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On June 27, Chris read a story about how the IronButt Rally might not happen in 2025 due to loss of event insurance. That article mentioned that some IronButt riders were considering doing the Scooter Cannonball instead. Chris checked out the site and thought it looked interesting. Some discussions with Kathi and reading the FAQ, we found that the Benelli TNT 135 qualifies as under 200cc, single cylinder, and wheels smaller than 13". Seeing that registration had been open for just a couple of weeks and only 30 of 300 spots remained, Chris filled out the registration form and started thinking...
A couple of days later, a discussion with Dave Nicoll (and a little encouragement from Ana and Kathi)
turned into criminal enablement, and both Chris and Dave signed up for
this absurd event.
But then tRump got elected and started fucking with the USA-Canada relationship which led to Dave deciding he can't travel to the USA while we have a criminal king arresting people, especially non-citizens. I got the message from Dave while I was in Mexico riding with JB, JP, Armando, etc. I really liked Armando's easy going nature and I think he will be a solid partner for this riding challenge.
| 6/21 Sat | The Tides by the Sea | 2316 Beach Drive, Seaside, OR 97138 | 53702 | $419.45 | |
| 6/22 Sun | Motel 6 Pendleton West | 620 SW Tutuilla Rd, Pendleton, 97801 | 5444601301 | $183.18 | |
| 6/23 Mon | The Nordic Inn | 400 North 3rd Street, McCall, ID 83638 | 5498880123 | $379.22 | |
| 6/24 Tue | Quality Inn | 1333 Bench Road, Pocatello, ID 83201 | 6110701557 | $258.93 | |
| 6/25 Wed | Grand Vista Hotel Grand Junction | 2790 Crossroads Boulevard, Grand Junction, CO 81506 | 15309477264339661245 | $172.76 | |
| 6/26 Thu | La Quinta Inn by Wyndham Santa Fe | 4298 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87507 | 5693379374 | $305.51 | |
| 6/27 Fri | Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Pecos | 92 Raul Florez Boulevard, Pecos, TX 79772 | 6030914940 | $338.38 | |
| 6/28 Sat | Motel 6-Kerrville | 1810 Sidney Baker Street, Kerrville, TX 78028 | 4702522710 | $201.12 | |
| 6/29 Sun | Ramada by Wyndham & Suites | 6200 Padre Boulevard, South Padre Island, TX 78597 | 4816737496 | $244.54 |
The Benelli could use some improvements to make it more capable and comfortable.
The Benelli has a 1.9 gallon tank and gets about 100 mpg in light riding, but maybe ~70mpg at WOT. Safe range is perhaps 120 miles per tank. Adding 2 gallons gallon expands that to ~270 miles. That's enough to decrease fuel stops to just 2 per day (plus one after arrival) and gives a LOT more flexibility with fuel planning. The Yamaha has a 2.0 gallon tank.
TBD add some pictures of tank models, welding and plumbing.
Wind protection is key to comfort and, done right, might also improve top speed and increase range.
TBD
Dave and I have reserved space in the SAG truck for a 35 liter dry bag for clothing, toiletries, etc., but we will still need to carry rain gear, clothing layers, food&water, tire patch kit, a few tools, etc. So having a baggage box will be handy.
To test the concept of riding a 135cc motorcycle 380—450 miles each day, Chris plans to do one or two long warmup rides before the real deal. Here's an example of a 2 day ride to Gold Beach and back:
Life got in the way and I didn't more shakedown than to and from McMinnville.
0. don't fall down or crash
1. make it to South Padre Island
2. hitting all the CONTROL checkpoints on all 8 days (no zero point days)
3. collect all the BONUS checkpoints
4. finish in the top half of contestants by points (in 2023 that would be better than 87 out of 173 starters)
5. finish in the top half of contestants that finish every day (in 2023 that would be better than 64 out of 127 completions)
6. stretch goal: finish in the top 50 overall
In 2023, I think they accepted 250 registrations and 173 showed up to race.
Of those 173, 127 finished all 8 days with no zero-point days (46 failed to finish one or more days)
2 failed to finish the first day
19 failed to finish the second day but some of them went on to finish a few later days
only 3 dropped out after completing the 2nd day
But 22 more had at least one more bad day
First place got 4720 points and 64th got 3160 points, (averaging 195 points (about 3 hours) behind first place)
If first place takes no breaks and averages 50 mph, and days are 500 miles, or 10 hours, then goal 5 means averaging better than 13 hours each day.
3 minute break every hour to stretch and swap bikes, plus two 10-minute gas stops and averaging 48 mph means a 500 mile day is 675 minutes (11.25 hrs) or 75 minutes behind the leaders which should put us in ~15th place.