Honda preparing Dakar assault

That'll do.

Nicely done Troy :)

I do use motul in my xr, 3 crfs, 1 Fatcat and 1 trail 70

Lot's of speculation, how is MC's shoulder doing by the way, any news on that - would be an enormous risk to even contemplate trying to entice a injury recovering rider, even an Alien - it just won't happen

We know Sam is out for 2013, but we still don't know if Philipe has much more than a bloody bad headache at the moment - recover quick Philipe.

Personally, if Philipe is not fit then my money would be on Jaun Carlos levelling up the Honda SA numbers

I was looking forward to seeing Sam do well.

Wondering if HRC could lure Jonah out of retirement for one last kick at the can with a full factory ride?

Sam is still only 23 - we will all see plenty of him, let's hope the wrist is good for the Desert Challenge at the end of March; onwards and upwards.

More of that after Jan

A bit of de j'a vu on that one from last year

Excellent commentary, all. Most important, best wishes for Felipe and Sam!

Having ridden the routes they were on in California, and those in Dakar (and Morocco) for reference, I can say that our US riding is generally considerably more risky and technical. As well, the roadbooks here don't have dangers marked- they are as good or better in terms of directional layout, but they make no attempt to call out dangers.

That's a big difference for the frontrunners in Dakar- what I witnessed there was commitment beyond visibility, and total trust in the danger markings of the roadbook.

I'm a bit stunned they would be doing testing in December- no time for recovery, and not much for fixing anything substantive on the bike.

Are you speculating or confirming the earlier "little birdie"?

Regardless, speedy recovery to both riders involved.

Everyone has been speculating race strategy in a cold and technical form as we seem to do in USA, CA, AU, and much of Europe. But there is so much more here in the bid for the SA market! And it is a market that responds as much or more to sentiment!

For example... in Peru, when their futbol team loses, the fans go crazy, mob the streets and break windows. So they bring out the water canons! When their futbol team WINS .... the fans go crazy, mob the streets and break windows. So they bring out the water canons!

Point is: Sales in South America are as much about feeling as they are about technical superiority.

Pizolito is great, but the rest of SA considers the Argentinians a bit "especial". Argentinians will circle the wagons around their guy... but the rest of SA ... not so much. For SA sales they NEED another S.American (non-Argentinian) hero!

YES! I know they need to make a good showing to sell, but drama, heart, and "he's one of us" is just as important here south of the border!

As best as I can tell, they were testing in the Stoddard Wells area, south of Barstow. There are no roadbook routes in that area as far as I know, though both Quinn and Johnny have asked me to make something there. And I'm not aware of Johnny using my roadbooks during this recent testing. So, my guess is they were not following any roadbook. Also, that area is torn up pretty well, with tons of whoops in some places. It's probably a good place to stress the bikes, which is what I thought they were doing.

I ride there all the time!!!
I was just there last weekend!
Get well soon boys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome.
They're still experimenting with different rear tanks, fairing and brake setups at this stage. That's more than a little shakedown week in sunny Cali. It shouldn't be a surprise, but taking on the multi-title winning KTM RR isn't an easy task.

One also has to put this into perspective compared to other endeavours like Bordone-Ferrari.

re: handwritten notes. I'd say this is just working out in the field.

What am I looking at here? I'm guessing fuel system, 5 fuel tanks? Front top, left, right + rear left, right?



Yes I know, I need to get a life. Sue me.

The bike appears to have no roadbook holder, so no roadbook navigating!

The three upper-right papers on the van look like Google Earth imagery of typical desert terrain. The lower-right is a map of what may be their practice course. I took that fuzzy image and re-did it below in Google Earth following existing roads in the Stoddard area. Looks pretty close!