Wilsons Sandbox

John wrote:

> Hey folks, I am running a SS1000 this weekend and just

wondering what folks

> have done to make the ride a bit more comfortable. > > John > jsparker@...

On a KLR? Ballsy!! For a potpourri of tips, try the "Archive of Wisdom" on the IBA site. Pay close attention to #'s 6,7,9,12,14,15,16,22, and 23. Make sure your riding pants don't bunch or wrinkle under you. Use talcum powder. If you can, wear polypropylene long johns underneath your pants - they wick moisture away from your skin and improve chafing. If it's cold wear fleece longjohns over the poly wear and layer your torso, with polypro undershirt. Wear a bandana to keep your neck warm. Ear plugs greatly reduce fatigue. Try "Super Hear-O's". Drink lots of water. Start before you're thirsty. Avoid sodas and coffee/tea. Avoid sugary crap - it'll make you drowsy later. Eat less than normal. Take some Ibuprofen with you for if you get sore neck or back muscles; you'll appreciate it when you need it. Good luck! Tom Bowman A14 "Stella"

In a message dated 10/4/00 2:25:28 PM Mountain Daylight Time, jsparker@... writes:

> Hey folks, I am running a SS1000 this weekend and just wondering what folks > have done to make the ride a bit more comfortable. > > John > jsparker@...

Because this to the dual-sport list, one might assume you intend to do the ride on a KLR650 or something of that ilk. If that's the case, the No. 1, absolutely quickest, easiest way to make an SS1000 more comfortable is to ride it on an ST1100, GoldWing or BMW K1200LightTruck. Chris Lawson

> John sez; > Hey folks, I am running a SS1000 this weekend and just wondering what

folks

> have done to make the ride a bit more comfortable. >

John, Good luck on your SS1K. Some of the things that work well for me on my LDrides are as follows; Stay Hydrated. I Can't stress this enough. You may not feel like you're getting dehydrated, but You are. I personally like Gatorade, some don't. It's personal thing. I use a camelback hydration system in lieu of a water bottle or some such thing. Very convenient, especially with a full face helmet. Boxers instead of briefs, silk works best. You don't need anything cutting into you on a long ride. I know some that have used cycling shorts. I've tried them and would use them again, but would go for the unpadded variety. After about 800 miles, that gel pad starts feeling like rolled up newspaper. Take breaks. Don't try to go from tank-full to tank-full. You can get away with it if you're conditioned right, but if it's your first attempt at 1000+ mile, stop often. This does NOT mean stopping every ten minutes, or for long periods of time. What works for me on a bike like the KLR is as follows - Gas stop at about ~250~ miles. Soon as you go on reserve, start looking for a convenient gas station. And another quick break about half way through the tank of gas, around ~150~ or so. Quick is the KEY word here. I like to keep my gas stops under 15 minutes, preferable under 10. Same with the interim break. Just a stretch, a bite to eat, and a restroom break. Speaking of eating. AVOID Berger King and McDonalds. The best way to fall asleep on a long ride is to load up on fat. For quick snacks I like granola bars and fruit. Bananas are a great source of potassium. Remember, you loosing potassium as you dehydrate so you'll want to replace it as expediently as possible, bananas are good for that. If you feel the need for a sit-down meal, try to keep it under 1 hour, usually the waitress will keep things moving if you let her know what's going on, (she may look at you weird and not understand your reasoning behind what you're doing, butt they will usually speed things up). While you're on any LD ride, if you sleepy, STOP. Get off the bike and move around, Get a wink or two, 15~20 minutes can make a great deal of difference. Some say avoid caffeine. I personally live on coffee, and need my cups. If I don't have them I end up with a blasting migraine. I recommend that you don't do anything different in your normal routine on the day of the ride. If you are use to getting up at 8AM, get up at 8AM. If you're use to a cup or two of coffee, have some coffee. Don't go and get up at 3AM, start chugging Gatorade and live on granola bars, just because that's what I say to do. This needs to be your ride, and if you suddenly change a routine or a dietary habit of many years, your body will rebel, and you don't want that to happen on a ride like an SS1K. A good saddle always helps, but I've known folks that have used stock seats as well. I much prefer the Corbin to the stock KLR plank. I did 1K days on my '95 KLR with a Corbin and plan on getting another one for my '99. Then there's my buddy who rode with me using his stock KLR seat for years. Again, it's a personal thing. Ear plugs may or may not be your thing. I use them to slightly change my environment, although I can't wear them for very long. Interstates are great for making up time but are boring. Back roads are fun and entertaining, but slow going. I've done both and prefer a mixture on a ride like this. Lastly, remember, a Saddle Sore 1000 or any other IBA ride is considered an Endurance Ride, not a race. You don't get where you're going by trying to breaking the land speed record. You get there by sitting in that saddle for a long, long time for many miles. That's the endurance part of it. LDriding isn't rocket science, but you have to be prepared for it. I don't know if you've been out here or not but read some of there stories, they may help; http://www.ironbutt.com/intro/ss/indexss.htm And check out this page for additional tips; http://www.ironbutt.com/aow/25tips.html And good luck again. and if you want to try an LD rally try out the 2001 LOE 1K. (web page forthcoming) Joe Nassif Santa Fe, NM

