American & German bikes sweep IB Rally for 2007

[county]

Yes, you had to look all the way down to 6th place to find a Japanese bike in this year's IB rally.

Places 1 thru 5 were taken by BMW and Harley Davidson.

[FJRmgm]

how many FJR's in the Top 10???

[mike goodwin]

Four FJR's were in the top ten.

[RBEmerson]

In all seriousness, HD's???  What models?  What mods?  Beemers I can understand, but HD's???  

[county]

how many FJR's in the Top 10???

  If they hand not been in the top 10 would you have asked about the top 20?

Fact is they didn't make the top 5.  Or 6.

[mike goodwin]

I hate to rumour monger but i did read that the high placed HD was not exactly like your regular over the counter HD.
However let it be known that the first Iron Butt Rally that was held in 1984 had one of the new Evo motored HD's entered in ridden by a Cycle Guide magazine rider that placed and was not in last place.
Last place went to a true wild man riding another bored and stroked HD.

[mike goodwin]

  If they hand not been in the top 10 would you have asked about the top 20?

Fact is they didn't make the top 5.  Or 6.

Dont blame the bike.
Hey man that's a tuff ass eleven day event.

[Brad1445]

Nice post Country.  I like when reality meets STN.  

[atwowheelguy]

Yes, you had to look all the way down to 6th place to find a Japanese bike in this year's IB rally.

Places 1 thru 5 were taken by BMW and Harley Davidson.

This is from the IBA web site: http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/2007.cfm?DocID=45

"The Tarnished Blue and White Roundel

A disproportionate number of the DNFs fall on the shoulders of BMW. BMW failed several riders, demonstrating that they are no longer capable of building motorcycles that can run 11,000 miles in 11 days without a significant fraction experiencing a catastrophic drivetrain failure of some sort. BMW of North America has requested contact information for the riders who experienced failures. The riders BMW should be more concerned about are the thousands of unsuspecting souls who will breakdown in the future because the company has lost its previous ability to either design durable drivetrain components or (more likely) adequately monitor production and assembly quality. It's way, way past time for BMW to fix its drivetrain reliability problems. A good start might be to acknowledge that there is a problem. "

The writer says he has been a BMW owner for 32 years.

From the daily reports available on the IBA website, there were at least 4 BMWs that had final drive failures during the rally.

I cannot comprehend what it takes to do well in this event, but I think it is just like the enduro racing I did for 15 years: 98% rider, 2% motorcycle.

[county]

A disproportionate number of the DNFs fall on the shoulders of BMW.
From the daily reports available on the IBA website, there were at least 4 BMWs that had final drive failures during the rally.

I don't think this is something new for the IB rally.  I think the reason BMW fares so well in the rally is the disproportionate number of BMW's entered.   This opinion is not based on any research, just an impression.

[DavidLSI]

As noted in the region four board, one of our St.n riders finished in 38th place

Congrats to Boxergrrlie !  


http://www.ironbuttrally.com/ibr/2007/html/65-1.html

I read the list of entries and was impressed someone attempted this on a Ninja 250.

And the top Harley finisher was on a Sportster.

[mike goodwin]

As noted in the region four board, one of our St.n riders finished in 38th place

Congrats to Boxergrrlie !  


http://www.ironbuttrally.com/ibr/2007/html/65-1.html

I read the list of entries and was impressed someone finished on a SV650 and someone attempted this on a Ninja 250.

And the top Harley finisher was on a Sportster.

SV 650???
Are you sure you dont mean one of the DL650's ??

[DavidLSI]

Hear is the list.

You are correct I mis-read it and just double checked.....

