2017 IBR. The BIG one

Joined
May 6, 2013
Messages
131
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Arizona
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2005 ST1300
STOC #
8722
First, a hearty congrats to Kendoo for his amazing ride and finish! Brilliantly done my friend! And I'd just like to say thanks for all the good wishes and kind words from everyone. When you are doing the IBR, the last thing in your mind (well, in mine anyway) is the fact that hundreds of people are following along and watching the rally unfold.
For me, this was by far the most difficult rally I've competed in. The routing challenges were ridiculous, and brilliantly planned. Just what I've come to expect from Jeff Earls. My first leg was a bit disapponting, as I hadn't yet cracked the code to the routing puzzle. Then on the second leg, I got a bad tank of fuel which ultimately plugged the fuel strainer in the lower tank, and seized the 6 month old (new) pump. The bike failed to start at 6:30 PM on June 29th. The wait for the tow truck to pick me up about 45 miles north of Shreveport LA was nearly 5 hours, and the bike got dropped off at a Honda dealer at midnight. The next morning I managed to convince the dealer to look at the bike, but they had no parts in stock. I eventually convinced them to R&R a used pump assembly from a 2008 ST they had, exchange it with my plugged junk, and re-assemble it. The bill came to just under 1200 bucks. Nobody said the IBR is cheap. The good news is the bike was running flawlessly again, and I wasn't going to get DQ'd by not making it back to the checkpoint in time. The biggest cost however, was the full day of riding time lost in leg two. I dropped to 82nd place when I finally made it to checkpoint 2 in Allen TX. I was very disappointed, but equally determined to salvage a finish in the rally.
At the riders meeting on Sunday morning, Jeff told everyone that to finish the rally we should aim for at least 55,000 points total. I decided to plan a third leg that would guarantee me finishers points, as long as I could ride it. By this time I had worked out a method for routing that allowed me to plan a leg with over 60,000 points. Riding it would not be easy however, as it called for two stints of around 36 hours of non-stop bonus collecting. This is because some bonuses are available anytime, and others have very specific time requirements. Planning your route meant you had to be at each bonus during the availability window. Time management between bonuses was critical.
Anyway, I somehow managed to ride the plan, and scored as expected without losing any points or incurring any penalties for leg three. I did cut the arrival time at the finish pretty close, getting there about 30 minutes before the penalty began. I got scored, and waited to see if I managed to be a finisher. After getting scored, I decided I was satisfied with my personal level of effort for the rally. I had overcome some unexpected problems, lost a lot of ground to my fellow competitors, but refused to give up. I had to ride really long and hard on leg 3, but for me it was all about doing the best I could. I honestly thought I would finish near the bottom, and I was shocked to get a silver medal finish for the second time. Had I not had the breakdown, my leg two ride would have resulted in about 18-20,000 more points but we'll never know where I might have finished.

The ST is an amazing, brilliant motorcycle. I have taken that poor bike down goat trails and mud roads, and ridden it hard for days and thousands of miles at a time. It has never let me down. The bad gas problem wasn't the bikes fault, and it continued to amaze me on the non-stop 27 hour ride home from Minneapolis yesterday. I'm going to buy another one.

Garry
 
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BakerBoy

It's all small stuff.
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Great to hear from you both Ken and Garry. :yes: I especially like learning what you were dealing with and thinking about. Thanks!
 

gmast1100

Gettin old sux
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A great big shout out for the accomplishments of Ken and Garry. I really admire each of your determinations. I can't even imagine the thought process that you had to go through.
 
Joined
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Cleveland
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That's probably because the "myriad problems" are over-hyped on internet forums, especially Honda internet forums.
Despite the fact that I ride every week with a BMW club, my sole sources of info regarding the 'myriad problems' of Beemers is the daily writeups on the IBR website and MCN. Indeed, the IBR comments about BMW's that failed is more strident than MCN. This is the only Honda website I read regularly and there does not seem to be much bike bashing at all - for any marque.
 

BakerBoy

It's all small stuff.
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Despite the fact that I ride every week with a BMW club, my sole sources of info regarding the 'myriad problems' of Beemers is the daily writeups on the IBR website and MCN. Indeed, the IBR comments about BMW's that failed is more strident than MCN. This is the only Honda website I read regularly and there does not seem to be much bike bashing at all - for any marque.
You meet the nicest people who used to be on a Honda. :D
 
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Messages
2,564
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Muskoka, Canada
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FJR & Super Tenere
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4759
After getting scored, I decided I was satisfied with my personal level of effort for the rally. I had overcome some unexpected problems, lost a lot of ground to my fellow competitors, but refused to give up. I had to ride really long and hard on leg 3, but for me it was all about doing the best I could. I honestly thought I would finish near the bottom, and I was shocked to get a silver medal finish for the second time. Had I not had the breakdown, my leg two ride would have resulted in about 18-20,000 more points but we'll never know where I might have finished.
Huge respect.

