), so yeah endurance speed riding is definitely an experience. Only those who challenge the limits can truely appreciate your extraordinary achievement. Congratulations! Leigh.

Awesome achievement. I once rode 1200 kms in one stint in winter rain here in Australia on my Blackbird. Apart from being bloody cold and a bit of a sore bum, things were going well until at about 900km I had some kind of hallucination that I was following a car's tail lights ahead. When they suddenly diverged, I realised - just in time - that they were the headlights of an oncoming car that I was aimed between. Managed to swerve back onto my side and pull over for a breather and a regroup. Of course headlights are a totally different colour to tail lights, so I must've had some serious tunnel vision going on. Lived to see another day thankfully and now I take more breaks on long rides, especially when I'm pillioning one of my kids. Cheers - Dave

PSA: If you’re a car guy and have even the smallest interest in motorcycles, GET ONE. I promise you everything you love about cars is also on two wheels with 2x the freedom. There is absolutely nothing like it, it’s amazing.

Glad he didn’t have to come through Tennessee, when he made that comment about how he wouldn’t stop if he saw orange lights on a semi. Tennessee troopers recently bought a few semi’s to monitor for texting while driving and I’m sure they would “phone a friend” if they saw him zip bye. Great story, love the detail.

I've done 1500+ in 33+hrs for a bun burner and a saddle sore, you did 900 miles more in the same time, just amazing

Fascinating, detailed analysis from an engineering perspective. Congratulations, Axe! It's extremely inspiring to see how you've recovered from open heart surgery, and are still able to live "Hard, Fast, and Free"! I will be watching 'No Limits - No Regrets'. Godspeed, Road Warrior!

Damn, been doing that "burst" riding as you call it for decades. Started it 20 years ago when I had to be at work at 6 with a rather long distance highway commute in the "non busy direction" Bridge the gap between cars doing around 140 mph, slowing down for the overtake and then opening it up again for the next gap. I think its about the safest way to do it.

I was glad to hear you utter the phrase "Differentiating dream from reality". In my 60+ years of riding (I'm 75 and still get out on my Yammy Venture), the dream-like appeal of a two-wheeler at speed keeps me coming back for more, and will, I hope, until I can no longer "throw a leg over". The multi-sensory, viscerality of a high speed run, especially at night, and solo is difficult to equal, nevermind replicate, except maybe w/ controlled substances. The humming, droning, wailing or screaming of your engine. The vibration that inoculates 'buzz' into every cubic inch of your body mass. The random moments of horror, imagining the outcome of an animal collision. The tunnel that your headlight creates while boring into the abyss. The stream of consciousness with your self; of thoughts you know you won't remember unless... possibly... by accident, weeks or months later. The mental exercise of concocting your pulled-over script. The thought that you should do this more often, and that some day you should involve Canada, Mexico or the USA... depending on your starting point. Most of us are dreamers. You, my friend, are a doer.

Oh man what a pleasant gentleman to listen too, balls of steel, kudos 💪🏻🤛🏻

I rode 12 hours straight on an R1 one day to go ride the tail of the dragon. I was in physical pain For at least 3 days after that trip. I cant imagine doing what this madman did

It apparent that this feat is more about the physical and psychological strain than the speeds attained.

One of my friends was an Army helicopter pilot. He was flying long hours during Desert Storm, he was flying at night through the desert and fell asleep, best he could figure he was out for about ten minutes, he said it scared the crap out of him.

My personal record was Houston, Tx to Washington DC in 36 hours on a sport bike with just a backpack. Something like 1500 miles. Smartphones, action cameras, and gps weren't a thing yet. Just had a map and handwritten interstate transitions highlighted.

Great story, I like this guy. On a bike does seem pretty crazy. I'll have to check out his documentary.