Go V-Stroms

from http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/2007.cfm?DocID=45
1 Martin Leir, BMW R1200GSA, 12,460, 344,122
2 Jim Owen, BMW R1200RT, 11,137, 333,471
3 Brett Donahue, H-D XLH1200R, 11,283, 316,707
4 Jeff Earls, BMW K1200GT, 11,059, 309,681
5 Eric Jewell, BMW R1150RT, 10,873, 304,597
6 Tom Melchild, Yamaha FJR1300, 10,025, 299,729
7 Greg Marbach, Yamaha FJR1300, 10,323, 298,492
8 Michael Evans, Yamaha FJR1300, 10,921, 298,077
9 Alan Barbic, Yamaha FJR1300, 9,832, 294,561
10 Peter Leap, Honda ST1300, 10,910, 292,596
11 Jim Frens, Honda GL1800, 12,658, 288,910
12 John Tomasovitch, BMW K1200RS, 10,874, 285,875
13 Curt Gran, Honda ST1300, 11,090, 285,512
14 Vicki Johnston, BMW F650GS, 9,868, 284,724
15 Andrew Mills, Victory Vision, 10,552, 283,621
16 John Langan, Honda GL1800, 10,096, 279,770
17 Matt Watkins, Yamaha FJR1300, 9,857, 272,054
18 Paul Peloquin, Yamaha FJR1300, 10,001, 270,097
19 Gregg Burger, BMW R1150GSA, 10,626, 261,475
20 Brian Roberts, Suzuki DL1000, 9,758, 253,273
21 Dick Peek, Yamaha FJR1300, 10,531, 251,924
22 Michael Boge, BMW R1200RT, 8,924, 250,985
23 Reiner & Lisa Kappenberger, Honda GL1800, 9,849, 250,236
24 Carl Stark, Honda GL1800, 8,644, 246,335
25 Art Garvin, Honda GL1800, 8,826, 245,768
26 Mike Langford, BMW K1200LT, 9,349, 242,524
27 Rick Miller, Honda GL1800 9,026, 242,060
28 Vance Keeney, BMW K1200GT, 9,392, 239,863
29 Terry & Lynda Lahman, Honda GL1800, 9,397, 235,736
30 Jack B. Shoalmire, BMW R1200RT, 9,306, 235,156
31 Jim and Donna Phillips, Honda GL1800, 10,022, 233,202
32 Richard Buber, BMW R1150RT, 10,180, 228,077
33 Kendall J. Anderson, Suzuki DL1000, 9,522, 227,164
34 Tom Skemp, Honda GL1500, 8,669, 225,515
35 Kevin J. Healey, Triumph Trophy 1200, 9,407, 225,439
36 Jim Bain, BMW K1200LT, 8,899, 223,659
37 Steve Branner, BMW R1200RT, 9,723, 223,595
38 Rebecca Vaughn, BMW R1100RS, 9,998, 222,607
39 Jim Winterer, Suzuki DL650, 10,209, 219,488
40 Mike Senty, BMW R1150RT, 10,121, 218,975
41 Bill Watt, Honda GL1800, 10,603, 217,078
42 Doug Bailey, BMW R1150GS, 10,353, 215,467
43 Paul Allison, Honda GL1800, 10,207, 214,733
44 Dennis Powell, Honda GL1800, 8,624, 213,250
45 Ken Morton, Honda GL1800, 10,271, 213,101
46 Tony DeLorenzo, BMW R1200GS-ADV, 8,521 208,659
47 Tom and Rosie Sperry, BMW K1200LT, 9,603 206,879
48 Charles "Tobie" Stevens, Yamaha FJR1300, 8,711 206,332
49 Lisa Stevens, Yamaha FJR1300, 8,719, 206,332
50 Don Catterton, BMW K1200GT, 10,218, 205,393
51 Bill Thweatt, Honda ST1300, 9,999, 205,319
52 Stephan Bolduc, Yamaha FJR1300, 9,897, 203,572
53 Chris Cimino, Kawasaki Concours 14, 7,915, 203,427
54 Karol Patzer, BMW K75C, 8,386, 201,741,
55 Rick Neeley, BMW R1200GSA, 9,354, 200,120
56 Peter Murray, BMW K1200LT, 10,255, 199,693
57 Bob Mueller, Suzuki DL1000, 10,272, 199,263
58 Richard Keegan, Honda GL1800, 8,906, 194,071
59 Fred Droegemueller, Honda GL1800, 10,124, 193,096
60 Dick Fish, Buell Ulysses, 9,900, 191,546
61 Joe DeRyke, Suzuki DL650, 10,095, 191,346
62 Rick Martin, Yamaha FJR1300, 9,595, 191,040
63 Robert & Sylvie Torter, BMW K1200GT, 9,318, 190,964
64 Alexander Schmitt, Honda ST1100, 10,584, 148,232
DNF David Bourdeaux, Honda GL1800, 8,570, 187,222
DNF Jim Simonet, BMW K1200LT, 10,987, 187,035
DNF Chris McGaffin, Kawasaki Concours, 8,690, 176,784
DNF Joel Rappoport, BMW R60/6, 8,885, 175,945
DNF Glenn K. Pancoast, BMW R1200GSA, 8,981 173,779
DNF Bob Collin, BMW R1200RT, 9,050, 157,920
DNF Jim Mulcahy, BMW K1200RS, 8,833, 150,023
DNF Mark W. Collins, H-D Electra Glide, 7,869, 147,905
DNF Maura Gatensby, Honda ST1300, 9,117, 147,868
DNF David Derrick, BMW R1100RT, 5,399, 112,249
DNF Chris Sakala, BMW R1150GS-ADV, 4,874, 108,861
DNF Mike Hutsal, BMW K1200GT, 4,501, 100,160
DNF Rob Nye, BMW R1200RTP, 4,492, 100,100
DNF Homer L. Krout, BMW R1200GS, 4,278, 83,758
DNF George Barnes, BMW K1200LT, 5,198, 79,131
DNF Gerhard Memmen-Krueger, BMW R1200GSA, 3,995, 77,872
DNF Doug Chapman, Yamaha FJR1300, 4,007, 76,026
DNF Norm Grills, BMW K1100LT, 3,852, 75,998
DNF Donald A. Jones, Honda GL1000, 3,475, 75,782
DNF Robert Joers, Honda GL1800, 3,758, 63,261
DNF Mike Getzendanner, Honda GL1500, 3,884, 60,489
DNF Steve Broadhead, Honda ST1300, 3,337, 60,123
DNF Alan Bennett, Kawasaki Ninja 250, 2,919, 53,225
DNF Arlen Brunsvold, Jr., H-D Road Glide, 4,202, 52,669
DNF Arlen Brunsvold, Sr., BMW R1200RT, 3,849, 51,155
DNF Don Kulwicki, Honda GL1800, 3,462, 50,691
DNF David Hinks, Yamaha FJR1300, 3,594, 45,903
DNF Hans Karlsson, Honda GL1800, 0, 0
DNF Don Wescott, BMW K1200GT, 0, 0
DNF Robert St.George, Yamaha FJR1300, 0, 0
DNF Charles "Chip" Hyde, Honda GL1800, 0, 0
DNF Bill Wade, BMW R1200RT, 0, 0
DNF Tom Loftus, Honda ST1300, 0, 0

