Iron Butt Attempts & the Breakdowns

The last month of the riding season has been tiring and stressful, though not in the ways that I had expected. The challenge of completing my first Iron Butt ride was something I've thought about often in the last year, and it was finally going to happen on July 18. I awoke at 3:30am that morning, preparing myself for what was going to be a long day. The goal was to ride 1610km in under 24 hours to complete the SS1600k, a very achievable goal. My dad met me at the gas pumps at around 4:15am, serving as my start witness. The official start time was 4:19am, I hit the road around 4:25am.

It was a warmer than expected morning, the ride going smoothly for the first 250km or so, feeling good as I made the first fuel stop of the day. Leaving Red Earth I noticed my speedometer glitching, the bike running a little rough. I immediately thought back to the last weekend, where my bike died while riding home from High Level on Sunday night. After shutting off the bike, and restarting, it seemed like all systems were once again good to go.

As the morning wore on, I kept riding south, stopping for gas in Slave Lake and a bathroom break in Westlock. I was surprised at the great pace I was setting, well over a 100km/h average by the time I arrived in Acheson for a fuel stop and receipt that proved my route to that point. I had a quick snack after getting gas, and then was back on the road, starting to make my way back north.

Shortly after passing by Sangudo the bike suddenly died once again, causing me to pull over into the shoulder. A few quick checks and failed attempts at starting left me confused. I walked the bike to the crest of the hill I broke down on, and coasted down the hill and onto an exit to get away from the flow of traffic. It didn't take me long to realize that this was not a problem I'd be able to fix on my own. I was on the side of the road for two hours, not a single vehicle stopped (including a lot of bikers) despite me having my tools out and some parts of the bike laying off to the side.

Harley Davidson of Edmonton sent their van out to come pick up the bike, and a little over three hours after breaking down my bike and I arrived at their shop. It was almost two hours later, just after 5:00pm that they had my bike out of the shop. Having decided to pull the plug on the ride by now, I found a hotel. The bike had a slight glitch again on the way to the hotel. I ate dinner, had a shower, and by 8:30pm I was sleeping.

The next day the bike started hard, but never had any problems as I rode the nearly 700km home. I took it out for a 100km ride during the week, no issues, so decided I would again attempt the Iron Butt ride.

My official start time on attempt two was 4:40am. I caught a little light rain about an hour down the road, and suddenly the cruise control cut out, though the bike continued to stay running. It was only a few minutes later that it died, and I coasted to the side of the road. A truck driver stopped to offer any help he could, but thankfully there was just enough cell service to establish some contact with people who could help. The truck driver offered to follow me to assure I wouldn't be stranded, and after breaking down again I got the message that help was on the way.

The rest of the morning was stressful, as I continued to limp towards home, the bike dying every few kilometers, always restarting again. Eventually I met my brother, who had come with a truck and trailer to get me home. Through all of the problems on this day, the odometer turned over the 50,000km mark just a couple weeks after the two year mark.

I made an appointment at HD of Edmonton once again, and a week later I hauled the bike in with the Jeep and a trailer.

This last week the shop did some trouble shooting on the bike, and replaced the ECM (engine control module) after having replaced the voltage regulator and battery the first time around. I'm so glad I purchased the extended warranty when I purchased the bike, all of these problems started two days after my factory warranty expired.

Yesterday I caught a ride to the city with my sister and brother-in-law, eager to get back on the bike and ride it home. The tech that worked on my bike seemed quite confident that the problems were solved now, taking 10 minutes out of his day to talk with me earlier in the week when I called.

The ride home yesterday was awesome, great weather and the bike was running perfectly. I did catch a few short showers, just enough to make me wet and cool me down. It almost seemed as though the bike's performance was better than ever, though that might be due to the fact I hadn't ridden in two weeks. Right now I'm so happy to have it home and working, and looking forward to putting many more miles on it.