Iron Butt Rally 2007 - Part 1

Iron Butt Rally: T-minus 12 Days and Counting...


We haven't heard from Rob Nye in a while and we know that means one thing: the Iron Butt Rally is right around the corner. Rob is probably out knocking down a few 1,000 mile training rides, refining the systems on his rally-prepped RT-P and managing to squeeze some work in before he departs for the start of the rally in St. Louis. This will be Rob's third Iron Butt Rally and he has offered to give us a preview of his preparations prior to the August 20th start.

When he's got a few moments off the bike, Rob is maintaining a blog on his Xplor page at: http://www.bmwXplor/riders/sleddog.

Here are a few excerpts from his blog:

"What exactly is the Iron Butt? It is an eleven day scavenger hunt on steroids. It is also a chance for you to meet all the demons you carry, even the ones you didn't know about. It is a grand game, a huge personal challenge and the motorcycle touring version of sprinting up Mt. Everest all in the name of fun. -- Xplor Blog Post, July 26, 2007

"There is a huge amount of equipment involved in riding the IBR. I have been fanatical about trying to save weight, space and clutter by taking as little as possible. I will have two sets of just about everything with a plan to switch out at the mid-rally checkpoint back in St. Louis. Even so from things like an alternator belt and tools to lubrication for the ear plugs there must be space for everything and everything must have a space. I have got just about all of the "what" and most of the "where" figured out but I will still be refining this over the next two weeks." -- Blog Post , July 31, 2007

To help you envision what it takes to prep an Iron Butt Rally bike, we have posted an interactive tour of Rob's 2007 BMW RT-P on our Web site. Take a look and keep tabs on Rob's progress as he gets ready for the Iron Butt!


View "Anatomy of an Iron Butt Bike"