LIVING FUCN LEGEND. So calm and humble and scientific while he's explaining

Im just glad you finally started doing more bike videos

In the middle of September, 2011, I left San Diego on my Ninja 250. I bought it new in 2008 at a Virginia dealership and rode it to my new home in San Diego… but I didn’t make that trip in one shot like I did the return trip a few years later. In 2011 I was moving back to the East Coast (Georgia). It had been my only transportation since I bought it. Unfortunately, my departure from San Diego was delayed because several people wanted to surprise me on my birthday so the sun was already setting when I left the beach motel where my niece lived. I didn’t have much sleep the night before so I was feeling much like this guy when he left San Diego on his BMW S1000RR. I had a backpack and a tank bag but I ended up leaving the backpack at the first rest stop since it was making thing excruciatingly uncomfortable. I had actually tried to sleep on a picnic table there and decided against it after I realized it just wasn’t gonna happen. I rode straight through to morning where I was rejuvenated by the sun and was able to keep riding until late at night the next day. Before the sun went down on day 2 I recall having to pull into a gas station because every inch of my helmet was covered with hundreds of gnats or fruit flies and I couldn’t see. That night I decided I would stop at the first motel/hotel I saw under $50, but I didn’t see one until the AM when I was past Dallas/Ft. Worth. I actually wasted time trying to negotiate at a few that were right at the limit “Come on! Who else are you going to rent the room to this late?!” I kept riding out of principle. That night I recall a huge swath of Texas looking pitch black except for an alien-like grid of faint red lights as far as the eye could see. I only realized days later that I was riding through a huge wind farm and those were lights atop windmills. Anyway, when I finally did check into a hotel I unpacked my tank bag and noticed that my dog’s plane ticket said the departure and arrival times were bother local time, which meant I had three hours fewer than I thought I had for arriving at Atlanta airport for my dog. They were very clear that someone HAD to be there to receive him and I couldn’t imagine how he would react to being surrounded by strangers after being all along on a flight. …so, I took the most expensive shower I’ve ever taken, checked out, and hit the road again. I’m glad I did because I ran out of gas at one point, my phone charger gave out, and I could barely make it through some parts of Alabama with the bike as overloaded as it was. I made it to ATL just in time to receive the dog and wait for my brother to come get him… which was the plan all along even though I thought I would have SOME sleep. No one could take my bike for me so I continued on the rest of the way and made it home that afternoon. All in all, I would’ve qualified for Iron-Butt C2C if I had documented it since I was well under 48 hours. :)

This is strikingly different to the experience of a cannonball car record. It's much more bodily involved. Incredible.

Respect. Man this makes me wanna just make the trip. Not trying to beat a record but just for the love of the ride. Almost 50 now so I won’t get to many more years of attempting these kind of challenges

Absolutely amazing. The sheer will and dedication this guy has is insane!

Back in 1976, I rode my Yamaha RD350 from Orlando to Anaheim and back. Had a Windjammer III fairing on her, but (obviously) no GPS, phone, Flir. One paper map, no credit card, Levi's denim jacket, Army Paratrooper boots, corduroy pants, Army gloves, Bell Star helmet . I'll be 69 this month, and I still look back on that trip as one of the highlights of my life. I think it took me 5 days each way. Can't imagine knocking it out straight through. Enjoy the ride while you can!!!

Having ridden sport bikes for years, I just know dudes back, knees, throttle hand, and neck were wrecked for at least a couple days after this. But dude has balls of steel and an iron ass.

When he started talking about having to differentiate dream from reality that shit hit me like a bus because the same exact thing happened to me on my non stop 25 hr drive from Bozeman Montana to Detroit Michigan. Its a super weird sensation but the way he described it is pretty much spot on.

I'm impressed as hell that he could ride on a crotch rocket that long and still walk when he was finished. The time he did is not fastest time from San Diego to Jacksonville Beach. Greg Rice completed it in 29hrs and 23 minutes on a Honda Goldwing that is limited to just over 100mph top speed.

Axe is a hero. Two wheels definitely move the soul. More motorcycle stories please!!

"I put cushions on the rear pegs." - You know I am somewhat of an engineer myself.

