Iron Butt ride

[Bogus Jim]

I'm toying with the idea of doing a 1,000 mile iron butt ride one of these weekends. I guess I just want to see if I can do it. My longest day so far is about 740 miles.

Has anyone on the board done one of these rides and if so, any advice? I know I can make 700, it's the last 300 I'm worried about. I'm thinking about doing two lane since I don't like interstate, but that would really drop my average speed.

[Hank]

Loingrader has done it, I've also done it.    My buddy Paul and I rode from Watertown to Grand Junction, me on my XX and he on his VFR800.  We rode about 1070 in 19 hours, but it should have taken 90 minutes less.

We left Wtn at around 430 AM, and 5 miles south of town it started to rain in BUCKETS.. just poured.   Then 20 miles from home my bike's fuel tank started to vacuum lock.  It stalled on me 3 or 4 times before Brookings.  Off to a great start!   We stopped in Brookings and sat under a canopy at a gas station while I frantically tried to figure out WTF was going on, and after enough digging I figured out the vent line got pinched in the center stand, or was melted to the pipe, or... something like that.  I trimmed it and off we went, but we'd lost more than an hour.   I was really frustrated and about ready to pull the plug.   But.. after that things went well.    We rode 200 miles in each the next three stops, then it went down from there.  By the end we were stopping often.

I got really sleepy after lunch for a while, I remember feeling like I wanted a nap pretty badly

The only part I didn't like was the last 100 miles (not considering the first 2 hrs).. on I-70 in fairly heavy traffic well after dark, navigating the curves and the semis.  It felt  a tad unsafe.    We made it in one piece though.   

I guess I'm not an "official" iron butter though as I never sent the docs in, but I did it!

[jacin theis]

I did it too and planned to document. I wasn't able to get to sleep the night before and started out tired and forgot to get a witness signature when I fueled that morning. I rode mostly two lane, over Chief Joseph highway and was wasted when I made it to a campground in Seely Lake MT. I have to say, I went through several ups and downs. My backside did too. I really didn't want to get on the bike the next day, but had to meet a friend across the border in Canada and we rode north from there. I think the riding isn't hard, but making sure not to loose much time fueling is key. Plus, an early start. Ride in the dark when your fresh, and not at the end of the day.

[Hank]

I had all the signatures and receipts (the old lady at the hotel in Grand Junction was suspicious of what she was signing!), but they sat in a drawer a while and eventually I decided it really didn't matter if it was "official".   I did it, won't ever forget it, good enough.

[sleddog]

I've completed many. Including several extreme rides......Lower 48 states plus Alaska in 8 1/2 days 2-up......100ccc San Diego - Jacksonville - Los Angeles in less than 100 hours 2-up.

I have attached the tracks/route for a SS1000/BB1500 by going to all 66 counties in South Dakota.

Anyone can be your witness. So long as they're not on the ride with you...your wife, son, daughter, the guy at the gas station. They can sign AFTER you return home if you want. Your time starts when you get the time stamped receipt. ie. gas station receipt, ATM receipt etc. Write your mileage, check the date & location on each receipt. I also number them in sequence.

Don't ask someone to "Witness" your document. Say..." I just completed a timed motorcycle ride, would you mind verifying I was here"

Don't be afraid to quit if you become too fatigued or the weather turns bad. I quit once at 950 miles because of fog .

[Bogus Jim]

Crikey... Jack you have done some tough rides. I'll take a look at those 66 county tracks, that might be more fun than just droning along. But I might get sidetracked with sight seeing.

I was thinking about a 4 corners route, the 4 corners being Rapid City, Watertown via 212, Yankton, and Chadron. Comes out to about 1050 miles and I think not much traffic on that two lane, although I'm not sure about traffic on the east side.

[Fletch]

I've made a feeble attempt a couple times, always derailed by my apparent ADD? My buddy Jeff and I were going to do one on the way to the west coast one year. Left here early and were in Missoula, MT by 3:00 (700mi. ?). We filled with gas, discussed how good we felt and that we should be able to easily knock out another 300+ miles by dark. Then we noticed the Hooters... A cheeseburger and 4 beers later we got a room at the hotel across the street... 

I had planned on another on my way back from Durango a couple years ago. I was just going to wander about, turning the 700+ mile direct route into a thousand+. Instead it rained on me for the whole day so I just took the direct route.

I really haven't given it much thought any more. These days I prefer more exploring and less mileage than I did in the past. But, that may change in the future as well.

[greatbuffalo]

My longest day ever was Bozeman MT to Mitchell that was long enough for me. I agree with Fletch, I like exploring too much to sit that long in the saddle.

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[sleddog]

Sometimes ya got sit in the saddle to get to where ya want to explore;)

[greatbuffalo]

You have a point there.

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[Fletch]

very true.

[loingrader]

The amount of fun on a 1000 mile day really depends on the bike.  My brother and I did one official IBA ride from Dallas to Dell Rapids taking the scenic route to make it 1000+.  I was on my XX and was ready for another 1000 when we got home.  He was on a CBR600F1 streetfighter and I dont think he rode again for 6 months.  Bring earplugs, tunes, eye drops and something like lemon drops in your tank bag to wake you up when you get bored.  A decent saddle makes a big difference too. 

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