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| Gryffin 036 arrives at IBA JAX HQ Ramada Inn Jacksonville |
A major objective was not met. Janus 50cc Quest coast-to-coast event was scrubbed due to the failure of the rectifier/voltage regulator. Even this produced valuable information on how to make the motorcycle more robust. In the long-distance riding community these kind of issues are normal. We train our motorcycles to perform in ways not anticipated by the manufacturers. The Janus team has been awesome and 110% behind the Janus IBR "Hopeful" project. What we learn from this intense field testing will make the Janus stronger, more robust. Check out the full story of the breakdown and recovery in the section below: Janus 50cc Quest.
But, first the the successes of Operation IBA Daytona.
Gryffin 036 earns its IBA stripes: I participated in the IBA Krazy Key West SaddleSore 1,000 miles in under 24 hours. All riders started at 6:45 am on Thursday, 3/12 from IBA JAX HQ at the Ramada Inn. The total distance was 1,011 miles round trip and all riders were required to take a photo of their KKW rally flag at three different "bonus" locations: The Key West Lighthouse, Southern Most Monument in Key West and the Ron Jon Surf board display in Cocoa Beach. I elected to hit the latter on the way back from Key West.I took I-95 until it intersected the SunPass Saltgrass Expressway. While on I-95 I stopped at a Rest Area to replace the LED tail light. This is the second LED tail light I have replaced since picking up the bike. It is peculiar the LED bulbs failed given their small draw of electricity. I was making good time on the Interstate and toll roads as the winds were light and variable. My moving average was well over 65 mph even with one fuel stop. That changed south of Homestead where the speed limit on US1 was a lot slower. By the time I got to Key Largo at the northern end of the FL keys the speed limits were 45mph. It's 100 miles from Key Largo to Key West. I know because years ago I covered the distance 10 times in 24 hours during the Florida Keys 1,000 Insanity.
I got to Key West at 3:45 pm, pretty much on my scheduled arrive time. I was surprised to see other riders pull up as I was taking the bonus picture of the Key West Lighthouse. They must have gone to Cocoa Beach first or lollygagged down. Next up was the photo bonus at the Southern Most Monument. Again, several riders were still there. Having bagged the two Key West bonus locations, my next objective was the Ron Jon Surf Shop bonus in Cocoa Beach.
When I got to Marathon I decided to stop for a "quick" meal at Taco Bell. I ended up spending 27 minutes there. I was second in line to order. I was expecting a 5-7 minute order/pickup process but it actually took longer to get the meal than it did to eat it. I put one of the burritos in my Klim pocket to eat later, just to save a couple more minutes. The stop and go traffic in the Florida Keys is notorious in the long-distance community as a "sucker bonus" ride because of the amount of time it takes to get from Florida City, at the end of the high speed highways, down to Key West and back to Florida City. In my case I arrived in Florida City on the way down to Key West at 1:05 pm. It was 7:30 pm by the time I made it back from the Keys. A total of 6 hours and 25 minutes to cover 250 miles!
I arrived at the Ron Jon Surf Shop bonus in Cocoa Beach at 11:37 pm to take my last required photo before heading back to IBA JAX HQ at the Ramada Inn. While at Ron Jon's I put on my electric gear. Even though the temperature in Cocoa Beach was 72F, I knew from experience it will change quickly after midnight as the ground heat dissipates. I wanted to be comfortable the last 180 miles. I arrived at the gas station next to the Ramada Inn at 2:39 am and the end of the Krazy Key West 1,000 Ride Stats: 1,011.7 GPS miles, 930 Odo miles, 19:41 total, 17:40 moving, Mvg 57.2 MPH, 1:59 stopped, Ovg 51.4 MPHRun Out of Gas 2.0 Drills: I departed home in Texas for the IBA event in Jacksonville FL on Monday, 3/9. During the 1,000 plus miles to Jacksonville I was evaluating the impact of the 43 tooth rear sprocket on cruise performance and moving average miles per hour. Also, this was the first extended use of the 3.5 gallon auxiliary fuel cell to determine range to "Reserve" on the main tank. As you can see by the averages below, there is an improvement across all data markers using the 17-43 sprocket ratio over the Janus OEM 17-47 ratio. (GPS Miles) See the full data set here: Janus Fuel Range Drills
Aux Tank: 197.1 miles for 3.5 gallons. Not evaluated using the OEM 47 tooth sprocket
Main Primary: 47 tooth = 70.8, 43 tooth = 85.2 miles
Main Reserve: 47 tooth = 33.8, 43 tooth = 42.0 miles
Main Tank: 47 tooth = 104.5, 43 tooth = 113.5 miles
Miles to Reserve: 43 tooth = 272.2 miles (47 tooth not evaluated with aux tank)
Miles Per Gallon: 47 tooth = 52.3, 43 tooth = 57.2 miles per gallon
Moving Avg MPH: 47 tooth = 55, 43 tooth = 67 miles per hour
Max MPH: 47 tooth = 68, 43 tooth = 72 miles per hour
The most significant improvements were to the cruise speed moving average and fuel range. Using the 43 tooth rear sprocket increased the sustained moving average as measured by GPS a full 7 miles per hour. Miles per gallon improved by 5 miles per gallon.
GPS Upgrade: The Garmin Dezl 580 5.0 inch GPS I installed on the motorcycle failed on the way to Jacksonville. I suspect it was the result of excessive vibration at the end of the handle bars when first installed on the bike. I had moved the mounting closer to the raisers, which reduced the vibration to near nothing, but I suspect the damage had been done. The LCD membrane ruptured resulting in a large black hole. Danny Dossman let me use his 7.0 inch Dezl 770 GPS which worked great. I am going to move my Dezl 770 from my BMW R1200GS Adventure to the Janus.