All you need is a fair bit of insanity. The rest of the stuff is for the folks who don't really want to do these. I do have to point out the obvious question though - why are you going to do this? I had some folks on R1100's in a campsite next to me, ask me this year if I had ever done an iron butt. I knd of scratched my head, and said I wasn't certain. I asked if riding from San Diego to Central Ohio in 55hours counted, I-15 to I-70 (about 2.5Kmiles), on a completely stock Yamaha XT550 enduro. I was equipped with nothing but caffeine pills and my lunacy. Why? I had almost no money (I was making $3.75/hr), only had a couple of weeks, and wanted to spend as much time in Ohio as I could. After telling this to them, they all seemed to nod quietly that I must certainly qualify, but I wasn't so sure they were comfortable spending the night in the campsite next to me (thoughts of a Jason like guy in a motorcycle helmet or something). I tried to assure them, that now I would never consider doing such nonsense on ANY bike, unless extremely motivated. It was pretty stupid, I was very f#$%ed up during that last evening, hallucinating from lack of sleep, etc. During this time period (about 20 years ago), I did several crazy rides like this, on the XT, and others. I once did a cross country from Ohio to Long Beach on a RD400 in about four days, stopped to see the sights on this ride =]. I could have shaved a bit of time off that one if I didn't have to get the rear rack welded in Kansas City. My point? I think trying to ride like this for the sake of doing it is a kind of lunacy. Again, why are you planning this? Just to say you did it? I took extreme and unnecessary risks because I was too young, stupid and crazy to know any better. If you are trying to get somewhere in limited time, on a limited budget, I would seriously consider a different trip. On the other hand if you are young and fit, completely broke, have a high tolerance for pain, the kind a marathon runner has, and have a few screws loose (in your head and not on the bike) - go for it! Remember though, all these accessories and things to make you more comfortable are actually quite dangerous as they will increase your chance of falling asleep. You should rely on the pain, the noise and the vibration to keep you awake! =] Steve (is there a plutonium butt award?) Anderson

--- In DSN_klr650@egroups.com, jsparker wrote: > Hey folks, I am running a SS1000 this weekend and just wondering what folks > have done to make the ride a bit more comfortable. > > John > jsparker@m...

