Group rides/The fallacy of the perfect motorcycle

So I went on my first ride with Atlanta Motorcycle Enthusiasts yesterday.  Overall it was a good time and I met a lot of like minded people.  We had about 22 bikes, which was a lot.  Trying to keep that many bikes together is a challenge.  We only had one person who had the route in a GPS so breaking up into smaller groups (which would have been ideal) wasn't possible.

We inevitably got separated several times.  I seemed to always stay in the lead group, which leads to having more down time while waiting for everyone else to catch up.

Motorcycle group riding is a perfect social interaction for me.  All the people have something in common and thus, something to talk about.  If you have ever spent time around someone passionate about motorcycling, you know they can talk about it almost endlessly.  Then, about the time my low threshold of social interaction is warring thin, you get on your bike and have time to yourself.  Even though you are still with the group.

I think this ride confirmed what I was already starting to suspect.  The Bonneville, while a great bike, isn't perfect.  After about 150 miles or so, I'm about done.  We did 250 miles yesterday. The bike never missed a beat, I was spent though.  

I've read that you need five bikes to cover all your bases.  As I don't have the resources this would take, I have to make due with significantly fewer.  The Bonneville is great for about half of my riding.  Commuting, short rides (even two up short rides) are where it excels and looks good while doing it.  Now the question is, as always, what next?