Iron Butt Saddle sore 1000, Or how to spend the last day of vacation.

My RS is up for 30.000 km service this week and I only had 28.000 on it. 2000 km short.
Wife working and it was to hot to do any work on the house. Maybe take a ride around south of sweden is a good way to spend a friday?
Said and done, Last Thursday I brought a camelbak-type water bladder to have in the tank bag, a bunch of water, power bars and red bull. Packed the bike and made up a route on Google maps.
Planned to start at 4.00 am on friday morning 3/8, but overslept waking up 4.35... Rushed up, got my gears on and waked my son to follow me to the start point as a witness. (bribed with a tank of gas for his bike.)
Got away at 4.57 am from Tullinge, sun just getting up and headed southwest.
The route was Stockholm - Jönköping - Ljungby - Kalmar - Jämjö - Lund - Uddevalla - Västerås - Kungsängen - stockholm. Total of approx 1660 km, a bit more than the required 1609 but just to be on the safe side. Tried to do as much highway as possible to get higher speed limit and less risk of moose, deer, badger and wild boar.
Started with the shield in the upper position, but at the second fuelstop in Ljungby i lowered it down to get as much air on me as possible. Temperature rising.
by noon I was in the southeast corner of sweden, heading west to my most southern part of the trip, Lund in skåne. It was starting to get realy hot! showing 31 degree C, and drinking water as a camel. Had a small cooling box in one of the panniers filled with water and redbull.
Halfway on my trip I was glad that I was so far from home that quiting wouldn't do much to shorten the madness. regardless how much i drank, still getting headache.
Found an airconditioned diner and took a break. Got some food, filled the camelbak with ice and fresh water and felt much better. Just 840 km to go and heading north again!

We have a stuping type of road system in sweden called 1-2 roads. One direction have 2 lanes and the other got 1, divided by a steel cable fence that will tear a biker that gets caught in it to pieces
After 2-4 km it switches. Between Trollhättan and all the way up to Örebro between the 2 larger lakes Vänern and Vättern, a large part of the road are of this hated 1-2 type, limited to 70 km/h.
This was the most boring part of the trip. Getting tired, and the danger of wild life at dusk were more present. But everything went well. From västerås it was mainly highway again, closer to stockholm even with lights. The wife came down to the gas station from where I started and met up as a witness.
Fueled up one last time at 9 minutes past midnight. 19 hours and 12 minutes, distance by GPS stopped at 1662,7 km. Went home and took an icecold Corona and collapsed in the sofa. Thats when the cramp in my thighs and butt arrived in full force. Had to sleep on my belly, and had one thousand needles in my behind when I woke up.
The RS performed like a dream. That bike still grows on me, best I ever had.

Next time I might go for a Bun burner, 1500 miles in 36 hr. Checked the distance and might just say one day: "honey, I will just go for a ride and take a cup of coffe. In Venice".

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Epic days riding. Sounds like you will both need a soothing bath

Nice ride, saw it on FB earlier, so again congratulations on finishing this IBA challenge!

I've been planning to do an SS1000 this summer as well, however with the current heatwave I decided to postpone it...
The outlook is better now, so maybe I'll give it a go next weekend. The RS will go for the 20.000 km service this Friday, so it would be all fit for a little ride after that!

Awesome story, awesome ride. One day I hope to be cool enough to ride to a place with a name like Trollhättan.

Zitat von bill the cat im Beitrag #4

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Awesome story, awesome ride. One day I hope to be cool enough to ride to a place with a name like Trollhättan.

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I had 900 on a single day on mine, but never close to that. Well done sir, well done!

My RS is back from the dealer with fresh tires, spark plugs, oil and other fluids, and the weather forecast is pretty much perfect for the weekend, so tomorrow night I'll start my first 1600+ km day trip as well. Will update when I get back...

Zitat von Gaucho im Beitrag #7

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My RS is back from the dealer with fresh tires, spark plugs, oil and other fluids, and the weather forecast is pretty much perfect for the weekend, so tomorrow night I'll start my first 1600+ km day trip as well. Will update when I get back...

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Zitat von Gaucho im Beitrag #7

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My RS is back from the dealer with fresh tires, spark plugs, oil and other fluids, and the weather forecast is pretty much perfect for the weekend, so tomorrow night I'll start my first 1600+ km day trip as well. Will update when I get back...

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Zitat von Gaucho im Beitrag #9

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Zitat von Gaucho im Beitrag #7

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My RS is back from the dealer with fresh tires, spark plugs, oil and other fluids, and the weather forecast is pretty much perfect for the weekend, so tomorrow night I'll start my first 1600+ km day trip as well. Will update when I get back...

