In the article that the photos come from (January 11th 2010) the author - Mark Fattore - cites that the bike was at BOLTONS Motorcycles in Victoria... and he quoted Matt Fish ( ex-Australian Safari moto category podium finisher for KTM and Cross Country Rally/DAKAR competitor with the factory Husqvarna Speedbrain team) - who worked at BOLTONS at the time - as saying that the bike was merely waiting for the new owner who ordered it. @enookway says that he spotted the bike at BOLTONS in 2015...? A factory 690 Rallye still waiting to be picked up... five years later...? or still sitting on the showroom floor of an regional Australian KTM dealership (if it was on a promo "tour") five years later...? Either way... something doesn't seem to mesh with that time line...
Yep @troy safari carpente , thats why I was surpised at the date on the article. I remembered it was one of the last of the 690's, and came across that article to find out what year of Comas wins it was. At the time I thought it was a travelling exhibit doing a short stint at Boltons. 6 year old ex Dakar winner spending some time outside the factory museum. Plausible enough. The alleged buyer mentioned in the article does not make sense, neither does it appearing in the same shop 5 years apart.
That bike was on the Repsol stand at one of the Bikes Shows in Melbourne, privately owned, the real deal and I believe he paid 75k for it, for his private collection.
I got a message. .....I hear it's now in the hands of a private collector in SA. He paid north of $70 k for it. And yes, apparently it is genuine. But I'd still think the factory would've removed certain bits before letting it go.
I wonder if this is the same private collector that acquired the ex-factory Ducati/Cagiva Elefant 906 SP Rally from Frasers many many, years ago... https://www.mcnews.com.au/cagiva-906-elefant-sp-phil-aynsley/
Yep the item with braided lines i was referring to. So its not an external oil pump then. But did they still have an external oil pump somewhere that troy mentions?
^^^ Brain fart on my part... I read the word "pump" in LWC's question... I incorrectly wrote external "pump" in quick reply (I meant/should have written filter... I have changed enough of them)... Richo and Gonc are spot on.
The above bike at Dakar 2012: https://coupler.foxsports.com.au/ap...y/news-story/3b452a18f63ec00e14dc87fba4ab2ef6
Sorta cross posting, and I feel its too good to not share here. I have just posted this in the Dakar F5 firehose thread, and hence, as you read thru, I feel its ok to post it here. Whilst looking for this article, I found plenty from various Safari's and so when able, post up pics of those Morning all, or what ever time it is. A few pages back there was talk about Toby Price and his third place podium but limited visible advertising / sponsorship on his riding kit. I have just been trawling my way thru back issues of SideTrack (a private Aussie off road moto magazine that I am sure @troy safari carpente and others will remember) as there was a great article about Andy Haydon, Andrew Coaker, and Simon Pavey entering. Andy Haydon got third on the podium. The article also mentions plenty of legendary names! Enjoy. (I photographed the pages so I could post them here)
I know there's a bloke on here with a 2015 Dakar bike, ridden by another well known Aussie. Post up some pics M ?
Well, it's a 2013 Dakar bike, but since this thread is about Safari I didn't think it was appropriate to post here- especially since it's rider won a bunch of Safaris but never on a 450 RFR ...