Day 2: Santiago to Saltos del Lajo Falls

 Well this was the first ride day of our Ultimate South American Expedition with Compass Tours. 

It was an action filled event, pressaging 100 more! It is hard to imagine how this will play out and I am unsure if I can keep to writing a post, even a short one every day. But here goes! We rode off the 490 km at high speed where the speed limit is 120 km/hour (about 70 mph) but rarely does anyone keep to that on the dual carriage way. Sometimes we were over 140 but it seemed good and safe. We stopped very regularly for water and petrol as the others are riding smaller bikes than me, with a range of about 320 km vs mine over 500.

It has become very apparent, and gladly so, that both JC (Guide) and Willy (Driver) are very well organised and have a very particular routine. I am frankly glad of this, and can see some advantages and potentially some disadvantabes. In short we get a tex on Whats App from JC giving the times and places to be, and are asked to stick to it. Apparently Willy (Wilfredo/Wilf/Homer/Tonka) would prefer you dont arrive at the truck to load baggage five minutes early. No matter, I can work with that!

Breakfast is provided by Compass as part of our fee, and lunch too. The latter can vary from a retaurant, to pre-packed to a picnic. Yesterday was a public holiday in Chile so the roads were croweded with cars, trucks and busses, and so were the gas stations. So we stopped a local truck stop for soup - which was full of noodles and un-identified carne (meat) and was truly delicious.

In short we rode 490km south towards Pucon and stopped at some falls called Saltos del Lajo. Our hotel was away from the huge crowds and looked over the falls. JC and I walked a little way around the track and loved it. Old world accommodation but perfect. He flew his DJI drone and I took many photos and video with my Go Pro (which I am loving!).

My stomach was slightly upset by water from the previous day, so I had a quite beer with Rahn and a few chips only, when Paul joined us. The team of riders is Rahn (Israeli/Australian), Jeff (Chinese/Japanese), Paul (New Zealander) and myself, plus JC riding. He is Ecauadorian but lived in the USA for some year with an ex-wife. They are delightful all of them, and have different characters which will no doubt show over time.

In the middle of the night, I woke as my sleep has been very erratic so far, so I rang Sheryle on WhatApp and we had a great chat - I really appreciated it after the "stress" of starting off. Tomorrow we ride to Pucon for two nights, following a late breakfast here at the falls from 8am to 9am.

Day -1: Be Polite the Customs Officers! Ultimate South America Expedition

 Yesterday we went by Van to collect our Motorcycles (called Moto's here) from Valparaiso Port, about 150 km west of Santiago, the capital of Chile, where we are staying.

We arrived to find a customs agent having an argument with the man who had to review all of our paperwork, and that did not bode  well. The female security officer took us through a detailed site-induction and we donned the orange jacket, helmet and boot toe covers (over sandles in one case) and progressed to the shed, around tall moveable cranes and hundreds of sea containers.

I was picked out with one other rider, as our Registration paperwork looked completely different - ACT vs NSW varients. And yes they were. We explained calmly over the coming hour or so. Then we had a bike inspection, removing all and every item on our bikes and lifting the seat. We had no food, guns or drugs and during this long three hours, JC carefully worked with the official until they became best mates! It was a pleasure to watch the master in action. We had all bought a pair of extra tyres along, all "used" so that we could not be accused of selling them on the black market. In fact that was an error

Then, we rode off to get some gas, also a different experience as they have a person to fill your tank and take payment, and of course they wanted to talk bikes! The 150 km back to the hotel was on the expressway and expressway speeds as the limit is 120 km/hour. Nice.

 

Day -3, “When it Rains” - South America Moto

Australia’s weather has been quite extraordinary this summer. Whether it is El Niño or El Nina or the SOI, the west coast is baked in heat and bushfires and the east has drumming rain. Right now it is torrential at Sydney Airport!

So our flight to Santiago, Chile is delayed about an hour, but I am happy to be on the way. But already missing my wife who will wait a few weeks to get fully better.

But it’s a 12 hour 45 minute flight so I should settle back with a glass of read or a gin and tonic. Decisions!

Day Minus 4: "Every Lost Sock Matters" - Ultimate South America Moto Expedition USAME

My bags have been packed in part, for four weeks. Now for the fine-tuning, as every sock counts!

