Motorcycle Explorer August 2015 Issue 7 | Page 154

You're going to see plenty of these in 24 hours!
The Iron Butt Association originated in the USA
to promote the sport of safe long distance
riding. There are now associations all around
the world with 60,000 members. To become a
member all you have to do is complete an Iron
Butt Ride and get it verified by the IBA. There is
no membership fee. The base ride is a
Saddlesore 1000 ( 1000 miles in 24hrs) and in
the UK you can ride Lands End to John O’Groats
for a UK E2E. More experienced riders are
capable of riding Bunburner 1500 Golds (1500
miles in 24hrs).In the UK 1600 rides have been
verified since IBAUK was formed nine years ago.
There are many other rides that can be ridden
anywhere at any time as well as special rides in
different countries. Iron Butt rides can be
undertaken on any bike though most riders add
“farkles” to make their bikes more comfortable
for long hours in the saddle. In 2014 a
Saddlesore 1000 was completed on a Honda
C90 cub step through!!!!
Iron Butt Rallies are photographic scatter rallies.
The rally book is issued at the start of the event
with details of different bonus locations to visit.
Each location has a different point value and has
different availabilities. There are also sleep
bonuses, phone in bonuses and combination
bonuses. The task is to find the most efficient
route and collect maximum points over the
distance in the available time. There are rallies
in Finland and Germany this year as well as the
11 day 11,000 mile Iron Butt Rally in the USA in
June. We run three rallies each year in the UK.
The 36hr Brit Butt Rally was in May, the 12 hr
Brit Butt Light on the 18th July starting in
Staffordshire and the new 8hr Iceni rally in East
Anglia. Details can be found on the IBAUK
website.