I love to ride and I hate to stop.

I am a member of the Long Distance (LD) riding community.  This is a group of riders who so thoroughly enjoy riding that they use any and all excuses to be on the motorcycle. A lot of information on LD riding can be found at the Iron Butt Association web site. This is an excellent resource for tales of long rides, information on how to go farther, safer than most riders think is possible. The tips on LD riding are a good place to start and subscribing to the LDRider email list is a great way to keep on learning.

Here are some of the changes I've made to the R60 for long distance endurance riding. These work for me.  Your mileage may vary!

Safety

Being noticed by the folks your sharing the road with can save your life.  The R60 has an always-on High Intensity Discharge (HID) low beam and twin H-3 fog lights that run continuously. I've added an LED stop-turn-running light designed for a tractor trailer to the rear of each saddlebag, LED running lights to the sides of the bag and the Hannigan fairing has amber running lights.

A fair amount of LD riding happens at night so a good place to invest some time and money is in forward lighting.  On low beam the HID and the fog lights are on.  Switch to high beam and the fog lights go out and a set of HID driving lights come on.  HID supplies more usable light than stock halogen bulbs and use less wattage.

The original BMW horn has been replaced with a set of Fiamme Highway Blasters.   

Comfort

It may sound foolish but in order to ride long distances you have to stay in the saddle. That means that your motorcycle should be an extremely comfortable place to be.  If your blasted by the wind, pelted by the rain, hammered by bugs, too cold or too hot it makes it harder to keep riding. A fairing or windshield can take care of most environmental mischief, your riding gear should handle the rest.

I'm a firm believer in ATGAT, All The Gear All The Time.  I don't even go to the corner store without my full kit on.  A good helmet, I prefer a flip-up, bright yellow in my case.  A real riding suit with padding at the joints and back, good ventilation and lots of pockets. Motorcycle boots that protect the shin, ankle and calf. Finally, a good set of leather gloves.

For cold weather I swear by electrically heated clothing.  I carry a Warm n Safe jacket year round.  In really cold temperatures I add Widder gloves and Gerbing socks.

Reliability

Your motorcycle needs to be utterly reliable.  Worrying about a known worn part or strange sound can flat wear you out.  It's a good practice to make sure all aftermarket installations are done properly, neatly, cleanly and securely.

Some riders can tear their cycle down to the crankshaft at the side of the road and some can barely cope with adding oil.  The important thing is to know that the maintenance being done ou your bike is performed properly.  

The seat

This is where the term Iron Butt Riding refers to.  Most stock seats suck as they are designed to fit everyone and anyone who might possibly buy a specific motorcycle.  Does a seat that works well for a 150 pound rider work for a 340 pound rider?  Same for a rider with a 27 inch inseam or one who is six foot four?

Through the years I've ridden on the stock seat, the police-solo seat, a Russell, a Rick Mayer and while they were good-looking, none worked well for thousand mile days.  For the past five years I've been sitting on a Rocky Mayer solo saddle that works extremely well.  In fact I've done back-to-back 1,500 mile days (called a Bun Burner Gold 3,000 in the IBA) and rode the IBR in 2007 on this saddle.  To me a "good" saddle means that I'm not noticing or even thinking about how my butt feels at the end of the ride.