Phil, A+. As I said before the three of you have set a very high bar and I suspect very few of us will hit that bar. Good job.
Terry
Terry
I'm On My Way to Alamo -- Alamo, NV, That Is....
- Thread starter Phil Tarman
- Start date
OP
OP
After getting a couple of naps for a total of about 2 1/2 hours yesterday, I got to sleep early for me -- around midnight -- and slept soundly till 8:40 this morning. I was a tad slow getting moving and didn't get out of Alamo till about 11:30. I was in some rain before I got to Cedar City, but then stayed dry till I was on the 107 mile stretch of I-70 between Salina, UT, and Green River. It was only intermittent and the temperatures stayed in the 40s. I was in more rain between Green River and Grand Junction. I'm holed up in a Motel 6 here and will probably spend tomorrow night here, too. Snow levels between here and Denver are going to be well below the tops of the passes tomorrow and they're predicting 18-22" on Vail Pass and up near the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnels east of Frisco. I'm just not in that big of a rush and Wednesday sounds like a pretty good day. I'll head back to Newcastle on Thursday and finish off a good week of riding with 3700 miles.
OP
OP
If anybody's interested, here's my Spotwalla track of my Team Lyle Rachel Strange Insanity Days Burn Burner Gold:
https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=d319555ae9d8eb525
The most interesting view, IMO, is to click on "Satellite" in the upper right corner of the map.
Oddly, the start and finish were actually in the same place, even though Spotwalla shows them about 5 miles apart. The start is at the Alamo Sinclair, the finish doesn't show me there yet.
Oh, well, technology's not perfect yet.
https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=d319555ae9d8eb525
The most interesting view, IMO, is to click on "Satellite" in the upper right corner of the map.
Oddly, the start and finish were actually in the same place, even though Spotwalla shows them about 5 miles apart. The start is at the Alamo Sinclair, the finish doesn't show me there yet.
Oh, well, technology's not perfect yet.
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OP
OP
I warned you. This is that (much) longer ride report. And I'll post some pictures at the end of it.
Thanks to Doug Barrett and Mary and Carl and Jonnie Stark for putting on such a great event! It was class all the way! I also appreciate the warm welcome I got from the veterans. They made a noob feel right at home.
I'm not home from Alamo yet -- there's snow, ice, and slush on Vail Pass and up near Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 and I decided to wait a day in Grand Junction. I've learned that I don't have the stamina that the people who do the multi-day rallies have. I rode 790 miles to get to Alamo in two days (640 the first and then only 150 the second day) I loafed around Friday afternoon, slept for nearly six hours Friday night, then was up for 27 hours, got a 1 hour nap, went to lunch, got a 2 hour nap, went to the BBQ, slept 9 hours, rode 500 miles to get to get to Grand Junction, slept 9 hours last night, and I'm still pooped-out. I have no idea how people do day after day of 1,000-miles-plus. My hat is off to them all!
Before I start a real ride report of what my BBG felt like to me, I want to mention a neat thing about being here at the Motel 6 in Grand Junction tonight. I'd gone to eat at a great Mexican food restaurant that we used to go to with my folks when they lived here. When I got back, there was an ST1100 sitting at the other end of the unit. I went down and knocked on the door and met a delightful young 62-year-old from Poland. He had lost his left eye when he was 21 and has dreamed most of his life about riding a motorcycle. But in Poland, only having vision in one eye is a permanent disqualifier for a motorcycle license. For some reason I didn't follow (I think it had something to do with some educational experience) he got a green card for the US and learned that he could get a MC license here. So he's had his ST1100 now for four years and comes over for three months every summer. His bike's based in Chicago. In 2013, he rode nearly everywhere in the east down to about the end of the Blue Ridge Skyway. In '14, it was the NW, and this year, it's the SW. He'd been in Tonopah a week before we were. Really an interesting guy to talk to. He kept apologizing for his English but I reminded him that it was about 100% better than my Polish (or my French, Spanish, or German, for that matter!).