Great story! VERY impressive, your mindset, the way you prepared, the way you did the drive. Serious cool, everything!

Damn! Awesome. I did the ironbutt coast to coast. Did my trip in 47 hours...Charleston to San Diego....stopped in Abilene tx. To sleep 4-5 hours. BMW gs. Still I Very high risk game! Congrats

I went from St.Louis to Raleigh as fast as I could on my 600rr. That was the most fun I've ever had on a bike.

What an inspiration to get out there and chase your dreams. We’re working on putting together an Iron Butt Challenge first, then maybe something like this.

This is one of those rare people who are insane in the best possible way. Congrats my man. It's a very short list but you are on the very top of extreme long distance bike riders. Anything over 200 miles in a 24 hour period seems like cross country to me on a sport bike now.

I appreciate that after this, and the effort you put into it, along with the method you used to record it accurately, you gave your patented results for the military to use. Going that far, that fast is something I hope they never need, but if they do, you wrote a map for those bikers who joined the military and are gutsy enough to put it to use in a national or regional need. THANK YOU for giving our military a special purpose tool for "the day we need it"

What a great ride, and real achievement. Wow it must have been an amazing ride, and a real sence of victory at the end. In 1973 I had a Honda CB 250. Rode from Sydney to Gold Coast Qld, about 90 minuits south of Brisbane. Around 850 km, or 500 odd miles. Felt like I pushed the bike. Later wanted a bigger bike, but bought a car. In recent years my dream was a Gold Wing. However I can no longer ride, or drive due to my health. You can take the man off the bike, but you can't take the bike out of the man.

Triple digits in a dual mindset 🙌 Great quote

An entire younger generation has no idea on Stomper Wheels. I loved my Stomper trucks as a kid.

WoW held that position for 33 hours incredible. Should have been a sniper.

I did a run from Squamish BC to Calgary AB two years ago on a 500cc Yamaha and it was hands down one of the most mentally and physically taxing things I've even done, took me about 12 hours. I cannot imagine doing a coast to coast run, much less doing it in under 48 hours. So much respect dude.

That’s so funny and true about the MRE’s. That will clog you up for weeks

I’m not gonna lie, the most enjoyable part of this video for me was the prep. I don’t know why I love the preparation and figuring out of how to make everything the most efficient and effective it can be, but I just do.

I love taking long rides on my S1K but I’ve never come close to coast to coast. What a legend! That external gas tank is a great idea, I hate having to stop every 100miles.

Y'all always find the best storytellers. Epic channel! Hey Ed thanks for the work you put into this. Awesome

4:38 another level of respect he's packing a Spyderco knife.

When I got my first bike, I decided to ride it to visit my gf 3hrs away. An hour into it, I was regretting my decision. 😅 hats off to this guy.

Can’t argue with the results but that S1000RR is only behind the RC51 as the most uncomfortable bike I’ve ever ridden. And I’ve ridden almost all of them. Also, it’s amazing how that friendly wave after passing takes the edge off people who might otherwise try to cause you harm.

Am i the only one, that when he said A1A , said 'Beach Front Avenue' out loud?

22 hours from Tampa to Detroit in an RV with my wife and 3 kids, and a chihuahua. That's my record.

I did a coast to coast to coast ride in 2012 on a 2010 Harley Fatboy. Took me 4 weeks to get to the west coast and six weeks to get back to the east coast. Went everywhere and stopped to see everything. Best trip ever and more fun then I could have imagined

I couldn’t imagine riding for 33 hours straight . The longest I’ve ridden was 8 hours on my KTM supermoto. The hardest part about it was that it was pouring rain the entire time and it was 35 degrees out in the middle of the night. I would have to stop at gas stations periodically because my hands would be so cold that they could not move enough to grab the clutch, brake, or twist the throttle. Luckily I brought a roll of duct tape with me and I used it to tape up every seam in my clothing and vent in my helmet. I taped plastic bags over my hands to attempt to keep my hands dry. I bought a rain poncho in preparation for the trip but my entire body was drenched within an hour. I made it home, but my hands were very frost bitten and I can assume that I was experiencing some pretty bad hypothermia. It was the most painful ride of my life and I’ve ridden home after breaking my wrist before.

