First Saddle Sore 1000 Planning and Execution

Being an engineer by trade I tend to over analyze things. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing but it does consume more than a little time . I also like having good tools to do my planning and I use a number of different software tools to plan my trips. Of course for mapping and routing there are plenty of options. One of the better free online mapping tools I have found is AAA Triptik. This is a decent trip planner and has an excellent POI data base including the best gas station information I have found in any mapping software. You can save your routes and create PDF maps and driving directions. You can even book accommodations right from Triptik. While this isn’t the only mapping tool I use it is becoming one of my favorites and the price is certainly right.

The good thing about riding in the MTF sponsored ride is that the route is already figured out. That is the start, finish and any corner waypoints that are required for the route are already determined. It is still up to the rider to equip and prepare their motorcycle. The rider can also plan, or not plan, their strategy for fuel stops, meals and rest stops, if any. Mapping tools like Triptik are important for planning the trip and developing the fine details for an endurance ride like a the Saddle Sore 1000.

Here is a Google Map of the route and waypoints I used for the MTF SS1000.  I didn’t repeat the return waypoints on the map because they are the same as the outbound waypoints.

 JD’s MTF SS1000 Waypoints

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I think some people new to endurance riding will just show up and ride as if it just is a typical day trip. This will probably work, most of the time, for an out and back run on the slabs like this was. From what I have read, on more challenging rides no plan is pretty much a plan for failure. Of course a well maintained and equipped motorcycle is also important.

The following table shows the waypoints, mileage and fuel data for my ride.

As this table might indicate, I also use a spreadsheet as a planning tool. I developed the spreadsheet initially with my best guess estimates and then populated it with the actual ride data as is shown here. There is nothing of real significance in this part of the data other than the distances for each leg. The mileage range for my K1200LT is, worst case, roughly 200 miles. With the turn around waypoint at 510 miles, Drummond, MT, I needed to make at least two intermediate gas stops. Because of this I tried to divide it up so the leg distances are all roughly the same. Gas station availability was the only real variable and I had the stops planned down to the actual station I would use. The start time for the run was determined by the ride organizers so that was one variable outside of my control. If there were large cities on the route the start time might be adjusted to reduce travel delays when traveling through them. Spokane, WA and Missoula, MT are the only cities of any size on this route. Missoula is seldom a problem so Spokane is the only potential bottle neck. If I was planning my own route, road construction would be another factor to consider

The following table shows how I performed during the ride.

All the times are shown in a single time zone. I actually started in the Pacific time zone and crossed into the Mountain time zone while I was in Montana. The IBA requires that the time of each stop is recorded. This is so they can verify that you were not driving at excessive speeds and to aid in verifying your route. The MTF had us record both our in and out time at each stop. I think they did this to give us a good way to see where we could improve or how we failed to complete the ride in the 24 hour time limit. I probably would have done this anyway, I am an engineer after all , but thumbs up to the MTF for starting us out with a good documentation plan.

As I said in my previous post, I was trying to complete this SS1000 at a BBG1500 pace. That meant completing the 1000 miles in 16 hours or less. While I did accomplish this I had the data to figure out how I could improve my performance. Improvement was needed to create a better time buffer to overcome any unplanned events on a BBG1500 attempt. There is also that extra 500 miles to consider. I would be getting more fatigued on the longer ride so my performance could degrade.

It is a simple matter to determine what your average speed must be to complete a specific distance in a given period. You just divide the total miles by the time allowed to ride it. For this ride 1020/24 = 42.5 mph. Now this doesn’t sound very fast and it isn’t. The problem is the time includes not only the time you are moving but the time you are not. My spreadsheet breaks this down for each leg of my ride. The "Leg Hr." and "Leg MPH" columns are calculated using the total time for the leg, which is driving time plus the stop time. The "Drive Hr." and "Drive MPH" columns are calculated for just the time I was actually moving. You can see how little stop time it takes to beat up your average speed.

