Wear and Tear

#1
I am going to do the 1500/24hr. Already did the 1000. I ride a well maintained Triumph Thunderbird 1600. I was wandering what your OPINIONS were on wear and tear this ride causes. Seems running the motor for 24 hours straight; with the exception of 9 fuel stops would be more than it is designed for. Everybody here does this, just curious about you thoughts. I have one bike and can’t afford another.

Thanks,

Pat Pitts – Crowley, Texas
 
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Scott Parish

Premier Member
#2
Pat - you didn't include the year of your bike; but if it is well maintained - I don't see it being an issue. Also - when and where are you planning to complete the ride?

Scott
 

BMWguy

IBA Member
#3
Disclaimer - I am NOT a mechanic!! LOL!

Probably less wear and tear on the engine running than starting and stopping as driving around town.
At least that's what I've always heard...
 
#4
Pat - you didn't include the year of your bike; but if it is well maintained - I don't see it being an issue. Also - when and where are you planning to complete the ride?

Scott
Hi Scott,
The year of my Thunderbird is 2012. Bought it 2 months ago. It had only 5500 miles on it. I’ve put about 3200 miles on it. It’s very comfy. Rode it to Palo Duro and Caprock Canyons by Amarillo, then to Arkansas and Missouri.

Planning to ride the first week of July from Fort Worth Texas to Las Cruces New Mexico, return via the same route. And down I35 to Temple, then home to Crowley Texas (1536 miles). This seems to be the highest speed limits around here. (75 and 80). I love speed but hate tickets more. I plan on 9 fuel stops. I realize that you all are riding these all the time. Just got to thinking……

Thanks for the reply,

Pat Pitts
 

Ed.

Premier Member
#6
As has been said already; The thing that wears engines the most is stop/start type running and the cycling of engine/oil temperatures. Constant running for an extended period is pretty gentle on an engine that is already in good condition. There are many bikes here with some REALLY big miles on them still in excellent condition - far bigger miles and better condition than you would ever see from bikes that have been "babied" by just running around town or shorter weekend runs.

I proved this to myself a number of years ago when I did an oil change on my bike (also a Triumph at that point) before a ~5000km ride and then dropped the oil again when I got home. It had barely discoloured and was still looking almost exactly the same colour as when I put it in 5000km ago.

I'm not a mechanic either, but I am married to a spelling nazi so have to add: * WEAR and TEAR...
 
#7
Show up at a gathering of long distance riders and you will see numerous motorcycles with 6-digit mileages on the odometer. Long rides don't hurt modern bikes; if anything, they preserve them, because there's not a lot of starting and stopping and bouncing off the redline. I did an oil analysis on my old bike after 10K miles in 11 days in the IBR, plus a couple of thousand extra miles, and there was no sign of metal wear and tear in the oil, nor wear and tear on the oil (the viscosity was still within spec).

Wear and tear on a modern motorcycle will not be the problem in a BBG, it will be wear and tear on the rider. And the risk that you'll discover you're born to be a mile eater and suddenly wake up to find you put 50,000 miles and 5 sets of tires on your bike in a year.
 
#8
Thanks David and Ed. Dad was an English major, obviously it did not carry over. Embarrassed.

Anyway, thanks for the input. Looking forward to many miles on this bike. Maybe I will see you at an event.
 

Amnon Romano

Premier Member
#10
Seems running the motor for 24 hours straight; with the exception of 9 fuel stops would be more than it is designed for
Pat,

An IBA type ride is the best thing one can do for his/her bike - per mile ridden.
And I'll explain.
96% of the damage caused to an engine happen in the first 4% of operation in general, with the most wear at the first few seconds from hitting the start button:
1. When metal surfaces are dry from oil (drained after previous ride) and free to contact metal-to-metal.
2. When inter surface speeds jump (accelerate) from zero to 1000 RPM in 1 second.
3. When oil cold temperature (read: high viscosity) prevents it from getting where it needs to be - the micro gaps between metal surfaces - for it's intended job of wear management.
After 30 seconds of engine running, oil already circulates where it should. After additional 5 minutes (depending on conditions) oil reaches it's operating temperature (viscosity) and is free to flow fast enough not to lag too much behind RPM increase. Beyond this point it will take a real effort to cause any real damage to the engine.
So, as long as you start the engine and a. let it idle for 30-60 seconds before taking off and, b. wait with the full throttles for 10 minutes and, c. try not to exceed 80% of redline RPM: any IBA ride is very safe to any current motorcycle.

Have fun!
 
#12
Well, I hate to say I’m going to do something and not do it. But, my buddy Skip Wayne, an Iron Butt 1000 member was taken out by a car last night in Missouri just south of Ozark. He was on an 1800 mile long weekend trip from Fort Worth Texas. I hope this is not inappropriate to post this. If it is I will remove it. But I figured come July somebody would be messaging me about the trip I said I was going to take.

That being said my wife is a little freaked out about me running off on the bike right now. It would not be cool.

Peace Out,

Pat Pitts