cannonball run or other long trips

[robtaylor]

if you were to do the cannonball run (the cross country scooter race) or any other long distance ride (i.e. peace scooter) on the buddy 125 what type of spare parts would you want to bring along or have available to you. i am seriously considering doing the cannonball run and would like advice for the maintenence and spare parts that i might need. i am not anticipating much more than oil changes, belts, tires, etc.

any thoughts?

[tam]

bring a few extra sets of brake levers. They're cheap and light and small, and seem to be among the top of replaced parts due to the bike tipping over, or accidents. Also some extra bulbs for the different lights you have

[ericalm]

if you were to do the cannonball run (the cross country scooter race) or any other long distance ride (i.e. peace scooter) on the buddy 125 what type of spare parts would you want to bring along or have available to you. i am seriously considering doing the cannonball run and would like advice for the maintenence and spare parts that i might need. i am not anticipating much more than oil changes, belts, tires, etc.

any thoughts?

One of our moderators, John (jrsjr), did the '06 Cannonball on a Blur. He'll likely have some advice, and you can also try PMing Alix (Peace Scooter, username Alix B) to ask for her input.

John's Cannonball blog: http://cannonballblog2006.blogspot.com/

[JNV]

I rode in the '06 Cannonball Run along with JRSJR. I rode a 78 Vespa but the auto guys pretty much just carried one spare tire one spare belt and tools. Those new auto engines are pretty reliable. The only guys that had problems were the modified autos. The guys riding stock really just changed tires, engine oil and gear oil. A few busted belts because they were riding full throttle all day long, if you just cruise your machine you should be fine.
Also there were a few cracked exhausts, but there is nothing you can do but look for a muffler shop and have them weld it.

[jrsjr]

Hi, I'm the guy who rode the Cannonball on the Blur in 2006. I also rode the first (recent) one in 2004 on a Vespa GT200. A little brief history. My original idea was, in fact, to ride the '06 Cannonball on a Buddy. Genuine offered the Blur, instead, and off I went. I still would like to do the Cannonball on a Buddy, particularly now that a 150cc version of the Buddy is in the works. I can't do the 2008 Cannonball so I hope you (or somebody else) will do it in my stead.

The Cannonball is, for your purposes, a reliability run. You won't be able to keep up with Fuel Injected, water-cooled 250cc scooters. You'll be riding because you have a burning urge to prove that you and your Buddy can do it.

Are you still with me? Excellent.

Since you won't be trying to burn rubber, you will have the added advantage of running a stock machine. I say, "advantage," because all of our experience with auto scooters on the Cannonball leads us to strongly believe that performance variators and CVT belts will not stand up to the rigors of 3300 miles of abuse. In fact, no offense to anybody, but it looked to me like some of that performance junk hardly made it from Portland out to the starting line at the coast. On the Cannonball, reliability is everything.

If you know how to swap the variator belt on your Buddy, feel free to carry one. I'd be more inclined to install a brand spanking new stock belt (regardless of how many miles your current one had on it) just before you leave and not worry about it. I'd be much more concerned about rear tire life than the CVT belt.

Big question: How many miles do Buddy rear tires last? If you put a new one on, will it last 3300 miles??? If not, plan on a tire swap somewhere along the line and build that into your schedule.

You'll have to do an oil change along the way. Keep it simple. Buy an aluminum pie pan, drain the oil into that, replace your drain plug, pour the fresh oil into your Buddy, pour the the oil from the pan into the bottle your fresh oil came in, throw the whole oil-change rig away and be done with it.

A small windscreen, the smaller the better, is a giant help and may actually increase your top speed, believe it or not.

Carry one spare of every light bulb on your scooter. Because you will be a bit slower than some, you may end up riding after dark.

Something different this time that you need to know. On the first CBR, we had one support vehicle. It turned out to be too much for the truck and the two-person truck crew. On the second CBR, we had two support vehicles and it turned out to be too much for both trucks and both support crews. (One marriage came out of it, but that's another story ) So, this time they have decided that it will be every man for himself. This means that you need to start making friends if you want to find yourself a support vehicle to attach yourself to.

To save weight, I chose not to carry enough clothes for the whole run. I carried enough to get me to Iowa and hit a K-Mart there for a bag of fresh socks, underwear, and even jeans (my old ones were shot, anyway). That saved precious weight and space since the 2006 rule was that we had to carry everything on our scooters. I don't know how this will pan out in 2008. You'll have to work this out with whoever you team up with for support.

Good luck!

Feel free to contact me at jrsjr57 at yahoo dot com with questions. I'll be happy to help any way I can.

[ericalm]

How many miles on your Buddy now? Have you done any performance mods?

I'm curious to know how many people do the Cannonball on 150 or smaller scoots. I've been getting inspired to do some longer trips, especially after reading about Alix and this post on MV:
http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18688

Wow.

[robtaylor]

I can't do the 2008 Cannonball so I hope you (or somebody else) will do it in my stead.

jrsjr thanks a lot this post was very helpful. sorry to hear you won't be doing the ball 2008. i have contacted phil at genuine to ask about any type of sponsorship but either way i'm gonna try. just need to get a few 300 mile days under my belt before september.

The Cannonball is, for your purposes, a reliability run. You won't be able to keep up with Fuel Injected, water-cooled 250cc scooters. You'll be riding because you have a burning urge to prove that you and your Buddy can do it.

that's it exactly! i know i can't race against a modded 250 but if i could finish the ride i'd be beside myself.

