The rally bike of 2011

I thought I would try to sum up what I have done to the bike to prepare it for the rally this year and also to take the opportunity to show it off for all you petrol heads out there.

KTM 530 EXC SixDays Rally Lite Edition

The bike is a KTM 530 EXC SixDays 2010 with about 55hrs on it. My goal has been to build a "rally lite" bike just as I did last year. That is, I try to do as little modifications as possible and I try to keep the bike as light and slim as I can by not putting on to much stuff on it. Rather taking things away to keep the weight down. The reasons for building a lite version are mainly these:

140/80 Michelin Desert is
one wide tire...

• Keep everything you do as simple as possible. The less complicated the less chance it will break and the easier it will be to repair in the field.
• Every custom part you put on must be field tested before the rally. And by field testing I mean a lot of tough riding not just riding down a dirt road for a while. Preferably you should do a race with the part on your bike before you can trust it.
• If you build your own parts instead of buying parts of a well known brand you need to test it even more.
• The more stuff you put on, the more stuff that can break. And things do break. The most effective way to prevent something from breaking is not to put it on.

The non-standard components on chassis and engine are:

• Rebuilt front suspension (springs, shims)
• Rebuilt rear suspension (springs, bladder)
• Cylinder head ported
• Carburator (jets, etc) adjusted on bench
• Akrapovic exhaust

A degreased chain will last longer in the desert

All these mods were made by the previous owner and since the bike has done one previous rally I consider these mods to be well tested.

Here is a list of the preparations I have done to the bike just before this rally:

New plastic and decals just
for good looks

• New wheel bearings
• New grips (soft to reduce vibrations)
• New motor oil and oil filter
• New gear box oil
• New fork oil (thicker)
• Checked and greased steering head bearings
• New brake fluid
• Checked all electric wiring for wear and function
• Mounted electric wiring for the roadbook holder
• Mounted navigaton tower
• Mounted roadbook holder (MD with backlight and remote)
• Mounted GPS mount (I'm using a Garmin Foretrex 201)
• Mounted remote control for the trip computer
• New (dry) chain and sprockets
• New Michelin Desert tires and Michelin Desert mousse (front, rear and second rear wheel)
• Cleaned the carburetor
• Changed cooling fluid to Engine Ice
• Mounted large 13L tank
• Mounted rear fender bag
• Put thread lock on pretty much every single bolt on the bike
• Checked brake pads (they were almost new so I didn't change them)
• New plastic and new decals (absolutely no function, just for good looks :)
• Charged the battery
• Mounted custom skidplate with water tank

Aluminum skidplate with water tank

Apart from that I have pretty much checked everything else on the bike for wear and function. Spokes, handlebar controls, gas wire etc. Every part of the bike needs to be in mint condition if  you want it to run smoothly through an eight day race without any major problems.

Roadbook holder, GPS, trip computer and remote controls

As per usual when preparing a bike for a race, most of the work is not visible so you will not get any credit for it from someone who doesn't understand how much work that goes into something like this. But thats just how it is. :)

Now its only two days left before I'm leaving for Spain and I can't wait to get on the bike and head out to the dunes!

Spare levers strapped to the skidplate

Both front and rear suspension has been modified

Ready to jump over those Sahara dunes!

Steering damper or big biceps?

One bike modification that I will be doing differently this year compared to my earlier desert races is the use of a steering damper. I have never used a steering damper on any of my bikes before. Not at home when riding enduro or offroad and not in the two previous desert rallies either. Mostly because I have never really felt the need for it.
In 2008 in Morocco I rode a KTM 625 which is a pretty heavy bike that more or less behaves like a freight train plowing through any obstacles and sandy courses so I didn't have any problems with driving without a steering damper. And when I'm at home I usually never ride for long enough periods of time that I will feel any fatigue caused by a nervous front wheel. But in 2010 I rode a KTM 400 during the Tuareg rally. The 400 is a much lighter bike that becomes quite nervous when riding at high speed in tough terrains. For the first time I actually noticed how much the front wheel was bouncing back and forth and during some stages when I was going flat out on loose sand roads I actually had to slow down because I simply couldn't hold on to the handle bars anymore. A friend of mine who was riding with me later described the situation as: "Ronnie has a steering damper, Danny has arms the size of my thighs, and I have nothing but pain". Ok, granted that I'm in fairly good physical shape but I was also getting tired at that stage so after last year's rally I promised myself that I would never race again without a steering damper.

Öhlins steering damper

So, said and done. My new KTM 530 has been equipped with a Öhlins steering damper. For you who don't know, a steering damper works by dampening the movements of the handlebars. But it does so in a way that it only dampens fast movements. This means that when you are turning the handlebars during normal riding no dampening takes place and you will not notice it at all. But when fast and sudden movements occur, say for example when you hit a rock with your front wheel, the movement is heavily dampened. So instead of sending the front wheel, and you, off in a random direction the front wheel will keep straight and you can continue riding in the direction you intended.

Now this will of course help you avoid some situations that might otherwise lead to a crash, but it will also save you a lot of energy since you don't have to do all the dampening yourself as you otherwise would when you are using your arms as steering dampers.

So this year I am not going to slow down on those loose fast tracks or in those tricky dried out river beds. I'm going flat out all the way... ;) And hopefully I can avoid crashes like the one last year when I hit a rock in the middle of a curve that lead to a face plant and a sprained ankle.

Or if nothing else, it will at least be a cool looking piece of gear on my bike.

'Twas the winter before the rally

So, its been exactly two months since my last update here. That means I've been busy with life I guess. You know, all the stuff that we need to do in order to be able to go riding in the desert. Unless you are working as a tour guide in the desert that is. :)

Even though I haven't posted anything here lately I still have been busy preparing myself for the next rally physically. Endurance and strength is important in any race and the same goes for rallies. If you don't get tired physically, you will be able to stay mentally fresh longer. And that means safer and faster riding. I usually try to train about 5 days a week. Divided 50/50 between strength and cardio/metcons. Now I'm gradually starting to switch over to more cardio/metcons to focus on endurance and when the race gets closer I will be doing mostly endurance training.

The new weapon of choice. KTM 530 Sixdays

I also picked up my new bike today. Sort of like a late christmas gift for myself. It's a KTM 530 EXC Sixdays with about 50 hours on it. I think the 530 will be a perfect bike for the Tuareg Rally. This year I rode a KTM 400 EXC and it was great because of its low weight and easy handling. The only thing it lacked was some power and top speed. It wasn't a big issue but since I'm aiming at improving my results next year every little advantage I can get is needed so the extra power from the 530 will be most welcome in the dunes.

I will be posting updates on the work I'll be doing on the bike to prepare it for the race. Some things I know I will be doing are navigation tower, larger gas tank, water tanks and checking and replacing all the bearings and wires. I guess I will be spending a lot of hours in the garage in the nearby future…

Happy New Year to all of you!