Prep for long-distance scooter ride?

[XS650]

You should do a 4 or 5 hour practice run to be sure you and the scoot are ready for it. Run it at the pace you plan to run and see what happens.
Farthest I have gone on two wheels in a day was 820 miles, but I had taken many day trips of 400+ miles so I knew what to expect.

You sounds like you are budgeting your time, but really watch it. I spent a lot of time in the 70-70+mph range and average 54 mph for 820 miles. I did have two meal stops in dinners but ordered efficiently. I ordered as the waitress was seating me and asked he to bring the check with the meal. Still took about 20 minutes a meal, but the break was welcome.

I should have done a 1000+ Ironbutt but never got around to it.

I hope you make it, your sense of satisfaction doing it on 150cc will be justifiably immense. I felt pretty good about 820 miles in a day on a 115rwhp motorcycle that was set up for hours in the saddle

See if you can get your chase crew to fill your tank at stops so you have couple of extra minutes to stretch and scratch and walk around in addition to taking a leak.
Be sure you get time stamped receipts.

 

[heypete]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Well it's almost mid January, any firm plans for the Iron butt ride yet?.,,


Turns out it's a bit colder than I expected, so I'm going to wait until it warms up to the point that three hours of riding with the quilted, armored jacket doesn't leave me quite chilled.

I'll let you know what I hear.

I've been trying to do modest (2-4 hour) rides on various local terrain, and have found that I can sustain 55mph at wide-open throttle on flat, level ground. It seems to suck down fuel pretty quick compared to around-town driving, so that's something to keep in mind. My original route had some modest inclines, which would likely slow me down a bit more than I'd like (the mountain roads near here that I've driven on get me down to 40mph at WOT). I can't really accelerate much on the downhill slopes as at WOT at 55, the engine's turning at 8,000rpm and I don't feel comfortable having it turn much faster.

There's no "neutral", so I can't coast down the hills -- the wheel will drive the transmission and, by extension, the engine if I go too fast.

 

[BigCahuna]

Another thing I would check into before I would start this is,I hear the IBA are sticklers for details. They usually require any gas stops to be documented with a stamped receipt with name of the station, time, and amount of gallons. I know you wanted to gas on the fly, but you might not get the ride accepted by the IBA. I would check with them before hand so you don't go for a long ride get and beat up without getting the credit.

 

[heypete]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Another thing I would check into before I would start this is,I hear the IBA are sticklers for details. They usually require any gas stops to be documented with a stamped receipt with name of the station, time, and amount of gallons. I know you wanted to gas on the fly, but you might not get the ride accepted by the IBA. I would check with them before hand so you don't go for a long ride get and beat up without getting the credit.


The gas cans are for emergency use only, not for regular fill-ups. There's a lot of empty areas in Arizona, and I have a ~2 gallon fuel tank. It's quite possible to run low on gas far from any station. Any filling with gas from cans would be documented with a camera and GPS (both time and location), as well as a written explanation.

Thanks for the heads-up, though.

 

[bobmunden]

There is no prohibition on engine size for any Iron Butt Ride. For the Rally they impose certain restrictions on bike performancebut not for a regular certificate ride. There have been lots of 1000 mile rides on 50cc bikes and one 1500 in 36 hour ride on a 50cc - all certified by the IBA. A write up of the Bun Burner 1500 ride on a 50cc (49cc actually) can be found here : http://bobmunden.blogspot.com/2008/07/1600-miles-33-hours-49-cubic.html It ended upbeing actually 1600 miles in 33 hours. I have extensive Iron Butt ride experience and would be glad to answer any questions to help your ride be a success. Contact me off list.
Bob Munden
[email protected]

 

[Gunatics_Adler]

There was a guy who did an Iron Butt Rally on a Zundapp 250. My father's friend does them all the time. He has even done the Americas ride from Alaska to Argentina and back twice on a 250 thumper.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: bobmunden
There is no prohibition on engine size for any Iron Butt Ride. For the Rally they impose certain restrictions on bike performancebut not for a regular certificate ride. There have been lots of 1000 mile rides on 50cc bikes and one 1500 in 36 hour ride on a 50cc - all certified by the IBA. A write up of the Bun Burner 1500 ride on a 50cc (49cc actually) can be found here : http://bobmunden.blogspot.com/2008/07/1600-miles-33-hours-49-cubic.html It ended upbeing actually 1600 miles in 33 hours. I have extensive Iron Butt ride experience and would be glad to answer any questions to help your ride be a success. Contact me off list.
Bob Munden
[email protected]

 

[BigCahuna]

heypete, did you ever do the Iron butt ride?