It's now 19 February, and one day until I fly out to Santiago, Chile and four until we ride off. So I am washing up gear, and in the process have found a single sock belonging to Sheryle. Preparing for 5 months on the road, is rather different from a ten-day holiday, so every "white sock matters". 

The Tour leader, Compass Expeditions has provided two 100 litre Black Wolf softbags for us to bring out stuff in, mainly so that they can manage the packing into the van each day, and keep everything tidy and rattle-proof. While this is probably far more space than we need, there is no protection for delicate items. So they will be packed into plastic "lunch boxes" or taken in my small backpack.

So the question is what to take and what not? I have two theories:

1.  Take all new stuff. It will then last the trip well, and you will be "well presented" and they will last.
2. Take all old items, that are favourites, well liked and well used. 

I decided on the second option. When something is "done" I will throw it out. I plan to throw a lot out along the way. For example, I have two pairs of riding boots. One should have gone out a long time ago, but they are SO comfortable. I will use, abuse and dispose of these somewhere in South America.

But for white-sock-theory - what have I forgotten? It really does not matter, as I assure myself that I can survive well on what I have packed. Anyway, I could buy something else somewhere if it really matters.

Day -27 Prep Ride for South America

It has been quite a few years in the "thinking" and now preparation, but Sheryle and I are heading to South America on 20 February 2024, to ride off on 23 February (which is my Father's 94th birthday as an aside). We can't wait, as it had always been a dream, and not one we could work through practically in the past. 

However, I had a week to spare in late January and early February, so decided to ride my Harley Road King (currently my only bike available) to all State and Territory Borders so as to collect points for the annual "ABC's of Touring" Competition run by Harley-Davidson each year. My second purpose was to visit the David "Davo" Jones memorials of which there are three. Davo is a riding legend, and was the first "Far Rider" in Australia but was killed in 2009 competing in the Iron Butt Rally that year. My total ride was somewhat of a risk, given the heat of summer and risk of high rain falls. but it went very well, and I covered 8,691 kilometres in the end, having to avoid flooded roads in Queensland and return via Broken Hill instead of a sweep through central Queensland. 

DAY 1 was to ride to Albury to photograph the Dealer and Victorian Border, then go onto Rutherglen and Zeerust where "Z" is a hard letter to find across the whole alphabet unless you live in Tasmania! I then wandered along the Murray River stopping at Swan Hill and Mildura, but finally making it to Renmark South Australia after a long and warm day. I was to learn many things on this ride, one of which is that my HD leather riding pants are very good in all weather, and very comfortable but now looking decidedly used. The second learning was that the softbag I had brought along with a sleeping bag and other gear made a great back-rest!

DAY 2 was organised to ride into Adelaide, a little to the south and meet with Steve "Wes" Wesbroom, who had previously been a Canberra Harley member but returned to Adelaide to work in the construction industry and be with his family there. I took photos at the two HD Dealers and then we headed to the  "Big Scottie" quite an institution in Adelaide. Our tour took us to various small towns around the Adelaide hills including a long stop to chat over coffee, as you do. How I valued that time with a friend! Our drive then took us to Wilmington with a fantastic few corners riding through Horrocks Pass which was my favourite riding section of the whole trip. The first memorial for Davo is amongst the windmills at the western end, and I found the easiest way to find it was to type the Latitude and Longitude into Google Maps and ride right up to it! For those looking, there is also a piece of green plastic fitted into the fence wire, directly above the memorial on the right (north) side of the road.

I had planned to ride to Ceduna, the halfway point across Australia but I only made it to Kimba following an excess of socialising! Kimba is a non-descript town in SA but does have 24 hour petrol and some decent motels, one of which I chose. Prices for motels have all gone up now, with the  $60 to $90 range long gone, and typically they are about $120 per night. Kimba is infamous for one key "hidden" attribute - it is the site of Australia's only Nuclear Waste Dump, taking materials from our one Nuclear Reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney. Generally this reactor is used to manufacture medical items, and not weapons! However, the discussion about where the spent rods from our future nuclear submarines will be stored, is not over yet, and this is one location. Kimba also has a "Big Thing" being the "Big Galah" and large and very pink it is. I needed to photograph 15 big things to complete the list for 2024 and found the requisite number by the end of my ride.