And now to the Team Lyle Rachel Strange Insanity Days Rally: I had planned on leaving at about 6AM, but my gas receipt says it was 6:20. It was pretty cool, but a beautiful morning when I headed north out of Alamo for the Extraterrestrial Highway. I was confident it would warm up. I was wrong!
Still, riding across the intermittent mountain ranges and the long basins in between is always interesting. If you like geology without all the dated-geological era stuff, I'd recommend John McPhee's book "Basin and Range." It explains the geology of Nevada (and western Utah) as the result of the stretching of the tectonic plates as San Francisco and Salt Lake City move away from each other.
I stopped for a minute to get a picture of the Lil'Alien Inn at Rachel. That brings me to another recommendation -- if you haven't seen the movie "Paul," do it! Paul is an alien and brief but significant parts of the movie take place in Rachel.
I had heard a sonic boom in Alamo on Friday afternoon, but didn't see any activity over the Nellis Air Force Base range as I rode alongside it on my way to Tonopah.
I picked up my first gas receipt in Tonopah and headed for Austin. This 118 mile leg was mostly between mountain ranges up long, long valleys. Up near Pueblo (NV, not CO) there's a big dry lake that wasn't dry. It probably wasn't very deep, but there was way more water in one place than I'd expect to find in Nevada. A quick stop in Austin for gas and personal relief and I was on my way to Battle Mountain. North of Austin, I was bucking a strong headwind that caused my nearest approach to personal danger on the whole ride. A buzzard took off straight into the wind, which put him about 4' altitude and maybe 15-20 mph groundspeed right in front of me. A mighty application of brakes gave him room to clear my lane before we tried to occupy the same space.
From Battle Mountain to West Wendover, it rained off and on (mostly on) and I was seeing temps in the low 30s. That got me thinking about what it was going to be like crossing the high passes between Fallon and Baker during the night. I was pretty demoralized in Wendover and told myself that if it was raining in Ely, I was going to just head back to Alamo and put another checkmark in the "Failed BBG" box. But it had quit, so I kept going.
It was another long haul to get back to US-6 east of Tonopah, again riding mostly between ranges and enjoying the fantastic scenery and geology that Nevada presents. I had seen a few riders but don't remember meeting any of our gang from Battle Mountain till I got to US-6. Then I saw a couple of bikes going the other way. From Tonopah to Hawthorne, I watched it get dark. But even in the dark, I could see Walker Lake as I skirted its western shore. Walker Lake is a remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan that is virtually dead biologically. Without an outlet, the level of dissolved solids in the water are too high to support much in the way of fish.
At Fallon, I saw two riders as I was gassing up and realizing that I had virtually no time to spare if I was going to make it to Alamo in time. I was pleased with my NT's stock headlights supplemented by my dinky little Denali D1 driving lights. I could see the kamikaze jack rabbits over 100 yards away and, as I was topping Austin Summit, I saw the lone deer sauntering across the road in front of me in time to have easily taken evasive action if I had needed to. East of Eureka, I saw another deer in plenty of time to slow down, but she didn't move. East of Fallon as I was approaching the US Navy Centroid Facility in Dixie Valley, I could see bike coming up behind me. I thought he must be within 1/2 mile or so because of how bright his lights were, but it took him over 20 minutes to finally close the gap. I would guess I'd seen him when he was over 5-10 miles behind me. His lights made mine look like a dim candle.
That US Navy Centroid Facility is apparently a way to accurately measure the exact location, altitude, and speed of aircraft maneuvering over Dixie Valley. Way back in the late 70s I used to fly a Cessna 172 to the Fallon Municipal Airport, rent their Pinto ($10/day and you were honor bound to refill it before returning it to the airport), and then drive out to Frenchman (the location of a historic trading post on the west edge of Dixie Valley that by the time I was going out there had the last brothel east of Fallon on 50). I'd turn north up the Valley and watch A-7's make bomb runs onto their target range on the south side of 50. Other folks in the oilfield would fly at low altitude up that gravel road and land on it to call on the drilling rigs that were drilling geo-thermal wells. I wasn't interested in landing on gravel roads even before I saw an F-111 come across the Valley east-to-west at about 50' above ground level and probably clocking at least 500 kts.
