Warchild is famous!

[Old Michael]

Dale, would it have killed you to throw in a

"And I'd like to say howdy to all my brothers on the FJR forum. I wouldn't be here without them."

Huh?

Would thatta been too much to ask?

 

[TriggerT]

Need to go find a copy of CW this morning.

The PHIDs on that Blackbird look suspiciously similar to the ones I just finished mounting on my FJR. Maybe I will pick up some of the LD mojo from having added them.

 

[vabrzn]

Congrats !!

 

[EXPDSGT]

A couple of questions -- what seat? Where did you put the 22 gals of gas and how did you pump it to the tank?

How many meals each day? Did you have a follow vehicle at any time or just pit stops along the way? How old were you when you did this? (you don't have to answer this one if you don't want to). Have you had your arm fixed and what was the problem? Did you have a cruise control? How worried were you at night about animals? I hit a rabbit once on 395 north and about broke my foot at just 65-70 MPH. How far in advance did you start the planning for the ride? Did you only have the two support people or were there more that are not mentioned? Did any companies sponsor you or was Avon the only one that stepped up? Did you pre-ride any of the route? Did you do any physical things to prepare for the challenge (like hit the gym)?

This is very interesting and I think the whole story would make for good reading -- ever think about writing a short book about your feat?

Thanks and I commend you on this and "NO" I am not planning anything like this myself.

 

[NMRoadRunner]

I'll ask the "stupid question of the day" Why not on an FJR?

 

[Warchild]

Dale, would it have killed you to throw in a "And I'd like to say howdy to all my brothers on the FJR forum. I wouldn't be here without them."

Huh?

Would thatta been too much to ask?

*sigh* There is no winning here... :lol: You should see the hate-threads I'm seeing on one of the Blackbird forums.... some of it is just nonsensical... <_<

The PHIDs on that Blackbird look suspiciously similar to the ones I just finished mounting on my FJR. Maybe I will pick up some of the LD mojo from having added them.

I can guarantee you they are not the same, other than the lamp body. The ones on the XX were a very special "one-off" version of the PHIDs, and are lit using a 50-watt HID bulb. They are much, MUCH brighter than the standard PHID. Completely different ballast. There were an incredibly tight cowling fit in the nose of the Blackbird:

A couple of questions -- what seat?

A Rick Mayer.

Where did you put the 22 gals of gas and how did you pump it to the tank?

I put them here:

Pillion-placed tank was gravity fed. The two side tanks were electric-pumped into the stock tank.

How many meals each day?

None the first 3 days. One small meal on days 4-7.

Did you have a follow vehicle at any time or just pit stops along the way?

No chase vehicle. No pit stops in between each 1500-mile leg.

How old were you when you did this? (you don't have to answer this one if you don't want to).

Just shy of 49.

Have you had your arm fixed and what was the problem?

No... it was a badly torn bicep. VERY badly torn. I just toughed it out.

Did you have a cruise control?

No. Though I had a Vista Cruise to shake out the throttle hand every so often.

 

[Warchild]

How worried were you at night about animals?

Not with the 50-watt PHIDs! Also note the low and high-beam were HID as well. I was like a rolling Stadium Light. :lol:

How far in advance did you start the planning for the ride?

About 9 months.

Did you only have the two support people or were there more that are not mentioned?

Just Jan and Brian Roberts.

Did any companies sponsor you or was Avon the only one that stepped up?

This forum sponsored me by hooking me up with fuel cards! Vancosports hooked me up with an 11-line stainless steel brake-line kit. Western Power Sports provide a case of Silkolene Semi-Synthetic 20-50 and 3 K&N oil filters. FJRGoodies.com provided miscellaneous consumables (Iridium spark plugs, etc)

Did you pre-ride any of the route?

No.

Did you do any physical things to prepare for the challenge (like hit the gym)?

No. Especially with a severely torn bicep!

This is very interesting and I think the whole story would make for good reading -- ever think about writing a short book about your feat?

Oh, no, no, no.... I wasn't even too keen about this article being published, truth be told. I only did this ride because so many people (even in the Iron Butt community) said it couldn't be done.

I'll ask the "stupid question of the day" Why not on an FJR?

