This was the opening day of registration for The Iron Butt Rally - 11,000 miles in 11 days. Limited entry (by lottery), it's about 125 or so this year. 67 are newbies. It runs every other year - takes that long to put this together.
These bikes were ridden to the starting/ending point in Missoula MT except I did see two bike trailers (hauling bikes not being hauled by bikes). So, some of these folks already rode from FL, OH, etc to get here. The start is Mon 10am. There is a documentary film crew along this year practicing for their official shoot which will be the 2005 rally.
The registration process was interesting - The paperwork, the witness signatures, the video taping of the list of questions where you acknowledge that you know what you are about to do and are doing so as a responsible, nonwhining adult. Well, that's my take. You know how it is these days with liability. The staff is really wonderful, though.
Every bike gets a thorough tech check, including the fuel cell setup and safety, and a sound check at the muffler. A K12RS (the rider is from Singapore via Phoenix) failed at 107 db, 2 over the limit. He just bought the bike and obviously didn't realize this might occur. We sent him to a local performance shop to repack the Two Brothers muffler, but it turned out to be full and good, so they sent him to the local BMW dealer where they were going to sell him the stock muffler off a used KRS on the floor. He has until 2pm tomorrow to get rechecked and pass. That's when registration closes.
These bikes were ridden to the starting/ending point in Missoula MT except I did see two bike trailers (hauling bikes not being hauled by bikes). So, some of these folks already rode from FL, OH, etc to get here. The start is Mon 10am. There is a documentary film crew along this year practicing for their official shoot which will be the 2005 rally.
The registration process was interesting - The paperwork, the witness signatures, the video taping of the list of questions where you acknowledge that you know what you are about to do and are doing so as a responsible, nonwhining adult. Well, that's my take. You know how it is these days with liability. The staff is really wonderful, though.
Every bike gets a thorough tech check, including the fuel cell setup and safety, and a sound check at the muffler. A K12RS (the rider is from Singapore via Phoenix) failed at 107 db, 2 over the limit. He just bought the bike and obviously didn't realize this might occur. We sent him to a local performance shop to repack the Two Brothers muffler, but it turned out to be full and good, so they sent him to the local BMW dealer where they were going to sell him the stock muffler off a used KRS on the floor. He has until 2pm tomorrow to get rechecked and pass. That's when registration closes.