As I rode east I met another rider in Eureka and made my only stop of the whole rally without having to find a facility for personal relief. I understand why Morris Krumke arranged a relief tube on his Goldwing back in the early 2000's.
As I was northbound on 50 on the west side of Wheeler Peak it got light. I thought it might be an alien spacecraft, but it was another rider coming toward me as he was crossing over the summit west of Baker. The multi-LED light setups are simply amazing. Their brightness and power explains why some of the dead rabbits in the road were singed bare of hair.
From Baker, it was 197 miles back to Alamo and I had two hours and nine minutes left in the 24 hours. I knew that at the speeds I wanted to run, I was going to need tailwinds to keep from having to stop to splash a gallon in my mini-tank (only 5.2 gallons). Another option would have been to stop at Ash Springs, 12 miles north of Alamo, for the end point of my BBG. As it happened, I had those tailwinds and made it to Alamo with twelve whole minutes to spare and still had 6/10 gallon to burn -- enough for another 26 miles.
I had stayed awake and alert until about an hour south of Baker and started feeling really tired. I had bought my first-ever 5-hour energy drink in Fallon, so I popped it down north of Pioche, and, whether it psychological or physiological, it had the needed effect and I was fine from there on in. Watching the colors come to life in the rocks as the sun came above the horizon was deeply satisfying, as was the knowledge that I was about to complete that coveted first Bun Burner Gold.
One thing I noticed during the ride was that on some of the steeper grades, the NT wouldn't hold a speed of 70+ without tripping the cruise control off. But if I shifted down to 4th, nothing made the cruise control twist the throttle far enough to kick it out. So, for some fairly long stretches I was in 4th gear at 80-ish mph, with the engine running smoothly and powerfully at 6,000+rpm. And, surprisingly to me, the gas mileage was about the same at those speeds and loads whether I was in 4th or 5th.
For the whole BBG, I burned 36.224 gallons, for a cumulative 42.21mpg.
Doug says that I might have been the first sub-liter bike to finish a BBG on the Team Lyle Nevada Rally. I had been the first person ever to complete an IBA-certificate ride (a SS1K on April 30, 2010) in the whole Western Hemisphere. Whoo-hoo! My friend Wendell Phillips did an instate BBG in Florida back in February, 2014. I'm honored to join his private club, as well as to be a finisher in the amazing Team Lyle Rachel Strange Insanity Days Rally.
Phil Tarman
Greeley, CO
NT700VA -- "Dudley" (100,000+ miles)
IBA Premier Member # 5811: SS1000 ( x 3) , BB1500, BBG
2013 Four Corners Tour Finisher # 70
Read about the "Epic Ride" at www.ptarman1.com
Pix: 1) a tired old man celebrating his moment of triumph!
2) morning about 1/2 hour before the finish
3) morning about 45 minutes after the start
4) the Little Aleinn in Rachel
5) Dudley resting just before the start
Thanks to Doug Barrett and Mary and Carl and Jonnie Stark for putting on such a great event! It was class all the way! I also appreciate the warm welcome I got from the veterans. They made a noob feel right at home.
I'm not home from Alamo yet -- there's snow, ice, and slush on Vail Pass and up near Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 and I decided to wait a day in Grand Junction. I've learned that I don't have the stamina that the people who do the multi-day rallies have. I rode 790 miles to get to Alamo in two days (640 the first and then only 150 the second day) I loafed around Friday afternoon, slept for nearly six hours Friday night, then was up for 27 hours, got a 1 hour nap, went to lunch, got a 2 hour nap, went to the BBQ, slept 9 hours, rode 500 miles to get to get to Grand Junction, slept 9 hours last night, and I'm still pooped-out. I have no idea how people do day after day of 1,000-miles-plus. My hat is off to them all!