Chain Lube: I used Motul C5 chain paste at the recommendation of Kurt Worden, 3 time finisher of the Iron Butt Rally on a Kawasaki Ninja 250. Pictured here is the chain after 1,011 miles in about 20 hours. It may be hard to see in the picture but the chain and sprocket was still looked well lubed. With the no mess brush applicator on the Motul tube it takes just seconds to put a pasty film on the chain that will last all day.
Hydration System: I use a CamelBak ArmorBak Milspec 100oz hydration system. In the position I mounted the bladder pack, the hose is just a little too short to reach my mouth. I will put an extension on the hose using the CamelBak quick connect system for future rides.
Parking Lot Service: The procedure I planned for performing a service in a parking lot or at a travel center worked great. The major components of a 2,000 mile service on the Janus are to check the valve clearance, change the oil, adjust and lube the chain. Along with checking the nuts/bolts, cables, lights, brakes and anything else, this worked well for me. With practice I can get the total service time down. The EZ-Drain Nbr 109 made catching the quart of oil into an empty oil bottle easy and without any mess. I did a 2,000 mile service on Gryffin 036 Saturday morning before departing IBA JAX HQ for Jacksonville Beach for the start of the next major objective.Janus 50cc Quest: With a fresh service on the Janus I was ready for the 2,365 mile IBA 50cc Quest coast to coast ride to Mission Beach San Diego CA. After leaving the Ramada Inn I attended the annual IBR Pizza Party in Daytona beach. It was great to enjoy a meal with some of the legendary Iron Butt Rally riders.
Right on time I was out of bed, dressed and on the bike headed for the 24 hour gas station I scouted out the day before. Exactly at 4 am I paid for my cup of coffee, collected my DBR (dated business receipt showing Date/Time/City/State). Since I am an IBA Premier Member to validate my start and finish of an IBA certification ride all I need do is take a picture of the start DBR and the odometer to start the clock. And, I was off and running....
Making good time through Jacksonville proper I was on I-10 and traveling north of 63 miles an hour. My goal for the Janus is to maintain a 60 mph moving average whenever traveling on Interstates. My first fuel stop was 256.2 miles near Oakdale FL. Fueled up, oil ok and the bike looking good I continued west. I wanted to reach Kerrville TX by about 10:30 Central time for my scheduled rest stop. I was on a good pace to make that with a GPS indicated moving average of 63 miles per hour.
Somewhere around Pensacola I notice the volt meter showing less than the normal 14.5 volts. I was not running my heated jacket as the temperatures where in the mid 60s. I monitored the volt meter for several miles and watched it dip below 11.0 volts then dropping by the minute.
I pulled into a rest area to check it out. First thing was to check the battery terminals...all tight. Next, checked the stator connector to the rectifier/voltage regulator...all good. I checked the main ground connection to the frame and looked for any loose connections to either grounds or to the starter solenoid. All good.
I got in touch with Janus (Yeah, it's Sunday) for technical assistance. They called me back and we went over every possible item on this simple motorcycle to isolate the problem. Having failed to find an obvious reason, Janus recommended I kick start the engine and ride it to the nearest Walmart to replace the battery. It was reasoned that if the battery failed and a new one would resolve the issue. It the new battery did not indicate a charge, then the voltage regulator was probably the item that failed. I rode to the nearest Walmart in Daphne just across the AL border and replaced the battery. No luck, still not charging. So, I pushed on. Several miles past Mobile I switched to reserve and scanned the GPS for the next available fuel stop. I decided to pull of at Moss Point MS for fuel and at the end of the exit off I-10 the motor stopped. I could not restart it using the kick starter. The Janus has a DC CDI ignition system that requires the bare amount of voltage in the battery. I had run the battery to that threshold and the CDI read the lack of voltage as engine cutoff. I could see the Shell station just a couple hundred yards away.
It was easy pushing the Janus at under 300lbs wet. I used up all but about 3/4 of a gallon. There were two motels and a Waffle House across the street. I parked the bike, got a cold drink and sat down to assess the situation. First thing I did was to contact Danny D who, being apprised of my situation earlier had offered to come get me...again! I tried to find a local U-Haul or Enterprise van rental near Moss Point but they were all closed on Sunday. They would be a good option if I needed to spend the night in Moss Point. Danny, who was still riding home to Belton TX, called me for an update, which I gave him. He was going to return home, get his pickup and come get me and suggested I reach out to the Long-Distance riding community to see could help get me closer to Texas where Danny could take over the recovery. Belton is 6 hours from Moss Point MS.
In less than an hour after posting in the Iron Butt Motorcycle Riders Facebook group Peter Henson in New Orleans chimed in with an offer to help. He was a couple of hours away from Moss Point MS. He would pick up his son in Slidell to help with the loading.We met Danny in Iowa LA just east of Lake Charles at the Pilot Travel Center. Backed the pickups tailgate to tailgate and moved the Janues. Danny, I and the Janus drove a couple more hours to Brookshire on the far west side of Houston and stopped for the night. The next morning we had breakfast at Denny's and continued another 3 hours arriving at my home in the suburb of Wimberley, TX around 9:30am on Monday.
Thank you Peter and his son for the help in this recovery operation. As for Danny C. Dossman, I am eternally grateful for rescuing me a second time. I am humbled by the extent members of the long-distance riding community have helped me. It is exciting to see the passion LD riders have for our sport when the riding is going great and when it is not. Thank You!
Problem identified and solved. This is the positive lead from the voltage regulator to the starter relay. It is responsible for bringing 12v current from the voltage regulator to the secondary electrical system of the bike, which keeps the batter charged. As you can see it chafed against a hard spot on the frame and grounded out the 12v flow. I have since replaced the wire with a longer piece, wrapped it in heat shrink cover and secured its route to the starter solenoid.
