Thanks Perry for the post--spot on my thoughts and sentiment in 2013 that was my third time like yours. Ride safe, ride well, and have fun.
FJRForum Official 2015 Iron Butt Rally Tracking/Analysis thread
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Preparation for me is a little scatterbrained with the move to the east coast. I go back and for to Cali couple times per month so I try to knock out a few things in advance (fork rebuild, weld pillion seat attack point on sub frame). Of course "in advance" means before this week. Like RFLAGG I had a Jim S beautiful frankentank made. That is waiting for me for fuel pump swap as well trying to get Linda T gear to fit over giant fuel tank. I've also been messing around with the core temperature controls heat/cool capillary climate system. So while not ideal, lots to get right before Friday. I'll be working through Friday so likely getting in after midnight.
Waking up Saturday will be splendor. All work and family events are on hold and as Eric said, nothing to do but ride and plan (and checkin). Good stuff. I agree that the three mini rally format of recent IBRs is less taxing than a weeklong ButtLite when you are always on the clock, but that's just me (and I don't have a ton of data points!) you are guaranteed good sleep at every checkpoint unless your steed blows up or something else icky.
My 112k or so AE will hopefully hold up! Looking forward to it in a big way. Good luck to all the FJRs.
Josh
Waking up Saturday will be splendor. All work and family events are on hold and as Eric said, nothing to do but ride and plan (and checkin). Good stuff. I agree that the three mini rally format of recent IBRs is less taxing than a weeklong ButtLite when you are always on the clock, but that's just me (and I don't have a ton of data points!) you are guaranteed good sleep at every checkpoint unless your steed blows up or something else icky.
My 112k or so AE will hopefully hold up! Looking forward to it in a big way. Good luck to all the FJRs.
Josh
Peter Murray
Well-known member
A lot excitement for all leading up to the IBR . I wish all riders regardless of bike choice great success and safety ! This will be no walk in the park, Until I see the rider list my money is on Jim O @5- 1..
Sorry Bob Lilly is another Kick Ass rider to consider.
Perry saw your post Best to you !
359
Sorry Bob Lilly is another Kick Ass rider to consider.
Perry saw your post Best to you !
359
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Squirley
Member
Theres a "limit"on likes???...WHAT??? My first IB following.....GO team IRISHI'm going to run out of likes on a daily basis at this rate...
That ol girl will be an east coast spare this time around!! She did get to run the MD last month, needs a new/better seat.
DaJuice
Well-known member
I didn't have much to do to get ready which is a good thing because I've spent most of the past year on a construction site in Curacao. On leg 2 of last years Butt Lite the mic in my helmet stopped working. I really enjoy being able to talk to friends and family on the bike. Nothing like being able to hear a familiar voice when you are all alone with nothing but time to think to yourself. Talking to my friends keeps me motivated and is by far the best way for me to keep myself awake. I also listen to XM, MP3s and audiobooks but nothing picks me up like a phone call. Audiobooks are 2nd place. I think it is becuase I'm able to tune out music... I don't have to pay attention whereas an audiobook, I need to pay attention or I don't know what is going on and I have to rewind. This keeps my brain working, at least that is my theory!
I needed to get the mic situation sorted out before this rally but of course procrastinated until April. I made a test call before I got started to confirm the problem was still there and the worst possible thing happend... it worked perfectly! Knowing things don't fix themselves I pulled the entire system out and ordered a new one (J&M). Got that put in and working about a month ago.
Next item of stress was where to stage my spare wheel since I'm not confident in getting the miles out of a single MC tire. In 2011 I staged it at the 2nd checkpoint and Derek Dickson brought it to me and helped me change it. This year as I was contemplating what to do he convinced me to just go to the darkside so I don't have to worry about it. The 1st month or so I was nervous I'd get shoulder problems due to the change but I've got enough miles on it now that I don't even notice it back there. Not having to swap that wheel is one less thing to worry about and the more things I can do to reduce stress the better the overall experience will be.
I needed to get the mic situation sorted out before this rally but of course procrastinated until April. I made a test call before I got started to confirm the problem was still there and the worst possible thing happend... it worked perfectly! Knowing things don't fix themselves I pulled the entire system out and ordered a new one (J&M). Got that put in and working about a month ago.
