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

[Slonishku]

Well, the street had a center divider. He had to go around, duh.

[jwhite518]

Alex,

Congrats on your epic adventure! You went through 3 bikes and still managed to ride hundreds more miles than me. Talk about guts and determination. I wish I had a chance to talk to you after the finishers banquet, but I was just not in the mood to hang around and party that night, and you know why. It was great hanging out with you in Sburg too. Just an amazing, amazing event...glad to have been able to share it with you.

Jerry

P.S. You get one guess where I'm headed on my Davo memorial ride.

[Slonishku]

I know what you mean about leaving early. Discussion of certain things was oddly absent.

One guess? There are so many to choose from right there... I'd probably head for Balinas or La Honda. Little Panoche would be good for the solitude... I'm thinking... care to drop a clue?

As for the mileage, unfortuneately my breakdowns forced me to crank out a lot of catchup miles as I missed late afternoon plans for big daylight bonii (barbed wire museum, the entire set of NW Washington bonii, etc.). So my efficiency in points per mile is awful, even before the 50% point penalty for switching bikes. It was almost painful to have to dash all the way across Nebraska on I-80, right through the middle of the most vast bonus-free zone. But better to be short on points than time barred, I'm told.

[jwhite518]

The clue is in a sticker on your bike and another on your helmet.

[Slonishku]

That's a good spot. I've been thinking a lot about Nate lately.

When will you be there?

[Slonishku]

OK, it's about time for a ride report I suppose. Tomorrow, I will begin the process of retrieving and returning the various vehicles that are strewn about the continent. Two and four wheeled, mine and others', near and far. Tomorrow, I will retrieve my truck, which I had to leave in northeastern Oregon, about 850 miles from home. It's being delivered to me in Sacramento tomorrow in the afternoon. I'll be driving up on Andrew's R1100GS, getting the truck, and dropping off the bike with Andrew. Next weekend, I'll be retrieving the Old Wing from BMW-K's garage in Anaheim. Arrangements are bing made to get the RE5 back from Iowa (or is it Wisconson?). Argh!

I thought I'd start with the pre-rally background for this installment of the ride report. Most of the photos from Spartanburg were taken by Steve Hobart. As such, he asks that they not be used without his permission.

As most of you know, I was chosen to ride this Iron Butt Rally while I was serving in combat in Afghanistan last year, around May. A condition  of my selection was my agreement to ride an RE5. The first Iron Butt Rally, back in 1984, resulted in a 4-way tie for first place. One of those four winners was riding an RE5. As a nod to the history of the Rally, Mike Kneebone decided to have two of us ride RE5s on this occasion.

As soon as I found out that I'd been selected as one of those riders, I set about finding bikes. I had two in my garage waiting when I returned home from the war. After some recovery time, I set to work on getting one of the bikes prepped for the Rally. The going was extremely slow and labor intensive. I got help from many, many people in many different ways. a lot of money dissappeared from my bank account. My wife put up with a lot in this period, especially considering that I had just come home after being gone for many months. In the end, my original rally bike developed some problems which popped up just as the only parts suppler for the RE5, Rotary Recycle, took a multi-month hiatus. At the last minute, I found myself turning the parts bike into the rally bike.

[Slonishku]

The new rally bike came together quickly. It had to, the rally was just a few weeks away. At the last minute, I was still struggling to get a bike that would run reliably. No time for all the other stuff- farkeling, routing practice, GPS familiarization, gear organization... y'know, all that stuff folks normally have done months ahead of time. I'd be wiring and plumbing the day before the rally.

Rotary Recycle has recently changed ownership. Sam Costanzo, after three decades or more at the helm and now in his 70s, has passed the torch to a long-time RE5 expert, Jess Stockwell. Jess has been rebuilding RE5s for a couple of decades himself. for Jess, turning a basket case RE5 into a solid running beauty is a matter of routine.

Jess offered to give my bike a thorough going over prior to the rally if I could get it to his shop in rural eastern Tennessee. With less than two weeks until I left for the rally, I didn't know how to make that happen, until my wife, out of the blue, told me to put the RE5 in my truck (a little S-10). She would leave Friday morning with a friend, and deliver my bike to Jess by Sunday afternoon. And she did. I'm still majorly impressed and humbled by that.

Jess gave the bike a serious going over. He tore down much of it. He completely disassembled the carburetor, cleaned it with some very high-end ultrasonic equipment, and put it back together better than new. Then entire rotary oiling system was cleaned and flushed with kerosene. Timing, points, fluids, seals, filters, plugs... many, many things were done. In about a week, Jess spent over 40 hours on the bike, and it showed. In going over the bike, a few things were found which, unchecked, would have caused the bike to destroy itself within the first day of the rally and share the same fate as the other RE5 in the rally.

[Orson]

The first Iron Butt Rally, back in 1984, resulted in a 4-way tie for first place. One of those four winners was riding an RE5. As a nod to the history of the Rally, Mike Kneebone decided to have two of us ride RE5s on this occasion.

I did not know that.

Thanks for the bit of history  

[Slonishku]

Jess' shop is located waaayy off the beaten path in a small town southeast of Nashville. A few days before the Rally start, I flew into Nashville. There, I rented a U-Haul and headed to the shop. I found jess elbow-deep in my bike, which was up on his lift. A little tweaking and a couple of test rides later, we loaded up the bike, told war stories for an hour or two, and I was on my way.

