Iván Cervantes Sets 24-hour Riding Record on Tiger 1200 GT Explorer
How far can you ride in one day? Not as far as Iván Cervantes, I’m ready to wager that.
The five-time Enduro world champion has set a new world record for the greatest distance traveled in 24 hours on a motorcycle by an individual. Cervantes rode a Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Explorer for an astounding 2,493 miles on the High-Speed Ring at the Nardò Technical Center in Italy.
To put that into perspective, if laid on a map, Cervantes would’ve traveled from New York to Los Angeles—assuming he had a straight road.
His incredible feat beat the previous world record—2116 miles set in 2017 by Carl Reese—by nearly 373 miles.
Cervantes rode consistently at speeds surpassing 124 mph for 19 hours. At that point, he broke the previous record, but he wasn’t about to stop.
With five hours to spare, he squeezed a further 376 miles out of the Tiger. An adjudicator from Guinness World Records ultimately validated the record-breaking 2,493 miles, traveled at an average speed of 104 mph.
During his record-breaking attempt, Cervantes rode 317 laps around the High-Speed Ring, with 18 pit stops and one tire change. The challenge burned 137.37 gallons of fuel in total.
The Bike and its Rider
An essential part of Cervantes’ achievement was, naturally, the bike he rode. Yet, he didn’t choose the exact Tiger 1200 GT Explorer he rode on purpose.
The bike was picked at random off of Triumph’s production line in Hinckley, U.K. As it turns out, though, the choice was a good one.
“The Tiger 1200 GT Explorer was the perfect bike for this attempt. It’s very comfortable to ride for a long time,” Cervantes said.
There were no modifications made to the motorcycle prior to the record attempt. Nonetheless, Cervantes cited the Tiger’s nearly 9-gallon fuel capacity and high degree of wind protection as vital to his record.
“For sure, the hardest part was the weather, because it started to rain, but this bike has a very big screen and excellent protection, which helped me a lot,” he said.
Indeed, as a testament to the bike’s performance, the only maintenance (apart from fuel top-ups, of course) done on the Tiger was the aforementioned single tire change. The bike received a fresh pair of Metzeler Tourance tires as the downpour began and darkness fell.
“It’s not easy to ride for 24 hours in a row but, in the end, the record is mine with this amazing bike!” rejoiced Cervantes
Iván Cervantes, a native of Spain, is a five-time Enduro World Champion. In addition, he holds 21 Spanish Enduro Champion and five Spanish Motocross Champion titles. Since joining the Triumph stable in 2021, he has scored multiple wins at Baja Aragón, 1000 Dunas Raid, and Basella Maxi-Trail Race.