I will riding my Norge in the 2009 Iron Butt Rally. If you are unfamiliar with the Rally visit www.ironbutt.com. The Norge is my first Guzzi and so far it seems to be a pretty good bike (except for the fuel filter). The Iron Butt is a pretty intense rally and my concern is that there is a limited number of dealers in North America. Although I will be able to plan for tires, etc. I may need some additional help from the middle of nowhere. Is this the right group to seek a little help if needed?
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2009 Iron Butt Rally
- Thread starter Kendall
- Start date
Indeed, there is no better. We have a handful of Guzzisti here that have IronButt'ed. :huh:
Where/when will you be riding?
Welcome to the Forum/Family, and loveto get your info for the Modern Guzzi Registry.
Where/when will you be riding?
Welcome to the Forum/Family, and loveto get your info for the Modern Guzzi Registry.
Thanks - the Rally itself starts in Spartenburg SC this year. The iron butt rally runs for 11 days and covers 10K to 13K miles - of course that depends on the rider and will cover the US and parts of Canada. Unlike a traditional iron butt ride this is a compitition the combines a little more than the ride itself. It is run every two years towards the end of August and is billed as the world's toughest motorcycle compitition. Since in began in the 80's only 365 people have finished.
With that many miles in that short of time it places a little strain on the bike and of course its rider. Any thoughts on what preventative steps I should take with the Norge? For your information I will be using auxillary fuel (11 gallons total) plus a whole bunch of electronic goodies that I hope will not strain the system.
Kendall
With that many miles in that short of time it places a little strain on the bike and of course its rider. Any thoughts on what preventative steps I should take with the Norge? For your information I will be using auxillary fuel (11 gallons total) plus a whole bunch of electronic goodies that I hope will not strain the system.
Kendall
Kendall wrote:
Yeah, yeah, yeah: we know about the 'Butt! Wish you luck; if you win you'll be the 2nd Guzzi & the 1st since '92?3?4? to have finished, iirc. Oddly enough, since Guzzis seem to appeal to an older, more seasoned sort of rider [ones who don't enjoy napping on park benches to refresh for that next 200 miles] with little to prove, there just don't seem to be as many entering the 'Butt!
Of course, tons of BMW riders w/ their small penii issues
enter every year, trying to prove something [but to whom?], but we all know that's not your motivation. Me personally, I've always thought that MGNA [now Piaggio USA] were missing a trick by not making a factory-backed effort to provide support for Guzzi-mounted IB entrants: lots of marketing hype to be garnered by winning "the toughest motorcycle rally in the world" don't you think?
Preventative steps:
Full synth oils & greases everywhere, freshly done just before the race begins. You'll want to set up tire changes in advance with shops in the 4 corners of the U.S. [obviously, MI for the PNW and MG Classics here in Lo-Cal So. Cal. (where the money is plastic & the people are too!) would be good choices], altho' IIRC, Irv Seaver BMW here in Pomona? or something is one of the So.Cal. checkpoints every time; I'm not that familiar w/ the IB to know which fixed checkpoints they use, clearly it would behoove you to find out that info & plan major maintenance stops around them.
If you don't have a 'stich or equivalent already, get it now so it will be well broken-in before you compete! Leathers are not a good choice for the IB; their greater safety in the event of a crash has to be balanced against all their other shortcomings w/ regard to foul weather, time taking on or off, comfort, etc.
Most important is rider training: all the finest & most esoteric farkles in the world won't help you if you're not used to doing consecutive 1200 mile days! Just getting the time to train for such an event is what keeps me from contemplating competing myself, not to mention all the other issues of actually riding in the Iron Butt! I used to have an on-line friend who rode a Harley & entered the IB [I think it was the 99 or 01 edition.] She'd done the qualifiers [obviously, or she couldn't have entered], but her habitual riding was only regular 500 mile days. She crashed out in AZ? [non-critically, thankfully!] and removed herself from the race. I kinda lost track of her after that, I don't think she handled failure well...[in her eyes; I'm still in awe]
Best of luck to you, & keep us informed: you know you'll have lots of support from the Guzzi community if you enter!
Yeah, yeah, yeah: we know about the 'Butt! Wish you luck; if you win you'll be the 2nd Guzzi & the 1st since '92?3?4? to have finished, iirc. Oddly enough, since Guzzis seem to appeal to an older, more seasoned sort of rider [ones who don't enjoy napping on park benches to refresh for that next 200 miles] with little to prove, there just don't seem to be as many entering the 'Butt!
Of course, tons of BMW riders w/ their small penii issues
enter every year, trying to prove something [but to whom?], but we all know that's not your motivation. Me personally, I've always thought that MGNA [now Piaggio USA] were missing a trick by not making a factory-backed effort to provide support for Guzzi-mounted IB entrants: lots of marketing hype to be garnered by winning "the toughest motorcycle rally in the world" don't you think?Preventative steps:
Full synth oils & greases everywhere, freshly done just before the race begins. You'll want to set up tire changes in advance with shops in the 4 corners of the U.S. [obviously, MI for the PNW and MG Classics here in Lo-Cal So. Cal. (where the money is plastic & the people are too!) would be good choices], altho' IIRC, Irv Seaver BMW here in Pomona? or something is one of the So.Cal. checkpoints every time; I'm not that familiar w/ the IB to know which fixed checkpoints they use, clearly it would behoove you to find out that info & plan major maintenance stops around them.
If you don't have a 'stich or equivalent already, get it now so it will be well broken-in before you compete! Leathers are not a good choice for the IB; their greater safety in the event of a crash has to be balanced against all their other shortcomings w/ regard to foul weather, time taking on or off, comfort, etc.
Most important is rider training: all the finest & most esoteric farkles in the world won't help you if you're not used to doing consecutive 1200 mile days! Just getting the time to train for such an event is what keeps me from contemplating competing myself, not to mention all the other issues of actually riding in the Iron Butt! I used to have an on-line friend who rode a Harley & entered the IB [I think it was the 99 or 01 edition.] She'd done the qualifiers [obviously, or she couldn't have entered], but her habitual riding was only regular 500 mile days. She crashed out in AZ? [non-critically, thankfully!] and removed herself from the race. I kinda lost track of her after that, I don't think she handled failure well...[in her eyes; I'm still in awe]
Best of luck to you, & keep us informed: you know you'll have lots of support from the Guzzi community if you enter!
Skeeve - Thanks for the advice. I am hoping to get by with a single rear tire change during the rally. Some help with tire selection would be nice. Any ideas? Remember that the tires will be under a lot of strain and probably maintain their heat for twenty hours a day. I have had some luck with ME880's on different bikes. We still have not received how many or where checkpoints will be located so no planning yet.
Thanks
PS This will be my third IBR. In 2005 and 2007 I rode a DL1000.
Thanks
PS This will be my third IBR. In 2005 and 2007 I rode a DL1000.
Kendall wrote:
Well, if there was a Dunlop 491 Elite II to fit, you could probably get by w/o any tire changes! Those things wear like iron... grip better, but not much! :lol:
Sorry, but you'll get better help from someone else; I only rack up about 5k miles a year, so that's barely one rear tire a year if they wear poorly...
Well, if there was a Dunlop 491 Elite II to fit, you could probably get by w/o any tire changes! Those things wear like iron... grip better, but not much! :lol:
Sorry, but you'll get better help from someone else; I only rack up about 5k miles a year, so that's barely one rear tire a year if they wear poorly...