Doing my first Iron Butt tonight!

[blacklightning]

Well, I love to ride, but this will be my longest time in the saddle. A buddy and myself are doing an Iron Butt (or saddle sore 1000) tonight. We are leaving the Raleigh area at 12:00 midnight and traveling west. We will go through Asheville, NC, Knoxsville, TN, Lexington, Ky, parts of West Virginia, Virginia, and back home. He has done 2 of these before, but this will be my first. Had lots of bikes, and 5 spyders. The most I have ever ridden in one day was 600 miles on my 2014 RT. This one is so much more comfortable, that I think I should be good. Going to just drink a lot and snack to keep from getting too sleepy. I will post up when we return and let you know how things went. Wish me luck.:yes:
Thinking about removing the trunk for the more sported look. But I have noticed that the trunk does take away some of the backwash of bad air when riding with it. I will decide later this morning as I check things over before tonight.

[PJveetwin]

Good luck with it. I have done several IB events with my last several 1000 mile rides at just over 12 hours. Eat minimal food, snack on trail mix and jerky , vitamins are good along with Amino acids. Sucky thing about doing it on a Spyder is the fuel range. My first one on a HD with 4 gallons of fuel, took 22 hours. Figured out Harleys were not the best for this. Bought a Beemer, 1150GS with 8 gallons of fuel. ran a V-1, did 5 minutes fuel stops. Proper conditioning is everything, good weather will help. Be safe

My IBA # is 8458

[fatboy]

Unless you have a large bladder, you'll want to drink just enough to stay hydrated or you'll be stopping more....

[Mikey]

:pray: Be safe!!

[Jesster72]

Safe travels. I have my 1,000 mile route planned for later this year. I am very interested to see how it goes for you.

[blacklightning]

Good luck with it. I have done several IB events with my last several 1000 mile rides at just over 12 hours. Eat minimal food, snack on trail mix and jerky , vitamins are good along with Amino acids. Sucky thing about doing it on a Spyder is the fuel range. My first one on a HD with 4 gallons of fuel, took 22 hours. Figured out Harleys were not the best for this. Bought a Beemer, 1150GS with 8 gallons of fuel. ran a V-1, did 5 minutes fuel stops. Proper conditioning is everything, good weather will help. Be safe

My IBA # is 8458
I am thinking about the range thing also. The Spyder seems to be around the 200 mile mark and then I need to stop for gas. I also have a Beemer (K1600B). It is good for 260 miles before the first light comes on. But the Spyder seat is more comfortable, and I am sure I will want a stop by the 200 mile mark anyway. I will let you guys know how it goes. :2thumbs:

[tntnj]

Be Safe When I rode my RT back from Alabama, I had a coke with chips instead of French fries to help keep me awake. Take something for pain before you ride, and drink a little water to stay hydrated.

[rjinaz86323]

Wife and I have been doing long distance trips for years (mostly on Harleys, but now on a 2018 F3L). I usually take an Ibupropen in the morning before we leave each day. Seems to make me a little more comfortable. Last Iron Butt (SS1000) I did was on a Harley and took just over 17 hours. I typically stay within 5mph of speed limit, so pace yourself.

[Arion]

Good fortune and safe travels.

[Woodaddict]

You can do it!!! 1,000 in 24 hrs is easily achievable. I have done 2 SS1000. Next is Spyder doing the 1,500 miles in 24 hrs. If you don't run into traffic jams, you'll get it done. My times have been 22 hrs 10 minutes and 17 hrs 6 minutes

[canamjhb]

Anxious to hear the results.....

[blacklightning]

Well, we did it! The traveling wasn't bad at all. And the seat on this bike is beyond comfortable. There is no way I could have survived it on the f3L or the BMW. But the gas gauge on this bike is the worst and most inaccurate thing that I have ever encountered. My only issue was the unexpected colder temps. It was 61 when we started out from Raleigh NC. But 39 with a wind-chill of 29 through Kentucky and West Virginia. My friends that went along looked so cute with their matching mesh jackets, but they nearly froze. 1,128 miles in 21 hours and 7 minutes. Had fun, but will not do another one.

