Community Forums

JackHammr' · 09-17-2009, 12:51 PM

ram ball mount is nice , jus cover the gps with a plastic baggie , is what I do ..

have fun ..

Too bad ya have to do one iron butt before you can do the SS1500 ..

sknight · 09-17-2009, 08:14 PM

Best of luck, be safe!

Wicked Whippets · 09-22-2009, 10:28 PM

Did the Iron Butt ride yesterday. 1,127 miles in 17 hrs almost to the minute with an overall average around 66mph.

Went from Phoenix to Tucson, Lordsburg, Las Cruces, Socorro, Albuquerque, Gallup, Flagstaff and back to Phoenix.

The only mechanical issues were the tail light assembly falling out (no real damage and repaired under 15 minutes) and the final drive (at the rear wheel) began to leak a little oil. I'm taking it in next week for a seal replacement under warranty.

I took about 45 minutes in ABQ to have lunch with an buddy who did an Iron Butt ride about 10 years ago. He really got me fired up to finish the second half of the ride! It was a nice break off the bike for a few minutes.

My moving average was around 80mph so I was generally running between 85 and 90mph to keep up the overall average that was being tracked by the GPS.

My wife got to follow my progress on her cell phone and computer with Google Latitude. GL is a free Google service that allows your phone to transmit its location back to person(s) you allow to receive the data.

It uses your cell phone location and plots this on Google Maps. She said she could see when I made the turn north onto I-25 from Las Cruces, and could estimate my arrival back in Phoenix based on my movement across the map. Cool stuff!

I wore spandex bike shorts instead of regular cotton undies to wick away sweat and avoid the butt pain that can come from the seams in underwear. I wore full leathers and stayed comfortable all day. It did get a bit chilly around Flagstaff (down to freezing there tonight), but I switched on the heated handgrips and that really helped take the edge off the chill.

I haven't calculated fuel mileage for the whole trip yet, but it looks like it will be around 50mpg.

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement. I really didn't get all that tired on the trip and even got up early today and spent a couple hours scrubbing the grime off the bike.

I'm looking forward to the 1,500 Iron Butt, but suspect it will have to wait until spring.

Doggy Daddy · 09-28-2009, 03:16 PM

That is wonderful!

I just returned from Reno's Street Vibrations Rally today.
Virginia City was best of all to party.

Glad you returned safe. Thanks for the tip of GL. Now the hard work begins

and that is finishing up the IB paperwork, attaching receipts, and selecting the patches and bins you want to order.

sknight · 09-28-2009, 08:02 PM

Missed this, congrats!

My mutha $&%*$(% bike was stolen Monday night, so that's probably how it happened.

But every cloud has a silver lining, I hope. Looks like after insurance, taking opportunity to combine some stuff, and correct a color mistake I made I'll be getting my own IB rating. I found a near identical bike, with only 5400 miles (Mine had 40K.) and $1500 under NADA. It's in Wi. so it'll be a 1088 miles ride home, all I need is a witness and a pile of gas receipts.

I'll post up about it, and sorry about jacking your thread for a moment.

Congrats again, so when are you going for the SS1500 or 2000? Make it 2K, show folks how it's done!

mountainkowboy · 09-29-2009, 09:13 PM

Havent been around for awhile and missed this one. Great job, one day I would like to do an Iron Butt!

Wicked Whippets · 09-30-2009, 11:58 AM

sknight

What kind of bike are you getting to replace yours? Let us know about the ride to bring it home!

I decided to take the advice from you and others on this thread and ordered a Throttlemeister. How complex is the install? Necessary to replace grips or that sort of thing?

sknight · 09-30-2009, 12:30 PM

I have my eyes on a bike just like mine, a 2006 Hayabusa, slight color change though, I'll be going from black/red to charcoal/black.

Having a bit of friction with the banks right now, a result of a couple of bad years there during a divorce. We'll see what happens.

Wicked Whippets · 09-30-2009, 01:05 PM

Posting this from my Blackberry so we'll see if it works...

When I was on the big ride a guy in full leathers on a 'Busa followed me for a few miles then lit the wick and came by me like I wasn't moving. Holy cow! Those things haul butt and are cool looking too!

Hope the bank sees the light and hands over what you need!

sknight · 11-23-2009, 12:14 PM

Well things do look up sometimes don't they?

When I heard that HD pulled the plug on Buell I dropped by to see what they had to offer on a closeout. I walked out with a 2008 1125R leftover for $7700 OTD, so now I'm back riding again.

Not a bad ride, now having ridden one I'm really sorry Buell is gone. The founder is starting a race team this coming year, so we'll see what the future brings.

Doggy Daddy · 11-23-2009, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sknight

When I heard that HD pulled the plug on Buell ....

It's the Economy. Last Buell Motorcycle Rolls Off the Line - Buell Street Bike News - Motorcycle USA
Wonder how it will effect my HD stock?

sknight · 11-23-2009, 09:11 PM

Part economy, part new CEO and crew wanting to make a statement, part financial disaster buying MV Agusta last year.

I personally think there's a larger plan at work, otherwise why not sell it? But only time will tell and I got to take advantage of a situation that put me back on wheels again!

HD stock rose in the days following.