2009 Iron Butt Rally... on a 33 year old rotary Suzuki

[guitardad]

Congratulations, Alex!  No finisher showed more determination and guts.  We need to figure out if 3 bikes is a record of some sort!

[birdrunner]

WOW.

Good job Alex.

[EricJ]

You definitely rock Alex! Mucho respect from this entire forum!

Eric

[Rocket_Cowboy]

I made it. I finished the rally. I will be short on points to be considered a finisher, but not by much. Three bikes, about 7,500 miles, and a lot a wrenching. I haven't read anything about the rally or my fellow riders yet and haven't reviewed anything here. I will as soon as I can, but I need a nap RIGHT NOW.

Alex,

We kept bumping into each other along the way, with the last run in being that bonus in Colorado when you were on the wing (just after I had been hailed on, again). You had an infinitely harder ride than I did, but it was good to see you in good spirits in Spokane. Points being what they were, you've definitely shown you'll be someone the others need to take notice of when you get on your reliable ride.

Now the real question is ... Pinks?

[mxvet57]

I do have one pressing question, did Alex remember where he left the RE5?  

[Slonishku]

Pinks? Is that coming up?

I do plan on riding the rally in 2011 if I am selected. In that case, I'm thinking FJR. New FJR.

I had a suprise extra ride yesterday. On Sunday morning, on my way home from Spokane, my truck broke down north of Redmond, OR. It seems my S-10 has a fairly unique drive shaft, and thats what failed. In a small town in Oregon. On Sunday. Of Labor Day weekend. More details to follow, but I ended up spending the day with a mechanic trying to make it work. He and his falimy even let me crash on the couch that night. Yesterday, I decided to pull the bike (Andrew's R1100GS) out of the truck and head home. An extra 800 or 900 miles in the saddle. So now, I need to arrange to get the RE5 back from Wisconson (I think), the Gold Wing back from LA, and my truck back from Oregon. The rally lives on!

[Black Ice]

Pinks? Is that coming up?

I do plan on riding the rally in 2011 if I am selected. In that case, I'm thinking FJR. New FJR.

I had a suprise extra ride yesterday. On Sunday morning, on my way home from Spokane, my truck broke down north of Redmond, OR. It seems my S-10 has a fairly unique drive shaft, and thats what failed. In a small town in Oregon. On Sunday. Of Labor Day weekend. More details to follow, but I ended up spending the day with a mechanic trying to make it work. He and his falimy even let me crash on the couch that night. Yesterday, I decided to pull the bike (Andrew's R1100GS) out of the truck and head home. An extra 800 or 900 miles in the saddle. So now, I need to arrange to get the RE5 back from Wisconson (I think), the Gold Wing back from LA, and my truck back from Oregon. The rally lives on!

You are not allowed near any mechanical object I own.  Ever.  


 

[antvq]

So the final tally is 3 bikes and 1 truck..........or are we not done counting yet?  

Seriously, I honestly don't know how you did it.   I would have been crying in my beer in the hotel bar after the first breakdown.   Kudos!

[mxvet57]

Pinks? Is that coming up?

I do plan on riding the rally in 2011 if I am selected. In that case, I'm thinking FJR. New FJR.

I had a suprise extra ride yesterday. On Sunday morning, on my way home from Spokane, my truck broke down north of Redmond, OR. It seems my S-10 has a fairly unique drive shaft, and thats what failed. In a small town in Oregon. On Sunday. Of Labor Day weekend. More details to follow, but I ended up spending the day with a mechanic trying to make it work. He and his falimy even let me crash on the couch that night. Yesterday, I decided to pull the bike (Andrew's R1100GS) out of the truck and head home. An extra 800 or 900 miles in the saddle. So now, I need to arrange to get the RE5 back from Wisconson (I think), the Gold Wing back from LA, and my truck back from Oregon. The rally lives on!

and i thought i was having a bad day  with my truck. lost the muffler in the morning then i get home and the right front tier was going flat and then to top it off i broke 2 studs getting the wheel off.

I was in S/W Wisconsin this last weekend and if i knew where the RE5 was i could of checked up on it for you.

Alex, come to think of it if you need to get it out of the place you have it siting in Wi. i could pick it up and keep it at my house.

[Rocket_Cowboy]

Pinks? Is that coming up?

Dean has it on his calendar for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I don't think it's been publicly posted anywhere, but that's what I got when I asked him about it in Spokane.

I'm with you on the FJR thing. I can think of a lot worse ways to get down the road. The FJR is on my short list if the RT grenaded.  Now ... will you defect to the dark side and put a car tire on it like so many did, or keep it on regular m/c tires?

[Slonishku]

Ice, I have reservations about touching any of my own pieces of machinery... even a Cuisinart. I've never experienced mechanical failures like I have over the last 10 days or so. My strategy is to get rid of all tainted machines as soon as possible, clean out my garage, and buy a new Feejer.

My computer is even running oddly right now... going to reboot and see if that fixes it. Sigh.

[Tony T]

Ice, I have reservations about touching any of my own pieces of machinery... even a Cuisinart. I've never experienced mechanical failures like I have over the last 10 days or so. My strategy is to get rid of all tainted machines as soon as possible, clean out my garage, and buy a new Feejer.

My computer is even running oddly right now... going to reboot and see if that fixes it. Sigh.

At least you're getting all the bad luck out of the way now. You should be good for the next 20 years or so . . .

[DogBoy]

So now, I need to arrange to get the RE5 back from Wisconson (I think), the Gold Wing back from LA, and my truck back from Oregon. The rally lives on!

Thats a new approach to leaving breadcrumbs.

Congratulations on a memorable IBR experience.  

[Black Ice]

Pour out a bit of motor oil to appease the gremlins!  

[Slonishku]

OK, recovery is well underway. I'm gathering my thoughts and getting ready for installment 1 of the write-up. Photos are being uploaded to flickr now. Here are a few pre-rally photos
!

[Slonishku]

Chili and I take the podium before the Pre-Rally Riders' Banquet:


Chili posing with greatness: Mike Kneebone and Lisa Landry



A close encounter of the scary kind: Chili and Warchild

[photomd]

Congrats on the rally: impressive! I'm thoroughly amazed at the people that do the IBR.

I think you could do the IBR on the RE5, but I'd start now. Ride it all the time, in all kinds of conditions and fix whatever comes up. I've put several non-runners back on the road and every time it wasn't the initial start up that made 'em reliable, it was the following six months when all the problem areas crept up.

[Black Ice]

A close encounter of the scary kind: Chili and Warchild

WarChild looks a little fearful.  And that's something I never thought I'd see from a man who reputedly rode 37,000 miles for a beer and killed an entire division with a harsh look.  

[DredheadV2.0]

WarChild looks a little fearful.  And that's something I never thought I'd see from a man who reputedly rode 37,000 miles for a beer and killed an entire division with a harsh look.  

Warchild is the moto community's Chuck Norris.  Chuck Norris would nod in polite respect to Warchild.

[birdrunner]

WarChild looks a little fearful.  And that's something I never thought I'd see from a man who reputedly rode 37,000 miles for a beer and killed an entire division with a harsh look.  

You forgot to mention,  the bar was across the street from his home,  he just got a little sidetracked.