[Jesster72]

I'm interested in your strategy if you wouldn't mind sharing. I've done some research, but I would love to hear how you planned/executed the mileage vs. time. (Rest stops, etc.)

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[blacklightning]

I'm interested in your strategy if you wouldn't mind sharing. I've done some research, but I would love to hear how you planned/executed the mileage vs. time. (Rest stops, etc.)

Thanks for sharing your experience!
This was my first one, so it is by no means the "way to do it". But the day prior, I took about a 2 hour nap in the evening. Then got ready as if I was going to work. (shaved showered, teeth brushed, moisturize, the works). We left at exactly 12:00 am (midnight). We actually planned it around a full moon to have as much visibility as possible on the sides of the road. Took lots of stuff to drink and some snacks. My bike didn't do well on gas milage at all. We were able to get about 150-175 miles between fillups. At each fill up I drank either an iced coffee or water. That had me hitting the rest room every other fill up. Around 10 that morning (after traffic slowed), we stopped for a quick breakfast. Nothing filling, just a biscuit and something else to drink. Continued on to our mid point and check in location. After checking in, we hit the rest rooms and repeated the process of drinking at each fillup and relieving ourselves as needed. We did not stop to eat again, as a full stomach would probably make us sleepy. My goal was to be at the 600 mile mark before 12 hours had passed. Starting the route at midnight was good for avoiding traffic and it allowed us to meet the check point by or before noon. I use GPS sometimes, but I rather use maps and remember the directions as much as possible. But for me, that is a personal choice to just exercise my brain. Take extra clothing, as the weather can change a lot over a 500 mile distance, and always include a rain suit. It can be put on to keep you warmer in a pinch.
One vital thing that I forgot was to take an advil, tylenol, or something for possible pain in the sides or lower back. I ride 300-400 mile days on a regular. But a 1000+ mile day with twisties thrown in really test your core and sides.

[K80Shooter]

blacklightning, 1st glad you had a safe trip and enjoyed it with no issues. :congrats:

I am curious about the fuel mileage though. How much fuel did it take to fill the tank each time? I know for me riding two up I easily get 200 miles between fill-up's and I don't think that I have ever put more than 5.5 gallons in at a time.
I do run the 93 octane fuel in mine.
There might be something amiss with yours.

[blacklightning]

blacklightning, 1st glad you had a safe trip and enjoyed it with no issues. :congrats:

I am curious about the fuel mileage though. How much fuel did it take to fill the tank each time? I know for me riding two up I easily get 200 miles between fill-up's and I don't think that I have ever put more than 5.5 gallons in at a time.
I do run the 93 octane fuel in mine.
There might be something amiss with yours.
I will have to double check, but it seems that we filled up each time at around 150 miles. Most of the time it was around 5 gallons needed. My buddy was riding 2 up and was getting about the same. So I guess you would say we got about 30-33 mpg. Mine will hopefully get better, as the miles go up. The fact that the gas gauge was so far off was the most frustrating thing for me. On my F3T and F3 Limited, things were just so much more accurate. They both tend to get about 38-40 mpg.

[Jesster72]

This was my first one, so it is by no means the "way to do it". But the day prior, I took about a 2 hour nap in the evening. Then got ready as if I was going to work. (shaved showered, teeth brushed, moisturize, the works). We left at exactly 12:00 am (midnight). We actually planned it around a full moon to have as much visibility as possible on the sides of the road. Took lots of stuff to drink and some snacks. My bike didn't do well on gas milage at all. We were able to get about 150-175 miles between fillups. At each fill up I drank either an iced coffee or water. That had me hitting the rest room every other fill up. Around 10 that morning (after traffic slowed), we stopped for a quick breakfast. Nothing filling, just a biscuit and something else to drink. Continued on to our mid point and check in location. After checking in, we hit the rest rooms and repeated the process of drinking at each fillup and relieving ourselves as needed. We did not stop to eat again, as a full stomach would probably make us sleepy. My goal was to be at the 600 mile mark before 12 hours had passed. Starting the route at midnight was good for avoiding traffic and it allowed us to meet the check point by or before noon. I use GPS sometimes, but I rather use maps and remember the directions as much as possible. But for me, that is a personal choice to just exercise my brain. Take extra clothing, as the weather can change a lot over a 500 mile distance, and always include a rain suit. It can be put on to keep you warmer in a pinch.
One vital thing that I forgot was to take an advil, tylenol, or something for possible pain in the sides or lower back. I ride 300-400 mile days on a regular. But a 1000+ mile day with twisties thrown in really test your core and sides.