I spent the night near Atlanta. I got up early and headed over to BMW of Atlanta to meet Bob Sr. there. Bob is a very accomplished IBA rider himself, and put a lot of effort in to the 2009 Iron Butt Rally for those of us who would be riding this time around. I spent plenty of time with him on the phone when things were going wrong during the Rally. Several of us did, as Bob did his best to coordinate emergency help and to get us moving when things broke down. After meeting Bob, I was on my way, arriving in Spartanburg in the afternoon.

Rally Start HQ was located at the Marriott Renaissance Spartanburg, a very nice resort hotel with all the amenities we could ask for and more. Before setting into the place, it's pretty obvious that it's a really nice place. It looked great, but I knew I could make it better, promptly parking my 17' U-Haul truck right in front. I got the bike out and settled it into the underground garage, where several other rally bikes were already in place. Right off the bat, I was meeting my fellow riders.

The next couple of days were a flurry of preparation and last minute details. The RE5 was getting a lot of attention. May non-riders who came by to watch the activity wanted to talk to me about the RE5. I hated to do so, but I had to ignore a lot of the conversations, as I was really behind the 8-ball. Warchild came by a time or two and looked somewhat worried for me...


On Saturday, we got going right away. Tech inspection included a 16 or 18 mile odometer check. Crazy fact #1: That odometer check was the longest ride I had ever taken on that RE5. Ever. Tech inspection went well, followed by numerous check-in tasks. I got through pretty quickly and was completely done by the end of the day. Sunday was free for me right up until the beginning of the pre-rally banquet.

[Slonishku]

Useless fact #1: the worst part about all rallys to me is the fact that every rally has a "banquet". I fcuking can't statnd the word "banquet". It ranks right up there with the words "meal", "slacks", "moist", and "beverage" on the rediculously annoying scale. Now back to more salient topics...

As the pre-rally DINNER approached, the butterflies arrived in force. My wife and I went down to join the gathering.



Dinner was fine, followed by a speach or two. As Mike Kneebone was speaking, he began to address the historical significance of the RE5 to the Iron Butt Rally. As he did so, he called Barry Bertam (riding the other RE5 in the rally) and I to the front. There, completely unexpectedly, he began assigning each of the riders their rally numbers. I was very surprised and honored to find out that,due to my riding an RE5 and my recent service in Afghanistan, I was designated as Rider #1. I was shocked!

Each rider was called up in turn, given his or her rally flag and rider packet. After all were handed out, a few announcements were made, and we were instructed to open the manila envelopes containing out rally packs. The rally was effectively underway. It was 8:00pm on Sunday.

[Slonishku]

New riders were invited to stay behind for advice on route planning. I did so, but had a hard time paying attention as closely as I should have. I already had maps out and was plotting out bonus location and seeing if a route suggested itself.

My strategy, from before arriving in Spartanburg, was to ride a very conservative rally. I didn't want to push the RE5 any harder than necessary. The main things I wanted to avoid were urban centers, extreme heat, dirt or overly rough roads, and routes that involved stringing together a lot of modest bonuses. I would be looking for large point locations that would minimize the number of stops and reduce strain on the RE5. On the first leg, especially, I would err on the side of taking it easy. The focus would be on getting familiar with the RE5 and massaging out the kinks. A route chosen, I went to sleep around midnight.

Up around 6am, I went down to the bike, hooked up the GPS and tankbag, and pulled out to the starting line, in front of the hotel in a semi-curcular driveway where everyone was lined up. Warchild made announcements. Photos were being taken, and the nervousness stabilized and began to fade. It was game time. It was really happenning, and I was really part of this thing. Over a year of work and preparation... all go for launch. Lisa came by to give me some last-minute advice and encouragement.



Just before 10am, Warchild pointed at Barry- go! Then at me- go! and we were off!

[UFO]

 

[birdrunner]

 

[DredheadV2.0]

I'd love to see this reprinted in RoadRunner...

[Nodaclu]

Alex....can I ask what kind of helmet that is? One of the best looking modulars I've seen.

Thanks in advance....

[D-Mac]

Awesome! This is the IBR report I've been waiting for.  

[yotes65]

Alex....can I ask what kind of helmet that is? One of the best looking modulars I've seen.

Thanks in advance....

It's a Nolan N-103...

[Nodaclu]

It's a Nolan N-103...

Thanks!

[Slonishku]

Yeah- n-103. It works pretty well, and I really like the internal tinted sun visor. Mine has a coule of workmanship issues, but I haven't contacted the mfr to see if they'll cooperate in solving the issues. Until then, I'll keep 'em to myself.

More ride report this afternoon- I'm swamped at work now... two trials scheduled for this morning alone!

[jwhite518]

Lawdy, Lawdy, I have absolutely no memory of this dinner. Did we actually sit together at the "banquet" that night? Apparently so. Quite a cast of characters! Looks like the starting grid of the Cal 24. From the front left, we have Margaret Peart, Stephanie and Alex Harper, yours truly, Terry Neale, Doug Webb, and Alan Barbic.