I think it's more of a rider thing than a bike thing. I know a few Iron Butters, & most just have a different attitude about riding. OTOH, I also know a guy with an iron head Sportster that wanted an iron butt certificate. He checked the carb, changed plugs, gassed up, & ran the prescribed 1000 mile loop in well under 24 hours. Stopped & got all the correct documentation too. Didn't realize till he got home that he still had the crescent wrench he change the plugs with in his back pocket........

I've never been inclined to hammer out miles just for that purpose, but on arriving at the house with 875 miles for the day a while back I realized that the other 125 wouldn't have much of a problem.......other than convincing my wife to keep ridin'...

 

ah, sweet revenge

not sure yet. distance from my house to tulsa is 450 miles. to iron butt it, i'd have to start off south, then go west via san antonio, north to ft worth, and then oklahoma city. thinking about it though. i guess it would depend on how much interest there is locally. wouldn't want to do it by myself, if i could get at least a couple more riders, then it might be a go. see ya in tulsa..... come up and say hi, i'll be on the white road king, wearing a black cvma vest .... shouldn't be hard to find, lol.

 

If you look at the rosters for the Saddle Sore 1000's and Butt Burner 1500 milers, you will find more HDs. However, for the rallies, the sport touring bikes are the bikes of choice. To be competitive, the rider is able to cover more ground, more comfortalby on these bikes because of the wind protection. Also, most have much larger fuel capacity. My ST1300 held 7.7 gallons, which would carry me about 280 to 300 miles non stop. Now before somebody beats me up on what I just said, I can attest that from owning some of these sport tourers that its true. Some of these bikes with full faring and electric windshields will keep wind and rain off of you like no other. What does this mean? Well, its less toll on the rider, and if your on a 10 day 10,000 mile run, it makes a lot of difference. I really don't think there is an ego thing going on here, it's just the love for riding. These guys take it very serious, and are some of the best trained and saftey oriented riders in the world. I love my HD and it is as capable as any to cover long distance rides, but there are other bikes out there that have their own advantages. I wish I had a stable for some extras myself. I know what I would have for a solo ride. I hope this is a straight answer to your question.

 

I have done 2 iron butts so far. They were done on an 03 Road King Standard which i set up for long distance rides. 1115 miles in 19 hours. the bike has to be confortable. had a rider back rest, cruise control, great highway pegs, stock exhaust, pants that do not blow like crazy in the wind. it was fun. then 2 years later we did the Bun Burner Gold, 1500 miles in 24. It was actually easy and fun. came in at 1518 with only 2 minutes to spare. same bike. have to reduce the things that can fatigue you easy. looking at doing our 3rd one of these days which will be the back to back 1000. 2 days, 2000 miles. we now have an 08 Ultra and its more confortable than the RK. ted

 

DRAFT1 is correct. Harleys are just fine for the 1,000 & 1,500 mile butt burners but the more intense rallies call for a bike with more fuel capacity, better mileage and good weather protection. Those guys think nothing of going 300 miles between stops and indeed must do so to meet the daily requirements. You could do it on a Harley but it would require a lot more effort.

 

Agreed! I heard of one Goldwing rider who converted the saddle bags and truck into fuel tanks. He carried something like 18 gallons total and could make between 550 and 600 miles between fiill ups and generally didn't stop until he needed fuel. The guy had to have an iron bladder as well as an iron butt!

I see no reason why the same couldn't be done to an Electra Glide if the owner was so inclined. I'm just not that masochistic!

Ride Safe,
Steve R.

 

No joke, I spoke to one Iron Butt guy that used nursing home external catheters with the tubing running down his leg and just below his boot so he didn't have make rest stops. I'd be careful to not follow too close behind these guys or they may ruin your paint job.

 

I've done the SS1000 (24hrs), SS2000 (48hrs), Lake Michigan 1000, GLakes in 100hrs and this past fall a Border to Border (Mexico to Canada in 36 hrs) and all done on Road Glides.

I've seen Harleys with fuel cells, gps, blue tooth and everything else the other brands have. My 09 with the larger gas tank gets me further down the road with fewer stops. Harley's can run with any other dog on the block on these rides.

 

I've been planning to do one in the spring. Wanted to go sooner but the weather got too cold here for 1000 miles. Can't wait.