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Riding a Honda Silverwing GL500 1000 Miles in 24 Hours – IronButt Saddlesore 1000
By Thom | April 19, 2009
IronButt Saddlesore 1000 on a Honda Silverwing
I had wanted to ride an IronButt Saddlesore 1000 since I read about it many years ago in Outside Magazine. I was probably around 15 at the time, I tried and tried to convince my parents of buying me a bigger motorcycle than I already had. The motorcycle I had back then was 1972 Yamaha Dt125 Enduro, not exactly the kind of bike that you can ride for more than a couple of hours. Throughout the years, the idea carried with me, through different motorcycles. I never really had a bike that I either trused or was comfortable enough to ride 1000 miles in 24 hours until I bought the Honda Silverwing…
I actually rode from Tennesee to Iowa, a distance of 1006 miles on the end of my second Eastward Distraction Trip. I hadn’t planned any of it, but the weather was looking really bad for the rest of week and so I kept pushing on – only to look at the gps the next day and realized that I had done a Saddlesore without even knowing it!
I thought the perfect time to carry out an Iron Butt would be after the BMW International Rally in Gillette Wyoming. I scrutinized the forecast the week before and it called for some great weather. Therefore, Katie and I put together a route that was a little over 1000 miles and plotted gas stops every 100 miles or so. I found this the best way to do it. Most of the time when I ride long days, I prefer to ride 75 miles, get off and stretch at a rest stop, then ride another 75 miles and fill up the tank (since the Silverwing has such a limited range). This makes for an easy day of riding because you’re constantly stretching and moving blood around.
The route I chose:
Yep, that’s right! From one end of North Dakota to the other! I had never really traveled much in North Dakota and I thought the temperatures would be cooler than going south from Gillette.
Preparation:
- We made out the route – actually we put two routes together, in case the weather was forecasted to be really crappy – one north and one south. This let me chose the night before after looking up the updated forecast. North Dakota was a great choice because the interstate speeds are 75 mph which helps keep up your average.
- The “couch” got an oil change with filter and fresh oil in the rear drive “pumpkin.” I also check the rest of the bike over to make sure nothing everything was tight and could handle the jaunt.
- I planned out what I would eat that would help me fuel trying to avoid anything that would give me a high for a while then crash. I chose mainly bananas, protein bars, NAKED Juice, gatorade, and water. I usually downed something at each stop to keep my blood sugars even. Gatorade + bananas were important to keep up the electrolytes because it was going to be warm. Plus, no water or electrolytes and your body gets fuzzy, which isn’t much fun to find out as your scraping along the concrete at 75 mph.
- Witness and documents – The Iron Butt Association is pretty strict about having the right type of documents and receipts from gas stations. I also had to find a willing starting witness. At the rally I was camped next to several people from Alaska and so ‘Alaska Frank,’ decided to vouch for me (at 4:00 in the morning no less). Katie would be my end witness. Everything was printed out twice, signed and dated. I didn’t want to make any mistakes or have any problems in case I lost something.
- The night before I left, I said good by’s to everyone I met, packed up everything that I could and arranged everything so that I could pack up my tent and fly out of there in the morning.
- You also must grow a ridiculous beard or people will think you are sane…
The ride begins:
It’s early and I’m tired – imagine that! I feel a little bad for waking up ‘Alaska Frank,’ but I hand him my rally handkerchief as a consolation for helping me out. And I’m off to get an official time stamp from the Flying J gas station in Gillette, turns out that the flying J doesn’t do time stamps on their receipts – great so I go and ask the gentleman at the counter if I can have his name and number of the gas station. He calls me crazy, but I get his name, so I’m out the door and off.
I hit the boarder of Montana and Wyoming soon afterwards and check my first little accomplishment off the list. Riding through Montana in the wee morning is not a good idea, nor is it a good idea to ride at evening. WAYYY too many deer out and about. I decide to slow down to around 50 mph instead of the 75 mph posted speed limit. I figure that this will help me avoid a Thom vs. Bambi event.
Start: (The black tape is on the helmet to keep the sun out of my eyes)
Stop 1 – it’s getting near the morning
Delicious pen!
Stop 3
Stop 5 – By this time, I’m feeling a good rhythm. Keeping good time and it’s seeming pretty easy. It’s important to stretch everything, including your mouth.. I spent a good extra 45 minutes trying to find a gas station in Fargo, ND. It was one of those, “O, I’ll find one more down the road, don’t stop yet, keep going.” They were working on the exit that I had originally planned to take so I took one that I thought should have something, but no, nothing.
Stop 9 – I think it’s getting to me…
Stop 102.34 – I’m ready to be home…. that and I can’t remember what stop this is…
Home!!!
(junk picture, but you get the idea)
Afterwards
- Luckily, I didn’t have any problems with the Silverwing, it was cooler than expected out so the bike ran pretty well. I fought the wind most of the day which is always fun when you are trying not to get eaten by a semi trailer. Since I didn’t have any problems, it was kind of a boring run…
- I had to be pretty precise about filling out paper work, it helps if you number all of your receipts as you get them. Also, I had trouble with a time stamp at only 3 gas stations – 2 Flying J’s and a mom n’ pop store in Montana.
- It was a great ride! I will probably do another one some day, but longer. Most likely I’ll attempt a 1500 mile ride in 36 hours.
- 4:30 a.m. was a good time for me to start, it was light enough by the time that the morning excitement wore off and I finished early enough in the evening. There were several points that I wished I could have looked around instead of getting back on the bike.
- Having everything planned including gas stops really made my life easier. I did’t have to worry about if I was going to make it to the next station.
- A big thank you goes to ‘Alaska Frank’ for getting up early and ‘R80Dave’ for the alcohol to calm my nerves (and encouragement) the night before!
The best part of it all, the coveted Iron Butt license plate backer:
- My total ride milage was 1061 miles in a little under 21 hours – Now it’s your turn…..
Similar Posts:
- Eastward Distraction Part 2 – Day Six
- Westward Distraction: Day Twelve
- Why Go??? How My Distraction Started
- Eastward Distraction Part 2 – Day Four
- Bike to Bayfield ‘08 – Day One
Topics: Motorcycle | 3 Comments »
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Hello friends:
I have a sling gl 500 silver wing
I want to buy the leprous lateral one, and also other supplies(replacements).
They can help me ..?
I live in Chile, and naci in Argentina
Regards
Michael
June 29th, 2009 at 10:14 am
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December 16th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
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