Before I start a real ride report of what my BBG felt like to me, I want to mention a neat thing about being here at the Motel 6 in Grand Junction tonight. I'd gone to eat at a great Mexican food restaurant that we used to go to with my folks when they lived here. When I got back, there was an ST1100 sitting at the other end of the unit. I went down and knocked on the door and met a delightful young 62-year-old from Poland. He had lost his left eye when he was 21 and has dreamed most of his life about riding a motorcycle. But in Poland, only having vision in one eye is a permanent disqualifier for a motorcycle license. For some reason I didn't follow (I think it had something to do with some educational experience) he got a green card for the US and learned that he could get a MC license here. So he's had his ST1100 now for four years and comes over for three months every summer. His bike's based in Chicago. In 2013, he rode nearly everywhere in the east down to about the end of the Blue Ridge Skyway. In '14, it was the NW, and this year, it's the SW. He'd been in Tonopah a week before we were. Really an interesting guy to talk to. He kept apologizing for his English but I reminded him that it was about 100% better than my Polish (or my French, Spanish, or German, for that matter!).
And now to the Team Lyle Rachel Strange Insanity Days Rally: I had planned on leaving at about 6AM, but my gas receipt says it was 6:20. It was pretty cool, but a beautiful morning when I headed north out of Alamo for the Extraterrestrial Highway. I was confident it would warm up. I was wrong!
Still, riding across the intermittent mountain ranges and the long basins in between is always interesting. If you like geology without all the dated-geological era stuff, I'd recommend John McPhee's book "Basin and Range." It explains the geology of Nevada (and western Utah) as the result of the stretching of the tectonic plates as San Francisco and Salt Lake City move away from each other.
I stopped for a minute to get a picture of the Lil'Alien Inn at Rachel. That brings me to another recommendation -- if you haven't seen the movie "Paul," do it! Paul is an alien and brief but significant parts of the movie take place in Rachel.
I had heard a sonic boom in Alamo on Friday afternoon, but didn't see any activity over the Nellis Air Force Base range as I rode alongside it on my way to Tonopah.
I picked up my first gas receipt in Tonopah and headed for Austin. This 118 mile leg was mostly between mountain ranges up long, long valleys. Up near Pueblo (NV, not CO) there's a big dry lake that wasn't dry. It probably wasn't very deep, but there was way more water in one place than I'd expect to find in Nevada. A quick stop in Austin for gas and personal relief and I was on my way to Battle Mountain. North of Austin, I was bucking a strong headwind that caused my nearest approach to personal danger on the whole ride. A buzzard took off straight into the wind, which put him about 4' altitude and maybe 15-20 mph groundspeed right in front of me. A mighty application of brakes gave him room to clear my lane before we tried to occupy the same space.
From Battle Mountain to West Wendover, it rained off and on (mostly on) and I was seeing temps in the low 30s. That got me thinking about what it was going to be like crossing the high passes between Fallon and Baker during the night. I was pretty demoralized in Wendover and told myself that if it was raining in Ely, I was going to just head back to Alamo and put another checkmark in the "Failed BBG" box. But it had quit, so I kept going.
It was another long haul to get back to US-6 east of Tonopah, again riding mostly between ranges and enjoying the fantastic scenery and geology that Nevada presents. I had seen a few riders but don't remember meeting any of our gang from Battle Mountain till I got to US-6. Then I saw a couple of bikes going the other way. From Tonopah to Hawthorne, I watched it get dark. But even in the dark, I could see Walker Lake as I skirted its western shore. Walker Lake is a remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan that is virtually dead biologically. Without an outlet, the level of dissolved solids in the water are too high to support much in the way of fish.
At Fallon, I saw two riders as I was gassing up and realizing that I had virtually no time to spare if I was going to make it to Alamo in time. I was pleased with my NT's stock headlights supplemented by my dinky little Denali D1 driving lights. I could see the kamikaze jack rabbits over 100 yards away and, as I was topping Austin Summit, I saw the lone deer sauntering across the road in front of me in time to have easily taken evasive action if I had needed to. East of Eureka, I saw another deer in plenty of time to slow down, but she didn't move. East of Fallon as I was approaching the US Navy Centroid Facility in Dixie Valley, I could see bike coming up behind me. I thought he must be within 1/2 mile or so because of how bright his lights were, but it took him over 20 minutes to finally close the gap. I would guess I'd seen him when he was over 5-10 miles behind me. His lights made mine look like a dim candle.
