Just sent to Mike Pearlman at NORRA, and maybe handy for a few of the noobs: Hi Mike, Per your voicemail question, the NORRA roadbooks are 6 inches wide. This is the standard FIA/FIM format used in all cross-country rallies. All bikes and single-seat cars who use the roadbook will need some type of roadbook holder. There are several manual and motorized versions available here: http://www.rallymanagementservices.com/collections/universal In 2-seater cars, the co-driver (navigator) holds the paper roadbook and flips the pages by hand. In addition to the roadbook holder, a proper odometer is needed. By far the most common used on rally bikes worldwide is the ICO Rallye VR Light, seen at the above link. Though itÂ’s possible to use a stock bike odometer (in miles for NORRA), one feature that is extremely useful is the ability to adjust/correct the mileage up/ down and reset via easy access handlebar button controls. The ICO unit supports this feature. A sample of the 2012 NORRA roadbook can be seen here (I would expect the 2013 NORRA roadbook will look like this): http://www.hogwildracing.com/baja/mexican1000/2012/RoadbookSampleA200.jpg The full 2011 Day-3 NORRA roadbook can be seen here: http://www.hogwildracing.com/baja/mexican1000/2011/MotoRoadbookDay3-2011Mexican1000.pdf For those who are new to roadbook navigation, I would highly recommend attending a navigation school by Jimmy Lewis (for bikes) or Darren Skilton (for cars). http://jimmylewisoffroad.com dskilton@bajaautomotive.com A great place to learn and ask questions related to this are the ongoing threads at ADV: NORRA 2013: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=832337 Rallye navigation brackets: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=684282 Please forward this email to anyone who has questions. Scott Whitney
Does anyone know if the ICO odometer measures more accurately than to the tenth? The stock odo wasn't really accurate for exact navigation last year without slowing down and taking it easy... Any other alternatives y'all like?
You can set the ICO to display in tenths or hundredths. To toggle between one and the other, press and hold the bottom buttons on both the main unit and the handlebar control at the same time. Many of the mileages I was given by NORRA for inclusion in the roadbook were only given in tenths, so the extra digit didn't help in those sections (where the last digit in the roadbook was always the same). But in all places where I determined the mileage myself, I provided it to the hundredth in the roadbook. Most of the time that's not so important, but sometimes it can make a big difference. Keep in mind you'll often be off by a couple of hundredths at a waypoint just due to your zig-zag riding compared to my zag-zig measurement. A hundredth of a mile is only 52.80 ft, so they tick by pretty fast when you're at speed! It's quite important to get your odometer calibrated so it matches what the roadbook indicates. If on the first day of the race your odometer is always too high or always too low at each waypoint, you should recalibrate it to match better. I check the calibration on my ICO by displaying speed on it, then riding fast and comparing the ICO speed to my GPS indicated speed. If you get those to match, you should be pretty close to the roadbook mileages. Your calibration will change a bit as your front tire wears. When using an ICO, it's helpful to adjust the indicated mileage to match what's in the roadbook at each waypoint or every couple of waypoints so it doesn't drift off too much and confuse you. The handlebar controls on the ICO make that easy to do without slowing down or taking one hand off the grip. This is a big reason why an ICO or similar unit is so much better for rally than most stock odometers.
Yeah, I think 5 hundredths would have been enough more accuracy to be useful. After my GPS fell off and broke, I reset the odo (if necessary) at every single check point. It required some patience, since I had to reach into the dash, but I couldn't afford to be wrong with the GPS missing. Stock ktm odo was quite accurate though. Would love to see a printed roll chart this year instead of taped! Hope you can convince 'em to get the printer for that or what not. Thanks again
I'm "building" a printer to do that, but it may not be done in time for this race. Last year NORRA was supposed to print and bind the car roadbooks, and print the moto roadbooks in sheets without the binding. But somehow it didn't workout that way. And they didn't get the route planning and preruning done until the last minute, so I had to work some crazy hours at the end to get them done in time. They seem to be on the same schedule this year, as I haven't heard a word about me helping again, or not. Hopefully they've fired me. BTW, the first Diabolical Rally prerun will probably be in January. If it goes well, I may fire myself from M1K! One of the stages in that crazy deal is 200 miles long, with only 10 navigation points. It's almost all HP (no roads or trails, just ride across the wide open desert, for mile after mile). Bring your compass, . . . or a casket!
Nope, the Grand Rally is my other project, which can never be a real race due to the location. The whole idea of the Diabolical Rally is for it to be a real marathon rally race. The navigation and terrain in the Mexican 1000 are fairly easy, in order to be attractive to the vintage vehicles, vintage drivers, and rally newcomers. That was frustrating me, especially the GPS option, so I started looking into possible new harder sections for the Mexican 1000. The more I got into it, the more I realised we needed a whole new event. The Diabolical goes in the opposite direction as the Mexican 1000, i.e. it's super tough navigation and terrain (currently looks like 7 stages, 1400 miles). My hope is that I can get NORRA onboard with it. If not, I'll find another promoter to pick it up. But first I have to go prerun some of it to see if it's even possible.
The last ICO I bought has a serious glitch in it (locks up while pushing the buttons), and ICO refused to replace it. ADV inmate Schattat builds and sells this: http://www.rallyenavigationsolutions.com/tripmaster_xl.html Those who have them seem to like them. The next time I need to buy an odometer, this is the one I'll get.
I am thinking of going the same route for my next odo. Last year in the M1K on stage 1 the screws that hold the backing plate in my ICO fell out (screws installed by the factory, not by me). I quickly duct taped it together and continued. Problem is the bouncing around cracked the seal on the cover and now if I ride in the rain (which seems to happen all to often in the northeast) I get moisture inside it. Hasn't killed it but makes it nearly impossible to read. So, thinking of going with Schatt's odo next time. Hopefully RMS will start being a US distributor for those (Dave, looking in your direction! )
can he do a spliter so we can run two off one pick up? or run the OEM unit and a RNS unit of one pick up ??? That is what I am looking for!!!!!
