The TeamStrange Uniform Rules apply except as below.
Butt Lite X Supplemental Rules
Effective August 1, 2019 / Updated April 21, 2020
These rules are promulgated by the Butt Lite X rallymasters and are an official variance from and addendum to the TeamStrange Uniform Rules pursuant to Uniform Rule V.1.
Butt Lite helmet usage rule
IT IS MANDATORY THAT YOU WEAR A DOT-COMPLIANT HELMET ANY TIME YOU ARE ON A MOTORCYCLE AT THE START/FINISH OR CHECKPOINT OR DURING THE RALLY!!!!
Insurance and Registration
– Motorcycle must be currently registered and have a valid motorcycle license plate in place. Proof of registration will be required.
– Motorcycle must be insured. Butt Lite riders must carry liability coverage of at least $250,000 per person/$500,000 per accident or $300,000 Combined Single Limit (CSL) (U.S.) Butt Lite riders must present proof of insurance and liability limits, in the form of an original Proof of Insurance Card from your insurance company or the Declarations Sheet of the policy itself.
– Butt Lite riders will also be required to carry Medjet or equivalent medical evacuation coverage and proof thereof. Because there may be bonuses in Canada, you must have a Medjet or equivalent policy that covers Canada.
– Rider must hold a valid driver’s license, with motorcycle endorsement, valid for the duration of the rally.
Proof of registration is an official government document or copy thereof demonstrating that the motorcycle is legally registered for use on public roads, valid for the duration of the rally. The VIN and license number on the registration document must match the VIN and license number on the motorcycle.
Proof of insurance is an original Proof of Insurance Card from your insurance company or the Declarations Sheet of the policy itself showing that the rider (and passenger if any) has liability coverage for the motorcycle being ridden in the rally, with limits equal to or greater than those required for the rally, with coverage for the duration of the rally. The VIN on the proof of insurance must match the VIN on the motorcycle.
Note – an insurance card showing only compliance with minimum state limits and NOT showing the dollar amount of the policy limits is NOT acceptable proof of insurance.
Proof of Medjet or equivalent coverage is an ID card or other policy document(s) showing that the rider (and passenger if any) is covered and showing that the coverage period includes the duration of the rally.
Medical evacuation coverage means a service that, in the event of hospitalization due to injury or illness, will provide transportation of the rider to a hospital of choice via medically-dedicated air transport if necessary. A service that only provides transportation via commercial air carrier is not sufficient. Medjet’s service has been reviewed by TeamStrange and determined to meet this requirement; any other coverage must be reviewed by the rallymasters in advance of registration, and the burden of obtaining review in advance of registration rests on the rider. GoodSam coverage has been determined not to be sufficient for this requirement.
The duration of the rally, for purposes of this section, is from the time you arrive at the rally start point for registration, until you leave the rally finish point after the finishers banquet. This means from the time you arrive on September 7 or 8, 2020, until you leave on September 15 or 16, 2020.
Motorcycle Exhaust Requirements
Non-stock, aftermarket or modified exhaust, or any exhaust that is too loud to the rallymasters’ ears, shall be subject to testing. The SAE J2825 Sound Test Procedure shall be used. A sound meter will be held at a 45 degree angle, 20 inches from the exhaust pipe. A motorcycle that exceeds 92 dBA at idle fails. A motorcycle that passes the idle test may be subjected to a high-rpm test: at 5000 rpm for a 3 or 4 cylinder motorcycle, at 2000 rpm for any other. A motorcycle that exceeds 96 dBA at the 2000 rpm test, or 100 dBA at the 5000 rpm test, fails.
SPOT & Tracking Devices
There is no requirement that you use a tracking device. There will be a points benefit if you use a tracking device.
If you do choose to use a tracking device, we require that the identifiable tracking data not be publicly accessible – your tracking information must be private to your family etc. and to the rallymasters.
If you use a tracking device, we will ask you to connect your device to a tracking page at Spotwalla.com. We expect that there will be a private page for the rallymasters and an anonymized public page for the public. You may choose to participate in the public page or not.
You may use SPOT, BubblerGPS, or other devices. If you’re using a device other than SPOT we recommend that you contact us ahead of time so we can work out any bugs.
Social Media Policy
Riders must not post anything in any way related to the rally on any social media from the start of the riders meeting until the end of the finishers banquet. As tempting as it may be to Instagram, Tweet & Facebook your way through the rally – Don’t. Period. Let friends, family, followers, & fans know that you will be “off the grid” for the duration of the rally. This also includes posting on discussion boards & group mailing lists. This includes posting about yourself, about other riders, about where you are, about the weather where you are, anything. This includes commenting on other people’s posts, Liking posts, retweeting posts, or any visible social media interaction. Why, you ask? Simple – it is distracting & sucks up your very precious time. If your wheels aren’t turning there are only a handful of valid reasons why – you are bagging a bonus, getting gas or sleeping. There are many other reasons but we’ll just keep it simple. Don’t do it. As we did in previous Butt Lites, Butt Lite X will have a blog site set up. Rally staff will post updates throughout the rally to keep anyone who is interested up-to-date on all the fun stuff. If we catch you posting anything – even Liking some random person’s un-rally-related post – we will assume it to be a violation of this policy unless you can convince us otherwise.
