50cc - Ya Baby!!!!

[towneh]

left San Diego at 9:52 PM on 25 May

...AND...

arrived Jacksonville at 7:48 PM on 27 May

not much to be said about the scenery

i don't have sleep apnea but i snore with the best of 'em

the yello sub suit didn't leak during the 2 downpours i encountered. people saw me in the fog easily. probably pervented any potential deliverance incidents as well.

the 'quick stand' worked like a champ.... a great way to lube the chain when you haven't got a center stand.

high powered aux lights are a great thing to have when running CA, AZ, and NM late into the night. You see the road 'gators' soon enough to avoid them and roadside critters 'freeze' while you're far enough from them so they don't jump in your path. you have to re-position them often when you are driving at 80+ mph...

sorry we missed you Gary; i think my head was already into the trip...

more later,
henry

[towneh]

--all--
I left San Diego at about 10pm (5/25) and arrived on the westside of Houston (after a northside circuit with the 610 loop) about 930pm (5/26) for a Bun Burner GOLD. 23.5 hours minus 2 hrs for the time zones yields 22+ hours. about 6 hours of sleep in houston... [1519mi]

I left Houston about 415am (5/27) and arrived in Jacksonville about 745pm (5/27) for a 50cc Quest. 15.5 hours minus 1 hrs for the time zone yields 14+ hours. total span of time spent for the ride west 2 east is like 43.5 hours.... [917mi]

the ride(s) documentation and problem-details (i.e. time stamp errs and damage/quality problems with receipts) with check should arrive at the iba office by next Tuesday.

gotta check the chain for stretch, change the worn oil/filter, and determine how much more i might get out of these HARD tires....

later,
henry

[Anonymous]

Glad you two made it back safe from your experience! Doesn't sound like anything too bad happened, just some rain along the way.

[towneh]

-- greetings all --
well, i think it is a good indication..... the iba has cashed my check for the bbgold and the 50cc! either the criteria was met for the ride certs *OR* they needed the funds for the upcoming iba rally! it will be deja vu for them when they dig in to my 2kss documentation....
putting my drive system on steroids,
henry

[Nick_Ninja]

towneh wrote:

well, i think it is a good indication..... the iba has cashed my check for the bbgold and the 50cc!

RIDE ON!

Now for those IBAers that need to connect to the GURU ........ Here is the low-down:

COG Members and friends in Colorado,

This is short notice, but here's something some of you might really enjoy. The Chapter C FreeWheelers, an all-makes motorcycle club in Denver that emphasizes long distance riding and whose members have put on the Thin Air TT endurance rally, will have George Barnes as their special guest at their monthly meeting this coming Thursday evening, July 17th, at Burt Chevrolet on Broadway, just south of Belleview. (The meeting room is up the stairs just behind the car showroom, on the south side of the building.)

George, the winner of the 1999 Iron Butt Rally (with 13,000+ miles in 11 days), will be giving an excellent presentation about his experiences in the 2001 Iron Butt Rally.

The winner of that Iron Butt went from the start in Alabama, to the first checkpoint in California, to the second checkpoint in Washington, to Deadhorse Alaska (that's just 10 miles short of Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean), and then back to Alabama. George followed the same
route but unfortunately arrived back in Alabama just 2 or 3 hours late.

He is a good story teller and has put together a very entertaining PowerPoint presentation with photos and maps. My wife and I saw it last month and were very glad we went.

Frank Heinzel, the president of Chapter C, said to pass the word, so here it is. If you're at all interested in the Iron Butt Rally and have some free time Thursday, motor on down to Burt Chevrolet on Thursday and enjoy the camaraderie of some fun motorcyclists.


-- Randy Bishop, COG Colorado

[Nick_Ninja]

Well the presentation by George Barnes was REALLY GREAT He's from Rifle, CO. I especially enjoyed hearing about the guy on the 1500cc Gold Wing that dumped it three times in the mud up on the road to Prudhoe Bay and picked it up himself

They ended up here at the Caribou Inn. It was the official bonus check-in:



There was also a guy that was riding whatever kind of bike and spun a rear sprocket. Because there wasn't a whatever kind of dealership in Alaska, he went to the local John Deer dealership and picked up an exact size rear sproket. Then he took it to the local machine shop and had it drilled out to fit the bike!

