The Iron Butt Rally is meant to be an amateur undertaking and there are specific rules that deal with sponsorships that can be found at the Iron Butt Association website. When I was getting ready to ride in 2007 I didn't even consider seeking help. I had little idea what the ultimate cost in dollars would be.

The entry fee for the rally is a fair amount. Then there is prepping the motorcycle for an 11 day, 11,000 mile ride. I invested in a laptop so I could run mapping software during the rally as well as upgrading my GPS. Fuel costs ran around $1,000 in 2007 and may be double that in 2009. Add a few days in hotels before, during and after the rally and the cost of tires etc and the money needed is something I'd rather not dwell on.

Changes for 2007

In November of 2006 while while preparing for the rally I was looking for a new gearbox for the R60 and I found Boxerworks in Watkinsville, Georgia. Up until I delivered the cycle to Nathan Mende and Dean Graham in December no one had ever put a wrench on the bike except me. For 424,000 miles and 31 years I had done all of the repair and maintenance work, including tire changes.

I visited Boxerworks four times to talk to Nathan and Dean before I felt comfortable letting them work on the bike. They did a beautiful job.

The front suspension and drum brake were removed and replaced with a front end from a 1981 RT with twin Brembo disc brakes and the master cylinder on the handelbar. They replaced the original main front bearing when the bearing holder was found to be cracked and did a valve job on my double plugged heads. Nathan swapped my final drive which had suffered damage years before from an incorrect shimming for a good used 32/10.

Matt Richards supplied some parts for maintenance and for the rebuild and did a lot of cheer leading including riding to St.Louis to greet me at the finish of the rally.

Years ago Rick Jones of Motrorad ELektric fame developed a new charging system for Airheads that solved a generations-old problem of low wattage output and he called it the Omega system. I bought charging system #12 from Rick. This raised my alternator output from 280 to 400 watts. For the 2007 IBR Rick donated a spare rotor, diode board and other electrical parts to carry with me "just in case." They weren't needed as the original system performwed flawlessly.

Changes for 2009

For the 2009 Iron Butt Rally there have been some major changes to the R60. Because I found that I needed a bit more power and speed in certain areas of the country the engine has been upgraded to 750cc. This adds 10 horsepower for a total of 50. It also adds more torque and a few more mph on the top end.

Nathan donated a set of used 750 cylinders, pistons, CV carbs and heads and Dean donated a 750 camshaft. While readying the R60 for the conversion they found that the left intake lifter had started to break apart at the base destroying the cam lobe and sending pieces into the oil pump where they scored the walls of the pump chamber, which happens to be part of the engine block. Nathan then donated a good used block to the project.

While rebuilding the transmission Nathan found that the input shaft bearing was loose in the case (the tranny only had 492,000 miles on it) and he donated a used transmission case as well as NOS and some excellent quality used parts to rebuild the unit.

Len Hoffman, Hoffman Automotive Machine Inc, has donated a considerable amount of his time and expertise in working with combustion heads to clean up the flow and 'tweak' the new-to-me set of double plugged heads. He rebuilt and double-plugged a set of R75 heads. This included a heat shedding treatment and smoothing the flow of fuel and gasses for good, solid and reliable performance.

Then Dean Graham took all of these pieces and assembled them into what I consider to be the perfect Long Distance motorcycle. He replaced the lifters with new ones, a new timing chain, new big-end bearings, oil pump rotor, rings, rebuilt a set of constant velocity carbs and found the proper jetting. Remember that for 31 years I trusted no one else to work on the bike.

Rick Jones at Motorrad Elektric upgraded the Omega charging system for 2008 to 450 watt output and he sent me a new stator, rotor and diode board.

I have 224,000 miles on system #12 and gave a thought to how cool it would be to do two IBRs on the same system butt then again, an extra 50 watts is nice to have in the pocket. So, system #12 has been retired and I’ve put 14,000 miles on the new system with good results. Rick is also a rabid Airhead supporter.

A Windjammer fairing had been a part of the R60 since 1976 and was great at weather protection butt I wanted better aerodynamics and with the help of Jerry Heil at Hannigan Fairing Co. I've added a Hannigan ST Fairing with lowers to the bike. The fairing stores considerably more gear than the Windjammer and it’s also got a ‘retro’ look that matches the R60’s soul.

I've put near 29,000 miles on the bike since making these changes and the results are a three to four mpg increase in mileage and an additional two mph on the top end. The cycle is more stable when passing trucks and is considerably more solid in crosswinds. Plus she looks cool.

Ted Porter owner/operator of the Beemershop read of my interest in trying new tires for the rally and contributed an Avon Road Rider. As of 5/25/09 I've put a bit over 8,000 miles on the tire and if it lasts through 11,000 miles the R60 will be wearing Avons this August.

Throughout all of my LD travels I've posted information to various email Lists but wanted a way to gather the info, photos and such into one place to entertain or help other riders who are interested in the Airhead, LD riding or both. Tim and Vicky Sailer offered to host this web page and teach an Airhead rider how to run it.

Chicken Larry Sexton heard that I was going to ditch mt large saddlebags that had been on the cycle since the late 70s and sent me a set of top-loading bags from a Kawasaki KZ-1000 police bike. They had been stored in a chicken house for years but after cleaning and painting they are filling the bill perfectly.

Special Thanks

Thanks also to Dean Graham, Scott Lydiard and Stan Adams for their encouragement and help.

Any donations that exceed my costs to ride the rally will be donated to a local, North Carolina Hospice that has been a great help to my family in the past.

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