Norra 2013

[Maineroot]

I ran last year on a stock tank (KTM 530). I packed a FEW liters of fuel in the backpack each day. Ayyiii Ayyiii Ayyiiii. Dumped them in as strategically needed.

We contracted and relied on Mag 7 for fuel- this proved to not work out. I'm going to say that the fuel stops were not where they were supposed to be that day..... stuff happens, I know. Whole other story. I made it home, that's what counts.

I ran out of fuel twice- Once it was at the top of a hill with a small pueblo at the bottom. I mooched a gal of rot gut fuel and made it to the end of the section. Second time was in the middle of nowhere and there were some dudes camped out with a 40 gal tank pretty much where I stalled. Someone was looking out for us.

Originally Posted by El Cucuy

Thanks for the info re: fuel range.

Not being familiar with the route/area, I have no idea re: the availability of gas along the way.

Would prefer to not have to rely on a fuel service but don't want to lug around 6 gallons of gas on the bike, either.

[desert650]

Originally Posted by Maineroot

I ran last year on a stock tank (KTM 530). I packed a FEW liters of fuel in the backpack each day. Ayyiii Ayyiii Ayyiiii. Dumped them in as strategically needed.

We contracted and relied on Mag 7 for fuel- this proved to not work out. I'm going to say that the fuel stops were not where they were supposed to be that day..... stuff happens, I know. Whole other story. I made it home, that's what counts.

I ran out of fuel twice- Once it was at the top of a hill with a small pueblo at the bottom. I mooched a gal of rot gut fuel and made it to the end of the section. Second time was in the middle of nowhere and there were some dudes camped out with a 40 gal tank pretty much where I stalled. Someone was looking out for us.

Ridiculous! We paid Mag 7 to support our bike too (2 years ago).
D1 pit one - They were in the correct location, they just "forgot" to bring me my fuel. I was pretty pissed, and told them to pull the fuel out of their truck... or i will. They busted out their video camera and started asking me questions and filming me - idiots.
D1 pit two - forgot to bring it there too. I was pissed here too but didn't say anything, and just left.
D1 pit 3 - Didn't have my fuel (surprise!), but dumped race gas into my pump gas bike.... i had a half tank, so the 110 didn't do any noticeable harm. We changed our race-plan the best we could because Mag7 couldn't be counted on anymore.
D2 pit one - did not have my fuel once again (not surprised anymore), They dumped race gas in my pump gas bike once again - this time the fuel tank was almost empty, so the 110 melted my motor just outside of El Arco. end of race.

Never again. I invested quite a bit of money, you would think they would take my race effort a little more serious.
Mag 7 = bunch of yahoo's.

[crankshaft]

Originally Posted by desert650

Ridiculous! We paid Mag 7 to support our bike too (2 years ago).
D1 pit one - They were in the correct location, they just "forgot" to bring me my fuel. I was pretty pissed, and told them to pull the fuel out of their truck... or i will. They busted out their video camera and started asking me questions and filming me - idiots.
D1 pit two - forgot to bring it there too. I was pissed here too but didn't say anything, and just left.
D1 pit 3 - Didn't have my fuel (surprise!), but dumped race gas into my pump gas bike.... i had a half tank, so the 110 didn't do any noticeable harm. We changed our race-plan the best we could because Mag7 couldn't be counted on anymore.
D2 pit one - did not have my fuel once again (not surprised anymore), They dumped race gas in my pump gas bike once again - this time the fuel tank was almost empty, so the 110 melted my motor just outside of El Arco. end of race.

Never again. I invested quite a bit of money, you would think they would take my race effort a little more serious.
Mag 7 = bunch of yahoo's.

Wow, that sucks. A friend of mine had a problem with them last year. This year I'll be carrying enough fuel to go 240 miles without stopping which means I'll be using Pemex for pit support

[desert650]

yeah, it sucked...
I just wanted to share my experience. Either way - lesson learned. This year I'm running a "vintage" xr5 with a big acerbis tank - I wont be stopping much for fuel. LOL

Good thread by the way, sorry for bringing it down.

[crankshaft]

Originally Posted by desert650

yeah, it sucked...
I just wanted to share my experience. Either way - lesson learned. This year I'm running a "vintage" xr5 with a big acerbis tank - I wont be stopping much for fuel. LOL

Good thread by the way, sorry for bringing it down.

No big deal, I'm usually the one bringing it down

[Baja Dad]

Originally Posted by crankshaft

Wow, that sucks. A friend of mine had a problem with them last year. This year I'll be carrying enough fuel to go 240 miles without stopping which means I'll be using Pemex for pit support

Team PEMEX !!!!
Andrew any pics of the 690 coming together????
You will have a blast riding that bike in BAJA !!

[crankshaft]

Originally Posted by Baja Dad

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

[beechum1]

Originally Posted by crankshaft

No big deal, I'm usually the one going down

fiquxest

[crankshaft]

Originally Posted by beechum1

fiquxest

sssssshhhhhh, my wife doesn't want anyone to know

[bobzilla]

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

[SKINNY]

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...

[Assfault]

Originally Posted by Baja Dad

I could put somthing together , There would have to be a small fee to cover the fuel cost and to take of the support crew.
The rider could SKIP paying for Mag 7 save that fee and put to the ADV Support Truck and crew!!!

here is somthing I have been working on:
This is a ROUGH draft and no cost has been determined yet


It is all in the planning stage. Price would depend on the event and what bike you would want to ride
I hope to do this and be able to support 4-5 bikes ( that means 4-15 riders)
Ironman,Two rider team.Three rider team.

I am thinking of setting up a Main support truck with two crew members to work on the bikes at the
end of each stage so the Rider can relax and have fun.
maybe also a few chase support trucks for Transfer stages
The Support Truck will also have Water & Power aid and some light food snacks on it for the riders

The level of support would start off with:
Stage 1.You ship out Your Race ready Bike .( you only have to pay for Support help
includes Team T-shirt and Race Jersey ( you could also get new Race pants and Rally Jacket for an extra fee)
Stage 2.
includes Team T-shirt and Race Jersey ( you could also get new Race pants and Rally Jacket for an extra fee)
Stage 2.
Fully raced Preped bike.
example: KTM 450,525,640 or Honda 450x 650r ( this could change)
GPR Steering Stabilizer
Supersprox Sprockets
DID O-ring Chain
BRP Chain Block
Full race skid plate
Pro Taper bars with AME Grips
Acerbis Rally Guards
F2R Road Book with thumb switch
1-ICO
Acerbis or IMS LARGE fuel tank depends on the bike
Seat Concepts Rally seat
Twin Air race filters
Fuel for the race bike during the Event ( Depends on the event. someStops at the local Pemix maybe needed)( AS Mad Mike Gaynor did this past race.)
New Tires with HD Tubes ( the brand is still up in the air)
( you could use Bib Moses on the race bike for an extra fee)
The rider can request Items that can be added (extra fee)


The support Truck will have some spare parts and spare Tires ( you would only pay extra for what you used)
The crew members would do all mantaince on the bike each night and change tires if needed
(Sat phones could be also handed out for each bike for an extra fee)


This is somthing I have been wanting to do again since back in the early 90's when i ran my own company called
Baja race Prep. I use to prep Bikes for a lot of riders that came from all over the world to Race the BAJA 1000

Please give me some feed back
Thanks Mark

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

[HogWild]

Originally Posted by bobzilla

Road book like dakar or like score?

Roadbook is like Dakar, 6" wide. You need a roadbook holder like one of these:
http://www.rallymanagementservices.c...ions/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:

[Strong Bad]

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.

[Baja Dad]

Originally Posted by SKINNY

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...

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