Good morning! 12 days to go to the WC Baja!
Cant wait to do some nice desert racing. If we can get into the dunes at Oranjemund it will be awesome, holding thumbs.
Since my last post quite a bit has happened, I got my suspencion sorted on th eHusky FX450, raced that bike for the first time, started sorting out my Amageza bike for the Baja, and o yes, bought a KTM RFR.
I took the bike to Bill the Bong ( off road bike zen master) to help me with the setup, it is a lot easier when somebody watch from the side what the bike is doing. The AER fork is tricky to set up, as you have infinite setiing on the "spring rate". We got a usefull article the americans did on an MX bike, so we used their setiings as a base and worked from there. after a few corners, drop off`s and whoops we got the front and rear to work together. The bike has no surpises and with the traction control on you wont beleive the drive you get out of corners.
The first race for me af the season was the Hopetown 150, very well organised race with a nice well marked route, maybe not as technical but fun. Some high speed sections around the pivots. The race went OK, i got a 3rd place in OR1, but that was only because 2 of the favourites dnf`d. My firness training is tarting to pay dividends, my heart rate never maxed out and i was feeling great after the race. Thanks MFitness!
With only 2 weekends left for prep for the Baja I really needed to start this past weekend. First I had to finnish the jungle gym I started building in Decemeber 2015! Got that finished, so now I have full permission to race. I previously removed all my nav equipment from my Amageza bike, as was planning to sell the bike without it. The plan was to race with Chrissman`s RFR but after further inspection they found more damage, which required more parts etc. so now the bike will not be finished in time for the Baja. Luckily I was dragging my feet getting my "baster rally bike" raedy for sale, so now I have a bike to race with. So I had to fit al the nav gear again. Took it for a quick test Saturday evening, joined by Noco and Mark Kapnoudhis, the guy that crashed and broke his pelvis on the last day of Amageza 2016. Glad to treport he is back on the bike and planning his Amageza 2017 assault! I only need to fit the ICO pickup cable and GPS bracket (managed to brake a bolt during the race, had to cable tie it each morning to the handle bars) then the bike would be sorted for the race.
Did I mention that I bought a RFR? well i bought Walter Terblanche`s Dakar bike. At the time the bike was still on the ship en route to Europe. Currently it is with Bart van de Velden, servicing th bike and getting it race ready again. Unfortunately the bike will not be here in time for the Baja. Our deal included the import and all the paperwork, which made it very attractive for me.
This gives me another option regarding a bike for Dakar 2018: The options are to do what Joey did, buy a new RFR in Europe and getting it prepper over there, and depending on my finance shipping it back to SA after the race or selling it. Second option is to rent a bike for the race. THird option is to practice with the biek I bought for the year, and ship it to Bart to do a complete rebuild / service / prep and do the race on my bike. That decision dont need to be made now, so I just want to get the bike over here and start riding it!
I see the entry list for the Baja is growing, great stuff! get that last minute entries in!
I need some help with my sponsorship proposal, my efforts up to date will only get me pitty, not funding! Any one with contacts or that know of some one that can do this for me would be great. I need something professional, and I beleive all the money i spend on it will be a sollid investment.
Thanks for reading, any suggestions on what you guys want to know or see, please let me know. Yes I know you need pictures!
Topic: Willem du Toit Dakar 2018 (Read 17724 times)