[jrsjr]

Cannonball Part Duex - Da Money

Sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry earlier to post what I had. Once you figure out your scooter situation, the big concern that everybody has is money. Here's the quick and dirty rundown off the top of my head.

Hotel Rooms: Share a room. Figure about $60/night for your part of the room, including taxes and fees and everything. It will vary, but figure an average of $60 for now. Figure 12 days (including one day at each end of a ten-day Cannonball) that's 12*60 = $720.00

Gas: Figure 3300 miles at ???how many??? miles per gallon? A little hint here - Running WFO all day, you will not get the great gas mileage you are used to. You just won't. If you figure 40 mpg (I got about 30 last time on the Blur, believe it or not.), that's (3300/40)*3.00 = $247.50

Shipping your scooter: I don't know where you live, but you have to think about the cost of getting your scooter to the staring line and back home. Since I don't know where you live, I am going to use the Forward Air calculator and assume that you live in the middle of the country in Oklahoma City. Shipping your scoot to San Francisco from there in the "Small" Forward Air container is $380 and I'm going to assume it's the same to ship it back from the finish line. That's $380 each way and you need to figure both ways, so that's 2*380 = $760

Food: You will need to eat. I figure if you are very careful you can eat for about $25/day. That's 12*25 = $300

Support Vehicle: You will need to kick in for the support vehicle. I don't know what you will be able to work out with whoever you hook up with, so I'm going to guess $200 for that amount.

Airplane Tickets: You will need air fair from your destination to the starting point and home again. I'm going to throw out a number of $300 including all fees and taxes.

Grand Total = 720+247.50+760+300+200+300 = $2527.50 That number does not include incidental expenditures, but it looks about right to me based on my experience.

Have I discouraged you yet? No?!? Excellent! You're our kinda guy! Proceed to the Scootercannonball.com website, sign up, introduce yourself, find somebody to room with and a support crew and start saving your pennies.

-John

[robtaylor]

i have tried four or five times now to register for the cannonball forum and everytime on 2 different computers i get an error when i submit. then if i try to submit the same user name it says there is already a user with that name but it won't let me log in.

[jrsjr]

i have tried four or five times now to register for the cannonball forum and everytime on 2 different computers i get an error when i submit. then if i try to submit the same user name it says there is already a user with that name but it won't let me log in.

Did you register there as user "robtaylor? I ask because I just logged in on ScooterCannonball.com and that is the last user to register on the site, but there is no information in the profile other than the name. If you can't log in, then you can't send the ScooterCannonball site a PM, um, so you'll need to send him an e-mail at [email protected] <[email protected]> or join ModernVespa.com and send him a PM (to oopsclunkthud) there.

Whew! Hope I'm helping you and not running you in circles. Let me know.

-John

[robtaylor]

jrsjr, i got it thanks.

[Keys]

...I probably can't help here...I've never put on more than 400 miles in a day...

--Keys

[robtaylor]

...I probably can't help here...I've never put on more than 400 miles in a day...

--Keys

i was wondering if i'd hear from you on this topic, don't you have like 12,000 miles on your buddy or something like that?

i think most of the days are 300-350 miles or from some of the previous years that what i understand.

keys how many sets of tires have you been through?

[Keys]

I have over 14,000 miles and am on my third rear tires and second front.

--Keys

[robtaylor]

How many miles on your Buddy now? Have you done any performance mods?

I'm curious to know how many people do the Cannonball on 150 or smaller scoots. I've been getting inspired to do some longer trips, especially after reading about Alix and this post on MV:
http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18688

Wow.

i've got just over a 1000 miles right now, i have made no performance mods so far.

[JNV]

I am the other guy that rode in the Cannonball with JRSJR. I just wanted to offer my tip for packing in case it is of any interest to anybody. I packed my oldest, rattiest, torn underclothes I was going to throw away anyway, and wore it once then threw it away. That way my pack got lighter as the Cannonball progressed. I ended up with 1 clean t-shirt, socks, underwear and 1 pair of clean jeans for my airplane ride home. When I knew I was going to ride in the cannonball I started saving my old clothes. That worked for me anyway.

[jrsjr]

I am the other guy that rode in the Cannonball with JRSJR. ... I just wanted to offer my tip for packing in case it is of any interest to anybody...

Hey Noe, don't forget the extra light bulbs this time. Seriously, the clothes thing is a good idea. I pretty much did the same thing. No matter how you cut it, there's just so much room to carry stuff on a scooter. This is a lot different from the first Cannonball when, ahem, certain parties who shall remain nameless, brought spare motors in the support truck.

[JNV]

That is a good point JRSJR. I almost forgot about the time across Nebraska when You helped me along for two and a half to three hours in the dark because I blew my headlight out and could not see crap. Spare bulbs would deffinetely have helped.
For anyone who is planning on the Cannonball or some other long distance trip; there will be a time when you think you are suffering the most, then afterwards it will seem hilarious when you reflect on your decisions. There will deffinitely be a time when you will consider all possible outcomes in a logical manner; but some how, you will look at the road in front of you, twist the throttle and think "I can do this". This is usually followed by "crap, I just fucked up; some one Help!!!!"
Even though the Cannonball is competitive, most of the riders are good people and will help you out.

[jrsjr]

Heh. Just razzing you a little about the headlight thing. You're absolutely right about the rest, thought. The Cannonball is no picnic, and it's definitely that mix of camaraderie and competition that will keep you going when the going gets tough.