Reflections from Concours riders on the '99 Iron butt Rally

All material the intelectual propery of each rider ©

Jim Hickerson,
38th place finisher 
Cedar Crest, NM

I thought somebody might be interested in my experience on the Iron Butt Rally.   There was snow in Wyoming, heavy continuous rain in ND and VA, and 90-100 degree heat in TX, AZ, and CA. 

This is what worked for me:

The Concours:  Ran like a dream, smooth, and powerful.  Even without a fuel cell I always had over 220 miles of range, at average speeds up to 85 mph and sometimes heavy wind.   Several times on the East Coast I gassed up at over 300 miles.  The handling is great.  The brakes are so-so, the clutch is an abomination.  I think I will  see if Barnett makes a total replacement.  The buzz was unnoticeable until about Texas, and then it grew until I got home.
The valves were within spec after 13,000 miles (I only had to tweak 2 or 3), and the carbs were still synched.  It must have been the plugs behaving poorly with age.   Beneath a thick layer of road grime and bug bodies the bike was
found to be still green when I washed and waxed it.  It had lost a fairing screw and an internal plastic fairing support was broken, but otherwise was unscathed.

Russell Seat:  I will be singing the praises of this seat somewhere in heaven or hell, (hopefully the latter for that's where my friends are likely to be). I rode an average of 20 hours a day in this seat and slept in it sitting on the bike on two occasions.  Never a bad moment, never an ache or pain or need to shift because the seat was bothering me.  I still don't believe it.

PIAA 1200 lights with rheostats to adjust the brightness of each:  I used these dimmed with my low beams giving me that little extra edge over psychotic deer and rain, then turned them on full-nuclear in the blackness of the western deserts.

Bagster tank cover and tank bag:  Great, heavy duty vinyl stuff that kept Hurricane Dennis at bay with its neat see-through pull-over rain cover that is sewn into a pocket under the bag. And the tank still looks new.

ThrottleMeister throttle lock: smooth, easy to adjust, it works.

Works Performance remote reservoir shock and Progressive Suspension springs:
they really do improve the handling and take the sharp edge off the bumps.

First Gear perforated leathers and BMW boots:  The former is cooler than my Aerostich Raodcrafter and the latter are sooooo comfortable and entirely hurricane and downpour-proof.  A rain suit is required in foul weather.

Dunlop D205's:  Great, great tires.  Excellent wear for a sport touring tire, good in the rain, and superb stick in the dry.   I changed tires in Gorham (where Reynolds Motorsports neglected to balance them, limiting my top speed to 75-80 ever after).  When I got home 6000 miles later I still had 4 mm on the rear and 3 mm on the front.  I run them each 3 psi above Big K's recommendation.

Gerbing electric jacket liner:  Man, does that thing do the job under my perforated leathers.  If I needed extra warmth, I just added a raincoat over the outside.

My wife Fay: home-made map case that fitted to the top of the tank bag.  It holds 3 folds of a road map and is about 12" tall.  She also added Velcro attachments for my Gerbing electronic controller and a night light.  Ron Ayres and lots of other folks admired it.  She is the greatest--working up until the 11th hour to see me off and then meeting me at the finish.

What didn't work:

Most everything worked pretty well for me on the Iron Butt Rally.  A few things were the source of problems or consternation:

My plan:  I was going to operate on a schedule riding 18 hours, stopping in motels, showering, sleeping five hours, etc.  Looking back, I don't know how I could have been so naive.  The route you select sets the schedule and you need to select that route carefully so as not to overextend.  Then you have be flexible and discover the rhythm of riding, eating, and sleeping that your route demands. By the end of the second day my preplanned schedule was in the
trash can because of poor route choices and because I was missing sleep.  That required eight hours of recuperation in a motel after Checkpoint 1. This put me behind schedule again and the cycle started all over.  About Day 4 I figured out what I was doing wrong and began to understand the concept of rhythm, but it took until Day 7 before I could catch up and really put that knowledge into effect.

AAA maps:  These maps show the mileage breakdowns between every crossroads and geographic feature, but don't print the total mileage between towns as other maps do.   I was using them for the first time and found I couldn't estimate time and distance well.  The errors contributed to my schedule problems.  I know, you can look at the diagrams in the map corners for summary distance and driving time info, but not when you are moving down the road and want to know how far it is from Redding to Grants Pass.

Concours Luggage:  We made an uneasy peace after a while.  The locks and latches suck, suck, suck, suck.  I gave up locking the bags the first day.  The bags flop, the mounts break easily, I hate 'em.  Next IBR I will be looking for Givi's.

Bel radar detector: it was good at telling me I had just been nabbed.  Next time a Valentine One.  About Speed:  my best leg was my last leg from St. Augustine, FL to Ojai, CA, and my out-of-balance rear tire kept me from exceeding 80.  Excessive speed is not a requirement for finishing the Iron Butt, or for doing well.

I finished 38th, but not because of equipment or gear problems.  My own choices and execution were responsible for keeping me from doing better.  If I get the chance to do it again I hope to improve, but the length of the Iron Butt Rally, with all its variables and possible pitfalls prevents one from making any guarantees.

Thanks again, COG, for all the help and moral support

hOme