FJRForum Official 2019 Iron Butt Rally Tracking/Analysis Thread

[Warchild]

Is there any tech inspection at the end of the rally regarding aux fuel? If not, what's to stop a rider picking up an extra gallon or two in a red plastic fual can? (besides honor and honesty, of course).

There are a plethora of checks in the scoring software, fully-enabled Spotwalla tracks, and other mechanisms in place that would reveal such shenanigans in short order (example: we would know if one's average mpg goes from 40 mpg to something like 55mpg over a given stretch of time).

But what actually prevents this is honor. Pure and simple.

At the end of the day, when the Top 10 are standing on the Podium receiving their standing ovation - the following represents the MOST VALUABLE thing an IBR Rider can receive:

The Admiration of Their Peers

There is no trophy, no award, no certificate, nothing is more valuable to an IBR Rider then the admiration of their peers. Doing anything that might call that into question will permanently stain a rider, resulting in scorn and disdain forever. You can't recover from this - it is rare, but it has happened to more than one well-known rider.

This isn't a pervasive problem in the community, that's a safe bet.

 

[kgjl]

Another year that more FJR's finish than started!

You guys are badass!

I am a Harley guy, but if I weren't, FJR. Clearly a better mousetrap!

 

[08FJR4ME]

When will they ever learn?

Dave

 

[Warchild]

Day 10: Belt and Suspenders

https://ibr/wvi.com/

 

[rickcorwn]

Is there any tech inspection at the end of the rally regarding aux fuel? If not, what's to stop a rider picking up an extra gallon or two in a red plastic fual can? (besides honor and honesty, of course).

Honesty is enough.

Stopping, unstrapping a couple gallons strapped down, opening, setting up the spout, glugging in, putting it all back, and having to refill later....take more time than typical fuel stop for 11.5 gallons with the flip of two caps and a pump spewing out 5 gallons a minute. If it were an adventure ride where fuel stops are more scarce....then maybe so. The IBR...not so much.

And bikes that are capacity challenged (e.g. a KLR)...frankly aren't as competitive as the cruise missiles with big tanks and aux. cells.

The fuel capacity on the KLR isn't bad for a stock tank at 6 gallons but your right the KLR is hardly a cruise missile. The biggest issue with this KLR is it's lone 55 watt halogen on the front.

 

[lddave]

In 2003 at Lake City while checking riders paperwork I was told to do a quick calculation of the fuel log to determine if mpg seemed reasonable.

 

[Bounce]

What does Road FM 170 look like on the Texas / Mexico border ? A few riders are picking off Baquillas overlook as a Bonus ? It must be hotter than blazes down there, and it’s not easy to get there either.

Heading from East (Terlingua) to West (Presidio) there is a section that can catch riders unawares. Running that way, an observant rider will see a crest in the road and nothing past the rise. More than one rider has been a little less than prudent and not scrubbed off a lot of speed before heading into the unknown. On the other side of the crest is a quick elevation change (hence the lack of visibility) along with a hard left (I think it's also off camber). So you're in negative Gs while also needing that lost traction to try and cling to a hard left, off-camber turn.

It's about 2 miles east of Lajitas.

GoogleMap

 

[Niehart]

https://ibr.wvi.com/ibr/2019/2019IBR_Wednesday26_Day10.pdf

 

[Bounce]

In 2009 I LITERALLY took a Sharpie to the surface of my SPOT tracker and scratched out the days as a ritual each morning. (I saw somebody do this on their fuel cell at the CP this year too). By the end of the rally my hash marks miraculously matched reality.

Reminds of the first year I ran, 2011. To finish you had to nail all 48 states. Around Day 3 was getting paranoid I would lose track. So I wrote down on a piece of paper the 2 letter codes for every state in two columns then folded the piece of paper so it would sit in the tank bag visible at all times. Every time I scored a state I literally scratched it off the list.

It ended up being oddly comforting/reassuring to see the steady progress of scratched off items and be able to verify everything I had scored (and had still to score)

- Colin

OTOH, I backed up my GPS with a paper map in the tank bag window AND 3x5 cards with the next planned bonus on top. Sadly, those things don't help when you ignore portions of them while riding. I didn't bother to flip a 3x5 card and was many miles past my turn to catch the bonus near Miles City, MT. Faced with back tracking when I realized it while filling up, I ignored it and soldiered on. Unknown to me was that the eastern entrance I was planning to take would have been the tougher one and there was a western one that I could have still used but didn't know about.

A perfect example of when (sometimes) taking an extra few minutes at a stop to review plans vs reality and adjust your plans could have been wiser than keeping the wheels rolling. IIRC the next Finisher above me was only a few points more than me. I can't remember the next place up from there. There could have been a higher finish for me if I'd stopped and looked at alternatives.

