Regular BB1500, in 24 hours

[BANDIT01]

Just got through resting from the BB1500/SS1000 I finished this morning. My route started at the Highway 67/Woolmarket exit on I-10 near Biloxi, goes east on I-10 to I-65 North. From there I hit I-85 in Montgomery AL, through Atlanta GA, Greenville SC, and Charlotte NC. Where I-85 and US 311 meet in Archdale was my turn-around. I then retraced my route back to Atlanta where I picked up I-20 West, went through Birmingham AL, Tusculoosa AL, and on to Jackson MS, where I turned south on Highway 49. From there I went to a point just south of Hattiesburg MS and ended my route with 1507 miles at 23 hours and 55 minutes. Since they could not give me the BBG for it, I just took my time gassing up and visiting with the rest of the Southern Cruisers that came to see me arrive. By the receipts, it took 24 hours and 20 minutes. (Well inside the boundaries of the 36 hours I had to make it in).
I did find out some interesting things on this ride though. First, rain pants can definately keep the rain out, but when you have been rained on for 5 hours straight, they can definately keep the rain IN. The clouds moved out of here late Thursday afternoon, so I left here around 7 PM. The clouds and I met around the South Carolina border. It rained torrents from there until I got through my turn around point, and continued until I got back out of South Carolina. Since I didnt have any dry clothes, I ended up drying my pants while I rode...nothing else to do but grin and bear it (not literally of course). Somewhere around the north end of Georgia I hit something crossing the road, left a heck of a mess on the right side of my exhausts and saddle bag. The night turned out cold, wet, and miserable, but it was fun.
Found out that the old saying about eating an elephant is especially true when riding long distances. I plotted out all of my gas stations, and saved them as waypoints on my GPS> made it easier to look at traveling only 120 miles versus 1500. It made doing the deed lots easier. The chewy granola bars made alot of difference. Just reached behind me in my bag and could chew on while riding. The crunchy ones are kind of hard to eat at 75 mph though. Another thing: gatorade. The day before I had filled my camelbak with gatorade I mixed up myself. By noon of the next day, it had turned to a syrupy mixture. The MP3 player works great on long hauls too, but I need to get the earbuds rather than use the standard foam covered earphones. The Wiley-X goggles and glasses with insertable lenses worked great. About half way into the run, my bike started backfiring when I let off the gas. Dont know exactly what happened, but the result is that now my bike sounds a whole lot like a harley with those screaming eagle pipes on it. Guess it just got rid of the inner workings in the exhaust it didnt want. The valves need adjusting now also. Around 900 miles the started trying to chatter a little, and got progressively worse the longer I rode it.
All in all it was a great trip. I am tired as heck even after 8 hours of sleep, all of my gear is still soaking wet, my bike is trashed, but I feel really good! Thanks to all of you that gave me comments and suggestions I made it, and am now planning on doing my BBG. The best thing that happened from this trip is that I now have a TESTED route for my BBG. All I have to do is do this one all over again, just maybe a little smarter. Thanks again all of you!

[RamMan03]

Sounds like a great ride except all that interstate traveling. What is a BBG anyway?

[BANDIT01]

BBG stands for a Bun Burner 1500 Gold. That is where you do your 1500 miles like a regular Bun Burner 1500, but instead of the 36 hours, you get only 24 hours to do it in. In order to do it, you have to take as much interstate time as you can.

[DonOhlin]

Since I live out west, I'm planning on a BBG with NO INTERSTATE. I think it's doable, but we'll have to see. It'll be later in the year.

[BANDIT01]

I am no expert by no means, having just finished my first SS1000, BB1500 myself, but I did see some things that would help. First, time is your enemy in this game. According to most in this forum, an auxillery tank is needed to keep you from spending so much time doing gas stops. On my 24 hour run, I ended up spending around 1.5 actual hours just getting gas. You may be able to do it, I wish you luck. Time management is the only issue in your way. I did it by mapping out my gas stops, then just treating each gas stop as a destination, that way I was only going 120 miles to my destination, not 1500. It helps not wear you down thinking about how far you have to go.
Good luck and let us know how you do.

[DonOhlin]

Appreciate the good advice. I'll probably not try until July-September. I might do a SS or BB before. I've done them, more-or-less, but not documented. So this'll be new to me. If the wife doesn't go with, I don't even think twice about 700-800 in a day. The most I've ever done was 1200 in a day, but I'll admit I was younger (and lighter).

I'm going to wait to buy the fuel cell, thus the above time frame. It seems I just bought a VTX and a Shadow for the wife and I is what we officially call below the bottom of the barrel. ;-) I need to buy saddlebags and sissybars and tbags for both bikes before Memorial Day weekend because we're planning a trip. Then there's the new lights I want, plus the new pipes and power commander and new handlebars and both bikes could use new seats and ... ... ... (lots of dots) ... the fuel cell's going to wait until mid-late summer.

I'll post it when I try it! But in Wyoming, there isn't that much traffice and I can always use Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montanna and/or Eastern Colorado and Kansas. There's a lot of country out here where the majority of the traffic is on Interstates (and I think Interstates are boring, so I know those other roads anyway).

[jeburnside]

Bandit01- Nice write up of the trip. Regardless of the cosmetic condition of the bike...you did it safely :D

[BANDIT01]

Thank you for the compliment. The impromptu trip to Stillwater Oklahoma allowed me to find my limits, so doing this trip was easy. It was only because of the advice I got on this forum that it was successful though. The idea about looking only as far as your next fuel stop was a lifesaver. On that long fast run, you have so much time to just think about how far you have to do. If you are as obsessive as I am, it will drive you crazy. My hats are off to all of you in this forum for making my trip a success.