RIding a motorcycle across the country in 33 hours - impressive. Ignoring all the excellent sport touring bikes available and doing it on a supersport - *Legendary*

The part about the hallucinations is wild , amazing story !

What a great guy! Thanks for having him on.

Drove my motorcycle from Ontario, CA to PHX, AZ after being awake over 24 hours and it’s so true what he said. Dreams start becoming reality and it’s brutal.

I like his speed and traffic navigation approach. Makes sense. I was surprised that he didn't push the speed higher when he had the chance to, but I'm also comparing to the other cannonballers that just do the absolute maximum the vehicle is capable of.

Had an inlaw give me a family members 2017 hayabusa with 800 miles on it last year after they had passed away as im the only motorcyclist in the family that still rides with any consistency. Ide love to make an attempt at my own run after a few simple mods like bar risers, rear fuel tank, tall windscreen etc, would be a good machine for it.

I crossed Spain from South to North in 8 hours and thought that was an accomplishment. Hats off to this guy. This is awesome.

His level of commitment to this was solidified with the catheter and diaper. I’m glad he was able to share his experience with us here.

I was falling asleep listening to this but focused in on one thing. He ate MREs to clog himself up. What a Chad

I had an idea for this. You could put fuel bladders in hard saddle bags. Add an external fuel pump to push fuel into the gas tank. Like a top off on the go. Easy way to extend your range between stops by hundreds of miles.

The Horse magazine used to do a super-long marathon endurance race every year called the stampede where the displacement of the bike's engine was limited to 500cc's and it had to be a chopper. The route wasn't posted to non-participants, so there wasn't cops, spectators or cheaters to contend with. I'm not certain, but recall the distance being over 1,000 miles. BRUTAL

The man The mechine The determination The preparations Salute. ♥️♥️♥️

"Eating MREs to take care of all that". Most people will never understand how well that works. Lol. First week of MRS in basic training, nothing happens. All fear of stalls without walls goes away about the 6th to 8th day as your body finally "eliminates" all those MREs.

Finally something for the bikers ❤️

In 1982 I drove highway 80 coast to coast on a Honda 750. No fairing or even windshield. The first 300 to 400 miles seemed to take forever and had me doubting that I could make it *. Luckily I ran into a Canadian guy on a huge BMW touring bike. He set the pace and although I struggled, I was able to keep up. My smaller fuel tank required me to stop more often and he hung out with me during the pit stops. He would have been able to do something like this challenge. He had driven to the tip of south America and while heading north accidently clipped a pedestrian. Fearing arrest and imprisonment he drove north for over 24 hours, stopping only for gas. I've done as many as 700 miles in a day but it's not fun at that point. I took 7 days to make the trek including an overnight stop in south Dakota for the Sturgis rally. A hot bath and comfortable bed felt so awesome after sleeping on the ground next to the bike at truck stops. This amazing (rhymes with crazy) superhuman feat really is a fantastic achievement. The courage, determination and Balls that this guy has are wonderful to see... I'm definitely a fan. As a viewer I'd have liked to see a picture in picture screen showing what he saw up in the corner while he was talking... Man what a ride! *Footnote: 40 years later I'm back in the road and was in Sturgis aug 2022. But this time I was in a 40 foot motorhome.

Bad ass. Mad respect for this guy. Thanks for telling your story.

I would've thought the obvious choice would be a sport tourer, so RESPECT for telling his back to suck it up

- “I cut redbull 50/50 with Gatorade” - “I had open heart surgery at 34. I didn’t really take good care of myself”

Missoula, Montana to Oregon City, Oregon on a 2007 KLR650 is my claim to fame. Only had to stop for fuel twice. 14 hours - 7am to 8pm with one +1 time zone change.

This is great. Good job, great story.