Just checked the map at 10ish EST and the three riders from Alaska have crossed into the US of A.
But interestingly not all at the same spot. They've been running the same path from Alaska, through Alberta then most of Saskatchewan. But just as they near the border their paths have all diverged. Curious... Are they still bonus hunting or are they trying to avoid being labelled a team?

Will be interesting to see where they are when I check in the morning.

- Colin

Or maybe not wanting to catch the eye of border guards as a gaggle of well-equipped bikes in a group?

 

[Goodman4]

Any thoughts on the rider that is near Cap-de-Rosiers Lighthouse? I haven't been watching long but his SPOT was stopped a few miles west of the light. Now he's moving again. It looks like a stretch to make SC.

 

[Goodman4]

Also, I've been watching riders close to me in W KY. If the rider headed east of Paducah on 24 stays E on the Bluegrass Pkwy, they will pass each other in 10 mins. I don't usually do the motorcycle wave across the interstate, but I bet a rider would if he saw a fellow IBR rider on day 11.

 

[Ignacio]

This morning has been busy for my friend and IBR rookie JD Smith on a BMW GS. I saw a video of a steaming (or smoking) bike stranded by the side of the road near Williamsport, PA. And within the hour Facebook fired up and provided YET ANOTHER FJR rider (Thanks Chuck Snyder) volunteering themselves, the keys to their FJR, and a trailer to haul away the Bavarian corpse. With a bit of luck JD will still earn a 3 digit number in Greenville.

What stuns me more than this beomg second rally that more FJRs finish the IBR than start..is that there seems to be a never-ending supply of spare rally-ready FJRs* and owners staged around the country such that one is never more than 4 hours away from one being delivered to you....regardless of the brand or model bike you happen to be riding.

That's a slow clap to the FJR Community.

* And it's not exclusive just our community. A member of Goldwing Community wanted to as well, but had to be at work.

 

[Gus96]

Dan is now with Ian, lets hope things go well with the drive repair,

You the man Dan

 

[BikerGeek99]

Well, since we haven't seen this yet this year, I think it's time for this video to come back out.

 

[Niehart]

And yes I just blew coffee out of my nose from laughing so hard.

 

[Tyler]

Ah George Zelenz... was thinking about him yesterday when people were talking about waving at the riders as they went by... to my knowledge, nothing has topped this... :lol:

Well, since we haven't seen this yet this year, I think it's time for this video to come back out.

 

[Boondoggle]

This morning has been busy for my friend and IBR rookie JD Smith on a BMW GS. I saw a video of a steaming (or smoking) bike stranded by the side of the road near Williamsport, PA. And within the hour Facebook fired up and provided YET ANOTHER FJR rider (Thanks Chuck Snyder) volunteering themselves, the keys to their FJR, and a trailer to haul away the Bavarian corpse. With a bit of luck JD will still earn a 3 digit number in Greenville.
What stuns me more than this beomg second rally that more FJRs finish the IBR than start..is that there seems to be a never-ending supply of spare rally-ready FJRs* and owners staged around the country such that one is never more than 4 hours away from one being delivered to you....regardless of the brand or model bike you happen to be riding.

It was an act like this in 2015 that got me off the sidelines and into (small) rallying.

In the end, it's the people.

 

[Uncle Hud]

HIGHLANDER posted: What does Road FM 170 look like on the Texas / Mexico border ? A few riders are picking off Baquillas overlook as a Bonus ? It must be hotter than blazes down there, and it’s not easy to get there either.

Bounce, with an incredible ability to remember Texas back roads, replied: Heading from East (Terlingua) to West (Presidio) there is a section that can catch riders unawares. Running that way, an observant rider will see a crest in the road and nothing past the rise. More than one rider has been a little less than prudent and not scrubbed off a lot of speed before heading into the unknown. On the other side of the crest is a quick elevation change (hence the lack of visibility) along with a hard left (I think it's also off camber). So you're in negative Gs while also needing that lost traction to try and cling to a hard left, off-camber turn.
It's about 2 miles east of Lajitas.

GoogleMap

Link didn't work for me. Maybe this link does. Click along the roadway in the distance, and you go over a rise and onto a steep downslope with a sharp left-hander.

I suspect Senor Bounce remembers it because of a few uneasy moments of personal experience.

 

[eddiememphis]

The guy in Cheyenne and the dude in Grand Etang, NS, better hope their SPOTs are very delayed or they're toast.

 

[BIODSL]

Ah George Zelenz... was thinking about him yesterday when people were talking about waving at the riders as they went by... to my knowledge, nothing has topped this...

Well, since we haven't seen this yet this year, I think it's time for this video to come back out.

Did everyone notice that George was mentioned in the Day10 report. Not by name but by action. The image of the "lighthouse" waaaay off in the distance from 2005...that's George's.