Any Iron Butt riders out there?

So, has anyone ridden an Iron Butt ride before? I just signed up for my first, the minuteman1000 which is June 7 this year starting from Northampton MA.

My brother has been bugging me about doing one for the last couple of years, I told him I would do it as long as he didn’t buy a new bike before it, I figure it I am riding on old suspension and seat then he should be too.


For those that haven’t heard of the Iron Butt Association it is a group of long distance motorcycle riders. You start out with the Saddle Sore 1000 which is a 1000 mile ride in 24 (or less) hours. Then there are a whole bunch of other long distance rides that make 1000 miles seem short.

http://www.minuteman1000.com/info.htm

http://www.ironbutt.com/about/default.cfm

 

I've heard about it probably a year ago. Some of those challenges sound kind of insane, lol. But even 1000mi in under 24 hours, lets say you could average 60mph (remember stops for food, fuel, piss...etc). That would be 16.6 hours of riding. And thats probably the most basic challenge on the list. I get the idea some of these challenges are made to appeal to superbike riders who are not opposed to 120mph jaunts down the highway.

Not that I would be opposed to trying though. It would be a memory and feeling of achievement to last a life time. Would I want to do it on my xj? Hmm, I'm not so sure. Its left me walking like a cowboy after a mere 430km of riding. I guess you just have to suck it up and play through the pain. I'm only 22 years old damnit!

 

Actually - Iron Butt is about NOT speeding. They are very against bad behaviour. They revoke awards if they find out you've been a bad boy.

The trick to a good ride for them is, maintaining a good constant average speed, making effective stops, and knowing when to stop.

I have a few friends who have done the Iron Butt Rally - that's 11,000 miles in 11 days (basically).

I've done a few SS1000s and will probably do a documented ride this spring when I move my friends GS500 from Halifax to Ottawa.

The trick to staying comfortable is to find the comfort spots, and keep moving your body around. If you sit still for any period of time you something sore - and then it's too late. It will be sore for the rest of the trip.

I can maintain 60mph average speed on the freeway for 12/13 hours - that includes gas and lunch stops. You ride at a FIXED speed 65mph legal - stop for gas when the tank is empty (10 minute stop max), and food every second stop (15 minute max instead of 10 minutes).

In that way you never had down time - and can more easily maintain 60mph. To do 1000 miles of freeway - not so bad... you can do it in the 16 you mentioned sticking very close to the speed limit.

 

On our local equivalent that I've done twice it took me 19.5 hours for the 1000 miles, that was trying to keep the speed around 120kmh, but I was handicapped a bit by a 15 litre fuel tank which meant a lot more stops