FRANS RIDES OVER 1600KM. IN ONE DAY. ON A SCOOTER!
Frans Van Der Merwe went for a ride last year. He ticked up 1,674km; in one day; on a scooter! I reckon that is an incredible achievement! And you can see the recognition of that achievement in the photo at the bottom of the page here.As you might have guessed, Frans is a member of the Iron Butt Association of America, and his ride was part of a world-wide challenge, the International Scooter 1000 Insanity. The challenge being to do 1,000 miles (1,600km) in 24 hours, on a scooter of no more than 300cc capacity. Now, Frans wasn’t entirely new to this long-distance stuff, having completed a ride of 8,466km in the space of 120 hours, on a Honda Goldwing. Just a quick dash from a beach in Sydney across to another beach at Fremantle, on the opposite side of Australia, and back again. Yes, in 120 hours!But this was different. Yes, it was a much shorter distance, but had to be done in just a day – and on a mid-size scooter. But he thought it would be fun, so decided to do it. Then, in what we might call a flash of sanity, he decided he wouldn't. But then, over a few bears and a barbecue, he decided he’d take it on.One small problem was that he didn’t have a scooter. But that was soon sorted, with the purchase of a Kymco Downtown 300 scooter. (Which has a capacity of 298cc). You might think that the title of “Insanity” is very appropriate, but it shows just what can be done on a scooter – provided you have an “iron” butt, I suppose! Anyway, click the link below to go to the story. It’s a great story with interesting photos along the way. 
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