That US Navy Centroid Facility is apparently a way to accurately measure the exact location, altitude, and speed of aircraft maneuvering over Dixie Valley. Way back in the late 70s I used to fly a Cessna 172 to the Fallon Municipal Airport, rent their Pinto ($10/day and you were honor bound to refill it before returning it to the airport), and then drive out to Frenchman (the location of a historic trading post on the west edge of Dixie Valley that by the time I was going out there had the last brothel east of Fallon on 50). I'd turn north up the Valley and watch A-7's make bomb runs onto their target range on the south side of 50. Other folks in the oilfield would fly at low altitude up that gravel road and land on it to call on the drilling rigs that were drilling geo-thermal wells. I wasn't interested in landing on gravel roads even before I saw an F-111 come across the Valley east-to-west at about 50' above ground level and probably clocking at least 500 kts.
As I rode east I met another rider in Eureka and made my only stop of the whole rally without having to find a facility for personal relief. I understand why Morris Krumke arranged a relief tube on his Goldwing back in the early 2000's.
As I was northbound on 50 on the west side of Wheeler Peak it got light. I thought it might be an alien spacecraft, but it was another rider coming toward me as he was crossing over the summit west of Baker. The multi-LED light setups are simply amazing. Their brightness and power explains why some of the dead rabbits in the road were singed bare of hair.
From Baker, it was 197 miles back to Alamo and I had two hours and nine minutes left in the 24 hours. I knew that at the speeds I wanted to run, I was going to need tailwinds to keep from having to stop to splash a gallon in my mini-tank (only 5.2 gallons). Another option would have been to stop at Ash Springs, 12 miles north of Alamo, for the end point of my BBG. As it happened, I had those tailwinds and made it to Alamo with twelve whole minutes to spare and still had 6/10 gallon to burn -- enough for another 26 miles.
I had stayed awake and alert until about an hour south of Baker and started feeling really tired. I had bought my first-ever 5-hour energy drink in Fallon, so I popped it down north of Pioche, and, whether it psychological or physiological, it had the needed effect and I was fine from there on in. Watching the colors come to life in the rocks as the sun came above the horizon was deeply satisfying, as was the knowledge that I was about to complete that coveted first Bun Burner Gold.
One thing I noticed during the ride was that on some of the steeper grades, the NT wouldn't hold a speed of 70+ without tripping the cruise control off. But if I shifted down to 4th, nothing made the cruise control twist the throttle far enough to kick it out. So, for some fairly long stretches I was in 4th gear at 80-ish mph, with the engine running smoothly and powerfully at 6,000+rpm. And, surprisingly to me, the gas mileage was about the same at those speeds and loads whether I was in 4th or 5th.
For the whole BBG, I burned 36.224 gallons, for a cumulative 42.21mpg.
Doug says that I might have been the first sub-liter bike to finish a BBG on the Team Lyle Nevada Rally. I had been the first person ever to complete an IBA-certificate ride (a SS1K on April 30, 2010) in the whole Western Hemisphere. Whoo-hoo! My friend Wendell Phillips did an instate BBG in Florida back in February, 2014. I'm honored to join his private club, as well as to be a finisher in the amazing Team Lyle Rachel Strange Insanity Days Rally.
Phil Tarman
Greeley, CO
NT700VA -- "Dudley" (100,000+ miles)
IBA Premier Member # 5811: SS1000 ( x 3) , BB1500, BBG
2013 Four Corners Tour Finisher # 70
Read about the "Epic Ride" at www.ptarman1.com
Pix: 1) a tired old man celebrating his moment of triumph!
2) morning about 1/2 hour before the finish
3) morning about 45 minutes after the start
4) the Little Aleinn in Rachel
5) Dudley resting just before the start
Attachments
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OP
OP
Are you getting any rides in yet, Ken? I'll be up in Newcastle for another 6 weeks and then I'll be around here in Greeley (except for a trip to Spearfish in July, a rally in Montana in August, and a wedding in Salt Lake City in September).
