Spanking the Cow- The continuing saga of an R100GSPD at the Races

I'm in for supporting Jason in anyway I can, sign me up for whatever were buying!
Those bikes appear to have real suspension on them so not sure how you will deal with that though.....

You left out the most significant detail of that bike. Last time I talked to Rooney he said he had the weight of that thing down to 149kg. THAT'S 328 LBS!!!!! I'm not sure how he did it all, but wow.

Crap! That looks like fun. I'm down for a t-shirt and sticker.

Good stuff Stage. The safari is a great race. Start doing those push ups to build up that upper body
The only bugger is that Brotownboy will be along soon posting pics of his bloody rooney special - & HP2

good lord I havent committed yet... cant decide if its crazier to do it or not do it. I'd be crazy not to, thats for sure, but oh man it could be a big boondoggle.

But thanks for the support, this time I might need a push to the start that is, there will be NO PUSHING to the finish. Unless I have to. Haha. Two People have mentioned reliability issues.. but its my opinion that those are likely regardless of the bike. Specially any bike that I work on! Seriously this bike has finished the safari in at least '09 and '10, and done several others.[EDIT: CHECKING BACK THROUGH PAST RESULTS< THERE WAS A DNF IN 2009, and a WITHDRAWN (I THINK) IN THE CONDO750 2011.] HEll, my own bike has given me enough to worry about... And certainly Mr.Rooney's reputation as a tuner is above reproach, as far as I can tell from anyone. So is the risk of a mechanical DNF but having no shipping or rental costs plus mechanic equal to the risk and cost and hassle of prepping my own bike and shipping it?

I would have to say it kinda seems like it...would you agree?

Prepare for success! All I'm trying to do is finish, (as well as possible) so its the same game as always, right? It is a bit different if I'm out a couple hundred bucks to go race in South Carolina vs several th-th-thTHousands to go to the freeking antipodes, but worst case is I have a big old adventure, right?

This thing requires an FIM license and a medical checkup including an echocardiogram among other things.


oh yeah, Bike weight! He's saying its 150-153Kgs depending on setup.. I think for Safari its 153 before gas. Still, a very light machine and with outside dimensions of an R65, so its as tight a package as you can get.



What tires do you normally run? And how many get used for this? 2500 miles, I'm thinking three sets total... change em every other day? And are they Tubed or Moussed? How many oil and air filters? Very dusty... Probably need at least four or five of each.

What the hell else? holy crap, only six months to go??
HEy Paul if youre reading this- I'm going to more than likely do this anyway...Think I've got the entry fee covered as we speak. I'm just going over the dread fears and my heads all over the place Really very excited.

Holy Crap Jason. If it's at all possible, you have to make this happen. After all ... when is the next time this could be possible? A high reving 650 bored to 850 ... and 328 pounds. That right there ... is the very definition of 'stupid fun'.

GO BIG, OR GO HOME.

I will definitely pay for part of your ticket!

Everybody now, in yer best Paul Hogan Aussie accent:

"That's not a bike,


THIS is a bike!"

I think they pronounce it "boik"

Yeah, I couldn't figure on how to best type that... :wink

You're racing with HP2's on a 500 pound bike--I can't imagine what you'll do with that thing! GOOOOOO STAAAAAAGE!!!

i don't see the "hand of god" on Rooney's bike.

Hmmmmmm.....:huh

Crikey Mate, we're not Soud Effricans.

Im afraid i dont quite understand yet either. What do you mean, Jenna?

Heh heeh :)

I think she means this

oooohh i see... yes i see you are correct...

Graham Grants average speeds for the 2010 Safari range from about 30mph to about 50. That is roughly commensurate with my pace on the PD, although I dont know if the terrain is similar enough to make a correlation.
He also scored an "MCf" on a few stages which I dont know what that refers to.. other than it seems like it may have taken too long to finish the course

This race isnt like the Dakar, though, where the organizers are trying to eliminate you. Seth tells me they take a lot of steps to ensure you can finish one way or the other. THere is even a "cut and run" option where it looks like if you dont finish or cant start a day or something you can jump back in the next day, albeit with a strong penalty. At least youre still moving, though.


Im also doing a little google mapping with last years itinerary, and getting results that look like:


"We could not calculate directions between Perth WA, Australia and Logans Find, Londonderry WA, Australia."

that sounds perfect