Next item of stress was where to stage my spare wheel since I'm not confident in getting the miles out of a single MC tire. In 2011 I staged it at the 2nd checkpoint and Derek Dickson brought it to me and helped me change it. This year as I was contemplating what to do he convinced me to just go to the darkside so I don't have to worry about it. The 1st month or so I was nervous I'd get shoulder problems due to the change but I've got enough miles on it now that I don't even notice it back there. Not having to swap that wheel is one less thing to worry about and the more things I can do to reduce stress the better the overall experience will be.
Just to clarify, wishing the FJRs safety and podiums and the BMWs safety.
All kidding aside, finding the 2011 thread on this forum changed my life. I read every post (all hundred and some pages) and was hooked. I email Lisa L some sort of , "hey I wanted to check out this IBR, how can I get in (deadline had passed). She informed me of the MN1000, Mason Dixon 2020, minuteman, and ButtLite and that they could get me pass the draw entries. Three of the rallies had closed and I got on waiting lists (which all eventually opened up).
Things turned out well for me and I was able to secure a spot. Afterward I secured a 2015 spot and then a 2017 spot recently. I've been challenged by landing on aircraft carriers single engine (and no HUD), the WSOP, USN Test Pilot School, Top Gun, graduate school, and lots of other stuff (not all of these things I did well!). Nothing is as therapeutic and satisfying as being competitive in the IBR. For some that will be finishing, for others, being in the top 5. I think a lot of it is making ourselves so busy there is peace in the ride and making progress toward something about 500 have accomplished - ever.
So if you're rally-curious, as I was. . . Glue yourself to the threads, read the myriad of other ride reports, and get yourself to a 8, 12, 24, or 32 hr rally. It is pretty cool, with an astounding community-Ignacio and Warchild even. Thank you both to your commitment and the commentary!
All kidding aside, finding the 2011 thread on this forum changed my life. I read every post (all hundred and some pages) and was hooked. I email Lisa L some sort of , "hey I wanted to check out this IBR, how can I get in (deadline had passed). She informed me of the MN1000, Mason Dixon 2020, minuteman, and ButtLite and that they could get me pass the draw entries. Three of the rallies had closed and I got on waiting lists (which all eventually opened up).
Things turned out well for me and I was able to secure a spot. Afterward I secured a 2015 spot and then a 2017 spot recently. I've been challenged by landing on aircraft carriers single engine (and no HUD), the WSOP, USN Test Pilot School, Top Gun, graduate school, and lots of other stuff (not all of these things I did well!). Nothing is as therapeutic and satisfying as being competitive in the IBR. For some that will be finishing, for others, being in the top 5. I think a lot of it is making ourselves so busy there is peace in the ride and making progress toward something about 500 have accomplished - ever.
So if you're rally-curious, as I was. . . Glue yourself to the threads, read the myriad of other ride reports, and get yourself to a 8, 12, 24, or 32 hr rally. It is pretty cool, with an astounding community-Ignacio and Warchild even. Thank you both to your commitment and the commentary!
Behmer
Well-known member
I'm all for the three peat! Hope you all have a safe ride and look forward to seeing you at the finish.
Who let the riffraff in?
I am getting ready to ride west now. See you all in Albuquerque !
TriggerT
Mr. Impatient
Three peat would be great. If it was a re-peat for an FJR Darksider that would be the icing on the cake.
08FJR4ME
-WYNPRO-
My round mirrors are in the lower outer corner of the stock mirrors. Funny you put them on the inside. Every little bit helps.
Curious,
Dave
Curious,
Dave
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russperry
Well-known member
I will never do something like the IBR but I've loved reading the stories and think the increased speed of the updates (especially the nearly live SPOT tracker - thanks Jason) makes the following very immersive.
I think the IBR would make a fantastic subject for a documentary film. I think I understand why too much publicity might not be the best thing for the rally but it seems like it could be very compelling in the hands of the right creative minds.