We'll have to get together.
We'll have to get together.
Nice write up Phil. Thanks. The more I read about BBGs, the more I'm aware I don't want to do it. I applaud your willingness to do this. What's your next challenge?
Terry
Terry
OP
OP
Terry, come August, I'm going to Big Sky, Montana, for Bob and Sylvie Torter's "Working On the Railroad Rally." It's a 36-hour rally with bonus locations (more, of course, than anyone can get), presumably all having something to do with railroads and some of them must be in Canada since they warn you to bring a valid US passport. First-time riders in a rally have an option of riding "only" 1450 miles during the 36-hours, so distance-wise that sounds like a snap after last weekend. 
Other than that, all I've got planned so far is the relatively short ride to Spearfish and then a ride to Salt Lake at the end of September to do a wedding for grown-up little girl who was a member of my church in Utah back in the late 80s.
As far as the BBG goes, I have a strong suspicion that I've done my one and only.
Other than that, all I've got planned so far is the relatively short ride to Spearfish and then a ride to Salt Lake at the end of September to do a wedding for grown-up little girl who was a member of my church in Utah back in the late 80s.
As far as the BBG goes, I have a strong suspicion that I've done my one and only.
OP
OP
I tried to cut and paste a spread sheet kind of deal I made, but it didn't work. So, here are my distances between stops, cumulative time, and my average speeds:
Alamo - Tonopah 161mi, 2:14ET (elapsed time) 71mph avg
Tonopah-Austin: 118 mi, 279 mi (total distance), 4:09, 67mph avg
Austin-Battle Mountain: 88 mi, 367 mi, 5:29, 70.4mph avg
Battle Mountain - West Wendover: 179 mi, 548 mi, 9:20, 58.7mph avg
West Wendover - Ely: 118 mi, 666 mi, 10:14, 64.1 mph avg
Ely-Tonopah: 170 mi, 836 mi, 12:44, 65.7 mph avg
Tonopah - Fallon: 176 mi, 1012 mi, 14:37, 69.2 mph avg
Fallon - Eureka: 181 mi, 1193 mi, 18:34, 65.1 mph avg
Eureka - Baker: 142 mi, 1332 mi, 21:51, 60.9 mph avg
Baker - Alamo: 197 mi, 1529 mi, 23:48, 64.2 mph avg.
To do that I was running 80-85 during the daylight and 75-80 at night. Because I was seeing jackrabbits over 100 yds away and saw the only deer far enough away to slow down to 35-40 before I got to her, I felt pretty safe. There sure wasn't any traffic. I think I met 4-5 cars between Fallon and Eureka, and then none from Eureka to Baker. By the time I left Baker, I guess people were going to work (on Sunday morning?) because I started meeting more cars going the opposite direction. I didn't pass very many cars the whole day, but quite a few trucks. Nevada is empty. I did see probably 8-10 highway patrolmen and they never even looked at me.
There was a car race on Saturday and Sunday on UT-318 (I went past the junction of 318 between Ely and Tonopah) where a 90-mile stretch of highway is closed to the public and people try to hit a target speed. The brackets start at 150mph and then work down to 95mph. There's also a wide-open top speed competition. I saw some of those cars heading back to Ely as I was heading for Tonopah.
Alamo - Tonopah 161mi, 2:14ET (elapsed time) 71mph avg
Tonopah-Austin: 118 mi, 279 mi (total distance), 4:09, 67mph avg
Austin-Battle Mountain: 88 mi, 367 mi, 5:29, 70.4mph avg
Battle Mountain - West Wendover: 179 mi, 548 mi, 9:20, 58.7mph avg
West Wendover - Ely: 118 mi, 666 mi, 10:14, 64.1 mph avg
Ely-Tonopah: 170 mi, 836 mi, 12:44, 65.7 mph avg
Tonopah - Fallon: 176 mi, 1012 mi, 14:37, 69.2 mph avg
Fallon - Eureka: 181 mi, 1193 mi, 18:34, 65.1 mph avg
Eureka - Baker: 142 mi, 1332 mi, 21:51, 60.9 mph avg
Baker - Alamo: 197 mi, 1529 mi, 23:48, 64.2 mph avg.
