| Author | Message | ||
     Bienhoabob |
I'm back. Wish I had news of a triumphant victory, but that's not the case. First some stats: Left home with 9,500 miles the OD, now it has 17,894 miles. 6,862 were official rally miles. I finished 47th out of 74 entries. Here's a good picture site of the rally. Pic's 7-10 are of me at the finish. http://web.stcloudstate.edu/josephson/buttlite/End_1.htm I'll make this short. A book could be written, if I got carried away. Background: ButtLite IV is a multi-day endurance rally put on by a group calling themselves, Team Strange. The rally is a mini-IronButt rally. 7 days vs 11 days. The event had 3-legs. Each with a checkpoint that had to be made in an alloted time. Leg 1: Rider packets were given out at a pre-ride banquet, the evening before the start of the rally. Enclosed were the bonus point locations and the ending leg checkpoint, Tombstone, AZ. (Starting Niobrara, NE). Schedule D was the enclosed bonus sheet. Funny, starting with the letter D for bonuses. Everyone retired to there rooms, cabins whatever that were spread throughout the small town of Niobrara to plan the next days route. Biggest points were to an even smaller town in Gerlach, NV. That was my route, with picking up smaller bonuses along the way. The next day a mandatory riders meeting was held 15 minutes before the start at the Two Rivers Saloon in Niobrara. I left my cabin in the Niobrara State Park and headed for the start. About a mile from town, it started to drizzle. By arrival time the drizzle was a full force rain. The pre-ride event went over the rules, discussed safety and oh, by the way. Here are bonus packets A, B and C. You can start your ride in 10 minutes! Mind games have begun. I did a brief look at the new packets, and did not see any bonuses worth more than Gerlach, NV. I stuck to the original plan. Rain had stopped by the time the event started. First stop was to find a Team Strange member that would be under shelter in some park in Nebraska. (can't remember the name, all bonus sheets had to be turned in at the end of each leg.) I did that, got my route sheet stamped by the official. Not bad, so off to the next one. Pick up a couple more and headed for Sturgis is pick up a gas receipt. Traffic was busy with Bike week, but not all that bad. As I was pulling into a gas station, I notice that the windshield was loose. It turned out that the windshield was more than loose. It was cracked the entire width of the shield. I ducked taped it together in an attempt to salvage the shield. About 5 miles out of Sturgis, the shield hit against my GPS and I pulled over to the shoulder of the road, holding the broken windshield with my left hand. As I let go of the shield to downshift, a gust of wind hit the shield. Luckily I saw what was happening and ducked. The shield hit me in the top of my helmet as it went flying off. My 16" CeeBaileys was destroyed. OK, I'll just continue with the rally as planned. Riding a 'Naked' Buell against veteran IronButt riders on full decked out bikes. That will work. I made it to Gerlach, got my photo bonus and headed to Tombstone. I did take a rest on a picnic table for a little over two hours and rode hard the next day and into the night. One of the bonuses, is a sleep bonus. You get about 4-500 points if you stay in one place for three hours. (Documented with receipts). I got a Hotel in Tonopah, NV. As I checked in, I went for my VISA card and after looking in my wallet and every pocket a hundred times, I realized that I left it at the last gas stop. 110 miles away. I paid cash and took the rest bonus. I called the station, and sure enough they had it and would hold it. I'm kind of old school and only have one card. After the three hours was over, I headed back to get my card. 110 mile one way or 220 miles round trip. It was fairly uneventful, (other than being stuck in a traffic jam in Phoenix in 100+ degree heat.) until I got to the last bonus, just outside of Tombstone, AZ. It was a photo shot of a Monument. You had to travel down a dirt road to get to the monument. No big deal. When I got close to the Monument, four bikes were on the side of the road. They choose to walk the remaining 100 yards or so, because the dirt turned into sand. Rookies. After about 40 some hours of riding, 4 hours sleep, 100+ degree heat, no dirt riding experience, it was decision time. I'm going for it. I hit it hard, then started fish tailing, then rear wheel was spinning, front wheel got bogged down and down I went. My right foot was caught between the bike and the drivers foot peg. I waited for the warm flow of blood, but nothing. Got my foot loose and made sure, nothing was broken. A little sore, but I was still intact. Brilliant decision. I made it to the first checkpoint on time. I covered 3,125 miles and was satisfied on the effort and point accumulation. Until I got to the judging table. I had 609 points (I think) taken away from me, because on my fuel log, I had written the gas price instead of the gallons purchased on one the the fuel log entries. Incorrect paper work. After providing a meal, leg 2 packets were given out. Next checkpoint was the Atlanta BMW shop in Georgia. Two different route sheets were in the package. The top ten riders where announced. The spread was from 8300 points to 8,900 points. After the penalty was enforced, I had 5,700 points. I went into a state of depression. How can I compete against veteran Iron Butt rally