Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126929
deer that she could have put her hand out and touched it, but she never missed a beat and just kept going." Riders who went for bonus points got to go right up to Glacier Village, just outside of Glacier National Park in Montana, but none had the time to ride across the famous "Going to the Sun Highway." George was sworn at many a time for that maneuver, to be so close yet so. far. Just south of West Glacier, Montana, Plunkett' BMW cracked a pi ton skirt. He managed to ride it to his motorcycle supply shop in Spokane, Washington, for a quick engine rebuild and invited some of the other riders to catch a few hours sleep at his house. Everyone checked in on time, Saturday night, September I, at the Cycle Barn in Lynwood, Washington, except the two Triumphs. They arrived approximately one-half hour later to the applause of all those attending. Everyone was convinced they had just wanted to ham it up a bit. Leaving Lynwood, bonus locations were Grant's Pass in Oregon, the Golden Gate bridge in San Franciso, and a special tourist folder from Big Sur, California. Everyone loved the ride down the coast, but again cursed Egloff for routing them down California's beautiful Route I on a holiday weekend. Fighting for space with tourist' mobile homes and cars was hardly any body's idea of a good time. The neXt checkpoint was located at Greer Sport Fairings in Costa Mesa, California. Greer opened on Labor Day to host the riders at the halfway point of the rally. Irv Seaver's BMW shop in nearby Santa Ana also opened to help riders in need of service. Standings at Costa Mesa found Copas still in first place with 1767 points, followed by Deck in second with 1741 points and Kneebone in third with 1726 points. PauJ Persinger, Barry Norman and Tracy were tied for fourth place with 1702 points. Crane, Moore and Nick Phillips were tied for fifth with 1698 points. Plunkett was in sixth with 1691 points, AI Hoi tsberry was seventh with 1598 points, and Gregg Smith with 1539 points was in eighth. Dave McQueeny was ninth having racked up 1526 points. Johnson and Shuck were tied for 10th with 409 points each, but remember, the primary goal of team Triumph was to complete the raJly, not try and get bonus points. After a mandatory six-hour layover at Costa Mesa, riders left for the bonus point sites of Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Grand Canyon (Arizona) on their way(?) to Muskogee, Oklahoma. Each rider was required to stop at the Las Vegas Hilton and pick up a casino chip. Imagine the surprise when the Hilton doormen kept seeing leather-clad motorcyclists pull up at the front door, jump off their bikes, and run into thecasino to pick up the required token. Crane accidently went to the North Rim of the Canyon instead of the south side and found himself stranded around midnight without gas or the required Grand Canyon souvenir. However, luck proved to be on her side when she met someone who found a syphon ho e and took gas from his truck to fill her tank, then got her an extra gallon container so she could make it to Flagstaff. Crane thanked him for the help, butshestill didn't have a canyon souvenir and the gift shop didn't open until the next morning. The man who helped her then asked her if a hat that said Grand Canyon on it would do. Talk about luck, and if that wasn't enough, Fran was hungry, so he offered her some of the yogurt he had for his lunch. Crane said that they gave her everything she could possibly need except sleep ... On the way to The Suzuki Kawasaki Seller in Muskogee, Oklahoma. dense fog in Texas caused many riders to wonder if cont.inuingwas really worth it. Johnson, on one of the Triurn phs, said that you really had to have a great deal of faith traveling through the fog at 70 mph watching the white lines and not being able to see much of anything else. Other riders complained that staring into the fog hypnotized them and made them want to fall asleep. Egloff used Muskogee as the real breaking point to separale the riders just trying to complete the course from those trying to. go for the win and maximum bonus points. Riders were to leave for Jacksonville, Florida, but received a bonus sheet listing Kansas City as a bonus spot worth 50 points. Many riders, who had only two or three hours of rest since the California checkpoint, felt it was too much to go 270 miles north then turn around and ride 270 miles back south towards Florida. The Oklahoma heat and humidity were also taking a rollcom bined with the quickly appoaching rain storm, many were mentally ready to throw in the towel, but decided they had come this far and would finish no matter what it took. On this leg of the trip, weather, fatigue, mechanical failures and race strategies caused the standings to shift around. Copas, Moore, Crane, Norman and Tracy decided to go all the way to Kansas, while Kneebone and Persinger decided to sneak up the back way for a Kansas Turnpike receipt - skipping Kansas City with the plans to get into the Florida checkpoint early, getting a few extra hours sleep and then clean up on the last leg of the event. Everyone else decided to go directly