Some really CRAZY bonus points were available. Like standing on top of Devils Post Pile in CA.



The photos were really exceptional. ALL the tough butts were there at that rally. Keneebone, and Chalmers along with many others.

Here's Barnes stats:

George Barnes 82nd place
BMW K1100LT
13,357 miles in eleven days
29,333 points

[towneh]

i would have enjoyed the presentation but the yello sub ran late AND the RF is still out of commission. the pics of desolation bear no resemblance to the voids of Kansas
later,
henry

[towneh]

greetings all,
it is official now, the certification/verification for my 50cc and bun burner gold rides have been completed.

the 2kss is still pending and i'm thinking about long rides for next year already.

later,
henry

[Nick_Ninja]

Cool!

[vtr1000rider]

I'm not worthy. My rear could never make any of those trips. I could barely drive in my comfy. yukon from here to NY in 2 days, alnoth I did do it 1800 miles in 36 hours, but the driver seat in the yukon is like a lazyboy!!!

I stand humbly before you.

[Boy Scout]

Congrats, Henry!

[towneh]

thanx guys!!! when i think about where i went and how i did it i wonder about how lucky i was not to have any problems crop up. Jacklighting the critters thru California, Arizonia, and most of Mexico. dealing with idiot drivers in Texas and the annoying expansion strips of Louisiana, followed by endless barrage of marked (and unmarked) enforcement guys in Mississippi. no rain til i got into Florida. i was blessed and/or lucky.

closing on 39k on the RF,
henry

[towneh]

greetings all--

my 2k ride to the Tyler honky tonk and back has made the official iba posting on their website.

it is with great reluctance that i must report that the RF900 has been put out to pasture at the ripe age of 10 years with a bit over 40,500 miles. i traded it for another sports-touring bike. i'm work'in on it for the first break-in. more to follow soon.

later,
henry

[Dysco]

sweeeeeeeeeet

[gary n]

Henry,

Judging by the small photo under your name my guess is you are the proud owner of a silver 'Busa. I'm sure you will love it.

If you want to see my setup for using the Givi bags let me know. There are multiple brackets so you can use the hump or the back seat/grab rail. These brackets bring the bags in closer to the side of the bike and more forward so there isn't room on the rear pegs for a passenger's foot. It is a 1 person setup but it brings the weight in and forward so it's not as noticeable. They worked extremely well on my 1700 and 4500 mile trips this summer. I can get you the name of the person who builds the mounts or there is a chance I may be selling my bike so I could have some hardware available in the future.

Congratulations.

Gary

[towneh]

Gary,
yes, i'd be **very** interested in any info pertaining to hard luggage. the regular Givi site seems to avoid apps for Hayabusas; something about inadequate strength in the alloy sub-frame.... there's a setup being posted by Riderhaus.com by Krauser called K-Wings but they are very proprietary.

see http://www.riderhaus.com/index.php/t...oductlist/107/ !their list

well, the first 600 miles must not be 'highway' in nature and not to exceed 5500 rpm. i'm half-way thru and it's hard to do.... i'm not used to that 'instant power'; gotta be careful crack'in the throttle on a corner!!! i've got a corbin seat and a zero gravity sport-tourer screen coming. i'll wait for another 50 degree F day before i run it again.

--an eye-opening experience--
henry

[gary n]

The alloy subframe was on the '99 and '00 models. Suzuki changed to a steel subframe in '01. Givi had a rack in '99 but they pulled if after some people experienced problems with the alloy subframe and they haven't offered it again even after the subframe was switched to steel.

I looked at the Krauser bags but couldn't figure out a way to get them imported. There is an owner of a dealership in Idaho that takes a Givi tubular rack for a Suzuki Bandit and refits it to work on the Hayabusa. He did it for his personal bike and has done it for others too. He is the one that made mine. Since it is a custom item I was able to get the rack powdercoated silver so it's not as obvious on my bike when the bags aren't mounted.

I leave the racks bolted to my grab bar and then it only takes 5-10 minutes to put them on or take them off. The rack system bolts to the grab bar, forward bungee mount and exhaust hanger. If you don't want to use the grab bar, he includes brackets that bolt to the grab bar mount and fit under the hump. You do have to put on some small turn signals also.

I have been very happy with mine. I am using the E360 bags - they're 40 liters with carry handles built in. It's so nice to be able to lock stuff up and not worry about it during stops.

