Riding for fun and adventure...

[alanmcorcoran]

I'm curious to hear from other intermediate/novice riders that have moved past the newb stage and have tried, either successfully or unsuccessfully, moderate regional trips (say 400-1000 miles round trip.) I know Busyweb and Chris have undertaken a few and I think Sarris did one on vacation (and I suspect many others). What I'm interested in is:

1) How much of the "romance" of the open road holds up? Is the ride still fun when it's 4 - 5 hours or more?
2) Is there a point (distance? hours?) where a "tourer" is preferred over a "cruiser"?
3) Assuming price was not an issue, would you prefer to ride a loaded Tourer (a la Gold Wing) or a tourer/cruiser (like the Strat, or I assume, the Street Glide)?

I'm doing a lot of reading and a little testing of various bikes but there are so many motorcycles to choose from and with only 3000 miles of experience, I'm not sure what I want. If the GZ could go comfortably go about 10 miles an hour faster and had a sturdier seat, I might just stick with it, but it's just too underpowered and undersuspended for long trips. I plan on doing some test rides and test tours to see if I really even want to go that route, but I'd also like to hear from those of you that have gone before.