In any case, best of luck to all the riders and staff - I'll be following it the whole way
I think the IBR would make a fantastic subject for a documentary film. I think I understand why too much publicity might not be the best thing for the rally but it seems like it could be very compelling in the hands of the right creative minds.
In any case, best of luck to all the riders and staff - I'll be following it the whole way
Powershouse
Well-known member
So is the gimbal in the middle where the sextant goes?
Go, Da Juice, go!
Like Swallows to Capistrano
If you're one of the 90 or so riders signed up for wandering the U.S. and Canada for 11 days you're all on a very different page Wednesday before the rally starts. Since the ride starts in New Mexico you have some people from the Northeast that already started heading west, you have some PNW people that probably are heading out, and people in the Southeast that might be heading out tomorrow. You also have some people that are putting last minute brush fires out at work so they can take a minimalist two weeks off and others that are doing a circuitous route catching National Parks along the way because riding 11 days straight isn't enough motorcycle riding. And you even have some folks that have serviced their bikes already, placed in a trailer, and are getting 12 mpg V8 beast that have mini-shops setup in the back.
Some of The People That Make the IBR Happen
Meanwhile, some key staff including Lisa Landry have already flown to ABQ and are already beginning to setup tables, organize boxes of shirts, kibitz with the army of volunteer staff that are a tight a family as they come. These folks create the home base the rally riders migrate to, a place to hang an Aerostich jacket for a few days before they gear up to wander the North American continent in length, width, and time.
Another one of those volunteers includes our Warchild. His plan was to take off at o'dark thirty on the FJR with a pillion and migrate the 1200 miles to be setup Saturday morning for technical inspection. Here the newbies that had custom fuel cells made get to be poked, prodded, measured, weighed, and stressed...and their actual cells might even have the same things done. Anybody that has ever watched a documentary on aircraft carriers would recognize Dale's style in an instant. He really used to be a brown shirt wearing plane boss on a carrier and carries the leadership swagger with him through the IBR. He's also the one that launches the fleet of bikes in less than 5 minutes the at 10 a.m. and zero seconds on Monday.
At the same time he knows every colorful Navy epithet in the book...he cares deeply about each and every single rider...and stays up until the last one is recovered 11 days later.
Another volunteer that has had a few roles over the years is an engineer, Tom Austin. Tom's the guy that actually will figure out the capacity of a fuel cell to within 1/100 of a gallon using a documented process of measuring the specific gravity of fuel, its temperature, filling a fuel cell, and calculating the volume by weighing it. I've been there when the process was hampered by wind coming off the hotel that made the scale jump around so much--we took the fumey mass into the lobby of the hotel to get out of the gusts.
10 minutes later he calculated with confidence the rider has 11.48 gallons....so was 0.02 gallons under the limit. Said another way, the rider was legal by 5 tablespoons.
Tom is also the "Route Master". This means he's the guy who is in charge of the puzzle riders get to solve. He's the one that knows (and maybe created) the theme, how many points each thing is worth, gamed likely scenarios of where riders will go or leaders depart from the popular route, and every gory detail of what riders will encounter for 11 days.
These are just a few of the army of staff and volunteers. More to come.
If you're one of the 90 or so riders signed up for wandering the U.S. and Canada for 11 days you're all on a very different page Wednesday before the rally starts. Since the ride starts in New Mexico you have some people from the Northeast that already started heading west, you have some PNW people that probably are heading out, and people in the Southeast that might be heading out tomorrow. You also have some people that are putting last minute brush fires out at work so they can take a minimalist two weeks off and others that are doing a circuitous route catching National Parks along the way because riding 11 days straight isn't enough motorcycle riding. And you even have some folks that have serviced their bikes already, placed in a trailer, and are getting 12 mpg V8 beast that have mini-shops setup in the back.
Some of The People That Make the IBR Happen
Meanwhile, some key staff including Lisa Landry have already flown to ABQ and are already beginning to setup tables, organize boxes of shirts, kibitz with the army of volunteer staff that are a tight a family as they come. These folks create the home base the rally riders migrate to, a place to hang an Aerostich jacket for a few days before they gear up to wander the North American continent in length, width, and time.
