Iron Butt on a XS?

[jsuchland]

I told my riding buddies that I'm doing an Iron Butt ride this summer. I assumed that they knew I'd be riding my FJR. One did ask if I'd be taking the XS. I can't imagine riding the XS that far in one day! For those who aren't in the know about the Iron Butt, the Saddle Sore 1000 is riding 1000 miles in a 24hr period. If your feeling adventurous, the Bun Burner 1500 can be done simutaneously with a SS1000. The BB1500 is 1500 miles in 36 hours.
Who's up for a SS1000 on a XS650? Has anyone done it?

[yamasarus]

You'd need an iron head to try it on an XS!

[650leo]

I have gone about 750 in a day on an XS. Long time ago.

[jsuchland]

Leo, my longest day on a small bike like this one is probably around 200 miles. My hat's off to you! I was whipped after those "long" days. My first bike was a 1981 XJ550 Maxim which is what I got into touring on. I'll be suprised to be able to ride a 500 mile day anymore on a small bike.

[650leo]

Just did a good ride last weekend. 11 hours the first day. Only about 400 very slow miles. About 175 miles the next two days.
5.5 hours to get home. The trip down averaged 35 to 40 mph. The trip home dodging rain drops was 70+ average.
About 1100 miles in 4 days.

[jsuchland]

I did it. I'm back from my vacation which I kicked off with a SS1000. I left Tacoma Washington on July 25th at 4am and arrived in Casper Wyoming at 10pm. Total miles: 1117. I would never dream of trying this on a XS! My FJR was very comfortable for the entire 4000 mile trip over 2 weeks.

[rodemyyamaha]

I am building my bike rodemyyamaha.com for the express purpose of riding the stampede. The first time I read about the stampede it was 3000 miles in 3 days.
Has to be a hard tail
No windshield
No hard bags
No chase vehicle
If you finish you get a patch
I am ALL in for next year.
I have done the 1k and 1.5k Iron butt and have the patch, pin, certificate and stickers...lol
Yeah.. I have an iron butt... iron head... and a bunch of screws loose.
If I can find some forks for my bobber I will be a happy camper.
Starting to put the motor back together this week and will have the bike back together withing a couple of weeks... crossed fingers.
Electrical will be the biggest challenge

Cheers

[richard]

The longest I rode in one day was 500 miles on a Honda 4 cylinder 650. It wasn’t that, bad but on high vibration bikes my right hand goes numb after about a hundred miles and I find myself shaking my hand to get the blood flowing again. There’s a reason they put 100 mile tanks on Sportsters and Triumphs, you really should take a break every 100 miles or so. I knew a guy who did the Iron Butt on a KLR650. I thought he was crazy

[teflon97239]

In 78 or 79 I rode San Diego to Portland (1050 miles on I-5) straight through with nothing but drain and fill stops on a semi-cafe XS500 twin. Rode around the NW every day for a couple weeks on vacation, then did the long haul back to Cali. Seems it was 16 hours each way, averaging a little over 65 even while sitting still sucking coffee. Sore everything to be sure, but when you're 20-something, and your scooter is all you have...

But there's a point to this. You know that long-haul numbness you get in one hand, or maybe both? In my case it's degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine (neck arthritis - very common past 50). I always shook the buzz out of my hands too, for decades. I didn't realize that any relief I got was actually from sitting up straight and letting my upper spine unkink for a moment. Laying out over the tank of a stiffly sprung bike for hours tends to pinch nerves, especially if your helmet has a visor requiring extra chin-lift to look ahead. There's no real cure, but simple strengthening exercises for the back and neck muscles are excellent for improving riding posture and delaying or even avoiding the onset of pains and numb hands.

So does this dictate I retire to a Gold Wing with a recliner installed? Hell no. Just shorter trips and more breaks.

[richard]

1050 miles on I-5 that must have been a trip.

I have a new helmet that looks weird like a star wars helmet but it seems to be better than my old helmets were because it doesn't ride up like the others used to. Having the right stuff makes all the difference on trips. Oh and my new helmet has the sun visor built in, which it kind of nice. I don't mind bikes that are smooth but on the heavy bikes it feels like there is nothing I could do in I had to move out of the way fast. I have had several Harleys but I prefer a smaller bike. That's just the way I am.

[650leo]

I just read a story about the Stampede. They started at the Santa Monica Pier and ended in Norfolk. 2782 miles.The best time was 50.05 hours. You get the hardass patch for doing the run in under 55 hours. Thats 2 days 7 hours. Average speed of 50.58 mph. To get that average and some sleep then lots of 3 digit speeds.
A 650 hard tail i don't think so. A rephased 750 maybe. much less vibes.
There was one XS650, ridden by Friesz from Polson, MT, time 100.53 hours. # 15 out of 26. The first XS650 to compete. Not bad.
In the october issue of Iron Horse.

[boots]

Nov 5, 2010 22:38:56 GMT -5 650leo said:

There was one XS650, ridden by Friesz from Polson, MT, time 100.53 hours. # 15 out of 26. The first XS650 to compete. Not bad.
In the october issue of Iron Horse.

got that issue in the mag rack in the john; read that article. those guys are hardcore.