DAY 3 started at 4:30am and I continued to ride west into the spectacular views of the Great Australian Bight. The aim was to make it to the Border Village, which is in SA but right at the border with Western Australia, which I did. The Eyre Highway goes right across the Nullabor Plain as you might expect and about 98km before the border is the very strategically placed "town" of Nullabor, with a fancy petrol station and cafe, and a Big Whale (Actually a small whale as it is not the "required" three times larger than the original!)

As soon as I fronted to the Border Gate for my "no fruit or honey inspection" I was surprisingly breath-tested, something that has not happened to me for a while, with cops from Eucla, about 10 km further on, obviously being ready-at-hand, and friendly. Border Village has a "Big Kangaroo" holding a beer can as its welcome image, plus simple cabins and very expensive petrol at $2.85 per litre. I booked a room and rode west a further 203.7km to Madura Pass, to visit the second Davo Memorial. This one is much harder to find and has defeated others, but it is on the North side of the road, just behind the SECOND "lane merging" sign. Turn right at the "Lookout" sign and return back (east) about 30 metres and park in the dust carpark. The memorial is on a 1 metre boulder, somewhat hidden by a tree on the top of the cliff. Other IBA members have left small stones under the boulder with their IBA number or name on them e.g. "Olaf #517". I returned to Border Village for the night having covered over 1,400 kilometres for the day. 

DAY 4, I rose before dawn as for everyone on this trip and headed for the sea cliffs to the East for a photo, which was well done at this magnificent and serene place. I had seen only 5 kangaroos on the road for the first five days, but was wary and rode at about 80km per hour before dawn, allowing me to dodge roos, goats, rabbits, foxes and wedge tailed eagles of which there were many. Later I was to see wild horses and camels further to the north, but the Eagles were the most spectacular, often tearing chunks out of new carcasses on the roadside. There is no way to practically "cut the corner" (from Wudinna to near Woomera) to join the Stuart Highway north to Darwin, without riding on a very sandy road, so I headed to Port Augusta. My aim had been to have the killer "Big Breakfast" at local roadhouse, but I was half an hour early prior to their opening and decided to continue to Nullabor for that meal. 

For this trip, choosing the right speed was very important. The maximum legal speed is 110km/hr, but this is too much at night and also means that the bike consumes far too much petrol especially when riding into a head wind, which was the case here. In calm conditions on a good road with no wind, I can easily make 430km to a tank of fuel, but often it was reduced to 320km or in one case 263km. I later chose to carry a small spare tank, so that I could run the 22 litre tank nearly dry, and on two occasions, managed to put more than 22 litres into it - clearly "running on fumes"! 

After a very long day, I made it to Pimba and turned off to the east, to Woomera on the Roxby Downs to Andamooka road. Woomera is 6km off the Stuart Highway and is absolutely fascinating. I stayed at the venerable Rocket Hotel called Eldo after the launch supplier from EU. I had to walk up the hall to ammenties, but did not see a soul. Their restaurant and bar are replete with wall-sized drawings of rocketships. I talked with a few working locals, one of whom said he was working on a classified missile project, another was exploring for minerals (uranium and lithium) on Andamooka Station and the third was an individual who just said he was a "private gold hunter"! Outside, I walked in the semi-dark to the museum where there are about thirty rockets of various sizes displayed.

DAY 5 was a big one which strangely caused me a little concern, mostly due to the increasing heat as I headed north. The aim was to make the SA to NT Border and ride into the Northern Territory (my first time on a bike) to Kulgera to the "Big Tinnie". I left early to make some big distance in the cool air and loved every minute of it, right to the border where it was indeed over 100 degrees F. Kulgera is famous for the "Thousand Bras Pub" and so I sat inside slowly savouring a ginger beer and reading the messages on many of the bras hanging from the ceiling. At this moment a young lady from Switzeraland walked in, and it turned out it was her first day working at the pub, so she was receiving guidance from the local male managers. It was hysterical to watch, as she had just arrived from Europe the day before and was truly suffering in the heat and rather non-plussed by the pub. Foreign workers who take remote work for 90 days then get a one-year visa to explore Australia.

