2014 Scooter Cannonball - Advice Request

[chucklestx]

I plan on competing in the 2014 Scooter Cannonball from Hyder, Alaska to New Orleans on my 2006 People 250.

Can anyone offer advice from long distance experience on this model? Any advice is appreciated. I would prefer not to do performance upgrades. I believe the stack scoot (4600 miles) has all the power I need. I prefer reliability over squeezing every iota of speed from the engine.

[Stig / Major Tom]

I put a pot of coffee on and am pulling up a chair 'cause I want to follow this post!

[de dee]

   will there be gas set up for scooters every 200 miles,. or what the scooters can do.  some have small gas tanks,. or will you have gas cans on board,

[chucklestx]

   will there be gas set up for scooters every 200 miles,. or what the scooters can do.  some have small gas tanks,. or will you have gas cans on board,

I will have at least one 2 gallon jerry can to backup my stock 2 gallon capacity. Support trucks will carry gas as well. Some riders are installing auxiliary tanks with up to 5 gallon capacity. The first 900 miles is pretty sparse for gas.

[johnson]

Maybe you could find a dealer who'd fill you in on what parts are most likely to fail on the 250.   Parts that you'd need to carry with you or have the support truck carry (if they will).  Tires, belt, bulbs (front, rear, turn), oil, gear oil, basic maintenance stuff. 

[chucklestx]

I already have a travel crate with 2 belts, a set of rollers, 3 spark plugs, synthetic gear & motor oil, a tire plug kit, spare front and rear wheel (not just the tires), full tool kit w/ volt meter and compression tester, fuses and bulbs.

I will carry a small tool kit for road side repairs such as, tire plug kit, spark plug and belt replacement, fuses and trusty duct tape. Everything else will go with the support vehicle for parking lot wrenching as needed. Oil will be changed at least twice during the event and the belt once during in the middle. Extra belt is for unforeseen wear.

Belt, oil, spark plug and brakes will be changed prior to shipping to start point. I will break them in with with a 200 mile ride.

[boo]

We will be interested to hear how you and the People hold up on such a long trip.
Some pics would be nice too.
Good luck.
boo

[ScooterBus]

Good luck, I wish I could try one of those smaller 1000 mile Iron Butt challenges. I've had great results using RIDE-ON tire sealant and balancer, and it has sealed my tires from at least 5 out of the 6 times I had a nail or screw in my tires. The only one it didn't seal was a long sheet rock screw that ripped out of my tire at 70 MPH. It's great stuff. I also carry a small air compressor to go with a backup tire plug kit, just in case. I think you got everyting covered-wait Liquid, I meant prescription Pain killers 

[Vivo]

The scoot is ready... how about you? A few visits to the gym may be a good prep...    Good luck and keep up posted...   

[houndguy]

Good luck, I wish I could try one of those smaller 1000 mile Iron Butt challenges.

Just a point of clarification.  The Cannonball is not a Iron Butt event.  Two completely different things.  In fact I think the Cannonball is a lot harder because of the smaller CC's involved.  The fact that your using back roads and avoiding highways (again do to lower CC's).

Good luck!   

[ts1]

An IBA ride is not a race or competition. You could perform that easily on a 125cc Kymco (like I did). 1 day ride, 1 dax relax and your're ready again for work.
An IBA Rallye is a much harder competition. 11x straight days with each an IBA ride and the need to collect bonus points.
Imho a scooter canonball is somewhere in the middle.

[houndguy]

An IBA ride is not a race or competition. You could perform that easily on a 125cc Kymco (like I did). 1 day ride, 1 dax relax and your're ready again for work.
An IBA Rallye is a much harder competition. 11x straight days with each an IBA ride and the need to collect bonus points.
Imho a scooter canonball is somewhere in the middle.

I would argue that the IBA are competition's with yourself, and for the record I've not done the IBA or Cannonball yet. 

[ts1]

A IBA Ride like SaddleSore or BunBurner is a competition with only yourself. Nobody else needs to rides with (or against) you. No ranking, just "succeeded".
The IBA Rallye is a competition with ranking. Of course every finisher has to struggle with himself too. http://www.ironbuttrally.com

[paper]

And if you want to compete in smaller 1, 2 or more day IBA style rallies, there's tons available all across the country.
I've competed in a couple 1000 mile/24 hour rallies and I found I just really don't like that style of riding. I enjoy distance riding, but I want to have a destination and enjoy it.. Personal preference..

And, if you want to experience the whole Rally competition thing without investing the days on the road, there's several 12 hour rallies to pick from, too..

You get the challenges of time management, routing, and having to make decisions when confronted with problems (traffic, heat, or my favorite, Parades

Here's a few clubs that hold such events..

 http://www.teamstrange.com/

http://www.glmc.org/index.php

http://xtrord.com/experiences/mileage-monsters/

http://www.capefear1000.com/rules.htm

http://www.twobitsrally.com/

And then the scooter version of road rallies

http://madbastardrally.com/

[chucklestx]

I've register, booked my flight and all my hotel rooms. I will be doing 1 day long rides (approx 200 miles) every 2nd or 3rd weekend leading up to my time to ship the scoot. My only real complaint is the seat which I will rectify by taking it to a custom shop here in Houston. I am going to cut a an access whole on the side left body panel for easier access to the spark plug. We have some serious climbs and experiences Cannonballers have recommended checking the plug each evening to see if I am running too rich in the thin air. One day we will actually hit 11,000 feet.

My blog will be @  http://htowncannonballer.blogspot.com/

Pics coming soon.