We will be watching & if we see it, you will be sad.
Butt Lite X Digital Camera Rules
These rules will be in effect in Butt Lite X for digital camera usage and are an official variance from TeamStrange Uniform Rules 10.B, 11.A, 11.C, 11.D and 11.G:
1) Digital cameras are permitted.
2) Digital photos will be accepted in any resolution. Scorers will be instructed not to zoom in or magnify photos or alter contrast or brightness to look for lighthouses or other objects not discernible at normal laptop screen resolution. Scorers may be using laptops as small as 10”, so govern yourself accordingly.
3) Riders may submit as many rally-related photos as needed to claim bonuses. Non-rally-related photos will be penalized and not considered (unless they’re amusing or embarrassing in which case we reserve the right to use them as we see fit). Among the photos that will be considered rally-related are: photos of the area around a bonus that clarify the location or that it is daylight; photos of your GPS or clock showing the time and location at a bonus; photos of required receipts; photos of rally entrants or their motorcycles taken by rally staff for testing purposes; photos of the inside of your tank bag or the ground near a bonus.
4) Only SD or SDHC memory cards are permitted. SDXC cards are not permitted. Mini and micro cards of any ilk are not permitted, not even in adapters. CompactFlash (CF), SmartMedia, xD, Memory Stick (MS), MultiMedia (MMC) are not permitted.
5) “Do I get my camera memory card back?” No. As Uniform Rule 11H says, “Camera storage cards submitted are treated the same as any other photos submitted on the rally and become the property of TeamStrange.” Just as in the Polaroid days, we keep the memory cards in the TeamStrange Archives, along with all the rally paperwork and refrigerator magnets and packages of SPAM that riders turned in, deep in an abandoned salt mine in an undisclosed secret location.
However, we do intend to return your bonus photos back to you on a flash drive at the end of the rally. So you should not need to copy photos you want as keepsakes from your camera card.
6) You will need at least 2 memory cards, for leg 1 and leg 2. Spare cards are a good idea. You may submit as many memory cards as you need at scoring – there is no penalty for swapping cards.
Sidecars / Trikes / Autocycles
Sidecars and trikes are permitted. Autocycles may be permitted at the rallymasters’ discretion.
Butt Lite Fuel System Rules
– TeamStrange considers both nominal and actual capacity. Actual is, well, actual measured capacity. Nominal is, if the manufacturer says your main tank holds 7.6 gallons and you add one of those Summit 4-gallon aluminum cells, that adds up to 11.6 and it’s not legal. Even though you’ve never been able to get more than 7.4 gallons in your main and “we all know” those 4 gallon cells don’t hold 4 gallons.
– If it’s connected to the fuel system, we count it. If you put 30 feet of 1/2” fuel line on your bike, we count it (and get annoyed that we have to remember the formula for volume of a tube).
– For something like a puke tank or a non-permanent capacity-reducing modification, we would start from the position that if the actual or nominal total capacity is more than 11.5 gallons, it’s not legal. Unlike baseball, ties go against the rider. It would be up to you to convince us that it would not merely be “extremely difficult and oppressively time consuming to fill”, it would be essentially impossible to do or that it would actually be a hindrance to do so under rally conditions and could not possibly provide any unfair advantage.
If you have an unusual fuel system such as an expanded main tank or a non-stock custom fuel cell, your best bet would be contact rally staff at (teamstrange at davidebsmith dot com), so we can discuss this ahead of time.
Neither anti-slosh foam nor anti-slosh baffles are required for Butt Lite, nor are they forbidden.
TeamStrange may measure the capacity of the fuel system on any entered motorcycle at its discretion by any technique it deems appropriate. The decision of the rallymasters, even if arbitrary and capricious, is final.
Motorcycles are limited to 11.5 gallons of fuel. Autocycles are limited to 11.5 gallons of fuel. Sidecars and trikes may carry 15.5 gallons of fuel.
IBR No Draw Clarification
The top ten finishers in Butt Lite X will be eligible for no-draw spots in the 2021 Iron Butt Rally. Whether you meet any qualifications for the IBR is up to the IBR. If you are a top-ten finisher in Butt Lite X and already have a spot in the IBR, bully for you. Unneeded no-draw spots do not pass down to Butt Lite finishers below #10.
However, the first place finisher in Butt Lite X gets his or her IBR entry fee paid by TeamStrange, whether he or she already had a spot in the IBR or gets in via the Butt Lite top ten no-draw entry. Strong motivation for those riders already in for 2021.
Outside Help Policy
“Outside” Help: You are not allowed to receive assistance as it relates to planning or executing your route – from anyone outside the rally. No phoning a friend to Google something for you. No riding with folks from outside the rally. You are welcome to ride with any other rider who is in the rally, but every rider in the rally must do everything required for every bonus they claim for themselves. For example, if you ride with another rider to the Mother Cabrini Shrine, both riders must climb all 273 steps to the top to obtain the bonus for themselves – you can’t send one rider to the top with both rally flags to get two photos while the second rider naps in the parking lot.
