Every couple years I get this urge for an Iron Butt Ride. My first was a 1500 in 36hrs on a 1983 R100RT about 20 years ago. I also did the 4 corners of the US ride on that bike. And several others on other bikes. Fast forward and a couple years ago I just had to get an RT again. I found a basically solid 1981 and now am shooting for a SSSSSS1000 on this bike as a warmup for bigger things.
I'll be starting at about 1:30am at the Circle K in Belfast Maine June 21st. From there to Presque Isle, to Kennebunk, back to Houlton, Augusta and then back to the Circle K.
I'll be on a Green 1981 R100RT, wearing a Blue Aerostich one piece and Bell 1970's reto full face helmet. Hope to see some Airheads out there!
Edward Jones
After action Report! I departed my home about 01:50 and returned at 20:33 on June 21,2017 after 1022 miles of official SaddleSore 1000 riding. Then add in about 31 miles to/from my official start and finish made for a long day!
First my strategy of starting time based on my biphasic sleep cycle, i.e. about 4hrs of sleep get up and go. I've discovered that when I do this I can have the following awake period, about 20hrs in this case, of No sleepiness. This contrast to just getting up an couple hours early or trying to shift my bedtime. But boy do I sleep hard when I finally hit the sack 🙂
Next adding a 4 gallon Aux tank to my beefed up rear rack worked like a charm. When riding very early morning in norther Maine gassing up can be dicey. But really the freedom when you have well over 300miles in range is wonderful. I could make my fuel stops quick and my rest stops restful. I usually only added 2 to 3 gallons, then I'd burn the aux tank out before switching to that wonderfully big 6.3gallon main. Even so my longest refuel period was 320miles from Caribou to Kennebunk. Also IronButt requires Business Dated Receipts no greater then 350miles.
Finally the R100RT is a great long distance runner. With the windshield at its lowest I can see clearly over it and have enough wind to keep my face shield rain free. Then add that great RT fairing design and a quite calm pocket and this machine is made to cruise. Granted this old girl can't compare to my last Goldwing GL1800 with it's turbine like motor and power this and that, I still would rate this RT about 90 on a 100 scale where the GL is 100.
Funny thing, I spend several hours wiring up my old AutoCom wired intercom w/audio input. I really wanted to have my Podcasts. I'd saved 4-5hours of my favorites plus many hours of my 60-70 era music. But I did not turn it on once.
But I'm not a full on luddite so I did have an IPad2 running tracking SW which then is used for IronButt validation. But is was just stuck in the tank bag and forgotten. Here is the track, BMWSailorI also used a Garmin eTrex 20 GPS for mileage and found out my odometer reads about 1% low! Every other Car/Bike I've ever seen has read high. But the Speedometer is spot on, not the usual 5-10% over that I've seen.
So after such a great result I'm already thinking ahead to the Fall Equinox 👿 But now it time for some quality wife time, she has been hugely supportive and never complained about the many, many hours and dollars spent on and with this Green Machine
Interesting report. But there's no need to need to wait until the equinox, we have a Solar Eclipse on Monday, Aug 21 cutting across Tennessee and South Carolina, so you could easily get in some more riding time !
https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-maps
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Oh I'm certainly not waiting until Sept 21 to ride again 🙂 IronButt has this 4 Seasons Ride , i.e. SS1000 on each Solstice and Equinox . The spring equinox could be tricky in Maine, but fall would be a breeze. I'd probably try to do Winter and Spring in Florida. But I have a riding buddy that is going down to the Solar Eclipse.
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