Modern Vespa

Today I finally committed to attempting an Ironbutt Saddlesore 1000, which is 1000 miles in less than 24 hours.

I started from Napa at 3:24am and rode to Baker, CA. I got home at 10:04pm, a mere 18 hours and 40 minutes later.

I'm completely exhausted and want to sleep, so I'll post more later.

edit: My official start time was 3:24am, and my official end time was 10:04 pm. Average speed 55.3 mph

OUtstanding.....

Jelous......

3 cheers!!!

R

8)

WOW! You deserve a beer for breakfast.

Nice..

Why on earth modern scooters dont have a larger capacity petrol tank than they had in the 60`s is beyond me??

Congrats on your Ironbutt! I respect your ability, and committment! I also know their is no way in hell I would even try that. Enjoy your rest, Beale.

I'm totally impressed. I'm pretty darn sure my scrawny ass wouldn't be able to handle that without ending up with saddle sores. Congratulations!

Wow! Very impressive. I did the saddlesore on a motorcycle, but took more time as we stopped and slept in a hotel. I think your ironbutt is tougher than my ironbutt.

Congratulations!!!!

you averaged over 50mph...thats impressive also!


scott

Congratulations! thats quite an achievement... hopefully you aren't walking like a cowboy today.

You are one sick @!#$% - NICE!!

Congratulations on your achievement. That is quite a feat on a Vespa. A fellow I work with has done it a few times on his BMW but he rides the interstate at really high speeds.

I am looking forward to more details on your trip. Like Beale I respect your committment and would never try it myself. My butt is sore after two hours. Can't image 18!

Awesome! Are you our first scooter ironbutt?

My hat is off to you, sir.

And I think that earns you the right to a custom title here on MV. Got one in mind, or shall we pick one for you?

Mr Iron Butt Congrats. What an accomplishment!!!!!!!!

Wow! That's awesome! Congratulations to you. When you get the chance please tell us what were some of the things you dealt with as far as, what wnet through your thoughts during the ride?

Man this is an impressive achievement.

The Roadbum

Congratulations, great work! Did you remember to keep all your gas receipts?

Cheers,

Bob

I know it's not a Vespa but I did did a 2000 miles in 48 hours event on a Burgman 650 a few years ago. Does that count?

Cheers,

Bob

Thanks for the congratulations everyone. I really appreciate it. Thanks, but I decided for strawberry waffles. I agree! I stopped for gas 14 times.

I was getting really crappy gas mileage, at just over 50 mpg. Congrats on your ironbutt. I remember you saying you'd done an one, but I didn't realize you'd stopped at a hotel for rest. If I had a partner I was riding with I may have done that. My rear end was feeling pretty sore towards the end but I was alert enough that I knew I could just go straight through. I don't think my ironbutt is any tougher than yours, actually it was litterally numb on one side when I got home. Yeah, I made a point to stay moving and not rest for too long. I just held my speed at an indicated 75mph (which is probably high 60's) whenever I could. The frequent gas stops were enough of an excuse to stretch my legs and then it was right back on the road. I know others have done it on scooters (Maxi), but I can't remember anyone having done it on a Vespa.

Once all my paperwork checks out, I'll be the only rider to have done it on a Vespa on the I Iron Butt Association website, if their information is current. They have a list of all the makers of bikes that have done it and no Vespas are listed. They do list 2 piaggios but I wonder if those are X9's or something else. If someone rode it on a Vespa I bet they'd want The Iron Butt Association to document it as a Vespa not a Piaggio just because it's the parent company.

http://www.ironbutt.com/rides/ssbbfin1.cfm?CFID=18465280&CFTOKEN=13775678 Thanks Jess, I don't really have any custom titles in mind but would love one. So if you've got an idea for one, I'm open to hear it. 8) I was VERY nervous about the ride beforehand, and didn't know what to expect. Once I set out on the road all those feelings were gone. I just took the ride one step at a time. This is what was going through my mind. "Ok, I'm just riding from Napa, to American Canyon. Ok, Now I'm getting on highway 80, time to watch for out speeders. Ok, now I'm looking for the turnoff to highway 580." So instead of thinking about somewhere far away that I was trying to get to, I tried to think about where I was and what it would take to get home safely that night. I don't listen to music when I ride so I just had to make sure to keep my mind active. On the way back somewhere between miles 600 and 800 I noticed I was getting quiet in my head, so I had to make an effort to think of things to keep my mind active and alert. I never got sleepy, just sore. You betcha! And when you fill up 14 times in one day, your credit card company starts flagging your card. So I'm glad I had a second one, but even that one got flagged. I could go in and use my card at the cashier, but that would mean taking off my sunglasses, helmet, balaclava, earplugs, all of which add to the time you could be on the road. That totally counts. Though you probably had a tank with better range, more power and possibly a cruise control.... cheater kidding of course. I thought about getting some sleep and then getting back on the road for the extra 500 miles to make it 1500 in 36 hours, but I soon got rid of those thoughts as I went to bed.