Another one of those volunteers includes our Warchild. His plan was to take off at o'dark thirty on the FJR with a pillion and migrate the 1200 miles to be setup Saturday morning for technical inspection. Here the newbies that had custom fuel cells made get to be poked, prodded, measured, weighed, and stressed...and their actual cells might even have the same things done. Anybody that has ever watched a documentary on aircraft carriers would recognize Dale's style in an instant. He really used to be a brown shirt wearing plane boss on a carrier and carries the leadership swagger with him through the IBR. He's also the one that launches the fleet of bikes in less than 5 minutes the at 10 a.m. and zero seconds on Monday.
At the same time he knows every colorful Navy epithet in the book...he cares deeply about each and every single rider...and stays up until the last one is recovered 11 days later.
Another volunteer that has had a few roles over the years is an engineer, Tom Austin. Tom's the guy that actually will figure out the capacity of a fuel cell to within 1/100 of a gallon using a documented process of measuring the specific gravity of fuel, its temperature, filling a fuel cell, and calculating the volume by weighing it. I've been there when the process was hampered by wind coming off the hotel that made the scale jump around so much--we took the fumey mass into the lobby of the hotel to get out of the gusts.
10 minutes later he calculated with confidence the rider has 11.48 gallons....so was 0.02 gallons under the limit. Said another way, the rider was legal by 5 tablespoons.
Tom is also the "Route Master". This means he's the guy who is in charge of the puzzle riders get to solve. He's the one that knows (and maybe created) the theme, how many points each thing is worth, gamed likely scenarios of where riders will go or leaders depart from the popular route, and every gory detail of what riders will encounter for 11 days.
These are just a few of the army of staff and volunteers. More to come.
El Toro Joe
FYYFF
Like!!!
Lipps
Active member
My 2009 FJR was starting to get to a point that I no longer trusted it after riding the BigTex rally last year. During that event, power was cutting out and in at times and I was unable to make it happen on a regular enough basis to want to take a chance on it for the IBR. So...I bought another FJR. I found a used 2012 49-state model in Las Vegas with 8200 miles (just above the California import level) on it last December. Packed the family in the car after work one night, drove to Vegas, picked up the bike and we were on our way home. I got the easy job of riding a new (to me) bike home, my wife got a boring drive across the desert in the car with a 4-year old in the back seat. I spent the rest of the winter (a relative term living in California) turning a stock bike in a rally bike. Aux Fuel, barn door windscreen, radar detector, GPS's and my beloved Russell seat were transferred from the old bike. New aux. lights were procured and installed, etc. By May, the bike was more or less ready to go.
One of the things that I didn't do much of since last October was ride a bike, let alone use any of my rally related skills. I feel like rally related skills tend to drop off over the winter and it takes a bit of time to get back into the swing of things during the first event of the year. When I saw RenoJohn's post regarding the 3-day BMRx rally, I jumped at the opportunity to ride an event prior to the IBR. Thankfully, that event was like riding a 3-day long 12-hour event where the bonus locations were incredibly dense. Stopping roughly once an hour on 2 out of 3 days was enough to make me feel back in the groove.
I did spend some time looking over previous IBR rally packs. One area that I'm concerned about is the large number of time limited and daylight only bonus locations that have been used in recent years. Not sure how well I'll adapt to the limitations that those place on planning. The first time I pulled up the pack from Leg 1 of the 2013 IBR, I came up with an unrideable route that point-wise would've placed me in the middle-bottom of the pack, yikes! At this point, I want my 3-digit number, anything further would be great.
Major anxiety over the IBR started this past weekend for me. I don't ever seem to get the bike packed and ready to go until the last minute and the fear of forgetting something important (insurance docs, passport, medjet card) was overwhelming. Anxiety calmed last night once I got the bike almost completely packed and triple (or more) checked my documents. Today, I'm excited since I'm getting on the bike this afternoon to make the trip to Albuquerque.
There is a very competitive field of riders that have been assembled this year. I wish everyone a safe and successful ride, especially those on FJRs.
CraigRegs
Well-known member
Excellent background, Iggy! If this is the standard for your coverage, this is going to be most excellent keyboard riding...
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