Its a testament to how robust the S1000RR is, and if a man is mad enough, anything can be accomplished.

I'd love to give something like this a shot in Australia, Sydney to Perth... However if I did, our cops would almost certainly see to it that my motorcycle gets melted down to make Chinese patio furniture and the gallows at Pentridge prison be brought back into service. They tend to make examples out of anyone who dares make a break for freedom.

Making this trip 3 times from Florida to Idaho I can relate to some of the things you were talking about but bro you pushed WAY harder than I ever did. There was a time on one of those trips I did a 1024 miles in 24 hours and had my wife on the back of my harley and there were some performance enhancers involved 😀 but that was as hard as I ever wanted to push. I look forward to doing the ride again... great job on taking less than 3 days to coast to coast it

We need more motorcycle stories on this channel!

There is a bit of a parallel in what you did with ultramarathons. The timetable is about the same for a tough mountain 100 mile race. The mental state you go into we call the "Ultrazone". Higher mental faculties slip away, it gets timeless (endless!) and you start seeing things that aren't there, like 8 foot tall Scottish terriers lurking in the trees.

After doing a documented Saddle Sore 1K from San Antonio to Yuma, I shudder to think about the distance that was put on!

Of course a dude named Axe did this. Fucking legend

Respect no back up crew solo ridding beating the record!

Man its crazy to think people get the same feeling as I with motorcycles. I just brings me so much joy its really hard to explain to people that don't ride .I got to go on my first road trip in 2020 and man its nothing like that open road. Went from Georgia to panama Florida best five hours of my life .My fz09 did great on gas but I started to wish I was on a bagger two hours in . God bless those that ride or are think they want to get into riding .Its truly a amazing feeling.

Such a genuine, fascinating account. Thank You.

Way back when, 1990 or so, I ran my Luftmeister turbocharged BMW K75 from just south of Detroit, MI to Portland, OR in 34 hours. 2362 miles. No plan, no FLIR, no cell phone, no navigation system other than paper maps in a tank bag and the stock 5+ gallon fuel tank. The bike was packed with saddlebags, tank bag, tail pack and a sleeping bag. My radar detector was a Bel 837 velcro'd to the the dash. I had no idea that it was anything special, until just now. I averaged 1.5mph less than this dude and made probably twice as many stops. I saw a lot of triple digits on the speedo. My ass was sore at the end.

Taking a dump in a diaper while riding a motorcycle seems like it would cause more of a delay than just taking a speed dump while getting gas. Could probably shave a few hours off the time with auxiliary tanks and spotters. The new Hayabusa seems like a great platform with the extra hardpoints.

Hurricane evacuation. 5 people, 2 cats, 1 dog. Small sedan. FL Keys to Gainesville. Turnpike hell. 13 hours.

Great recap of a great ride! Rode from CT to CA & back in Summer of 1989 with my Dad & brother on my 1986 900 Ninja. (Dad & brother on Dad's 1982 Yamaha Venture 1200) Took 3 weeks, saw sights, white water rafting, etc. No speed records. hit a buck thirty five in the Nevada desert though. Had to come to a dead stop in the desert for 2 wild horses at full gallop approaching the highway, saw them from a mile away! Talk about timing!

Some of the best stories on the tube!

If someone asked me to make a list of 10 best motorcycles to do this with the S1000RR would not have even crossed my mind. There are many bikes that can cruise at this speed more comfortably and with more fuel range. Heck, an R1250GSA can do almost 400 miles on a tank without an auxiliary tank strapped to the tail.

I’ve gone coast to coast on a hard tail pan head when I was 16, next time I did it was on a 1976 sportster, then it was a superglide, 2006 street glide, multiple coast to coast trips on a 1999 Honda Valkyrie interstate but last year I did it on a 2019 Indian FTR1200 and it was fun but my ass was killing me , I was never in a hurry but I would stop at the truck stops and check the weather and would take the roads that had the best weather, doing what you did I could never do because I love to look at the mountains out west and talk to people