| Author | Message | ||
     Bienhoabob |
 I just completed the Ride Around Texas (RAT) on the Uly. Basically, it's a 3,115 mile ride around the perimeter of Texas. You could not take short cuts and enter a different state. I rode 3,131 miles in 63 hrs and 47 minutes and will be awarded the Insanity Gold award, once the documentation has been verified. The above picture is of a T-shirt given to those that entered the event. THE BIKE: Black Uly with Motolights, (Perfect), Special Ops heat barriers, no heat problems while wearing my Joe Rocket riding pants, but noticed the heat while riding levis, Garmin 2610 GPS (Good, but it didn't know about some of the newer roads. It caused some confusion when my brain wasn't working all that well, HVMP bar ends, (Good, but still had trouble with the mirrors seeing what was behind me),seat was lowered and a ProPad installed, also rode with an airhawk. Trouble with the airhawk is that it puts you up another inch or so. After 20 some hours in the saddle, the gas stops were at times a little hairy with my 31"inseam. I wound up removing the airhawk for a shorten seat height. Tourtank 3.5 gal fuel cell,with vent overflow tube installed. Good, worked perfectly except for gas cap leak. Will have to replace the cap with one that works. Also, I have the cell mounted inside the top case. The extra effort it takes to unlock the top case, then relock it caused some wasted time. I rode with Richard, a hard core ironbutt guy, I met on other rallies. (He officially rode 116,000 documented miles last year). When he and I hit a gas stop, he was filled and ready to row, and I was still playing around with the two locking gas caps. I felt bad for slowing him up, but he never complained. Just said, no problem we're on schedule. He did have a bad breakfast burrito on the last day and had to make some on planned stops. I didn't mind at all, finally he was slowing me up. First day: 1,025 miles From Texarkana down the east side to South Padre Island and half way up the Mexican border to almost Del Rio. It was near a hundred degrees with high humidity. And me with my black helmet, black jacket, black riding pants and black boots. This was easily the most populated part of the ride. (Read traffic and construction). I was totally beat when we got a hotel at midnight. Day Two: 1,091 miles. Del Rio to Great Bend National Park, along the Mexican border, Lajitas, Presido up to Anthony along the Guadlupe Mtns. over to Kermit and up the western Pan Handle for about 100 miles. The roads were in great condition, constant long twisties and almost no traffic. Speed limits were 75 mph., except for the Great Bend National Park area. But the scenery was spectacular. I saw my first ever group of wild pigs, deer, roadrunners, jackrabbits. I got my second breath that day. I felt good all the way until about midnight, then it started getting cold. My riding partner wanted to ride thru the night, but by 1:00 in the morning, with every stitch of clothing available on. I was freezing. I pulled into a hotel, convinced my partner for at short sleep. Day three: 1,015 miles. After a three hour rest we started the last leg. It was 35 degrees. (I left my electrics at home, come on this is the south not the north) At the first gas stop in Texline, I couldn't move my hands to remove the tank bag to get to the gas cap. After my partner was completey finished with his gas stop, I finally got my fingers to move and got my gas. Across the top of Texas, cross winds were strong, blowing me around quite a bit. But the same winds became tail winds on the section. Summary: The Uly never missed a beat, was comfortable, stable at all speeds, got a consistent 42.5 mpg at 80-85 speeds. The rear plate light cracked, but that was the only thing to break on the bike. They haven't posted the official results yet, but I do know that three riders had accidents. One hit a deer, another hit a telephone pole and were hospitalized. I think there were some break downs too. But all of the Ulysses finished in under 70 hours. (1) One more thing. The rear tire looked like it was in need of a replacement, but not drastic. With safety in mind, I called Texarkana Harley/Buell, they said that they were just getting started with the Buell line and should be up and running sometime next year. I got out my Buell dealer map book and called the next closest Buell dealer. Shreveport, La. No tires for the Uly either. Called the other Shreveport Harley dealer and got the same answer. I got discussed and gave up. I'd suggest to other long distance riders to call ahead and not get suprised. I now have 8,222 miles on the stock Dunlops. I signed up for another event in August. This time it's a 7 day event. After this three day test, I'm looking forward to riding it on the Uly. Best bike I've ever owned. Bob C. | ||