I turned about, and passed the one and only 130km/hr top speed signs that I saw, then returned to South Australia and headed to Coober Pedy, a total of 1300 km for the day. This place is the famous Opal Town, and is packed with workers, so finding a cheap hotel room was a challenge, but I ended up with a "walk-up". My shower had one tap - "warm" artesian water which was great! The day finished with thousands of white cockatoos crowding into the tree beside my room and shrieking the roof off in a spectacular display. In fact the recent rains made the bird life stand out, with huge flocks of Corellas, wild emus, and thousands of tiny green finches. 

DAY 6 and I was determined to make it to Queensland, via Broken Hill, and took the road through Peterborough, with a short stop at the Toy Museum at Wilmington, where I had been inveigled to enter on the basis of all the old Landrovers parked out the front. There were two of Series 1's plus Series 2 and 3 plus a couple of Willies Jeeps one fitted with a 50 calibre machine gun. Inside is the largest collection of Meccano in Australia plus every guage of model railway set available. It was truly a blast from the past for me.

Beyond Yunta was my stop at the most remote Big Thing, the Big Dice, which are actually 24km north of Yunta and are reached via a gravel side track of about 1.5km. Few will visit this one on their Harleys!

That night, I took a cabin in the Caravan Park (possibly a better option than a motel room), had a swim in their pool and had a delightful evening at a BBQ with old friends and HOG members Grahame KIWI Cotterell and Sally. We chatted into the night, solving the worlds problems as you do.

DAY 7 I rode from Broken Hill and north towards the Warri Gate (The border entrance to Queensland) via Packsaddle and Tiboburra. Despite the pumps out the front neither had any petrol (!) but I did find some 91 in Tib, and stopped there for brunch after a visit to the huge Warri Gate (54km north in the Sturt NP) that guards the entrance to the huge and famous Bullo Downs Station, and to Queensland. The Tiboburra Central Cafe will prepare you a huge breakfast on request, and so I did not need to eat again for the rest of the day! I ventured through onto the gravel road to take some photos, but stopped after a couple of kilometres as it is unsealed for 153 Km to Noccundra. Sealing it has started at the north end, but its very slow. The locals told me they want it done, to support the trucking industry and to attract tourists.

On my return to Broken Hill, I travelled on an apparently "empty" tank for 35 km into town, looking for gas, and found it in time. I then headed east to Wilcannia, strangely one of my favoutite OutBack places, but stopped at the roadside rest area at the top of the rise that is Netallie Hill (18km to the west of Wilcannia) to meet the newish memorial to seven Iron Butt riders who have passed away or "ridden on", including the third memorial to Davo Jones. I realised that I had previously met everyone of the 7 people listed on the memorial when they were alive. This is a truly special place where I sat in the warm sun for some time, thinking of friends and enjoying the increadible view across the plains to the south. 

In Wilcannia, one of the camp grounds and another Motel have closed, so I headed to the one camping area down by the billabong to the east and found a calming cabin with a nice view. Here I made packet lasagna and relaxed in the bush. 

DAY 8 I was determined to get home, The shortest run of the trip at 951km, with a side trip to Albert and the Rabbit Trap Hotel, plus stopping at Forbes for my "F" for the ABC's. The reason was to join Sheryle for dinner with friends, which worked well as the days were heating up or moving to pouring rain in the coming week! Total distance was 8,691 km and given that two days were under 1000km, some of the others were fairly long, but what a blast. For the ABC's Competiton, I have all State Borders (except Tas), all 15 Big Things and all letters of the Alphabet except L and X, plus five Dealerships and five National Parks. My current score is 70 which is a little high for this time of the year!

I had forgotten how special the dawn can be, how unbelievably nice and helpful the country folks are, and who much there is to see, that I have never experienced. Australia is truly a very special place.

Iron Butt Rally 2023 - a Personal Perspective

The IBR 2023 - Just what constitutes "too bloody dangerous?

Fate plays an important role in everyone's life. Despite our best laid plans and effort. 

I am therefore a firm believer in “the force”, fate, God or whatever you personally call it, assisting us with decisions and experiences. This is definitely true for the Iron Butt Rally (IBR) every two years, where some "good luck" is needed AND goes a long way.

