BBG 3000 Attempt
July 27 & 28th 2003
Among all the other Long Distance bikes over there in the parking lot of Hotel Matagami, there’s none that I’d prefer over this one. My ZX-12R was behaving beautifully on the road to Radisson. For those who aren’t familiar, the road from Matagami, Quebec to Radisson, at James Bay is an isolated 620 km long stretch of unpoliced roller-coaster. The bikes in the parking lot of Hotel Matagami belonged to the fine folks who came up to the “ride-to-eat” organised by Mark Daub, Blackfly 1600 veteran and winner. This was to be the first Blackfly reunion / BBQ and it turned out to be a great success, with about 25 bikes and maybe 30 riders showing up. We all had a great time on Saturday night and I was set to embark on my most ‘challenging’ ride to date, the BunBurner Gold 3000 on Sunday. For those who aren’t familiar, the BBG3000 consists of 1500 miles (2418 km) in 24 hours, followed by another 1500 miles during the next 24 hours.
On Saturday evening I asked those who had gone to Radisson how the road was. Is
it really un-policed?
- “There are some pretty bad frost heaves” says one
- “The road is self-policing” says another
- “I lost a hard saddlebag on my Concours today” says a third, “Skidded down the
road and wore out in a few spots”.
Hmmm…
I had been planning this ride for about 4 months, and in my usual planning
fashion, all the I’s were dotted and all the T’s were crossed. I had a detailed
route plan that had me leaving Matagami, up to James Bay (Radisson), then down
to Thunder Bay at the West shore of Lake Superior where I planned to sleep for 3
hours, then get heading back home in Fredericton New Brunswick during the second
day. It would be difficult, but I figured I could make good time going up to
Radisson (remember – no police) and accumulate a nice little buffer to
compensate for unscheduled ‘events’. I had done research to make sure I’d have
gas available every 420 km or so, even at night. With the fuel cell mounted on
my bike, I usually hit reserve at around 470 km and am good till about 510 km
until I have to walk or hitch-hike. Don’t ask me how I know this…
My main concern going into this ride was my rear tire. Earlier in the year,
another Long Distance ZX-12R rider attempted the BBG3000 while participating in
the Blister 3000 in the southern US. He had to quit after the first 1500 miles
because his tire was too worn to continue. I did a fair bit of research to find
the perfect tire for this ride. Eventually I settled on a Michelin Pilot Road HPX, a tire supposedly designed for ‘Hyperbikes’ a.k.a. the Kawasaki ZX-12R and
Suzuki Hayabusa. One fellow from Finland on the ZX-12R discussion board said he
got 10 000 km out of one while touring Europe at mostly “triple digit” speeds.
He also told me he usually gets 7 000 km out of Bridgestone 020’s, which is
about what I get out of them, so I figured this would be a good choice and
trusted his advice.
My eyebrows rose a bit when I got the tires. The rear had only 5.5 mm of tread
when new! Well I thought, the rubber must be very hard to last that long on so
little tread. There’s an old adage on the IronButt website that says something
about not trying anything new on the bike when starting out on a difficult ride.
When I left home the tires still had their little dibs on them. Some might get
an idea about where this story is going…
3:30 AM Sunday morning. My alarm clock is set to go off at 4:20 and the
Screaming Meanie is going off at 4:30. I turn both alarms off as I know it is
useless to try to sleep again. Been there, done that. I get up and watch the
weather channel. It says cloudy for the morning with 10 % chance of showers with
accumulations “less than 1 mm”. Not bad I thought. Take shower, put a dab of
sunscreen on my nose, finish up packing and down the stairs I go.
Yves Breault was standing outside the hotel door. That’s funny I thought, he was
supposed to leave an hour before me. He was going to attempt a BBG1500 by going
up to James Bay then heading East instead of West to finish on the Upper North
Shore of the St-Lawrence River somewhere. It was raining heavily.
“It’s not as bad as it was half an hour ago” he says. “A while ago you couldn’t
even see the tower across the street”. The glass is definitely half full for
Yves. Nonetheless, he decided to wait it out as he knows that riding in the fog
and rain at night is not a good way to travel. I too decide to delay the
departure. I went back up to my room and surprisingly I slept for about 45
minutes. Woke up at 6:00 AM for the updated weather forecast and it was still
calling for less than 1 mm of precipitation for the morning. I wonder at what
time the morning begins…
Head down for breakfast where there are a few of the LD guys around. We talk
about my ride. There are not many people I can talk to regarding this sort of
thing, not many people understand and I’ve given up trying to explain. Family
and friends close to me were told about where I was going but not really how
long I expected it to take me. “A few days” I would say. 7:00 AM, still raining
hard but it’s lighter out. I decide to go for it. I see Yves’ bike is still
there.