Congratulations Garry
 
Joined
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Messages
1,307
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58
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Wallkill, NY
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2016 FJR
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8541
First, a hearty congrats to Kendoo for his amazing ride and finish! Brilliantly done my friend! And I'd just like to say thanks for all the good wishes and kind words from everyone. When you are doing the IBR, the last thing in your mind (well, in mine anyway) is the fact that hundreds of people are following along and watching the rally unfold.
For me, this was by far the most difficult rally I've competed in. The routing challenges were ridiculous, and brilliantly planned. Just what I've come to expect from Jeff Earls. My first leg was a bit disapponting, as I hadn't yet cracked the code to the routing puzzle. Then on the second leg, I got a bad tank of fuel which ultimately plugged the fuel strainer in the lower tank, and seized the 6 month old (new) pump. The bike failed to start at 6:30 PM on June 29th. The wait for the tow truck to pick me up about 45 miles north of Shreveport LA was nearly 5 hours, and the bike got dropped off at a Honda dealer at midnight. The next morning I managed to convince the dealer to look at the bike, but they had no parts in stock. I eventually convinced them to R&R a used pump assembly from a 2008 ST they had, exchange it with my plugged junk, and re-assemble it. The bill came to just under 1200 bucks. Nobody said the IBR is cheap. The good news is the bike was running flawlessly again, and I wasn't going to get DQ'd by not making it back to the checkpoint in time. The biggest cost however, was the full day of riding time lost in leg two. I dropped to 82nd place when I finally made it to checkpoint 2 in Allen TX. I was very disappointed, but equally determined to salvage a finish in the rally.
At the riders meeting on Sunday morning, Jeff told everyone that to finish the rally we should aim for at least 55,000 points total. I decided to plan a third leg that would guarantee me finishers points, as long as I could ride it. By this time I had worked out a method for routing that allowed me to plan a leg with over 60,000 points. Riding it would not be easy however, as it called for two stints of around 36 hours of non-stop bonus collecting. This is because some bonuses are available anytime, and others have very specific time requirements. Planning your route meant you had to be at each bonus during the availability window. Time management between bonuses was critical.
Anyway, I somehow managed to ride the plan, and scored as expected without losing any points or incurring any penalties for leg three. I did cut the arrival time at the finish pretty close, getting there about 30 minutes before the penalty began. I got scored, and waited to see if I managed to be a finisher. After getting scored, I decided I was satisfied with my personal level of effort for the rally. I had overcome some unexpected problems, lost a lot of ground to my fellow competitors, but refused to give up. I had to ride really long and hard on leg 3, but for me it was all about doing the best I could. I honestly thought I would finish near the bottom, and I was shocked to get a silver medal finish for the second time. Had I not had the breakdown, my leg two ride would have resulted in about 18-20,000 more points but we'll never know where I might have finished.

The ST is an amazing, brilliant motorcycle. I have taken that poor bike down goat trails and mud roads, and ridden it hard for days and thousands of miles at a time. It has never let me down. The bad gas problem wasn't the bikes fault, and it continued to amaze me on the non-stop 27 hour ride home from Minneapolis yesterday. I'm going to buy another one.

Garry

Congrats on another silver metal finish Garry. I have read a lot of reports where folks have had various issues that caused significant delay and to hear what they have to do to save their ride is simply amazing. Such determination. If your fuel pump had quit at a different point in your leg2 route, making the checkpoint would have been impossible...a silver lining (pun intended). It was great to catch up with you over a couple meals.
 

Gerhard

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Congrats to both Ken and Garry. I am sure that this type commitment is way past what I am capable of so I can only admire your achievements.

Gerhard
 

Shuey

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I haven't been keeping up with anything non-IBR during the last two weeks. I rode the rally and have so many great stories both from riders demonstrating perseverence, strength, courage, and grit, as well as from the larger community who were ready to help on a moments notice at any location. The IBA/IBR and the LD community is simply fantastic. I'm very happy to be in their company.

Bob (aka Jodog)
 
Joined
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I haven't been keeping up with anything non-IBR during the last two weeks. I rode the rally and have so many great stories both from riders demonstrating perseverence, strength, courage, and grit, as well as from the larger community who were ready to help on a moments notice at any location. The IBA/IBR and the LD community is simply fantastic. I'm very happy to be in their company.

Bob (aka Jodog)
Great ride Bob! I couldn't agree more, the LD community are top notch people.
 

Raven

"two wrecks" - RIP ACL
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Messages
925
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recalculating
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Aprilia Caponord
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6406
Looks like Raven came in 77th, with 69405 points from only 6183 miles. The lowest mileage of all finishers. Unfortunately, efficiency isn't a criteria for the IBR.
Hi guys, although I mostly lurk over here now I'm still an ST at heart. :)

Well, I finally made it and it's good to know y'all were watching for me even though I was on a Caponord.

If you'd like to read my ride report, it's over on the Aprilia forum. (CLICK HERE) You don't have to join or log in to read it. It is a work in progress and slowly emerging in installments as I capture my thoughts in fits and starts.

Whilst efficiency isn't a grading criteria in the IBR, it can certainly be the difference between finishing and not. In this case, it served me well. Going in, I had no illusions of being even remotely competitive - those days passed with the Avon tire crash that totaled my beloved ST. I basically had three goals, 1) don't crash myself or the bike and make it back to Minneapolis in one piece, 2) have fun, 3) finish. I managed to do all three and am pretty darn happy with that.

Turns out I piloted the only Aprilia to ever be in an IBR, let alone finish (after having done so, it's really no surprise that Aprilia isn't a big LD marquee but she did run good and I'm pleased with that). I've also managed to finish the IBR with the lowest recorded miles ever. I had a fantastic rally and an incredible ride. So, while I didn't ride the huge miles I might once have done, in the end, those 11 days are really only the very small tip of a very large riding life.

Earlier in this thread someone remarked that the IBR is a glass ceiling that they'll never reach - it's easy to think that but, in the end, we tend to only truly regret the things we didn't do.
 
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finger lakes ny
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1999 ST1100
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Great writing Raven. Good job with the rally as well, although I'm one who doesn't "get it".

Looking forward to reading more!
 
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
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Muskoka, Canada
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I was watching you Raven. Your efficiency (points per mile) was absolutely amazing. Congratulations on a great ride!
 
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