| Author | Message | ||
     Ulynut |
http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36308 I know its not a Buell, but this guy is TOUGH. Sometimes its the bike, sometimes its the rider, sometimes its both. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Thats just amazing.... I would love to do the ride... but not in that time! | ||
| Leftcoastal |
I've always been in awe of these Iron Butt guys. I've NEVER been even slightly close to that tough! Suspecting they're either aliens or have something wrong in their brains that prevents them from experiencing PAIN! I wish him the best on his attempt at that record! | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
He made it... 86 hours... coast to cost. | ||
| Froggy |
Well I guess I know what I am going to try and do next year  | ||
| Ulynut |
Someone tried it on a Uly but didn't make it due to a hurricane hitting the Keys. I think he wanted to try anyway, but they wouldn't let anyone down A1A because of the evacuations. | ||
| Smoke |
that uly fellow worked at Stone Mountain and Chris is his name. i think his last name is Mattox. he too was on a record pace but i am not sure it would have held up to the 86 hr record. tim | ||
| Danger_dave |
So enlighten me here. I don't see he attraction. It's not that hard to ride a motorcycle - and to do it in a sleep deprived state creates a hazard to other road users? | ||
| Crusty |
Well, I must be missing something. You are. It's like saying Drag Racing is boring and takes no skill; you only have to hold the throttle open for a quarter mile. Or any idiot can race NASCAR, it's only left hand turns. I once did 1200 miles in 21 1/2 hours, and the toll on my body was incredible. To be able to ride over 5,000 miles in one run is a phenomenal achievement. John Ryan has my respect and admiration. | ||
| Ulynut |
Danger Dave, riding in a sleep deprived state does endanger other road users, and yourself. Guys like John Ryan train long and hard to do it (relatively) safely. It takes a lot of dedication, and physical and mental fortitude to finish a ride like that. Not to mention all the planning for fuel/rest stops, predicting weather/traffic problems, etc. | ||
| Gearhead |
Four of us are going to try the 1st Iron Butt ride, The Saddle Sore, 1000 miles in 24 hours in July. The catch is that we all are doing it on sportbikes, I'm on my 1125R. | ||
| Danger_dave |
I think I'd be more in awe if they walked it.  | ||
| Danger_dave |
>>1000 miles in 24 hours in July. << Hmmm. Perspectives I guess too. I've lived in some parts of Australia where you can do around 1,000 miles in daylight. It's also madness to ride after dark for the Marsupials on the road. http://www.kiwirider.co.nz/maycomp/25-nulla.jpg | ||
| Court |
I confess, having seen too many friends die pursuing meaningless Iron Butt goals. . . to being no fan. I was quite involved in 2 Iron Butt events and I recall watching folks come into check points as absolute zombies. It occurred to me that some of them were blitzing down public roads at ridiculous triple digit speeds. The IBA has some canned "at safe legal speeds" jargon but anyone with a rudimentary understanding of arithmetic can work out the truth. I've become more a fan of how much I can see and do along the way than how fast I can cover the ground. | ||
| Crusty |
How many people have crashed on the Dragon pursuing a meaningless goal? Yet, every weekend there are hoards of bikers trying their best to be Matt Mladin or Valentino Rossi on a public highway. Is that acceptable? I want to ride my motorcycle to the Arctic Circle someday. Is that a meaningless goal? To you maybe, but it has great meaning to me. I don't do Iron Butt type rides anymore. I also don't Roadrace motorcycles. However, I really enjoy watching a good close race, and I have nothing but respect for the competitors who have the skill and drive to be out there doing things way beyond my skill level. I have the same kind of respect for someone who has the skill set to ride over 5,000 miles in less than 3 1/2 days. Tell me, what's the meaning of riding the Daytona Sport Bike race at Road America? After all, it's only sixty miles. Is it more meaningful than riding 5,000 miles? Is it more meaningful than winning at the Englishtown, NJ Nationals? That's only a 1/4 mile. There are many forms of competition out there, to the participants and fans of the sports, there is meaning. To others it's a dangerous and meaningless waste. The phrase that runs through my head relates to Skydiving, but I think it illustrates where I'm coming from; "Why would anybody want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?" | ||