In July, I had almost completed my blog on the Iron Butt Rally (IBR) within “Blogger” and accidently deleted the best of it, despite a previous save. Maybe I am not supposed to give my thoughts on the IBR in 2023? So, it has taken me four months to finally update it and record a few experiences and thoughts. 

Every single rider has their own wild and wonderful story – particularly for this year’s event. It was an Iron Butt classic of biblical proportons and "finishers" deserve all the accolades they receive. The efforts of the Comlys, Littles and Vooks stand out as very special, and I salute you couples for exceptional team work and sheer bloody-minded effort. And also for the super-stars who did not enter (or obtain an entry), and dont need the "competiton" but are just exceptional LDR's anyway - Greg Rice and Dan Simmonds come to mind amongst others.

Despite riding nearly 10,000 miles to 32 States, mine ended in 2023 with not being an official “finisher” as I did not achieve sufficient points for the "cut off" or mimimum score to qualify. I missed by a few points only – an issue that sits entirely with me. And yes, I could complain about not being scored for some bonuses, or not being allowed a score when the power was out to a town I stayed in (thereby lacking essential receipts) - but seriously, there is no point. What happened, happened, and I am one happy rider.

The Iron Butt Rally is the premier endurance motorcycing event in the world, for very good reasons. It is seriously tough and attracts the best and gnarliest riders from many nations. It runs in June across the USA and Canada, every second year since 1986, and is organised very capably by the Iron Butt Association, both management and volunteers. They are a well-oiled team, and this is a huge plus. They are also wonderful human beings which is an added bonus. The Iron Butt family is close, intense and global.

The IBR is essentially like a scavenger hunt with many "bonus" locations, that you choose yourself from a list, and obtain scores relative to the difficulty of reaching a location and obtaining the required bonus photo. 

The IBA have a particular recipe, well-honed over many years and top riders from around the globe clamour and bid for the 100 or so places on the rally, every second year. Many miss out, for a variety of reasons. Do not piss off the organisers un-necessarily, as you will be left off the list. Choose to be an active, positive part of the "Iron Butt Family" and you may be selected.

In 2023, the rally ran in three legs over 11 days, starting and finishing in the same location, being the Marriot Hotel at Pittsburgh airport. The first and second legs are for 60 and 64 hours and the last for an incredible 124 hours, basically allowing riders to reach any part of the USA or Canada and return in
time to the finish. 

Checkpoint 1 was at Tulsa OK and Checkpoint 2 was in Greenwood, Denver CO this year. Arriving on-time is critical, as there are negative points for arriving late, or a complete DNF (Did not finish) if you are more than two hours late. If you are in that category, you will be "out" until next time. 

Riders are required to carry a numbered rally flag (The size of a tea towel), and take photos of various bonuses across the country, plus acquire other items such as ferry receipts to prove that they visited each location. Some photos have special requirements such as you bike must also be in the picture - reading comprehension (of the "Rally Book") when tired, is actually critical. 

In addition, the points for each bonus vary according to the difficulty of reaching the location, or other

parameters set by the Rally Master, Jeff Earls. For this particular rally there were also points for completing a "Bingo Card" – which involved visiting any of 25 fast-food restaurants (some common and some very rare) for points, plus gaining more points for completing a line or column on the card. It was a clever added factor designed to play with your head, but impossible to ignore. Rally head-games are common and this was no exception.

In leg 3, there were also four “combo bonuses” where collecting two or three specific named boni, earned added credit – not easy when one is in LA and the other in New York City! For each of the three legs, the Rally Master set a minimum number of points for each leg. I went on to readily achieve these for the first two legs, but just missed out in Leg 3. So, despite riding almost the requisite miles, I am viewed as a “did not finish” for 2023. 

Having previously finished correctly in 2015 but not in 2017, I do have a coveted IBR member number (#517) of which there were only 647 prior to this rally. These "three digit numbers" are treasured like gold.

The rally started from Pittsburgh in fine style and good weather, with riders heading in every direction, as plotted by each person’s individual satellite tracker, such as a SPOT unit or Garmin InReach device. From the Rally master’s viewpoint, this is ideal as it makes it very competitive as anyone can watch the grouped tracks and work out if they are "with the mob" or riding as a true Maverick. It was soon to go pear-shaped as riders headed to every part of the USA, and the weather closed in.

