IBR check in is completed, rally packs have been distributed and the game is on.

There were a couple of final rules and regulations that come out.

First off is that my SPoT tracking page has been made private. What that means is that it is not public and you need a password to view it. You can post a message here requesting access (include your email) and, if my wife approves, she will provide you with the password.

Second, is that this blog will not be updated during the rally. The rationale will be explained after the rally but for now we will have to be silent.

Again, you can post questions here and Patty may or may not reply privately.

Thank you for your understanding,

IBPete

This is Patty testing to verify that I am still able to post to this blog. Age has a way of making one just a wee bit forgetfull! :-) All of us in San Diego will be following closely and we will try to update the blog for everyone. Good Luck Mike (aka Pete)!!

Pictures of my bike preparation.

http://picasaweb.google.com/IBPete/2009IBRPrep#

T minus 3 days and a few hours to the start of the "Big Show", the 2009 Iron Butt Rally!

I am so ill prepared it is unbelievable. The stress of having a house on the market this year, coupled with getting it sold (certainly a blessing but stressful nonetheless) has left me with little time to prepare myself for this rally. I have gone from shooting for a big dog finish to just hoping I can finish.

We went homeless 2 weeks ago. Patty got her good friend Sarah to drive her and the dog to San Diego and I got my good friend Bill to let me camp out at his house these last 2 weeks. All I can say is that Patty and I are both blessed to have friends such as these that will willingly disrupt their lives to help us out. Life doesn't get any better than that so my performance or lack thereof in this endurance rally is of no importance at all. I just hope that in some small fashion we can repay the debt we owe these good friends that helped us in our time of need.

I rode the bike a bit this last weekend. Mostly to acclimatize myself to the heat and to take a bit of a farewell tour of the state. While moving to San Diego and being closer to our grandchildren is exciting, I have mixed emotions. My Saturday and Sunday journeys took me into the eastern side of the state where I sauntered around the outer banks. In many ways it was a sentimental journey, a final fare-thee-well to the state that has become home. Our 23 years here have the longest of all. North Carolina is a beautiful state and there are many things I will miss. Especially the friends and acquaintances we have made.

I took vacation from work this last week to take care of getting the bike ready. After a trip to Capital BMW for some expert tuning and thorough pre-IBR checkover by Jon Ross and his team of experts, I mounted my spare tires and made some last minute adjustments and modifications to the bike. It is far more well prepared than I am.

I will head out to Spartanburg in the morning. I want to give plenty of time to the check in process and the tech inspection. My custom fuel cell will have to be given a thorough once over and checked for its maximum capacity.

Expect more updates from me up to the start of the rally and then I hope Patty will be able to make posts as she did in '07. It was very interesting to me to come back from the rally and see her interpretation of my daily voice reports.

Later,

K1200LT Auxillary Fuel Cell FOR SALE

My new cell is working out fine so it is time to get rid of the old one.

4 gallon RCI (3.5 actual).
It mounts in place of the pillion seat and uses the same mounting method/bolts.
Has shutoff valve and vent.
Backrest hardware mounted.
I have a well used cover and backrest that come with.
asking $250 + shipping (over $1000 invested in engineering time)

Let me know if you want some more detail. Older pix here:
http://employees.org/~mlangfor/2005/accessory_05.html

Thanks for looking, 

Service Experience at BMW Touring Sport, Greenville, SC

This post has been languishing for a few months because it is negative
and I really hate to go public with negativity. The reason that I post
this now is because the Iron Butt Rally is starting in Spartanburg, SC
and Touring Sport <http://www.touringsportbmw.com/> is the nearest BMW
dealer and I feel that sharing my experience may help others make an
informed decision on whether or not to use this dealership for service.

I had a breakdown on the Cape Fear 1000 rally and, based on the high
recommendations of others, chose to have my bike towed to Touring Sport
over a closer dealership. My bike has quite a bit of long distance
customization and I know that it costs extra to deal with non-stock
motorcycles. I fully expected to pay time and material for the repairs.
The failed ignition switch is deep inside the tupperware on a K1200LT so
the $500 labor charge, while not pleasant, was not surprising.

What was surprising was that the job was not done properly. While I
expect that my customization will cost extra, I also expect that my bike
will be returned to me in the proper condition. I had to ride the bike
home and then completely tear it down to reconnect my communications
system properly, essentially replicating 90% of the labor for which I
had just paid. In the process of reproducing this work I found other
examples of poor workmanship, stripped and missing screws, improperly
routed wiring, and missing spot ties.

I brought all of this to the attention of the management at Touring
Sport with little satisfaction. Their position was that they had to
charge flat labor on non-stock work and that the charges were normal.
They never did seem to understand that I was not objecting to charges
for work that was properly performed but was objecting to paying the
full freight on improper work.

Bottom line is that I felt they fully understood that I was a "one time"
customer who they would never see again.

My apologies for cross posting this to my blog
<http://ibpete.blogspot.com/>, the BMW Luxury Touring Community
<http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/cmps_index.php>, the Iron Butt Association
forum <http://www.ironbutt.org/forum/default.asp>, the LDRider forum
<http://www.ldriders.com/>, and the IBR private forum, I normally try to
be a good netcitizen but in this case I am following through with a
promise to Touring Sport that, should we not be able to resolve the
issue, I would make this post.

If anyone wants to see the entire email exchange please let me know and
I will post them on my web page.

--
Mike Langford [aka Pete]
Raleigh, NC
IBA#341
http://employees.org/~mlangfor/
The mysteries of life?
"it's faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, and more money"
Tom T. Hall

Not Superman Rally Withdraw

I managed to do what I have read of others doing and didn't see how--I lost my wallet.

I was going strong on leg 1 and was about 50 minutes ahead of plan when I stopped at the GA welcome center for a hygiene break. As I dismounted I felt for my wallet and, not finding it in my pocket, proceeded to turn the world upside down searching. It was definitely missing in action! Talk about discouraging, after some consultation with my wife and rallymaster Jim Pucket I headed back to my last 2 stops (one for fuel where I knew I had last used the wallet) in the hopes of finding it on the ground. 100 miles later, no joy.

I still had my cash, another credit card, and my drivers license (thanks to the bonus that required us to seal it up--it was tucked in with my paperwork) but two factors influenced my decision to drop out. Tough to say which was most discouraging; losing a valuable piece of ID (with my SSN) and the sickening thoughts of identity theft, or the fact that the additional 100 miles and loss of 2+ hours ruined any chance of a good finish.

I opted to head home via my daughters house in Columbus, GA.

Later that night, resting at my daughters, I came to a startling revelation about myself. I am so competitive that once a top finish was out of the picture I no longer wanted to play. I think I need to seriously rethink this rallying hobby and make sure I have my priorities straight.

Now that a couple of days have passed I am rethinking my decision. I missed out on the true reason for rallying--coming into the finish, tired and whipped, and sharing the experience with the other riders. The camaraderie is the true joy of this sport!

To those of you who may have been tracking my progress on SPoT, I apologize for the late report and hope no one was as concerned as my mom.