7:14 is my official start time, as indicated on my cash register receipt. I had
filled up both gas tanks the night before so I bought some breath mints with my
debit card to get a timed receipt. On the bike I go.
With the hard rain there were significant puddles on the road leading up to
Radisson. The tire tracks were full of water and I had to navigate on the 3-foot
wide strip between them. I was riding like a real squid, real slow in the
corners then going at it in the straights. About 200 km into the ride, there was
less accumulation of water on the road and I was able to use my entire lane. It
was at this time that I thought that I had the perfect bike for the job. I could
ride fast over bumps that would upset a lesser bike and I had power to burn
(burn up the rear tire that is).
There is a solitary gas station in those 620 km and it is at route marker 381
km. I hit reserve at 360 km which was a personal worst for me. Needless to say,
I managed to do some good time and accumulate significant ‘buffer’ despite the
wet weather. As I was gassing up, I glanced over at the rear tire. My heart
sunk. There was noticeable tread loss and the sides of the tire were
accumulating little rolled-up bits of rubber, a sign of hard wear. Crap. I’ll
have to tame it down a notch.
I guess the notch wasn’t big enough. By the time I got up to Radisson, the wear
was even more noticeable. I figured there was a chance the tire wouldn’t last
the full 3000 miles.
I knew that if I needed another tire it would need to be during the second
24-hour period to be able to complete the ride. First of all, this was Sunday,
where no bike shops were open. Second, I wasn’t going to hit big cities until
Thunder Bay. I thought I could always phone a buddy in Fredericton early on
Monday Morning and he could make arrangements for a tire waiting for me in Sault
Ste-Marie. That would work. If they are able to take me in right away, I figured
it would cost me about an hour. That’s what buffers were for.
I arrived back in Matagami at 3:51 PM, having covered 1 266 km in 8 hours 37
minutes. Looking at the tire with a lump in my throat confirmed what I was
suspecting. There was about 1.5 mm of tread left, nowhere close enough to get me
to Thunder Bay, which was still about 1 200 km away. In the name of safety and
with a heavy heart I called it quits. I decided against doing the route in 3
days for a Saddlesore 3000 because frankly, that ride didn’t mean that much to
me. With my tail between my legs I headed back towards home, which was 1 700 km
away, but the path was dotted with bike-shop-bearing cities every 200 km or so.
That night I made it to Val D’Or, about 200 km away where I took a hotel. I was
very angry at the bike for letting me down. The tire was down to about 1 mm of
tread. The bike would have to go. No wonder LD riders gravitate towards Gold
Wings, BMW’s and other sport touring bikes I thought. My choice of bike bit me
in the behind. What was I thinking?
On Monday I left Val D’Or and decided to ride very slowly and smoothly to see
how far down the road I could nurse this tire.
Mont Laurier, 1 mm of tread left. That’s what I’ll do, get all the LD bits off
the bike, bring it back up to stock then sell it. Put that money towards a more
proper ride.
Montreal 1 mm of tread left. What bike should I get? BMW makes nice ones, or
maybe an ST 1300? I want a bike that can let me stand on the pegs while riding
because it’s a great way to stretch without wasting valuable time. I don’t think
you can stand on a GoldWing.
Quebec City 1 mm of tread left. I’m riding at maybe 120 to 130 km/h and cars are
passing me. Imagine that, being passed by cars! Me! I start playing with the
Throttlemeister and learn that I can let go of the bars and steer the bike
around by leaning. I went maybe half an hour without touching the bars. This is
fun.
Rivière-du-Loup 1 mm of tread left. I’m up to about 900 km today and the
remaining tread hasn’t changed. Also, I’m getting the best mileage I’ve ever
seen; hit reserve at 565 km, by far a personal best, meaning that I could go 600
before being stranded. Wow!
Edmundston 1 mm of tread left. The weather is very nice. I see the sun for the
first time during the whole trip. I’m enjoying riding at this pace. It is around
here that it dawns on me. This is what separates my bike from other LD bikes.
Power. BMW’s have what, maybe 120 HP? I’ve got significantly more than that. If
I don’t use all that extra power, my bike should go as far as the next one.
Maybe I can install a throttle limiter like on the kiddie bikes…
Home 1 mm of tread left. I managed to ride 1 500 km without any noticeable
difference in tire wear. This was quite a dramatic change from my initial 1 200
km which transformed my like-new tire to a worn-out one. I decided that I like
my bike after all. It’s comfortable, I can sit on it all day, I can stand up on
the pegs to stretch, it handles well and if I am reasonable with my right hand
it should have a range similar to anything out there. I love my ZX-12R.
This was my biggest LD lesson learned and the biggest price I’ve had to pay:
“Ride like an idiot and you won’t make it.”
We will meet again, BBG 3000.