This is the stuff I was looking for. I appreciate it. We do 500+ mile days 2-up, I take ibuprofin on the regular to keep the pains at bay. I don't get much over 150 miles before I have to stop anyway, I limit the miles more than the bike does, plus a good stretch and refreshment every couple of hours does wonders. I'll be doing this one on my own, Mrs. has no desire to be in the saddle that long.

Thank you again for sharing your trip and the details. Safe riding!

[BCNewell]

The biggest help for a successful SS1000 should be done at home ... in your easy chair. PLAN EVERYTHING OUT. If you KNOW you can go, say, 175 miles per tank at a given speed (figure in a headwind, as well), then sit down with Google maps and find fuel stations at the 160 to 175 mile point. Preferable on your exit side of the highway - not the other side. Don’t want highway crossings or intersection lights slowing you down. Limiting your stopped time is way more important than your riding speed. Exit the highway, pull up to the pump, kill the trike, get the gas pump started, stretch a bit while it’s filling, once filled go immediately inside and get your business done (snacks, restroom, etc) then get back on again. Agree with the completing first 600 miles in 12 hours. Also, if you have all your stops planned out beforehand, with exact stations to stop at, well ... now instead of this 1,000-mile behemoth you’ve gotta conquer, you have 6 little ~170-mile runs to complete. Those individual victories will help out on the mental part of it.

One other very important thing - MAKE SURE your chosen fuel stops have pumps on 24hrs a day. Some areas this can be a problem. Can check this with Google as well. Put everything down on paper, then into a GPS if you’re using one. If you’ve got everything all planned out, then all you’ve gotta worry about is the trike and YOU. If a couple good days pop up, you’re ready!!! Have fun with it.

[Cleg]

Bought a new to me 21 RTL in Florida with 1965 miles. Plan on IBing back to NY in May. Looking to avoid all 5he interstates and major ‘speedways’ as I’ll be doing it solo. Like others have said the Mrs. doesn’t want to brave it with me lol. Anyway, I appreciate all the above info and will keep an eye on this thread if it keeps going. Wish me well��

[canamjhb]

Glad to hear you accomplished your goal. Good information and advice in this thread. I have never done an IB and probably never will, I find it interesting that your pace is exactly what I have experienced over many years of touring. I always plan on traveling 50 miles for each hour on the road. That allows for fuel/rest breaks. Your target of 600 miles in 12 hours is right on pace. Good info not only for IB but for general touring for those of us that are not as adventurous. Good story.....

[Jesster72]

Glad to hear you accomplished your goal. Good information and advice in this thread. I have never done an IB and probably never will, I find it interesting that your pace is exactly what I have experienced over many years of touring. I always plan on traveling 50 miles for each hour on the road. That allows for fuel/rest breaks. Your target of 600 miles in 12 hours is right on pace. Good info not only for IB but for general touring for those of us that are not as adventurous. Good story.....

canamjhb, i use 55 mph for my estimates, and for our riding pace, it works right on for us. When we go on our tours, planning stops is a breeze because we basically know right where we will be after so many hours on the road.

Not saying I would, but I wonder if I can bump that pace for 1-up and the IB since it would only be me? Good things to think about......

[blacklightning]

I think the biggest thing that I gathered from this trip was just how much better the seating on the newer (2020+) RT is than any other bike that i have ever ridden. I have a sargeant seat on the BMW and after 570 miles, I was done. On my 2014 RT, 600 miles was my limits. On the F3L, approx 500-600 miles was all I could take. With this bike, I felt fine after the over 1100 miles. BTW, this is coming from a somewhat heavy guy (263 pounds, 6'-2").

[FrogmanDave]

It is awesome you achieved your goal. Great job Lightning!

