Greg Rice - Travel_Man

Motorcycle Endurance and Rally Rider

Lets Ride

Welcome to my website. I am always making updates so keep checking back. I keep finding photos and remember things that I want to put here.  My website is mostly about my motorcycle experiences over the years. I am involved in long distance endurance riding and competing in endurance rally's across America. I have also traveled by motorcycle all over the USA and enjoy visiting new places when ever I can. You can view my "About Me" webpage to find out my professional and personal life.

I have been riding motorcycles since the early 1970's and also rode with my father who was a Shriner and road HD Electra Glides. My first motorcycle was a Honda 500 Four. It was a hell of a motorcycle. I also owned a couple Triumph's back then that were not very good. I started riding long distance on a Kawasaki KZ 650 when it was first introduced in 1976. It was a great motorcycle for its time. I bought one when they first came out in 1976 and rode it all over America. I used to ride from the Great Lakes Naval Base to Miami non-stop to visit family. Of course the reason I rode non-stop was out of necessity as I could not afford motels back then on an enlisted man's salary.

I got more serious into riding when I moved to Japan. I think that is when I really learned to ride motorcycles. I started riding dirt bikes along with high performance sport motorcycles like the Kawasaki Ninja and the Honda VFR. I had a couple 250 CC dirt bikes that were really fun to ride both in the dirt and on mountains roads. I learned to be more confident on the street after riding dirt bikes by becoming comfortable when the tires slide and how to crash. I used to tell people I drag my elbows not my knees on dirt bikes.

One the best motorcycles I owned while living in Japan was the Honda 750F Integra ( Above ). It looked a little like the Honda CBX as the fairing was very similar.

Currently I enjoy long distance endurance motorcycle riding and also competing in motorcycle endurance rally's. I have completed over 24 Iron Butt Association ( IBA ) certified rides including 2 BBG Trifecta's. The BBG Trifecta is 3 BBG's back to back to back. A BBG is 1500+ miles in less than 24 hours. I am the only person who has completed 2 certified BBG Trifecta's in the world. Worldwide only 10 other riders have been able to complete this ride.

Other IBA rides I have completed include 10 BBG's, 10n10th ( 10,000 miles in 10 days ), SS5000 ( 5000 miles in 5 days ), 3 100CCC's ( Jacksonville Beach to San Diego and back in less than 100 hours ), 50CC THW ( New York ( Coney Island ) to San Francisco ( 45 hours ) ), B2B ( 1650 miles in 22 hours ) and a SS2000.

I have competed in multiple rally's that include several multi day rally's. I finished 37th in the 2009 Iron Butt Rally and 9th in the 2010 IB5000. I have ridden in the Cape Fear Rally 5 times and finished in the top 10 4 times and first in 2012.

I have a lot of farkles ( accessories ) on my motorcycle. One of them is a satellite tracking device called SPOT that I use in all of the events I participate in. Currently I am the top tracked SPOT user in the world on Spotwalla.com. Spotwalla was built by Jason Jonas and it allows family, friends and event organizers to track my progress and provide a level of comfort with the emergency capabilities built into SPOT. Spotwalla.com  is the best tracking website on the internet.

In 2005 I became one of the first riders to use a tracking device. I started using real time tracking with a cell phone based service called Accutacking. That service allowed me to have a webpage with a map that showed my location over a 48 hour period. It was a good way to get into real time tracking.

I started riding Honda Gold Wing's in 2003 and I have owned 6 Gold Wing's since then ( 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and now a 2012 ). My 2012 is well equipped to ride LD endurance rides and to compete at high levels in endurance rally's.

I have ridden over 380,000 miles on Wing's over the years and I have never had a problem. The wing is a very reliable motorcycle and that is one of the reasons I choose to ride a Gold Wing. I am never worried when I hit the road if I am going to make it back because the Gold Wing is so reliable.

 

 

I love to help other riders get involved in endurance and rallying riding and help grow the sport. Some of the ways I help is to answer questions on forums that riders have. Other ways include creating webpages of information showing how I added accessories to my motorcycle, webpages with weather information ( link for one of the weather webpages ) for different IBA rides and events and also files with lists of gas stations along a specific route. I also have provided list and information about states DOT websites and how to use them when planning a ride. All of this information helps make the rider safer out on the road and to be successful on the ride.

 

I also hold events that allow riders to attempt IBA rides with me. One of them is called BBG Weekend. This helps riders who want to attempt a IBA ride but do not want to do it alone.

 

 

I think we all should try and give back to the community when we can and some of the things I have done over the years to give back include:

  • Sponsored motorcycle racers with cash and gear

  • Provided new helmets to the local MSF course to teach new motorcycle riders

  • Former AMA Field Rep

  • MSF Instructor at Florida Keys Community College

  • Motorcycle Tourer's Forum ( MTF ) Associate Director - Long Distance Committee

  • Created webpages to help others with understanding how to install accessories or to provide information that is helpful in planning rides

  • Donated 1000’s of dollars’ worth of new gear to rider organizations

  • MTF Gold Member for helping and giving back to the community for many years

  • Answering questions to fellow riders on motorcycle related online forums

  • Holding events to assist others to get into endurance riding

  • Writing ride reports to help others understand how I do some of the rides

 

Please look around and if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

 

What's Next

I am scheduled to ride in Ed's Last Resort Rally in May 2012.

In June during BBG Weekend I plan to attempt a third BBG Trifecta.

IBA InterNational Meet in August. I will be teaching a seminar for Extreme LD Rides.

Just Completed

I just competed in the 2012 Cape Fear 1000 Rally and took first place for the Arcadia starters.