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The full story I'll write up tomorrow, need to catch up a nights sleep now. But nothing is really sore, only my eyes are hurting a bit, probably from being in the wind the whole day.

Started last night just after 11 pm and came back end of the afternoon, just before 6 pm, and we did ride in those 19 hours a grand total of 1667 km or 1035 miles.

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So I did it as well: ride a crazy 1000+ miles in one day. Had felt the urge for a while to do an IBA ride and specially now owning a good touring bike, I found it time to get this one of my bucket list! Because of the heat here the last four weeks I waited for a suitable weekend, and it came last week. No rain, not too warm, and still pretty long hours of sunshine.

Since I'm a real night person, I decided not to do an early morning start, but instead start end of the evening and ride through the night and finish again before nightfall. The main advantage of riding through the night is that it is very quiet on the roads, specially Saturday night and Sunday morning, with even no trucks around. My route was start heading north east to Germany, via Hanover and Magdeburg, then heading south towards Nuremberg, turning east to Strasbourg in France and then finally north again through Belgium back home. Along the way I visited 8 of 16 German states, France, Luxembourg and Belgium along the way. The whole route were 99% four lane highways and most stretches in Germany have no speed limits! Not to tire myself with high speed racing, I limited myself mostly to 160 kph (100 mph) on those roads and mostly 110-130 kph (70-80 mph) is mostly the limit in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

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All went smooth the first quarter of the route to Hanover; some roadworks and other small delay and I had looked up in advance places to fill up, gas for the RS and coffee and snacks for me, and stopping every two hours is enough for me. The second quarter southbound became a bit more difficult; during the night the temperature dropped more then expected. So even with many layers of clothes, good gloves and the heated grips, it was really chilly. Doing 160 kph hour after hour means the windchill goes through all layers of your clothes! I could have put on the rain gear I had packed, but decided not to, the cold kept me awake and alert. Throughout the night I was really happy with my LED headlights, dipped beam was already great, and the main beam lit up the Autobahn, very impressive!

After staying awake easily through the night, the third part through Germany started with a big dip around 9 am, so I stopped and laid down on a parking lot bench for a bit, and after that it was all good again. Heading west again on good and quiet roads, mostly six lane Autobahn even, and nice temperatures again, however it got busy quickly, and I needed more frequent stops to drink and relax a bit. Crossing the border into France it got quiet again and I reached Strasbourg, the southern point of the trip, leaving only the final 450 km back north. By that time unfortunately the battery of my Sena headset was finished, so no more music and spoken guidance anymore. The route through France and Belgium was nice, however it got warmer all the time, crossing into the Netherlands again at the 1600 km mark it was nearly 30°C again. But I was on the home stretch now, so the traffic and the heat didn't bother me too much anymore, and almost 19 hours after leaving I was back at the petrol station for my final fuel stop, and the final receipt for the IBA certification.

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In total I did enough km to qualify, I hope, and since I didn't use a witness at start and finish, according to the IBA Germany rules, I need to send in a picture made at every stop with the fuel receipt and the odometer on the bike. Have them and all receipt and logs ready to be sent later in the week and hopefully I'll be admitted to the IBA soon! Riding through the night, so skipping all sleep, isn't for everybody I know, but today I just felt having a jet lag, so not too bad, and hardly any soar muscles, butt or back.

Final thoughts on the RS: great bike for long distance riding, enough wind protection, smooth and quiet engine with plenty of power and most important cruise control and the heated grips! For me the handlebar risers, lowered foot-pegs, Puig windshield and definitely the LED lights and Wunderlich seat made it possible to finish in one piece and without a Saddle Sore.

Nice write up Gaucho! Again, congrats and well done.
I had my wife's Sena with me as well and made a change as battery went low. Hard to do without music on those loong hauls...
I almost managed a SS1000 4 years ago on my Kawasaki GTR1400, Hook van Holland-Stockholm,1480 km in 20 hrs, but was totaly broken when I got home.
The R1200RS is a WAY better long-range tool in MHO. Seat, riding position, vibrations, and CRUISE CONTROL!!

Zitat von Holger im Beitrag #12

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So I do not know if I should think you crazy or if I should be impressed?
Probably both!

I would not do that, I drove 12 hours already. Well without highway on winding country roads, maybe even a wide road, but after that I was also beat.
After that time, I feel that my ability to concentrate is no longer sufficient, and that requires more for motorcyclist than for the others.

But important is that you have arrived back home healthy.

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Got an email from IBA Germany on Friday, my ride was certified! I'm officially member now of the IBA

"Hallo Martien,

congratulations on your successful SS1600K, the mileage of your ride was 1.724 km.
You are now a member of the Iron Butt Association.
Your IBA number is 730xx.

Also on behalf of Mike Kneebone, I would like to welcome you to our IBA community"