[Fat Baxter]

Has any Spyder run the big, four-corners-of-the-US, 11 day Ironbutt? You're allowed to install an auxiliary fuel tank (but IIRC, it's limited to X percentage of the stock tank). Just wondering how a Spyder would cope.

[sandeejs]

I did my Iron Butt years ago, on my 750cc Shadow. 1,026 miles in 23&1/2 hours. My gas tank only held 135 miles of gas. The important thing was being efficient at gas stops. I left at 6am and arrived at 5:30 am. One longer stop for cake.

[Mikey]

:bowdown::bowdown: God love all of you that strike off on a misson of such like this! I do not think ether myself or the bride would want to do such a thing, 250-300 miles in a day is enough for me. I turn into a zombie after 400. :cheers:

[fatboy]

im doing four corners starting middle of may 12000 mile 26 days its a charity ride with 20 or so other riders

[RayBJ]

Congrats on your successful IB1000 run!

I failed back at the end of March 2014 on my Triumph Trophy SE. Plan was slab to Va and ride the mountains for 4 hrs then slab home (1,100mi). Left NJ at midnight and rode into a snow storm at 5am on i80 in PA. Semis crashed and closed i80 between exits near College Park till 9:30am when plow opened cut-thru back east. Aborted and rode back home after standing on the shoulder in snow for 4.5 hrs. They don't give Participation Trophies for a 400 mile slip & slide.

Moral of the story is Do the IB in summer!

[BCNewell]

Good on you blacklightning for getting it done! I’m sure you learned a lot about how you could do the next one better. Did all my IBA rides on my Honda CTX1300. My first was a SaddleSore1000, totaling 1,095 miles in 20hr 47min with 11 stops. A little rain, good roads, but lots of rural stuff with small towns. Learned a lot about what to do and what not to do on this one. Less than a month later, set out from south Texas to a meetup with other CTX1300 riders in North Carolina. Finished the SS1000 part of that trip in Nashville, TN, with 1,116 miles (about 200 of that in rain at night!) in 19hr 09min on 6 stops. Continued on, and (taking the long way) finished a BunBurner1500 Silver in NC by traveling a total of 1,582 miles in 27hr 54min on 9 total stops. Prior to these, my longest day trips were on the order of 300 miles or so. Since these, have had several 500 to 700 mile day rides, no problems - now that I know how to do them more efficiently.

Have a IBA RideAroundTexas mapped/planned out for possible attempt on the F3S - well over 3K miles in about 85hrs, with 18 mandatory checkpoints ...

[ollicat]

Man, none of this sounds very fun to me. I am a slow rider who likes to see the scenery and wave at the kids I see playing in their front yards.

[CRJames]

Man, none of this sounds very fun to me. I am a slow rider who likes to see the scenery and wave at the kids I see playing in their front yards.

Me & you both!

[sandeejs]

A question, late I know.
Why start an Iron Butt run at midnight? I started mine at 6am, finishing at 5am. (Napped and ate cake X1.)

[blacklightning]

A question, late I know.
Why start an Iron Butt run at midnight? I started mine at 6am, finishing at 5am. (Napped and ate cake X1.)

Starting at 12am had us getting to the dealership and checking in around mid day. Also I would rather end my ride closer to the evening rather than between midnight and noon. I have a tendency to doze when I get tired and the darkness after midnight would be too tempting. But that is just me. Leaving at midnight also got us through the tough traffic areas during less traffic.

[GORP]

Hi All,
I would like to tie in on Fat Baxter's post. My buddy and I are going to attempt to do the four corners run in May. (That is if the snow ever leaves Minnesota?!) Not going to to Iron Butt it, just hit the corners with no time deadline and non-freeway driving. My question is: How amenable are Can Am dealers to fitting "out of area" riders in with emergency repairs? I found BMW dealerships to be very helpful across the country when emergency repairs were needed. The route I am planning will be around 10,000 miles so oil change at least will be needed?

[fatboy]

im doing 4 corners in may-june also 26 days 12000 miles luckly swingin thru indy for race so ill change oil the and not worry about it till i get home

[GORP]

Fat Boy, When are you planning to be in Key West?

[fatboy]

probably 14 of june