From my personal perspective, this version of the IBR was particularly challenging for two reasons, both of which others may disagree with;

1. Firstly, the weather was particularly ugly this year, with overly oppressive heat in some states (TX, AZ and CA) up to 119 degrees F, heavy and torrential rain (and I mean that) for many riders over at least four US States, making ride and road conditions particularly treacherous. I also experienced significant cold for summer, down to 2 degrees C in the north.
2. Secondly, the Rally Master had reduced the number of bonuses considerably for each leg, making a ride to the more extreme locations (Breton Is, Key West, LA and Seattle, plus Yellow Knife in Canada), almost mandatory. This demanded some 1500-mile days with no bonuses, making it very difficult to use my “spiral in” strategy (aimed to collect a larger number of bonuses, of lesser points, but in total, competitive).  If you like to "twist and go" this rally was for you. And there were some out there riding at 100mph over vast distances. At speeds over 80 mph, there is no room for error.

My personal view (and note that it is indeed personal) is that this strategy was somewhat un-reasonable and also considerably more dangerous.  It removed a key element of "strategising" all the various options for the rally. This suits some riders, but me less so. Across the overall rally route that I took, I saw 17 significant car and truck accidents in pouring rain, with multiple vehicles, sometimes in massive pile-ups. One included over 100 vehicles with dozens of injuries, a vision that is rather hard to ride away from, when you are on "rally time".  I was held up for many hours in three of these. In one case in South Carolina, a blue car had tumbled end-over-end, and finished high in a tree in front of me, as a mangled mess. At the moment I was taking all of this in (and riding at full rally speed), a huge multi-blade helicopter landed on the roadway, right in front of me! It was time to take a different route. 

In the appalling weather, there were three major accidents involving competitors in the rally. In one case a female rider carrying her daughter as a pillion, ran into a deer at full speed. Self-inflating accident vests saved their lives, but the new BMW bike was a total write-off (and I mean scrap metal). They went to hospital, as did one other rider who veered into the emergency lane deliberately in the rain, and over-ran some road repair equipment. He is alive but spent some weeks in hospital. There were many smaller spills. No one was killed this year, which was a godsend, but that luck has run out on at least three previous occaisons.

On Leg 1, I had a very enjoyable time despite the weather, and rode the hills of Virginia, West Virgina, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas and North and South Carolina to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I had focused on the "Bingo Card" for this leg, where a photo was required of your bike in front of the fast-food outlet, AND you needed to get a receipt for a drink or icecream (or whatever) from the store. The points were around 200 to 300 so low relatively, and in pouring rain, I missed one key Store, which I was to regret later as it did not appear in in other State. Doh. I also collected a number at the end of the leg in Tulsa for which I received no score, as I had the receipt but not my bike in the photo that I took. I offered to go back for the correct photos at 5am the next morning, provided my current receipts were ok. This was denied by the Rally Master, and as the stores opened at 10am, I was out of it - and out of the running it seemed.

Leg 2 was the "Hot Leg". I had decided to go to Texas. It was a great ride but brutal in the heat around El Paso, where staying alive was the key aim. I drank 9 litres of water that day, and soon headed into the cooler hills in Southern New Mexico, Arizona and then along the ridges into Moab, Utah. Wow. I stopped to take a few photos, after passing Jim (the eventual winner) going the other way. It was so beautiful in the wild, that I had to take a moment, and what a moment that was - unforgettable. There were some good bonuses in some very weird small towns. Some of the classic Bonuses include NMHA Hatch Chile in the town of Hatch NM, NMPT Pie Town in NM, and TXEP Best Tex Mex in the USA. Note that each bonus has a three or four letter "name" that has to be correctly listed on your scoring form - or you score Zilch.

At this point it should be said that there were three other bonues for each leg, comprising first a "Call In" bonus, (CALL2) by phone where you had to give a very specific message, plus a Tracking bonus TRK2, where your SPOT tracker MUST work for the whole leg, and finally a REST bonus (called REST2) for this leg, where you are forced to take some well earned sleep which I did do gratefully. At Checkpoint 2, riders were starting to frazzle, and many had back-up teams replacing tyres and fixing small and larger damage in the car park. You had to be there, to believe it. Camaraderie is exceptional at these times. 