[UFO]

I doubt very little of it has to do with the bike.  As long as the bike doesn't fail and the rider has balls and ass of steel...he's (or she's, theoretically) going to win.

Hell, even a supah scooter with an aux fuel tank can maintain a 70 mph moving average.

[mike goodwin]

What i would truely like to know is how many mechanical issues there were and on what bikes.
You know stuff that is repairable like loose fasteners,clutch/throttle cables,leaking oil,bulbs,radiator hoses,etc.
Now i certainly know that a truely knowledgeable LD rider would have had fresh components(at least i would) on his/her bike but hammering along day and night for 800-1100 miles a day for eleven straight days can really show up with some problems.
I especially would really like to know about any issues that arose with those two DL650's as well as the new Concours 1400.

[county]

The mileage from that one rally is more than the mileage from a significant percentage of used bikes on the market.

[DavidLSI]

Reading one other post I see that two ST.N riders are deserving of a big pat on the back.  

I wonder how many others there are as well?  

[birdrunner]

Speaking of the 6th place FJR,   Congrats to Tom,  also a member of this board  (Cal24  ??)

 


My understanding is for the top finishes, it's often a matter of who had a flat tire and who didn't that makes the difference.

[RBEmerson]

Reading the cited link is very instructional, regarding bike reliability (BMW does not fare well here), overall organizational issues (e.g., "friend with a computer and a phone" comments), and bikes used (personally, I was somewhat surprised by the near absence of the Concours - the lone C10 DNF'ed and the lone C14's performance was "only" enough to make the "finished" cut).  In general, the event strikes me as a massive demonstration of OCD.  Pass.  

[mike goodwin]

Reading the cited link is very instructional, regarding bike reliability (BMW does not fare well here), overall organizational issues (e.g., "friend with a computer and a phone" comments), and bikes used (personally, I was somewhat surprised by the near absence of the Concours - the lone C10 DNF'ed and the lone C14's performance was "only" enough to make the "finished" cut).  In general, the event strikes me as a massive demonstration of OCD.  Pass.  

You will have to excuse me but i dont totally know all of todays internet jargon so if you would tell me just what is OCD??
Lastly a bike that finishes low in the rankings can at times be attributed to reliabilty issues but more times than not it's rider performance.