Team PEMEX !!!! Andrew any pics of the 690 coming together???? You will have a blast riding that bike in BAJA !!
Andrew? Who's Andrew The bike has been Microsquirted and I picked up 7 hp at the rear wheel and reliability (I hope). I rode it last week and it's a screamer, the rev limiter comes up pretty quick
Double A ron Where are the details? entry fees ? milage needs? this nevada boy may go south if KOTW dont happen again Think a 690 woith 7 gallons is enough ? GPS or road book? Road book like dakar or like score? thanks bob
I rode the vintage class in 2011 also...on a 1984 XL500... Which lost a head gasket at about mile 20 on day 1... if not for the good fortune of being found by some folks who were on their way to pick up a dead buggy, I might still be waiting to be found.... If you're going with the expectation of a well organized event...you'll be disappointed. I though the whole mess as very poorly managed and for the $1200.00 entry fee and $600.00 Mag 7 fee, it was not a good return on my money...
After the stellar reveiws for Mag7 pits, and you being family and all, do you have an idea if you are going to persue this endevour? I would be in for a Stage 1 and I'm pretty sure my buddy is coming with me to do the event as well. So you have @ least 2 solid members for your team, if you want to call it that.This will save my wife from the hassle of doing pits for me, as I really dont want her traveling alone in unfamiler territiory. I would rather get support from a veteran Baja participant, and just fly her into Cabo to relax for a few days at the event end. Thanks for any info. Assfault
Roadbook is like Dakar, 6" wide. You need a roadbook holder like one of these: http://www.rallymanagementservices.com/collections/universal Every year NORRA talks about some form of bonus for roadbook only users, or disadvantage to GPS users, but they have not implemented anything yet. They are talking again about it for 2013, but so far I haven't seen them commit to anything. Here's what the roadbook looked like from the starting line in Mexicali:
When you ride or race in Baja, you HAVE to be completely self reliant, to do otherwise is foolish at best. Half of racing in Baja is the logistical battle including pitting, chasing, hotels, transport, and personnel. A $1200 dollar entry fee is nothing, a $600 Mag-7 pit fee is so cheep one should expect little in return. Too bad this all comes too late for many "Bucket Listers" and "Dust to Glory-ites". I might sound a little harsh, but I've been doing this for over 40 years and have seen prolly more failures with attempting to race in Baja than successful efforts, especially since Dust to Glory came out.
It sounds to me you were ill prepared. Running a vintage bike event like that you must be prepared for anything at all times It is not up to the organization to locate you when you break down. That's why you should have support along with you if you were trying to go down there and do this by yourself alone you're asking for trouble. Did you have a satellite phone on you for emergencies were you using a spot tracker? What did you have designed for emergencies in case you broke down? I have raced the score events for last 25 years And I feel this NORRA event was well-run
I'm getting quotes on shipping containers from our 3 warehouse locations this week. Sandy wiped us out last week- we are getting back into shape. HERE ARE THE SHIP POINTS 1. L.A 2. Rochester, New Hampshire 3. Austin, TEXAS Once I get some #'s I can then get you guys an idea of what it's going to look like in terms of costs to get a bike to CALEXICO. Stay tuned......
I agree, self reliant is a must (undeniable). $600 to mag 7 for a "SCORE baja 1000" would be very "cheap," but for a NORRA type race, I don't think it is - there's no comparison logistics wise, or entry wise. Relying on your paid support (Mag7 in this case) shouldn't be foolish at all. I've been a CHECKER for approx 10 years, so I know a thing or two about organizing pits, communicating with race teams, and relying on pits for support when racing. I've never "dropped the ball" when transporting fuel for a racecar/truck out to a pit, and neither has any of my club members - so I've never expected little in return. If a "pit club" is going to offer pit support to racers (and charge them for it), then they better be able to back it up. Being on a vintage CR500, I made the mistake (foolishy) of paying and relying on Mag7 to deliver pump gas to 6 pits (over 3 days). It's a pretty simple task actually, why would I expect anything else? But you say I should have "expected little?" HAHAHHA!!! Geez, I would have gladly paid double to "expect a little more than nothing." Or even triple to "expect something above average." HAHAHAHA! But whatever, $hit happens, right? Lesson learned. Hopefully some of you can learn from my mistake as well.
Mag 7 was not good !!! at the NORRA Race this year. Twice they were Set up in the wrong place.(day 1 and day 4) one time on day 3 they did not make it to the pit location at all most racers made it ,some with help from other racers. Live and learn ............................
Come on man, if what you say about being a Checker for the last 10 years is correct, you should know better. Thinking that race gas melted your motor is wrong. High octane race fuel burns cooler and slower than pump gas. It is intended for high compression engines to prevent pre-ignition. Pump gas could cause problems with a high compression engine set up to run race fuel (and possibly even melt it down if you are stupid enough to push it that hard) but race fuel in a standard compression engine is simply a waste of money and does NO harm. I'm betting what really happened is you guys partied with Larkin the night before and you forgot to put the oil in the gas. If you are not a bike Checker then you were partying the night before with Tony Tellier and Kras . How could putting people out in the desert supporting NORRA be cheaper than supporting SCORE???? So yeah Checkers MC or Checkers Offroad?
When I saw they had bad pit coordinates on their website, I told them they were wrong, twice. http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/sh...port-details?p=1404304&viewfull=1#post1404304
HAHAHAHA!!! Well... I don't know better! that's why I'm a CHECKER! Yeah, I was drunk with Kras... the night before (and Bowers too - lol) - but that was just a lucky guess on your part, and had no relation to the DNF i recieved. Didn't see Larkin, or TT, but I've been known to be drunk with those 2 cats as well. Come to think of it, I'm a better partier than a desert racer! HAHAHA!! oh, and it's Checkers Offroad by the way - what else is there? Who the fu@k knows what they put in my bike, maybe it was some kerosene from their lantern. I wasn't on the bike at the time, and it really wasn't the point of my bitch. Just giving the heads up to anyone looking for "support" to maybe look elsewhere. Now look what you've done, I'm actually debating dumb stuff over the internet. haha!
Cmon man, do I really need to answer this? But since you asked, I'll try to help you understand... "Putting people out in the desert" sounds so simple, but it wasn't really what I was talking about. a point to point B1k is a much more difficult race to pit than a NORRA ralley. Usually, a longer more difficult offroad race (like a B1K) equals a higher "pit fee." right? More entries (B1K) would probably mean more vehicles in your pit, meaning more supplies to haul, and more people to help run the pit, and usually more pit locations. Pit locations would be much more difficult to get to as well - The more difficult the pit location better actually (and MORE EXPENSIVE). Co-Co's corner isn't really considered a good place to set-up, as chase teams can usually access those areas pretty quickly. Right? This is kinda what I was getting at.