| Court |
Perhaps "meaningless" wasn't the right word . . . . and as much as I admire the physical stamina (I hired a trainer and prepared for 8 months prior to my 37 state ride) I guess the single thing that places the Iron Butt efforts apart from everything names above this that the Iron Butt CAN place innocent folks in significant danger. Imagine being in the car with your family and having a Canadian on a Honda Blackbird coming at you at 140MPH who hasn't slept in two days. I'm not really the person to hold a rational discussion having lost a couple good friends in Iron Butt efforts. I always think back to the day that Fran lost the motor in the Buell and was found wandering aimlessly by the highway patrol. She had no clue as to who she was, where she was or what she was doing. Scary stuff. | ||
| Gearhead |
Court, I totally understand your point. That's why for our effort we are riding in a very large square with home roughly in the middle. My thought was that if there is trouble we're never too far from home for someone to come get us. Part of our planning includes having a trailer and truck at the ready. We've already talked a lot about this, too. We're riding interstate almost the whole way because of multiple gas stop opportunities and hotels if any of us feel the need to call it quits. If course anything can happen but we all want to do this as safely as possible and without worrying about loosing our licences! | ||
| Cyclonedon |
Imagine being in the car with your family and having a Canadian on a Honda Blackbird coming at you at 140MPH who hasn't slept in two days. that wouldn't be good! But how about the 56 year old lady sitting on her motorcycle at a stop light on Highway 12 in Lake Zurich, Il. when a female driving a Chevy Impala traveling at approx 60 mph slams into the back of the motorcycle and throws the motorcyclist over 200 feet? The motorcyclist died within a hour. The female driver of the car told the police that she didn't see the red light because she was doing her nails! Every time you travel out on highways you assume the risk of an accident happening with just all the vehicles out there. I've been cut-off, run off the road and had numerous close calls on my motorcycle but I still ride it. I just consider it a part of riding a motorcycle in high traffic areas. I haven't read of any Iron Butt accidents, although I sure there are some but for as many miles as they ride I would guess that they are below the average of accidents that occur because these guys are like professionals at what they do. They train and have all the latest equipment to do these rides. I'm not a Iron Butt Rider who can ride long distances, because after four or five hours on a motorcycle or in a car for that matter, my butt feels like iron! | ||
| Iamike |
I had a friend that used to ride his bicycle from San Francisco to Atlantic city in 8-1/2 days (yes, days). He would ride 100mi. in the morning before work. Super guy and told a great story of the rides at our club meetings. Unfortunately a couple of years ago he blanked out during one of the rides going through Colorado and veered into an oncoming car and was killed. I was interested in Gearhead's ride next month but they told me I couldn't ride the ST1300, those dogs! BTW, what weekend are you looking at? The time I did 1,100mi. in 17hrs. on my S3 was kind of accidentally. We didn't mean to coming back from Pennsylvania but we were making such good time we just kept on going. Didn't even break the speed limit doing it. | ||
| Iamike |
I had a friend that used to ride his bicycle from San Francisco to Atlantic City in 8-1/2 days (yes, days). He would train by riding 100mi. in the morning before work. Boy did he have some great stories to tell at our club meetings. Unfortunately he was killed a couple of years ago on the ride when he blacked out and veered across the highway into an oncoming car. I rode my Iron Butt by accident when we were coming back from Pennsyvania and were making such good time we just kept on going. Did 1,100mi. in 17hrs. on my S3. When I told Gearhead that I may be interested in his ride they told me I couldn't use the ST1300, those dogs! BTW Ralph, what weekend are you looking at? | ||
| Methed |
Wait a sec, in the BMWMOA pics, outside the dealer getting tires, note the signage on the building... Polaris and Buell? Sorry, just a WTF kinda moment...  d | ||
| Iamike |
That's weird, I didn't think that the first post made it so I tried again. |