[Todd2]

Bandidto1,

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Glad so many of us could help you with your trip. I know I gained a LOT of insight from this board. It is a long ways, isn't it? The tip about thinking only about the next leg (gas stop) came from my motorcycle riding partner who also peddled a bicycle in the MS-150 (186 miles in 2 days). Apparently, the bicycle riders think only as far as the next hurdle (break point, hill, windy stretch, etc) to keep them going. So I stole the idea. Anyway, glad it worked for ya. Let us know how your official BBG run goes - and remember to ride SAFELY!.

Todd

[x rated]

congrats bandit thats got to be hard on a stock tank set up. What x are you riding. Some of the guys on a stock c almost seems impossable to me. Im looking at expanding my stock tank to pull the bbg and the coast to coast.
DonOhlin were are you out west? Were in reno and gonna do our SS1000 and BB1500 in june sometime. Then were doing the coast to coast in 50 hrs sandeigo to jacksonville com febuary. Going to do on the way to bike week then spend a few days and take our time coming home. If your close your more than welcome to tag along.

[DonOhlin]

x rated,

I'm in Cheyenne, WY. Thanks for the invite, but my schedule is booked solid this year. I missed all of last year due to an accident and am going to mostly stick close to home (I'm still not 100%). We're pretty new to WY and I went down just after moving here. So what I'm doing this summer is riding to all the WY rallies and events I can, so I can learn who's who and what's what in WY.

In late August, if'n I'm feeling ready, I may fly by your place on my way to Oregon. I'm making a visit a little over 1000k miles and thought about trying to do an official SS. I've not done a documented one before. We'll have to see how the shoulder feels by then.

But if you're swinging by Cheyenne, give a shout and I'll buy lunch. Oh yeah, "by Cheyenne" means within a couple hundred miles. I'll ride that X1800C any chance I get. lol

Don Ohlin <><
Blessed are the flexible,
for they shall not be bent out of shape!

[BANDIT01]

Yes, an aux fuel tank would have helped, but I did it with my stock 4.9 gallon tank. Also, the gas stops helped me stay alert and keep focused. I was not too tired when I finished the route. I had to go back to Greensboro NC just last week in my car, and the ride seemed endless. I figured out that the longer you ride between stops, the longer the ride seems. Maybe its just me, but the gas stops (all 16 of them) helped me.

[x rated]

DonOhlin the wife and I are thinking of going out your way in aug-sept gonna take a week or so and go for a ride, we were thinking of going up to yellowstone.

[x rated]

Bandit I just noticed your from gulfport. I was born in biloxi at keisler air force base. I still get to the pensacola area every year or 2 , my grandmother still lives there and my dad grew up there and lives in macon now. I guess the stoping alot for gas can be benafical but It can deffenitley make or brake a run if your trying for the BBG or the CC50.

[DonOhlin]

x rated,

I'm in the opposite corner of the state. I'll be up in Yellowstone area in July. It's a grand and glorious place to visit. The moutain views are spectacular. The most dangerous aspect is the cagers rubber-necking and not watching the road. Unlike so much of our country, there aren't great wait times to get to attractions like Old Faithful. You just pull up and walk over.

If you head East out of Yellowstone, you'll find more spectacular riding heading towards Sheridan. There are a couple of different routes that are truly enjoyable. Look for WY Scenic Highways.

Of course there will be beau-coup bikes in WY during Sturgis Bike Week. Let me know your schedule and maybe we can hook up.

DonOhlin at juno.com <><
Blessed are the flexible,
for they shall not be bent out of shape!

[netdoug]

Congratulations BANDIT01.

Like many here, I've learned to use waypoints as opposed to plotting an entire route (psychology plays a big part in doing any of this). I can double check the mileage and it's nice to see the numbers decrease from 150 to zero as opposed 1000. :lol:

Did you have any special strategy for finding open gas stations at 4am? I don't have an aux. tank (fuel injected engine makes things very tough) and know that depending on speed, I can safely get 140-160 miles from a full tank.

Doug

[BANDIT01]

X-Rated, I still did the run as a practice for my BBG later this summer. My finish time was 23 hours and fifty something minutes. Didnt worry about the minutes cause I had 36 hours to make my BB1500 in since it was my first time.
NetDoug, I mapped out all of my stops on Mapsource software which goes with my Garmin GPS. I did find out one interesting thing though which you should take into consideration. My gas mileage dropped from roughly 40-plus MPG to roughly 31 the day of the run. I was trying to get my gas stops in about every 119 miles, but had to take some earlier. As for strategy, I just did like I do when I am driving my car: I look for those large gas station signs along the interstate. Also, I used my Debit card, so even if it was closed, I was still able to get gas.
One thing also I learned: after my trip I took a ride to Waco TX to check out the mechanics on a GOldwing trike a friend of mine was purchasing. It was then that it occured to me how good the roads are when you are going north east versus going due west from Mississippi. Also, the frequency of cities increases as you go east or northeast. This equates into more gas stations and help should your bike suffer a problem.
Just some advice form stuff I noticed from my ride. Hope it helps.

[netdoug]

I didn't know you could use a debit card at a "closed" station. Gotta remember that! Thanks for the tip.

Doug