If we find out you received outside help while planning or executing your route, you will be sad.
We aren’t emotional about riders on the rally riding together or working together on routing. There are no special requirements or rules for teams of riders working together.
Mechanical issues:
- During the rally, if in doubt or in trouble, call the Staff Van. If you can’t find or get to a bonus, if you don’t understand what you’re supposed to do, if you have a question about a rule, better to call us and get the right answer, than to guess and get the wrong answer.2. If you have mechanical issues, you can get outside help to get them fixed, but you must be present while your bike is being repaired. If that help includes towing, once the repairs are made, you must go back to the spot you were picked up and resume the rally from there (and document it with a receipt or a photo of a mile marker or something). You can’t break down, get towed 200 miles while you nap, nap some more while the mechanics fix your bike, and then continue from where you are. This is Rule I.12, by the way. This would also be a good time to call the Staff Van so we know what’s going on with your SPOT track.
Tire Pressure Monitoring
TPMS is not required for Butt Lite no matter what kind of goofy tires you ride.
However, TPMS is a very good idea for a multi-day rally, considering there may be long periods of riding resulting in elevated tire temperatures combined with less-than-attentive pressure maintenance. What could happen if you have a tire issue? Let’s go back to Fargo in Butt Lite II – would you like to try to ride this one out?
Butt Lite X Waypoints – Format
Riders will receive the bonus waypoints in at least .gdb, .gpx and .txt formats. Riders will also receive the rally book in PDF format. Waypoint files may be distributed via email, be downloadable, or on a USB flash drive.
Riders will be expected to provide rally staff with an email address that is functional and capable of receiving emails containing the waypoint information. Butt Lite cannot be responsible for any delays in email propagation, slow WiFi at Rally Headquarters, or bounced messages due to full mailboxes or overly-vigorous anti-spam filters.
Communications and Call-in Bonuses
There may or may not be call-in bonuses on Butt Lite. Whether or not there are, we expect that you will carry a cellular phone capable at minimum of placing and receiving calls in the United States and that you will provide us with that number at registration. The ability to send and receive text messages would be helpful as well, and having service in Canada would be a good idea too.
Giant Bats & Canada
There may be at least one giant bat.
There may be bonuses in Canada. Govern yourself accordingly.
Riders must bring a flashlight capable of illuminating the sculpture at the peak of the Ames Monument.
Butt Lite X – Registration and Tech Inspection Procedures
To fill in riders on what you should expect at the start of Butt Lite X:
Registration, tech inspection and odometer checks will be at conducted at Rally Headquarters. If you can’t find us when you get there, well, navigating around the country will pose an interesting challenge for you . . .
IT IS MANDATORY THAT YOU WEAR A DOT-COMPLIANT HELMET ANY TIME YOU ARE ON A MOTORCYCLE AT THE START/FINISH OR CHECKPOINT OR DURING THE RALLY!!!!
- Registration and check-in
- Fill out an information sheet
- Provide emergency contact info
- Sign more releases (we love releases)
- Have paperwork gathered together in readiness for tech inspection
- Get bag of swag
- Be directed where to go for tech and odo check
- Tech inspection. Show up at the designated location in the parking lot on your motorcycle with your rally paperwork and all required documents and wearing your helmet. We will look for (refer further to Team Strange Uniform Rules):
- Driver’s license with motorcycle endorsement valid through the end of the rally
- License plate valid through the end of the rally
- Vehicle registration valid through the end of the rally that matches the plate to the motorcycle VIN
- Proof of liability insurance with required limits ($250,000 per person/$500,000 per accident or $300,000 Combined Single Limit (CSL)) valid through the end of the rally on the motorcycle you are riding as shown by the VIN
- Proof of MedJet or equivalent evacuation coverage valid through the end of the rally
- Helmet is DOT-compliant
- If non-original exhaust system, meets noise requirements (SAE J2825)If you have auxiliary fuel we will look at these items for compliance with Uniform Rules:
- Total capacity
- Secure construction and mounting
- Proper venting
- Proper wiring if any
Note that tech inspection is NOT a safety inspection. It is your responsibility to ensure that your motorcycle is in proper working order and ready to ride in the rally.
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- Odometer check (if any)You will be directed to the starting location and times for odo checks. Most likely they will be run every two hours. We prefer that you do the odo check after tech inspection but if there’s a line at tech inspection, it may work out for you to do the odo check first. Ensure that you have fuel and are wearing a helmet. Follow the specific directions for the odo check precisely.
TeamStrange Uniform Rules apply unless we specifically say they don’t.
IT IS MANDATORY THAT YOU WEAR A DOT-COMPLIANT HELMET ANY TIME YOU ARE ON A MOTORCYCLE AT THE START/FINISH OR CHECKPOINT OR DURING THE RALLY!!!!
These rules may be downloaded in PDF format here: Butt Lite X supplemental rules.
Butt Lite - Fini 