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

[photomd]

That lil' slut!

[Slonishku]

Well, Chili is on board. He put in 350 miles on the ride back to Bakersfield on the Bandit. He seemed to be unimpressed with the Bandit as an Iron Butt mount. When I showed him what we'll actually be riding he initially wept, but then showed some interest in drafting a will. Huh. Odd.

I did a lot of wiring today, mostly trying to get the HID headlamp all set up. I also picked up a DC powered 120mm computer case fan to be used as a carb cooler, as this bike has a reputation for problemating overheating of the carb float valve. Riding home from work on Thursday in 106 degree heat and stop & go surface road traffic, that reputation was violently validated. No lasting problems, but the RE and I have a clearer understanding of each other now. I know how much heat it'll take, it knows what three years at sea in the Navy can do for an angry man's vocabulary...

I'm going to ask Mike Kneebone (the IBA President) if Chili can pickup IBR Finisher status if we make it... does he already have an IBA number?

[Tony T]

No, Chili doesn't have a IBA number, they don't issue those to mascots. But they had no problem issuing him a cert.  



Just don't let him do your route planning;

[Slonishku]

Is anyone in the St. Charles, IL area who would be willing to bring a few quarts of oil, a funnel, and a recycling container for used oil by the checkpoint? Of course I'll pay for it, but that might mean an extra hour of sleep for me...

[Tony T]

Pm sent.  

[Davo]

Glad you have that sorted Alex, I have some COG mates helping me at that checkpoint. I am doing tires and oil there (the only service I will do)

[Fourstring]

PM sent as well.  Tony, you need a hand, you let me know.

[Slonishku]

I made a bit more progress over the last couple of days. A workable fuel cell mount is complete, but there's room for improvement. New clutch cable, Datatel voltmeter in place (not yet wired), new rear brake shoes and rear wheel, Hagon shocks mounted, carb (re)adjusted, HID wiring in place.

I don't have to be in court tomorrow, and I got tomorrow's work done, so I'll probably play hookey from work tomorrow to get the auxillary electrical wiring in place, sync the accellerator pump, and shore up the aux fuel cell mount issues.

I can't wait to be done with all this and be sitting on the RE5 at the starting line in South Carolina!

[Slonishku]

Well, another setback. Not the worst thing ever, but my energy for such things is getting kinda low.

I went out to the garage to fire it up yesterday, and there was a small pool of gas on the floor. The fuel petcock is right above the carb, and everything from the petcock down was wet with gas. It's really tough to figure out where it's coming from, and I really don't want to tear it all down again looking for the leak(s). Aargh!

[Slonishku]

I'm thinking maybe the fuel leak was a result of one or several factors, possibly including:
1. The fact that I left the petcock in the "PRI" position;
2. The high engine heat has deformed one of the cheapie fuel filters I put in the fuel lines, and the seal might be less than ideal now.

In any case, it's stopped for now so the bike is in a new temporary (air conditioned) workshop:

[Slonishku]

Here's another:

[Slonishku]

Jason Jonas has set up a webpage which will let you see the most recent reported location of IBR riders who have SPOT trackers and choose to send signals to the page. Here's the link:

http://jasonjonas.org/spot/locationViewer.do?id=11

I'm "AFH"

[Tony T]

Wow, that is one funky lookin headlight you got there.  

I'm not a motorcycle mechanic, but I stayed at the red-roof-inn last night. If I where to guess I'd say the fuel problem was because it was left in "prime".   I guess the only way to tell is to keep an eye on it.

[Black Ice]

Wow, that is one funky lookin headlight you got there.  

If I where to guess I'd say the fuel problem was because it was left in "prime".   I guess the only way to tell is to keep an eye on it.

I concur.  The "P" position will do that, especially on older machinery.

And WTF is up with that headlight?  Did WarChild build you some sort of deer-vaporizing death ray?

[Slonishku]

No, that light was a hand-me-down from a generous philanthropist. It turns out that it's a very early model of a projector unit sold by Bruno over at http://www.futurevisionhid.com/home.php. I wasn't sure where it came from, then I spoke with Bruno and he gave me a very extensive history and assessment of the unit. Even though I was buying nothing from him, Bruno was amazingly helpful. He even sent me a schematic for this out of date unit. Awesome guy, and the only guy I'll be buying HIDs from in the future.

Here's the unit:
http://www.futurevisionhid.com/hid-xenon-inch-h6024-projector-headlight-kit-p-69.html

[Slonishku]

Here is the mount that I fabricated for it. It's pretty primitive. A plywood base to attach to the fairing mounts, a few cheap brackets, and a 2" long section of 8" diameter 0.125" wall aluminum pipe. (Good luck finding someone willing to part with just a 2" section of that stuff!) The cheapo "came with the brackets" screws were replaced with proper bolts and washers.

[DNA]

Jason Jonas has set up a webpage which will let you see the most recent reported location of IBR riders who have SPOT trackers and choose to send signals to the page. Here's the link:

http://jasonjonas.org/spot/locationViewer.do?id=11

I'm "AFH"

Spot is working well, but I cannot tell if the bike is still in the living room or back in the garage.

That i cool - my wife would love that real time info while I'm in a rally, and anyone with a teenager and a car might get one as well...

[greench440]

Thanks for that link to the Spot tracking map.  I found the finish hotel info on the IBA website and am planning on attending the finish.  Probably ride over on the evening of the 3rd.

Anyone else from the Seattle area want to join me?

[Slonishku]

Once I'm done with scoring, I should (theoretically) have time to socialize at the finish line. Of course, I might pass out and keel over at any second. But I'll have the time! I expect Chili to be his normal self, however.

[greench440]

I'll be there to catch your bike    I know enough to stay out of the way until after the scoring is done.

I want to see what 11 days and over 11,000 does to a person.