To do that I was running 80-85 during the daylight and 75-80 at night. Because I was seeing jackrabbits over 100 yds away and saw the only deer far enough away to slow down to 35-40 before I got to her, I felt pretty safe. There sure wasn't any traffic. I think I met 4-5 cars between Fallon and Eureka, and then none from Eureka to Baker. By the time I left Baker, I guess people were going to work (on Sunday morning?) because I started meeting more cars going the opposite direction. I didn't pass very many cars the whole day, but quite a few trucks. Nevada is empty. I did see probably 8-10 highway patrolmen and they never even looked at me.
There was a car race on Saturday and Sunday on UT-318 (I went past the junction of 318 between Ely and Tonopah) where a 90-mile stretch of highway is closed to the public and people try to hit a target speed. The brackets start at 150mph and then work down to 95mph. There's also a wide-open top speed competition. I saw some of those cars heading back to Ely as I was heading for Tonopah.
What a great report, Phil!! Thank you so much.
However, you also convinced me that a BBG is a bit more than I ever want to attempt.
However, you also convinced me that a BBG is a bit more than I ever want to attempt.
That helped a LOT. I had already figured the average speed I needed for a SS1k, With the knowledge that age will dictate needing more rest than a younger person, I will try to refuel, snack and hydrate at fuel stops, and have time for a quick meal plus a 15-30 minute snooze break. I've also found I can easily do 500 mile days on the slab, but get badly bored.
OP
OP
Bob is exactly on target. The one stop I didn't calculate was an "emergency" stop at a Love's gas station in Wells, NV. That kind of thing threw me off more than anything. That stop took me probably 20 minutes and didn't do anything to help my average -- it had dropped from 70 at Battle Mountain to 58 at Wendover.
I have talked with Mike (Ironbutt Pete) Langford about building an auxiliary tank for the NT. He thinks that if I do that I ought to go to a 5.7 gallon tank to take the fuel capacity out to the IBA limit of 11.6 gallons. I think that would be overkill. My thinking would be to go to a 1.5 - 2.5 gallon tank. I used to have 260-270 miles range on the Connie and if I could get to 300 miles range with the NT, I'd be happy as a clam. I don't have any trouble sitting on the bike and riding for four hours, but my bladder gets in the way. That's probably a bigger issue for me than motorcycle range.
A Saddlesore ride is really pretty easy. It's only a 42 mph average. I've taken leisurely meal stops and even stopped and dozed and my longest time spent on a SS1K was only 21 hours. When I did a BB1.5K (36 hours, so the same pace as a SS), we slept for 3 hours in Hutchinson, KS, in beds at a COG member's house. We could have slept for four hours if we hadn't talked for over an hour when we got there.
I have talked with Mike (Ironbutt Pete) Langford about building an auxiliary tank for the NT. He thinks that if I do that I ought to go to a 5.7 gallon tank to take the fuel capacity out to the IBA limit of 11.6 gallons. I think that would be overkill. My thinking would be to go to a 1.5 - 2.5 gallon tank. I used to have 260-270 miles range on the Connie and if I could get to 300 miles range with the NT, I'd be happy as a clam. I don't have any trouble sitting on the bike and riding for four hours, but my bladder gets in the way. That's probably a bigger issue for me than motorcycle range.
A Saddlesore ride is really pretty easy. It's only a 42 mph average. I've taken leisurely meal stops and even stopped and dozed and my longest time spent on a SS1K was only 21 hours. When I did a BB1.5K (36 hours, so the same pace as a SS), we slept for 3 hours in Hutchinson, KS, in beds at a COG member's house. We could have slept for four hours if we hadn't talked for over an hour when we got there.
OP
OP
Bob, where would you weld the fitting to the fuel tank?