Leg 3 was the Biggie in terms of time, and most riders covered some incredible distances. I decided to go to the cool north, of Minnesota then head East. I should have gone into Canada, but chose to ride through Wisconsin then back across the Mackinaw Bridge, but while that is truly spectacular, it requires a five-dollar bridge toll - ONLY in cash. I had some fun in the wrong lane with a pile of Quarters sorting this out while the toll lady thought I was a complete foreign nitwit - and she was not far wrong, as she wove back through a long line of moving trucks to her booth. 

Prior to the bridge crossing I was headed to a very large bonus score of 4847 points for MIMI - the task was to buy some fudge on Mackinac Island, but that required a ferry trip! No wonder there were good points. And I had a great ride with a fellow competitor and we both obtained the requisit score. I then headed south into indiana and Michigan, then into Pennsylvania to some delectable boni such as PAAR, the Road Kill Cafe for 3505 points. You kill it and they will cook it for you, in their Chowder. (No joke!)

My careful reading of the Rally Book showed me a true problem, which ws the final error that brought me undone - I was running out of Bonuses! (within a 2000 km ride). So I travelled around the local states, and even visited my favourite bonus hunting ground (again) in NY City! I love riding in New York and chased all the bonuses I could find. To get the last ones, I would need to ride into the very far south of Maryland, into the most wonderful country I had ridden in, and to scoop up bonuses like MDFC Old Saltys Blue Crab Diner, which is VERY remote but very beautiful. After this I returned north and stopped for a few hours mandatory REST3 in Hoopers Island. Disaster struck, as the power went out for 10 hours while I was there, and I could not get the necessary receipts for the full period. I lost a lot of points on this one, but Jeff allowed me a few on some earlier receipts. Achieving a "pass" score was getting tougher by the hour.

So this points disaster in MD, combined with the photo issue in Tulsa, put me out of the rally in terms of points. If I had made these, I would have had 2800 extra points over the minimum cut-off number. I had cut it too fine, and bad luck made a suitable score irretrievable. Further, any possibiltiy I had of making these up with other bonuses between NY and Pittsburgh was gone, as I had achieved every available bonus within reasonable riding distance from home base.  So be it.  I had ridden in 32 US States, and nearly 10,000 miles (14,000 for the full trip) and that was a true pleasure in itself. 

So what were the lessons I learned?

1. Your bike needs to be perfect. For you. As a foreigner, this is tough as you don't get to hone every last detail on a few smaller or shorter practise rallies before hand. This makes for a real challenge, if you fly into the USA a week in advance. You are behind the eight-ball to start. 
2. You need to be a genuinely skilled rider. Sure, everyone says that they are experienced, but in my view less than one-in-twenty social riders could do it. (I would be happy to justify this in detail to an interested rider) As an example, if you come from a country like Australia where you ride on the left normally, you need to adjust to the right side of the road AND your counter-steering responses better be "inate" or "automatic" on that side of the road, or you are going to die. 
3. It is as expensive AF. If you are on a tight budget, forget it. Standing under a freezing cold shower for an hour, while tearing up hundred-dollar bills would be cheaper and maybe more enjoyable. 
4. You need a great Team. The help I received from Martin and Bec, plus Ian in Australia and from Mike Myren with my bike preparation in MN, and of course, support from your immediate family, especially in my case from my wife, Sheryle. 
5. You MUST be mentally hard-core. If you dont "want it" then don't bother starting. This resilience is essential because shit happens. Like becoming soaked through and then riding for another 12 hours. Or breaking down in 120 degree heat and fixing the bike (one rider changed a tire with tools bought from a regular hardware store e.g. using G Clamps as bead-breakers). Or being robbed of your wallet in a Macca's - then just going out and riding on. Anything can happen - and does.
6. Lastly it is essential to be physically fit. You will have extreme sleep deprivation. If you cannot ride for more than 30 hours without any sleep, for one part of the rally, you will find it very challenging to compete. As I grow older, this is one element that is working against me. 

Having said all of that, it is totally addictive. I love it, and will never regret a minute in the IBR. 

And the list of wannabe applicants will be lined up, out-the-door for 2025. 