to Florida and pick up bonus points that were more along the way. Tracy had the misfortune of hilting a fawn in Missouri despite having had deer whistles on his turbo MW KIOO. Joe Anderson from Joe's Cycle Shop in Bolivar, Tennessee, who drove nearly 200 miles to get Tracy's damaged bike, explained that "the deer was too young to know about deer whistles." Copas almost bought it outside of Kansas Ci ty, Kansas, when he missed a stop sign and hit a car. Undaunted, he settled with the car driver, jumped on his Beemer and took off. hardly losing any time. Deck's alternator gave up while he was picking up a bonus at the Lake Pontchartrain causeway in Louisiana. With assistance from Mike Miller, a local GoJd Wing Road Riders Asso. ciation member, Walt was able to get his Gold Wing to a dealership and fly home in time to attend the awards banquet on Sunday. In Jackson, Mississippi, Dave McQueeney hit a pot hole and was thrown onto a curb. He managed to walk away from the accident with only a cracked rib and minor road rash but his BMW K75 was missing the left footpeg and shift lever. McQueeney was' able to locate a shift lever but no foot peg. Despite these handicaps he completed the rest of the event riding wi th h is left foot on the passenger peg. He got the "Iron Rib" award from the other riders. At Sullivan Brothers' Distributors in Jacksonville, Florida, many took to sleeping on the warehouse floor during the two-hour layover. Spectro Oil representatives were there helping with oil changes and other minor maintenance problems. As riders were leaving the Jacksonville stop they were given the final bonus listing which included Orlando, Florida (hardly on the way back to Philadelphia), th.e Richmond Turnpike in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and The Motorcycle Shop Ross and Claudette Copas pose at the finish; Copas won the event on his BMW K100 after earning the bonus from fighting Boston traffic. Triumph Trident rider John Shuck gets the go ahead from Malcolm Forbes as defending champion George Egloff checks things out. in College Park, Maryland, just outside of Washington. D.C. Most riders noted that traffic going through Washington was running a consistent 80 mph. Ironic, considering this is where our legi'slators meet and can't get it together to'raise the limit past 55. Major road construction in downtown Philadelphia gave many riders a last minute scare. To come so far and risk losing precious points 30 miles from the finish must have aided in the development of several ulcers among the riders cutting it close al the finish. Copas and his BMW KIOORS led from start to finish to win the 1986 Iron Butt Rally with 2822 points. orman, riding a Yamaha Venture, came in second with 2757 points and swears to return next year for the win. Third place was a tie between Crane on a BMW KIOO and Moore with his 1981 Honda Gold Wing, both riders had 2753 points at the finish. Kneebone, riding a Yamaha Venture, was fourth with 2662 points. Paul Persinger who rode his Yamaha Venture from Alaska to the event, was fifth with 2656 points. Kawasaki-sponsored Nick Phillips, riding a Concours, was sixth with 2652 points. Californian Crane deserves the "most miles ridden award" with a lOlal of 10.421 miles. Kneebone claims he won the "no-ticket class" while still racking up 10,376 miles. The Connecticut Triumph team of Johnson and Shuck deserve the highest praise for having the desire and will to continue throughout the rally on their English classics. Patterson, Egloff and Giles deserve a first place award for running such a well organized event. First place pit crew award goes to Richard and Faye Hoffman, (Richard Hoffman was in sixth place in the '85 Butt rally) who extended their hospitality to all rally participants. Faye's wonderful home cooking was the first good meal riders had in II days. Special recognition should be given to Spectro Oils of America, Carlisle Tire and Rubber Company, Shoei Helmet Corporation. Sullivan Brothers Distributors, Eclipse. Michelin Tire Corporation, Continental Tire Company and Thunderwear Corporation for support thaI goes far beyond the cash register. A poll of the top-placing finishers revealed that most rode 40 hours and then slept five to eighl hours, depending on available time. Mental, not physical exhaustion, was the most di[[icult problem to overcome during the event. Most riders agreed that "mush mind," coined by '85 finisher Suzie Mann. most accurately described this feeling. No one that finished would dispute that this is indeed one of the world's toughest motorcycle events. .Said one rider, "No one can possibly understand how tough this rally is to finish until they've tried it themselves." Each rider can count themelves in a truly elite class of motorcyclists. • Results 1. Ross Copas (MW); 2. Barry Norman (Yam); 3. (TIE) Fran Crane (BMW)/Gary Moore (Hon); 5. Michael Kneebone (Yam); 6. Paul Persinger (Yam); 7. Nick Phillips (Kaw); B. Jim Plunkett (BMW); 9. Al Holtsberry (BMW); 10. Gregg Smith (Vern); 11. Dave McQueeney (BMW); 12. Gary Johnson (Tri); 13. John Shuck (lri); 14.(DNF)Walt Deck (Hon); 15. (DNF) Joe Tracy(BMW); 16. (DNFI Nick Nichols (H-D). 23