Girly on the IBA rally, doable?

[dino246]

I would like to compete in the IBA rally next year with my 2006 Girly. It has been a great bike and I have been thinking that I could ride it in the rally. If you don't know about the rally it is an epic, mother of all motorcycle rallys. 11 days over 13k miles and you hit all lower 48 states. ,
I love my Girly and have done all the maintenance and farkles since 6500 miles when I bought her. She now has 22k miles. I would like to think she is capable of doing such an event but looking at the previous rally entry list all the bikes are shaft drive and full fairing super cruisers.
My mechanical concerns include chain life, stator/rectifier life, enough lighting, additional fuel, rules dictate no more than 11.5 gallons. And payload capacity.

Let me know what yall think.

[Mustang]

start the  rally with new chain and sprockets , use an oiler religiously , scott oiler is good but I prefer a hawke oiler or similar that lets me manually control when to lube . the chain and sprockets will last the whole journey . If you don't use an oiler you won't finish before the heat and friction kills the chain and/or sprockets .

carry a spare reg/rectifier and stator . They don't take much room . learn how to swap them out in the dark and if they should fail on the rally you'll be an expert at replacing inside of a half hour .

Lighting will be limited as to what the tiger stator can handle and it aint much , especially if you are running heated grips and gear. and even just heated gear will tax the old girl .

mount a 5 gallon fuel cell on the rear rack and plumb it into the feed line from the main tank.

Steamers have done the Iron Butt in the past .

enjoy the adventure ........................

Staying hydrated is the most important thing , if you aint drinking enough water you'll feel it hard after 700 miles of wind .

Run some sneakers that you know can go at least 10 k , dual sport treads are not gonna make the distance .

[Bixxer Bob]

Some lights here use a lot less power:

http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,8835.msg63072.html#msg63072

[cosmo]

Or put both lights on a switch(s). I've three switches for lights on my '06: left h'light; r h'light; fog lights. Relays on each beam, too. During the daytime, I run with all switched off, just the pilot beam on in both h'lights.
I also run heated clothing and heated grips during the winter (now). I do not put the bike up for more than 2 weeks, at least that's how it's worked out so far.

I have near 50,000 miles on her, never a problem with anything. Just changed out the OEM battery a couple months ago, guess I felt it might fail, though never did.

I'd put a on a much larger 'screen; check out the Palmer products thread for ideas, though I put on a Vetter Windjammer 'screen, on custom mounts. It makes a world of difference on long days.

Just FWIW, I've done a number of 1000 mile days, never on a shaft drive.

Cosmo

[deepsouthtiger]

Great advice above for sure.
As far as "can a  Tiger do it"???????
NO DOUBT!!!!!
Check out what this feller did with his!
http://poorcirculation.blogspot.com

[Mustang]

Check out what this feller did with his!
http://poorcirculation.blogspot.com

Excellent LINK.............................

[Bixxer Bob]

In case you don't read the link, which as Mustang says, is excellent, here's the important bit:

"The Triumph Tiger 955i was an amazing motorcycle, but it was just a little too rude and conspicuous for my changing needs. There was no alternative, it had to go, but parting certainly wouldn't come easily.  Back in 2008, I'd explained my initial travel plans to the good people at Triumph Motorcycles and they'd offered me some quite unusual advice: 'The Triumph Tiger won't make it around the world. It's just a street bike dressed up in an adventure frock, so we'd advise you to buy a BMW'. Fifty thousand miles, thirty-five countries and several continents later, having witnessed modern BMW's and KTM's expensively self-destructing across the wilds of Siberia, my only real mechanical failure had been a blown headlight bulb in Vladivostok".

It even still has the cast wheels!

[tigergotcha]

I'd suggest you to replace plastic elbows with brass ones on the overflow coolant tank.
They tend to break quite easily, especially if you drive offroad.
And I'd replace radiator cap with a brand new one before starting, just in case.
They could both cause big troubles, but they're cheap and easy to replace... do it.

Enjoy your rally!!!




   

[deepsouthtiger]

And please, if possible, document your journey here with pics would even be better 
Though I know while on the Rally you will have MUCH to contend with without adding photo ops into the mix.
I too have longed to do the IBA Rally on my Girly, seems financial and time constraints have hindered me to this point so I must admit I am bit green with envy and hoping to live a little vicariously through your endeavor.


Keep us abreast of your journey. I will certainly be cheering for ya!

[dino246]

I appreciate the words of encouragement. I have been thinking long and hard about this IBA thing. I have been analyzing the bike, its equipment, my ability, and I think we both could do it. I do need better lighting, I've chosen some wurton led lights. I would like a better saddle, like a Russell daylong. And more fuel, I need 5 gallons more, not impossible.

I'm going to start off with some 24hr/1000 mile rallys and work up to the big one in 2015 since the rally is every other year. For this rally my riding buddy and I will be going to the starting line to check out the competition.

I'm probably going to use the new Michelin pilot road 3 trails which come in the tigers size. And although I could get by with my phone for navigation I'm looking into a Garmin Zumo 665lm with the XM radio.