Endurance Challenge.

[Julio A.]

I was always hearing about the annual "Ironman Challenge" held by the local BMW club "BMW Owners Society of Saferiders(BOSS)"

The challenge was composed of traversing 1200 kilometers around the central island of Luzon within 24 hours.

Finishers using the following brands:
BMW............26
Ducati..........13
Honda..........48
KTM..............8
Kawasaki........2
Piaggio...........1
Suzuki............6
Yamaha........19

Apparently, somebody finished on a 400cc Vespa, and the number of users riding the Honda Super Four variants outnumber the riders on BMW GS models.  

It's making me wonder, would our R65's be able to finish the course?
Nobody has ever finished on an Airhead.

[Bob_Roller]

One of our members here, Semper Gumby, rode his R65 in a challenge called 50CC, that's going from coast to coast in the US in 50 hours or under .

His route was from Jacksonville, Florida to San Diego, California using Interstate 10 for most of the route .

He did make it and had a few hours to spare .

The distance was about 2400 miles (3900km) .

[nhmaf]

There have been a number of airhead riders in the US "iron butt" marathon which is a MUCH longer race.  2 years ago Joel Rappaport - competed but didn't quite finish in time, on his rebuilt R60/7 (had R75 cylinders on it).   Last year another rider on an R75/7 finished 38th with over 4200 miles completed.

We have a "Minuteman 1000" rally this weekend here in northeastern US that draws alot of BMW riders of all vintages - it is a 1000 mile circular route throughout new england in 24 hours, with extra points for reaching other destinations "off the beaten path".

I couldn't imagine the amount of endurance required to do the race you describe on a Vespa scooter!

[Ed Miller]

The motorcycle shouldn't have any problems.  Would the rider?  I would.