So to complete this ride in 16 hours the average speed would be 1020/16 = 63.75 mph. Now this certainly looks a little more challenging and my average leg speeds on this SS1000 were not that much above this . My driving speeds are about as good as can be expected. That leaves reducing the amount of time I am not moving as the only place I can really get much improvement.

Analyzing where the time was going during my stops is the next step. I bought a sandwich for lunch at Drummond and ate it there. That was a about half of that 27 minute stop. That is simple enough to correct by being self sufficient for food/hydration and snacking a little at each stop rather than a dedicated meal is also an option. Trips to the bathroom actually contributed to a good portion of the time for stops exceeding 10 minutes. There are solutions to this but I am am not going into the topics of using laxatives the day before the ride or prophylactic catheters in this installment . Suffice it to say that the ideal plan would be to never get off the motorcycle.

So that leaves one other option to lower the total stop time, reducing the number of times I stop. To do this I would need to extend the mileage range of one of my motorcycles. There are several ways to accomplish this. One of the more frequently used methods is a fuel cell. A variety of companies make them for racing, custom car and motorcycle applications. Fuel Safe, Jaz Products, Sampson Sport Products and Summit Racing Equipment are some of the major sources of fuel cells. There are also custom kit solutions for specific motorcycles from companies like BLM Accessories.

In true engineering fashion I studied my alternatives to death. My real dilemma was that I have two motorcycles that I feel are suitable for endurance riding. A BMW K1200LT and a BMW R1200GS.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my Heritage Softail but my aging body just can’t tolerate abuse like it used to.  About the only option for the K1200LT is an auxiliary fuel cell. BLM sells a kit fuel cell for about $1000 that sits behind the rider. Some long distance (LD) riders have custom made "tail dragger" fuels cell that mounts low behind the rear wheel. I’m not sure I want to know what they would cost.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I have other LD riding and touring goals that my R1200GS may be much better suited for. This lead me down the path of researching all the options to increase the fuel capacity of a stock R1200GS gas tank which is 20 liters (5.2 gallons) . I looked at fuel cells first but mounting one where the passenger seat is would take up a lot of cargo space that I would need for some of those other LD riding ambitions I have. That left some other kind of solution.

I then looked at auxiliary tanks from Touratech and Wunderlich. The Wunderlich "Jararaca 18" and the Touratech 2×8 liter side tanks both looked very nice even though they look quite different from each other. The Wunderlich would definitely alter the visual style of the R1200GS. The Touratech option looks more like the BMW styling. There were two major issues I had with both of them. The first is they have a gas cap for each side tank. This isn’t a problem for LD touring but un-locking, opening, filling and closing them would take addition time. This is a concern for more extreme IBA type rides or rallies. The second issue was the cost, the Wuderlich was $1984.00 and the Touratech was $1427.00 . I could buy a fuel cell kit for about $800-$1000 or roll my own for something less. There was another minor detail with their designs. The fuel gauge on the GS wouldn’t really indicate correctly because the gauge only works for the fuel that is in the stock tank. The side tanks are just fancy jerry cans that feed into the main tank. The way the R1200GS gas gauge works, you probably would just see a full fuel indication until you used up 3/4 of your fuel. Not a major issue but something else to consider. There was also one other issue with the Wunderlich, it would not let me use the Touratech lights I had already installed on my GS.

I came close to ordering the Touratech tanks but then I spotted this roll your own solution. This is a modification that replaces the stock R1200GS 20 liter (5.2 gallons) gas tank with a 33 liter (8.7 gallon) R1200GSA gas tank. I discovered the parts for this conversion cost about $1200 plus shipping. Certainly not cheap but everything would be factory BMW parts, there would be just one gas cap and the gas gauge would read correctly. If I had bought a GSA instead of a GS I wouldn’t be going through this but I got a great buy on a used GS so I would still be ahead on the overall package.

So about a month ago I ordered all the parts from from Chicago BMW. They came in last week and they are sitting in my garage waiting for me to tackle the project. I have to bleed the brake system first. It sounds like blog fodder for another day .