Unfinished Iron Butt

My Iron Butt Ride Experience - June 11, 2005

By Wayne Shackel

June 11th came slowly. I had been looking forward to the Iron Butt ride for months. Every chance I had, I would go on the IB website and check out comments that other riders had posted about their rides. My saddle bags were packed, I had all the important things like extra clothing, water, etc. I was ready!

Friday night, I did the T-Clock inspection (T - Tires, Wheels, C - Controls, L - Lights, O - Oil, C - Chassis and K - Kickstand) of my Wide Glide. Everything looked great, but just before getting on the road Saturday morning, my headlight went out. I quickly put in a new one. I met up with my friend Mike Dunlop at the check-in point and we left shortly after 5:30 am.

Mike was breaking in his new Ultra Classic and we varied our speeds, but made pretty good time, stopped outside of Lexington, KY about 11am. We ate and gassed up. We ran into torrents of rain and hail. We found that riding in two lanes (when possible) gave us extra light coverage. Our headlights lit up both lanes and much of the roadside as well. I was glad I had put a radio on my bike. The weather channel was helpful, and just listening to music was pleasant.

We had passed the halfway point doing well, heading for home. We stopped for gas and food. That was when I noticed a tire puncture in my bike's rear tire. Mike went to Wal-Mart's to get me a tire patch kit, but the puncture was way too deep. This was NOT a roadside repair job. Mike offered to stay with me, and although I would have liked his company, I told him to go on. I called all around, trying to find a shop that was open. I would have paid a BIG premium to get my Wide Glide on the road and finish the IB on schedule. It was after 5 pm on Saturday and of course everything was closed up tight. I ended up staying in a motel right across from Mann Harley Davidson in Edinburgh, IN. The only room available was a suite, with wide screen TV and whirlpool. It was expensive and I couldn't even share it with my wife, but it was the only game in town...and I could see my Wide Glide from my window.

Mike called me the next morning. Even after taking time out to help me and having to slow down because of encountering a number of deer in the road he had gotten back and checked in about 5:30 am. Good that one of us finished the ride anyway.

I went over as soon as the dealership opened on Sunday and was given extremely good treatment by the staff at Mann Harley Davidson. They treated this Wolverine like family and I sure appreciated it. I was back on the road in about 3 hours. On the way home I rain into more extreme rain and hail again. I was glad I bought a t-shirt at Mann HD. It was right on top in my saddlebag and replaced my soaking wet one when I stopped for dinner. This sure wasn't what I expected doing the IB ride, even though I had heard to "expect the unexpected".  It was extremely disappointing, but hey...I can do the ride on my own and still finish. For us "goal oriented" guys...that's important.

I have no pictures from this ride, I was to busy riding. However the following pictures are of me working on my bike to add the Harley Davidson Road Tech radio which is handlebar mounted. In order to install it I had to remove the gas tank, so I could run all of the wiring along the backbone for the frame, under the gas tank. Notice the shop manual where the seat would normally be.