Because doing this on the the Blackbird was more insane. :lol: Also, after the gearing change, the XX got better gas mileage at the, uh, average speeds I was maintaining.

 

[EXPDSGT]

Thanks Dale -- Much appreciated -- Russ

 

[BobbyBlue]

So I'm in line last night at the grocer to get my greens... leafing through the CW and....HOLY **** !!! Thats WARCHILD !!! OUR WARCHILD !!!! We are VERY VERY proud of you Dale !!! ****...I got out of breath just reading the article !!! Congratulations Man !!!! Way to " Turn To " !

Sincerely,

Bobby

 

[TriggerT]

OH, so you sold me the cheapo, second rate, low grade, old model PHID's. NICE, thanks man.

I'm just giving you hard hard time. Though now I want to score a pair of those 50's.

 

[jekirby]

Congratulations on the article. I have not seen it. I may have missed this or may misunderstand....but were these unofficial BBG's? I thought you had to record a stop every 300 miles or so. I would assume to do this you ran through all 20+ gallons of fuel between fill ups. A respectable feat non the less.

 

[Ric in Sac]

Well done Dale! :clapping:

 

[IAGeezer]

Some guys say a lot, and some guys just go out and do amazing things.

Good job, Dale, yer the Man.

By the way - you're not gonna go out and get a publicist are ya???

 

[Warchild]

Congratulations on the article. I have not seen it. I may have missed this or may misunderstand....but were these unofficial BBG's? I thought you had to record a stop every 300 miles or so.

These were indeed certified BBG's, with the usual start/ending/midway fuel receipts, two witnesses at the start/finish of each BBG, etc. However, I did receive special one-time dispensation from the IBA to substitute the 300-mile documentation requirement on this run for a couple reasons, mainly: 1) where I was riding (Nevada and Utah outback) there were frequent times where there was just nothing available to stop and get documentation at a 300-mile point (example: midnight on the ET Highway - Rachel is locked up tighter than a drum), and 2) the IBA used this run to experiment with using a GPS transponder to replace the 300-mile documentation requirement. Indeed, Kneebone was able to "watch" me in real-time all 7 days using the Star-Taxx system. Though it worked fine during BBG Hell Week, the IBA decided against the substitution due to potential GPS reception "drop-outs", etc.

I would assume to do this you ran through all 20+ gallons of fuel between fill ups.

Sometimes, it was uncomfortably close to running on fumes.

Some guys say a lot, and some guys just go out and do amazing things.
Good job, Dale, yer the Man.

By the way - you're not gonna go out and get a publicist are ya???

Shyeah, I am pretty sure *that* ain't gonna happen. :lol:

 

[Warchild]

OH, so you sold me the cheapo, second rate, low grade, old model PHID's.

Look at it this way: you have *the* history-making PHIDs; you now own the set you have started the PHID-craze in the Long-Distance community over 5 years ago now! The very ones featured in the web-pages that started it all: PHIDs: Eyes of God

 

[Gizmo]

Never done an IB ride, but have oftern thought about it, just as a personal challenge to myslef. I can't even image what you went thru Warchild-especailly with the injury :dribble:

That's the stuff legends are made of. Great job. :clapping:

 

[Checkswrecks]

Ahhh, old news.

Seriously, welcome back, you've been missed. Congrats on something that nobody else even thought to do.

 

[Harald]

Congrats Warchild! :clapping: Having done my first SS1000 last year, I can almost appreciate the magnitude of what you accomplished. :superman:

I'm glad I read this thread or I wouldn't have even known about the article for a couple months. Why's that you ask? I subscribe to Cycle World along with too many other magazines and I'm currently a couple months behind on reading them. But I pulled the May issue out of the stack and started reading last night until the wife called from the bedroom and said she needed some "attention" :yahoo: . Sorry Dale, but she looks way better than you :crazy: and you got outprioritized. Maybe I'll finish the article this evening after work.

 

[ndivita]

Okay, I haven't read it yet, but I was just told that Warchild's BBG world record is the focus of a Cycle World article this month. Doesn't look like the article is on their website.
Off to the newsstand!

Read the article. Truly amazing accomplishment. It's sad that few folks outside of those who ride will appreciate it because it is really is stunning achievement.

 

[sonicspeed]

well it's obvious that Dale will never be eligible for the CBA

congrats Dale