Thanks to Everyone for all of your input. Just to let history know I am going to run this thing on a 2000 KLR650 pretty much stock except for highway pegs from Happy-Trails. We are running from Boise, ID to Winnemucca, NV to Tonopah, NV to Ely, NV to Twin Falls, Id back to Boise for a grand total of 1077 miles. I must agree with Anderson that I do have a bunch of screws loose and I am doing this just because its there. Also to get the two other guys I am riding with off my back and show them just how capable the KLR really is on the highway. The other two are riding a Harley Sportsters and a Kawasaki Concours. (BTW the Harley jokes have been great to get a rise out of Larry, our Harley rider). We leave Friday at 0630 MDT, the weather looks to be nice and the desert should be cooler. I will give you the details when I return. Laters John -----Original Message----- From: Steve Anderson [mailto:standerson@...] Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2000 8:35 AM To: DSN_klr650@egroups.com Subject: [DSN_klr650] Re: A Saddle Soar 1000 - anybody run one lately All you need is a fair bit of insanity. The rest of the stuff is for the folks who don't really want to do these. I do have to point out the obvious question though - why are you going to do this? I had some folks on R1100's in a campsite next to me, ask me this year if I had ever done an iron butt. I knd of scratched my head, and said I wasn't certain. I asked if riding from San Diego to Central Ohio in 55hours counted, I-15 to I-70 (about 2.5Kmiles), on a completely stock Yamaha XT550 enduro. I was equipped with nothing but caffeine pills and my lunacy. Why? I had almost no money (I was making $3.75/hr), only had a couple of weeks, and wanted to spend as much time in Ohio as I could. After telling this to them, they all seemed to nod quietly that I must certainly qualify, but I wasn't so sure they were comfortable spending the night in the campsite next to me (thoughts of a Jason like guy in a motorcycle helmet or something). I tried to assure them, that now I would never consider doing such nonsense on ANY bike, unless extremely motivated. It was pretty stupid, I was very f#$%ed up during that last evening, hallucinating from lack of sleep, etc. During this time period (about 20 years ago), I did several crazy rides like this, on the XT, and others. I once did a cross country from Ohio to Long Beach on a RD400 in about four days, stopped to see the sights on this ride =]. I could have shaved a bit of time off that one if I didn't have to get the rear rack welded in Kansas City. My point? I think trying to ride like this for the sake of doing it is a kind of lunacy. Again, why are you planning this? Just to say you did it? I took extreme and unnecessary risks because I was too young, stupid and crazy to know any better. If you are trying to get somewhere in limited time, on a limited budget, I would seriously consider a different trip. On the other hand if you are young and fit, completely broke, have a high tolerance for pain, the kind a marathon runner has, and have a few screws loose (in your head and not on the bike) - go for it! Remember though, all these accessories and things to make you more comfortable are actually quite dangerous as they will increase your chance of falling asleep. You should rely on the pain, the noise and the vibration to keep you awake! =] Steve (is there a plutonium butt award?) Anderson

--- In DSN_klr650@egroups.com, jsparker wrote: > Hey folks, I am running a SS1000 this weekend and just wondering what folks > have done to make the ride a bit more comfortable. > > John > jsparker@m... Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... Let's keep this list SPAM free! Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com

Yeah we were teasing him a lot about it and he is a bit of a masochist. But an old motto of mine was don't leave anyone behind. If he breaks well then he has to buy the beer and pay for the hotel and U-Haul to get it back. John -----Original Message----- From: Bill E Goat [mailto:monahanwb@...] Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2000 11:49 AM To: DSN_klr650@egroups.com Subject: [DSN_klr650] Re: A Saddle Soar 1000 - anybody run one lately

--- In DSN_klr650@egroups.com, jsparker wrote: and show them just how > capable the KLR really is on the highway. The other two are riding a Harley > Sportsters and a Kawasaki Concours. (BTW the Harley jokes have been great > to get a rise out of Larry, our Harley rider). The sportster guy is either quite dumb or is a masochist. I hope for your own sake you don't have to stop and wait every time his bike breaks or loses a part on the side of the road. Bill Goat..... Not Kiddin Today Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... Let's keep this list SPAM free! Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com

> ...................The other two are riding a Harley > Sportsters and a Kawasaki Concours. ........................

FWIW, John, I've done 1K-days on both a KLR-A9 and a '96 XLH883. I thing you'll be doing a bit better that your friend on this ride. Good Luck again, and don't forget your paperwork. Joe Nassif SFNM

Try this one... http://members.tripod.com/happytrail/ Laters John -----Original Message----- From: Tumu Rock [mailto:guymanbro@...] Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2000 3:16 AM To: DSN_KLR650@egroups.com Subject: RE: [DSN_klr650] Happy trails..can't access website - nklr On Mon, 2 Oct 2000 06:29:01 -0600, Kurt Simpson (Editor Dual Sport News) wrote:

>I can't get it to open up from http://www.happy-trail.com or from >the

link at the Dual Sport News Owners Group web page.... hmmm..working for me...but here it is:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Thanks for all the responses (seems Tim's doin' pretty good judging from the number of people who had his contact info handy). Still can't get to the site but maybe it's a problem with the computer at work (like they don't want me ordering stuff on their time...hehehe) dat brooklyn bum _______________________________________________________ Say Bye to Slow Internet! http://www.home.com/xinbox/signup.html Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... Let's keep this list SPAM free! Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com