Riding an Airhead in the Iron Butt Rally

[r60rider]

Greetings Gang
Some of you may remember that I rode my 1976 R60/6 in the 2007 and 2009 Iron Butt Rallies. 2007 was a debacle, and even though the Airhead did well, I was a DNF (did not finish). In the 2009 rally the Airhead and I finished ahead of 42 other riders and ended the rally with over 523,000 miles on the 33 year old R60. After 2 1/2 years I finally finished a book about the Airhead, the Iron Butt Rally, and me. It's called Hopeless Class. That's where the organizers put me due to the age of the Airhead, the high mileage, the low horsepower, and my previous DNF.

The book is about the adventure. It is written for non-riders, riders who couldn't give one whit for long-distance riding, experienced Hedz and Iron Butt folks. The R60 ran beautifully, and except for the sidestand/left foot-peg breaking off at midnight on day 4, and a saddlebag getting torn off and dragged for quite a few miles on day 5, it never hiccuped . I rode 19 hours a day for 11 straight days at near full throttle, got 43 mpg overall, and burned a quart of oil every thousand miles. After the eleven day, eleven thousand mile rally ended in Spokane, WA, I rode two,1,350 miles days in a row in order to get home to North Carolina in time to be at work the day after labor day. I love my Airhead!

If your so inclined, Hopeless Class is available at amazon.com or can be ordered through your local bookstore. Paperback or Kindle.

Thanks for the bandwidth.

Joel Rappoport
1976 R60/6
IBA #397

[SteveD]

Sounds like a fair effort there Joel. Might be worth a look!
If there are three things you could advise another rider on how to prevent a sore ar$e, what would they be?

[Duane Ausherman]

Joel, I remember reading about your success. Once again, congratulations on a fine effort.

Just thinking about your effort has tired me out so much that I have to take a nap.

[Jeff in W.C.]

Joel, I remember reading about your success. Once again, congratulations on a fine effort.

Just thinking about your effort has tired me out so much that I have to take a nap.

Is it nap time already? Damn, time sure flies by.

[esman100]

Joel, thanks for posting this...I ordered your book and can't wait to read it. I really enjoyed your blog and hope to get some insight on how in the hell you pulled it off.

[esman100]

OK, I received the book the other day and I am about half way into it and so far I give it 2 thumbs up. I especially like the spare parts and equipment list in the back of the book. I don't think that I'm an Iron Butt type, but I thoroughly enjoy reading about it.

[blitz]

Just ordered mine today. I am going to read it during a six day, 3500 mile ride through the Canadian and US Rockies. I'll be riding my 80/7 instead of my 60/5, but i need the luggage. It would have been more "romantic" to be riding the 600, but i need the luggage which is on the 800.

[blitz]

Well, I didn't crack the book on the trip. (It ended up being 4500 miles, so more time riding, less time reading).

I just finished it this week after starting it the week before. Really a good read. I've now shared it with my riding buddies, and the first buddy really enjoyed it, too. We may ride the Minnesota 1000 just because of this book. Maybe.

[Ross]

Tomorrow be pay day. I may just buy this tome.

[Sibbo]

Greetings Gang
Some of you may remember that I rode my 1976 R60/6 in the 2007 and 2009 Iron Butt Rallies. 2007 was a debacle, and even though the Airhead did well, I was a DNF (did not finish). In the 2009 rally the Airhead and I finished ahead of 42 other riders and ended the rally with over 523,000 miles on the 33 year old R60. After 2 1/2 years I finally finished a book about the Airhead, the Iron Butt Rally, and me. It's called Hopeless Class. That's where the organizers put me due to the age of the Airhead, the high mileage, the low horsepower, and my previous DNF.

The book is about the adventure. It is written for non-riders, riders who couldn't give one whit for long-distance riding, experienced Hedz and Iron Butt folks. The R60 ran beautifully, and except for the sidestand/left foot-peg breaking off at midnight on day 4, and a saddlebag getting torn off and dragged for quite a few miles on day 5, it never hiccuped . I rode 19 hours a day for 11 straight days at near full throttle, got 43 mpg overall, and burned a quart of oil every thousand miles. After the eleven day, eleven thousand mile rally ended in Spokane, WA, I rode two,1,350 miles days in a row in order to get home to North Carolina in time to be at work the day after labor day. I love my Airhead!

If your so inclined, Hopeless Class is available at amazon.com or can be ordered through your local bookstore. Paperback or Kindle.

Thanks for the bandwidth.

Joel Rappoport
1976 R60/6
IBA #397

I'm in awe of such performance although I have zero desire to do anything even a little bit like that. It's unusual for me to ride for an hour without seeing something I want to stop and look at .