Here is the link:
http://www.beaudrymotorsports.com/im...k/busaside.jpg
Click on the little motorcycles under "Special Parts" at the bottom of the page.

Also, www.riderhaus.com can get a 5-Stars top rack that will accept with a Givi case.

[towneh]

hi gary,
Riderhaus features 2 side rack systems for the busa;

1. Krauser K-Rack for $130
a) k4 case for $170
$170 !second box...
sum$470


2. SW Motech for $160
a) rack locks for $ 25
b) givi e360 for $193
$193 !second box...
sum$571

The Motech is more discreet and the givi boxes will work on other racks but do those factors justify the additional $100 ???? deep thoughts by jack handy.....

shopin'
henry

[Harry Biker]

Hey Henry,

What's with waiting until it hits 50 degrees?? I'm pretty sure we were out putting on ~75 miles on "The Worlds Fastest MC" the other week and the temp read 38 degrees! As I said in person though...Awesome scoot!

Well, it had been 4 yrs, 7mos. since my 1st documented/witnessed albeit not sent in to the IBA-certified ride & guess who contacted me today? Mr. Kneebone himself! I'm f-i-n-a-l-l-y an offical IRON BUTT MEMBER!!!!! #15983.

Bun Burner GOLD @ 1532 grueling miles in <24 hours &
Coast to Coast in under 50 hours- 50CC(Ya Baby) With the 1st post re: that ride 369 days ago.
I do find it a tad strange that my official mileage on the BBG was more than yours????? I thought we took the same route including the loop around San Antonio, but who knows.

I guess it's time to start planning the next epic ride! I'm seriously thinking UCC w/ the MTF group,(that way I likely won't have to ask homeless people to witness me again ) I'd ask you to go on yer Silver Bullet,(you can use that if you like) but think you'd be stuck @ Fairbanks and that'd be like climbing 4/5ths up McKinley. Should you however decide a little putt up to AK. works for you en-route to your doing the 3-flags next year, you know where to find me.

[towneh]

Congratulations Harry! and one-to-one with the President at that! I did another 60 miles today which puts the odom at 385+

I think I know why the bbg mileage is different. I did give them my gps figures and my last fuel for the day was a good bit away from your parents' place (specifically Chevron Oil Co, 6633 Washington Ave, Houston, TX 77007-2121) -- 19.8 miles apart by MS Streets reckoning....

Thanks for the offer but I'll probably do the Can-Mex next, followed by bigger Saddlesores

shoppin' for hard luggage,
Henry

[Ripper]

Damn, hot thread!!

I'm planning on building a mini chopper this winter... any suggestions on cheap powerplants???

[Harry Biker]

Rip,

I'm not sure what how you would define cheap or mini for that matter?

If your mini chopper can hold a Harley or "evo" type engine, you can pick up an S&S or Harley engine, new for ~ $3K.

[Harry Biker]

Alrighty Hayabusa Henry...you twisted my arm or anyone else desiring to add to their collection of certs.
My daughter is not too keen on the idea of my rolling to Deadhorse just yet....perhaps she does not like the name? Actually she was in tears during our joint/solo venture last May & I don't need to put her through that again-dratz!

How about a little 4 day trip to Taos, NM. via Grand Teton, Yellowstone & Glacier ? We'd combine a B2B,(boarder to boarder) & ss3K Keep in mind this is not the "insane"B2B", albeit you'd still get that swanky pin w/ the Road King on it!

If you are planning on going solo,(who knows...it could happen again while we're traveling together ) that's cool. Not sure if you were planning on getting the ss3K en-route or not, but as you know, any B2B from Denver will put you close to the 3K range. I know you've been working on your route for some time. Tonight I put together a loop @ 3800 miles that includes both optimal roads, scenic roads & sleeping on the cheap I hope,(since we'd need our own rooms )

Let me know... Timing wise, I'm pretty wide open since I got 5/29/04 - 7/6/04 off to go to the Artic- NOT!

[towneh]

hello Harry,
Hayabusa Henry!!! that's a nice touch but i hope no one has any serious expections.... Sorry to hear that your little (younger...) lady doesn't like the Deadhorse tour. Perhaps things will be different as she gets older. I'm still in the planning phase for next years' trips and open to new ideas. Let me think on what you've suggested up to this point.
later,
Henry