Go hard or go home. 

As IBR riders do - Bear Hugs. Olaf.

Yamaha FJR 1300 - the "Weapon"

 Well have just come off the Iron Butt Rally 2023, where I rode a 2008 Yamaha FJR 1300 AE, to non-victory - I did not quite get enough points and am viewed as a "non-finisher". I had bought the bike four years earlier, with multi-day rallies in mind, but covid and flight restrictions got in the way. But that is not what this blog is about;

When Yamaha released the first Generation 1 FJR in 2001, it was an instant hit. Sports bike riders finally had a mean-machine which also came with a comfortable seat, electronic screen, panniers - and 154 BHP of power on tap. Yamaha effectively created the category "Sports Tourer" and others have followed, such as BMW with the K1600 GT or the Kawasaki 1400GT.

My first experience with my (two) FJRs was not all joy. This is a big, heavy bike with 1300 cc four-cylinder engine. (295 Kg wet, 650 pounds). At Australian speeds of 65mph (110km/hr) it is just so un-necessary - when you twist the throttle, you get tyre-tearing speed and acceleration. This bike is truly a "weapon" for experienced riders. Top speed is 154 mph (!) and that is nearly 250km/hour. So for many, getting over 100 mph is half the joy and it is truly useful trying to pass large trucks on the interstate - a "safety feature" sometimes in the USA. But it will definitely get you a speeding ticket in Australia. Riding the US interstates I suddenly "got it" when I needed to pass a truck at about 75mph - above this speed, the bike really comes alive and is an absolute joy to ride over 90 mph. The opposite is also true - bring your best counter-steering skills at slow speeds and try very hard not to drop the bike on grass or gravel. 

The seating position is very good, upright and quite neutral. My bike had small bar-risers, and a Russell Day-Long heated seat, but very useful. I had added peg-lowers to get the footpegs to a height suiting my 6 foot frame, and these assisted too, but made tight cornering in the hills of West Virginia, a little more problematic - raise my toes on each corner! As a side benefit, I can comfortably stand on the pegs on this bike just like an offroad model, which allows another option for leg-stretching. 

My bike also has a very neat auxilliary tank, where the pillion passenger would sit. This was a buying feature for me, along with the seat. It needed a backrest, which I added care of a garden knealer from Lowes. The main tank is 6.6 US Gallons (25 Litres) and is good for 200 miles. The combined set-up was 11.5 gallons and good for about 330 miles - not enough for this long distance rider - I would have preferred the 30 or 35 litre tanks on the GSA. If I was making the FJR a long term bike, I would purchase a Gen3 model and create a "FrankenTank" from the main one via a stretch of the main tank.

The newer models have a six speed clutch and modern dash, factory cruise-control but also different suspension and lights. If you want one of these, buy a General 3 model and get the many benefits that Yamaha has added to the new bikes. Mine was fitted with the MC Cruise system from Melbourne (on both bikes) which is excellent and almost ubiquitous on the earlier models.

The bike does not come with any protection bars either for protecting the panniers, or the engine plastics - I recommend somthing, and chose the RGAZA Russion options, which were beautifully made and allowed mounting of some touring pegs rather nicely. The Garand Italian versions are no longer made, but maybe we can see new versions of these soon. 

The suspension is OK. It certainly beats anything Harley, especially at the rear. The front is no comparison to the BMW and dives a little under harsh braking. Similarly fior the lighting which is very much improved on the latest versions. I have added the simply brilliant Clearwater "Erica's" which I cannot recommend enough and clearly saved my bacon in the pouring rain of South Carolina recently. 

It would be possible to write a whole article on maintenance. Suffice it to say that the battery is in a slightly awkward position under plastic on the front right bar, so bring the right Allen Keys. However, the bike is a shaft drive, which has all sorts of advantages - just remember to change the drive oil, as many owners do not.

In summary - 

Pluses - bulk power on tap, a great screen, incredibly reliable engine, comfortable ride position.

Negatives - A heavy bike, high gas useage low in height, average wind protection, ordinary suspension and lights. On the earlier models, only five gears. Many of these items were resolved in the Generation 3 version of the bike. 

So if you want to cross the continent with a passenger and a load of luggage, this may well be the bike for you.