participants on a 'Naked" bike. I only had 4 hours sleep, even if I would have completed my as plan route, I would still be 1,500-2,000 points out of the running. Legs 2 and 3 would have the same types of experiences, (minus the dumping of the bike and Visa card ). Thunderstorms where the biggest obstacle. Heavy, heavy rains with sky to ground lightning strikes. Bottom line is that I finished, safely. Oh I forgot to mention the Ulysses. Sorry about that. Aftermarket add-ons held up with the exception of the 16" over CeeBaileys windshield that slip in two. I loved the ride side air scoop. I think it really saved the motor during the 100 + degree floggings I gave it. The only problem, yes the only problem with the Buell equipment was that the two rivet bolts that hold the timer cover were loose. I noticed it at the Atlanta BMW checkpoint. They gave me some solvent to do a quick fix, that held up during the rest of the event. The Uly ran perfectly, stone cold reliable. How can you complaint about that. What a bike. If I ever enter another multi day rally event, I'll have to work on the planning process. Most riders carrying a lap top computer. Do all the planning on a big screen monitor, and know what they are doing. This is my downfall, but correctable. Hope you've enjoyed the ride report, I have more stories to tell, but didn't want to write a novel. Bob C. Other ride reports, pic.'s etc. can be viewed at www.teamstrange.com | ||
| Fubar |
Congratulations and thanks for the ride report. Looks like a lot of gray-beards in the bunch. I have the look...just need the time! Ride-on! | ||
| Ikeman |
Way to go Bob! 47th is nothing to sneeze at based on the competition that shows up for these rallies. Glad to hear the Uly ran well. How'd the fuel cell work out? | ||
| Bienhoabob |
Ikeman, Fuel cell worked out great. Only complaint is that the 3.5 gal tourtank would only hold 3.0 gals. Night travel is where it gets dicey. Some of the bonus points were in very remote areas. I made many stops before I hit reserve for the second time. Not all pumps are set up for a charge card. I even had one where the mechanic/casher had to manually write out a receipt from a receipt book. Going through Indian reservations at night is also chancey. I lost 706 points on the last leg when an unattended pump ran out of paper, leaving me with an undocumented fuel stop. Hindsight, I'd go with a 4.5 gal tourtank that is now offered. | ||
| Flynuly |
Congratulations Bob! Thanks for the report, I seen the finishing order on the TS site and knew there must be a great story to go with it. I lost my credit card at the start of the Cape Fear 1000 and can understand the panic you must have felt. I'm running a 16" Cee Bailey screen also, you think it was a stress crack or did something hit it? Be proud I'm sure you finished first..... riding the only naked buell in the group. :-) Tim | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Add the Slipstreamer handlebar mount rods to the CeeBailey and it keeps the windshield from rattling itself into multiple pieces. | ||
| Lorazepam |
Bob, I will be doing the buffalo run labor day. I understand it doesnt take much to lose a lot of points. Hey you finished, and if it was fun, then it was worth it. I think your Uly is telling you that it wants a smaller screen. | ||
| Bienhoabob |
"I'm running a 16" Cee Bailey screen also, you think it was a stress crack or did something hit it?" Flynuly, I did not hit anything. It cracked on it's own. It worked great on the 'Ride around Texas' event. So I had about 5,000 highway miles on it when it failed. I think I'll go with the stock screen with a laminar lip. I'm staying away from the big screens. The Buffalo run should be fun, less intense. I took the ButtLite IV event as a challenge, but it's a serious competition. More than what I figured on. | ||
| Dave |
cool DAve | ||
| Stevenknapp |
Bob, Sounds like a GREAT trip! Let me know if you want to try my CB 2.5+. I've had no issues with it so far. | ||
| Fastfxrs |
Way to go Bob! Thanks for the ride report and great pics. How did the tires hold up. Did you have Pilot Roads? I just got back from a 2600 mi. trip which pales in comparison, but was still trouble free on the Uly. Tim | ||
| Loveall13 |
I just left the butt lite site. I was real impressed with how you finished. You forgot one thing you were supposed to start your post "I am 5'10" 170 pounds and one tough rider. jeremy | ||
| Bienhoabob |
Here's how my Road Pilots look after 9,000 miles.   The rear is starting to cup. When I checked the pressure the rear was down to 32 PSI. I not sure when the pressure went down, but I'm pleased with the longevity of the tire. I shared a room with a guy on a Yamaha FJR, he had 10,000 miles on it while running AVON 45/46. It looked good for another 5,000 miles Both are good choices for touring. | ||
| Uylrover |
I am hoping that I can get the time and permission from the wife to do longer endurance rallies like the Team strange events on my Uly. After looking at the pictures I found you were in very good company with your fellow riders. There were some familiar faces in the picture's that were on bikes with much better weather protection. I think that you should be very happy with your position at the end. Thanks for the tire pictures, looks like Pilots for me this spring. Thanks for taking the time to post your story, It is inspiring me to get out there and see some more of the country. |
