The 2011 Iron Butt Rally is now running. The rally started in Seattle, and the first checkpoint was Friday June 24th in Cheektowaga near Buffalo, NY.
I had been planning to go as it is three hours from my house. The day before departure, I heard through the mailing list for previous Iron Butt Rally finishers that a 1200RT rider was in need of a fuel pump controller module.
I asked my friend, a one time BMW tech and RT owner if he had a spare module. He had one and lent it to me.
I was all set to leave, including a full tank and fuel cell and was on the highway when I noticed my ST1100 had a vibration through the chassis. I took the next exit and in the pouring rain checked the tires for nails. I saw two nails in the rear tire. Here is one of them:
I went to a dealer who had no tire to fix it. After some calling around, it was obvious the ST wasn't going too far. I had a previous experience with a damaged tire from plugging a nail hole, and I will avoid that again if I can. Two holes is even worse.
So I came back home and rigged up my GPS on the Suzuki Burgman and carried on. Great machine and very smooth. Here I am with Jeramy Loveall at the checkpoint helping him fix his bike:
It was great seeing all my Iron Butt friends, and witnessing the scene at the checkpoint. I am now back home and it is tire time in my garage. I took the ST rear tire off to replace it, and the rear tire on the KLR is also due for replacement.
So here is a pic of both bikes down for the count:
I had been planning to go as it is three hours from my house. The day before departure, I heard through the mailing list for previous Iron Butt Rally finishers that a 1200RT rider was in need of a fuel pump controller module.
I asked my friend, a one time BMW tech and RT owner if he had a spare module. He had one and lent it to me.
I was all set to leave, including a full tank and fuel cell and was on the highway when I noticed my ST1100 had a vibration through the chassis. I took the next exit and in the pouring rain checked the tires for nails. I saw two nails in the rear tire. Here is one of them:
I went to a dealer who had no tire to fix it. After some calling around, it was obvious the ST wasn't going too far. I had a previous experience with a damaged tire from plugging a nail hole, and I will avoid that again if I can. Two holes is even worse.
So I came back home and rigged up my GPS on the Suzuki Burgman and carried on. Great machine and very smooth. Here I am with Jeramy Loveall at the checkpoint helping him fix his bike:
It was great seeing all my Iron Butt friends, and witnessing the scene at the checkpoint. I am now back home and it is tire time in my garage. I took the ST rear tire off to replace it, and the rear tire on the KLR is also due for replacement.
So here is a pic of both bikes down for the count:
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