| Stevenknapp |
Congrats Bob! Glad the event went well! A suggestion for the tires, call to some non-HD/Buell shops. The sizes are pretty standard. Almost 8k on the Dunlops eh? How much tread is left? I'm at 4k and have about 1mm til the wear bars. What version of the map software are you using with the 2610? Garmin releases updates about once a year in July/August. Might be worth an update. The last couple revisions added a lot of good detail. | ||
| Cyclonedon |
glad you made it ok! If I don't see you at the BRAG meeting this Monday, I'll see you next Sunday at Lake Shore Buell in Libertyville for the sportbike event. I bet Erik will be interested in hearing about your Texas ride. How many Uly's were in this anyway? | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
That's great! | ||
| Jeffs900s |
Wow, that is insanity. Congrats though, that's some RIDING... | ||
| Flynuly |
Congratulations Bob!! I've been keeping an eye on the MTF site hoping for a finishing order. Was wondering if you made it in time for the GOLD. Great report. Anything you would change other than tires standing by?. I run a 5 gal summit tank on the FLH luggage rack (ugly but functional). Still need to get the brackets set up for the Uly so I can start riding it for the IBA rides. Hope to do my first successful BB1500Gold on the Uly this summer. When you posted that you had put your fuel cell in the tour pack I was wonder how that would work out over a multi-day ride. Congratulations again and thanks for the report. Tim | ||
| Loveall13 |
Way to go Bob. Thats on hell of a ride. I hope to try it next fall on our break. Jeremy | ||
| Flynuly |
Jeremy, we meet briefly at the Cape Fear 1000 breakfast. Looks like you had an excellent ride also. Congratulations on the great finish. Tim | ||
| Rhinowerx |
FYI - not sure if it's that same in TX, but was talking to the folks at our local CycleGear http://www.cyclegear.com/, and they now stock the OEM Dunlops for the Uly Great report and great job on the ride. BTW - get your rear plate light replaced under warranty - there is a newer/stronger version available. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142838/174692.html?1143736769 Cheers -Jack | ||
| Bienhoabob |
Cyclonedon: 1 Buell in the Rat = 1 Gold Looks like Jeremy (Loveall13) placed second in the 8 hour rally. Not sure if I'll make it to tonights meeting, but tell Kevin/Matt that I'll be at the Sunday Event. Flyuly: The tank in the top case, worked perfectly. But I have to improve the efficiency. Having to mess with opening the locked top case and locked stock tank, then relocking them after the fill up was time consuming. Say I fill up every 250 miles, that's 4 times in a 1,000. I figure 5 extra minutes per fill up. That gives me 20 minutes of needless downtime. Or I'm giving the competition an extra 20 minutes. I can't afford that, these guys are good. I might relocate the tank to the passenger seat, or not lock the top case. I have to re-think the tour tank setup. I don't think I'll be adding to the Uly. But I will be looking at some non-black riding equipment. Since the Buttlite IV event is in August, the hottest month of the year. Steve: I just brought the Garmin this year, but I'll check and make sure that I have the latest update. When I came back, I wanted to take I55 around St. Louis and it kept trying to take me on the 55 Business route. And as you know I55 has been around for a long time. Jermey: Congratulations on your second place finish on the 8 hr rally. Nice meeting you and your wife, too. Thanks to all for the positive feedback. Bob C. | ||
| Coolice |
Great ride Bob! I don't know if I'll be able to ride with you, your the Uly Ironman!! Have to get me your light setup, I'm interested. | ||
| Loveall13 |
I had a great time at the rally. Enjoyed speaking with Bob. The 8 hour rally was great. I did notice that I was out gunned with the Manual Analog Plotting system I was using (factory buell map with bonus locations marked in pen). I will be buying a 2610 in the near future. Jeremy | ||
| Bienhoabob |
Mike, Light setup from www.motolight.com. Nothing to add. lights, mounting, harness, relay all included. Top notch quality, too. Bob |
