D-Mac
Distance Rider
Last year I bought my FZ6 (a 'leftover' '07 new). After breaking it in for a few weeks, I did my first Iron Butt ride in August '08 (SS1000 - 1000 miles in under 24h). It was an amazing experience and I learned a lot about the bike and myself. I posted a short ride report on here (a copy of it is here: http://www.600riders.com/forum/touring/12971-ss1000-fz6.html). Others were kind enough to share their thoughts and experiences on these types of rides as well. I then spent some time modding the bike with the goal of doing more long rides (I have several planned this summer). I've also spent a lot of time discussing LD riding tips with various folks who do Iron Butt rides regularly.
With a wife in grad school and young kids, I don't have time for long, multi-day trips right now. As a result, I don't really feel like I'm missing as much by having to stick to the interstate and keep moving. Better to glimpse the countryside than not see it at all - and better to be riding than sitting at home wishing I was on the bike! On the plus side, I'm a college prof and our semester just ended, so I have some flexibility with dates (I can pretty much pick any day and take off - as long as I'm not gone too long).
I'm thinking of trying another Iron Butt within the next week or so.
My next ride? After a LOT of thought and playing around with maps, I'm pretty much set on doing a BB1500 (1500 documented miles in under 36 hours). It's the next logical Iron Butt to try after the 1000, and only one has ever been done on an FZ6 (and no one has done two separate, documented Iron Butt rides on an FZ6). I don't care much about the certificates - I really want to see if I can do it and see a bit of the country! I've just about ruled out the BBG (same as the regular '1500', but done in 24h instead of 36h! ) I think that trying to do 1500 miles in 24h on an FZ6 would make the route choice too restrictive, and I'm not sure I've shaved enough time off my last Iron Butt performance yet to make it (to achieve a BBG on a stock FZ6 riding at legal speeds, I'd pretty much have to do nothing but ride and get gas). A 36h BB1500 will give me a chance to see how much progress I've made since my last big ride, and it should be quite achievable even in bad weather, with traffic problems, and taking breaks for rest. By no means easy, but doable.
I know lots of folks think these rides are stupid/pointless - and that's fine. Please start another thread or PM me if you want to rant about that. In this thread I'm going to try and document the entire process of prep and the ride itself - hopefully with plenty of photos before/during/after. I'll also be posting a link so folks can follow the ride in real-time via my SPOT tracker.
So stay tuned.....or not. My next post will be about route selection.
And yes......I WILL be riding on the stock seat again!
With a wife in grad school and young kids, I don't have time for long, multi-day trips right now. As a result, I don't really feel like I'm missing as much by having to stick to the interstate and keep moving. Better to glimpse the countryside than not see it at all - and better to be riding than sitting at home wishing I was on the bike! On the plus side, I'm a college prof and our semester just ended, so I have some flexibility with dates (I can pretty much pick any day and take off - as long as I'm not gone too long).
I'm thinking of trying another Iron Butt within the next week or so.
My next ride? After a LOT of thought and playing around with maps, I'm pretty much set on doing a BB1500 (1500 documented miles in under 36 hours). It's the next logical Iron Butt to try after the 1000, and only one has ever been done on an FZ6 (and no one has done two separate, documented Iron Butt rides on an FZ6). I don't care much about the certificates - I really want to see if I can do it and see a bit of the country! I've just about ruled out the BBG (same as the regular '1500', but done in 24h instead of 36h! ) I think that trying to do 1500 miles in 24h on an FZ6 would make the route choice too restrictive, and I'm not sure I've shaved enough time off my last Iron Butt performance yet to make it (to achieve a BBG on a stock FZ6 riding at legal speeds, I'd pretty much have to do nothing but ride and get gas). A 36h BB1500 will give me a chance to see how much progress I've made since my last big ride, and it should be quite achievable even in bad weather, with traffic problems, and taking breaks for rest. By no means easy, but doable.
I know lots of folks think these rides are stupid/pointless - and that's fine. Please start another thread or PM me if you want to rant about that. In this thread I'm going to try and document the entire process of prep and the ride itself - hopefully with plenty of photos before/during/after. I'll also be posting a link so folks can follow the ride in real-time via my SPOT tracker.
So stay tuned.....or not. My next post will be about route selection.
And yes......I WILL be riding on the stock seat again!
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