If you map the route in Google Maps it tells you that the route is 522 miles. But if you look at last few directions it tells you to ride pass Baker, CA and then turn around. If you look at the Mapquest directions they show that it's 496 miles to Baker, CA from Napa. I only realized that Google maps was gonna hose me about an hour before I went to bed the night I was leaving. So I had to find an alternate route that would make up for the miles that were missing. I ended up coming all the way back up Interstate 5 to sacramento then over higway 80 to napa. this added about 40 extra miles to the trip home and put me over the 1000 mile mark.

My route to Baker was:
Napa to 29 to 80 to 37 to 780 to 680 to 580 to 5 to 46 to 99 to 58 to 15 to Baker.

From Baker:
15 to 58 to 99 to 46 to 5 to 80 to 12 to 29 to Napa.


Google Maps Route: Napa, CA to Baker, CA

Mapquest Route: Napa, CA to Baker, CA

One Word, "EXCELLENT"

get this fellow a gel seat!



jacqui

Wow! I couldn't imagine riding that far in one trip. I would be sore doing that trip in my car.

That kicks ass, Mesmer. Rawk You rule

And you did it on a GT200L NOT a GTS. You rock and I bet you are soar still today.

Yes a gel seat would have been nice. I've still got some numbness in my fingers as well. :?

Here's some odometer pics for fun. Disregard the clock because they were shot a bit before and after the start and finish.

I couldn't resist a pic of the Mojave sign with "SpaceShipOne". This was actually the only place I saw another scooter all day. Go figure. It was a majesty or burgman, I didn't get that good a look.

Then when I was 12 miles from my turn around point... Disaster strikes. There was an accident that I never did see the vehicles of, that had all of north bound highway 15 stopped. I started splitting lanes up to the front and after 2-3 miles of splitting between stopped cars people started getting out of their vehicles to see if they could find out what happened. Well, I didn't want to get smashed by an opening car door, so I pulled out to the shoulder which was quite large and very clean. I still had to dodge a bunch of people that were milling around on the shoulder but that was better than taking a face full of car door. After a couple more miles of driving up on the shoulder I got to the front and saw a helicopter landed on the highway getting loaded with an unfortunate person. After about a 15-20 minute wait the chopper took off and the police cleared the scene and started letting one lane go through. There were 4 other bikes and myself that took were up at the front.

I got to Baker 12 miles later and had a bit of lunch and started on my way back. When I got back to where the accident was, traffic was still crawling and was backed up for what I would estimate between 8-10 miles.

hard core !

way to go buddy
& thanks for bringing my wheel back

Yup, a GTS with fuel injection would have been real nice. Yes I'm sore, but that's why did waited to do this trip on a weekend where I had 3 days off. So I could prep on Friday, ride on Saturday, and recover on Sunday.

I need to thank NapaCoach for letting me borrow his font wheel to take as a spare. It gave me peace of mind. Thanks M@!

If I only had a mounting system like Rolf. He should start producing those so I don't have to "reverse engineer" one for myself.

What, NapaCoach loaned you one of my powder coated black wheels? His wheels and back rack are still sitting here in my garage. That is OK, I too would have loaned you anything I owned to help you acomplish this task.

Yup, I carefully wrapped and secured the front tire to my scoot. I knew you'd be willing to loan me a tire, but M@ is so close it was a no brainer.

w00t!

That thermometer in Baker is supposedly the world's largest!

i cant stop thinking about this
wow !

Even as Phat as my ass is I don't think I could have done it. This is great to be the FIRST VESPA IRON BUTT. U da man Jed!!!

That kicks SS, Way to go! To bad Nappa couldent join you on this. Also to bad Baker was the destination LOL ( folks what you see in the pic is all there is there in that lil desert stop) But it is the most wide open road you can go on without ever hitting a light or having to stop.
Tequila and Nachos for you brother.

John

Congratulations! Now you need some of this stuff:

To do this on a weekend when there's more traffic, even makes it a bigger deal! Thanks for giving some of the details of your really long weekend ride and the pictures were great!

I take it you never had to use the extra gas I see you carried?

Thanks Curt, I'm stoked to be the first documented Iron Butt member. I'm sure others have done it and not bothered to do it the Iron Butt Associations way. Mike Lynch should be an honorary member.