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Well on the 1st of August the prologue of the Australasian Safari kicks off in Perth. Then follows 7 days of some of the toughest desert racing finally ending up in Kalgoolie.
I have been admiring and jealous of safari riders for years, it was a thing of legend when I was a kid – who doesn’t remember the safari’s of the late 80’s with XR600’s dominating the field. Back then it was a real adventure with many of these blokes riding their bikes for a week across the country, then backing it up by riding the same bike back home again!
Huge crashes, incedible feats of bush mechanics, long days, dust, mud, the safari had it all.
I remember with sadness the death of Glen Middleton, a local legend and a safari legend. Not a riding accident by the way.
I remember in 1989 or so they came through our district and it was a really wet year. We went for a ride along one of the stages and ended up following huge ruts where they had basically slogged through axle deep mud for miles.
So when my brother in law Dave decided to enter the safari I volunteered to be his service crew!
Dave is heading over to Perth this sunday with his dad and I fly over on Friday the 31st, as his dad flys back.
This event is going to be an incredible experience for both Dave and I. I’m looking forward to seeing some really unique country, being involved with a massive event like this one, meeting some top people and generally having a ball!
I will post up my story of the safari – hopefully as I go but otherwise it will be a big mother of a report afterwards – with hundreds of glorious pictures!
So far I have not had a whole lot to do with the bike yet – a 2007 Husky TE610. I went for a small ride with Dave a while back and last weekend spent a few hours working on wiring up dust lights, grip warmers, roadbook and so on. So at least I have had a spanner on the thing!
Most of the planning and packing is being taken care of by Dave – which is good because my business doesn’t run itself and at the moment it takes a lot of running! It also has a downside in that I don’t have the input I would like. I have packed my own toolkit though, as well as some miscellaneous bits and bobs I think will be useful.
So keep your eyes peeled, because this thing is going to be bigger than Ben Hur!
The rider list is up, Dave is there so we are definately going! See here
For the first time in history(?) there are no big-bore XR’s in the safari!! There is one Japanese XR250, but no XR650’s! I suppose the day had to come, butI believe it is a sad thing personally.
Anyway, stay tuned folks! Bring it on!!!
Good on ya ECKS you will have a ball ya bastard!!! Wish I was going
Keep in touch if you can would be great but bet you dont get five minutes to yourself :laugh:Go Benny three in a row
No fiddy’s eh, well theres always next year
TB
Cheers guys! Yeah TB, I might have to SMS you some updates as I go, not sure I’ll have the luxury of sitting down and updating OBT somehow! I might see about chucking an OBT sticker on the Husky – somewhere below my work ones maybe?
Next year TB – you giving us a hint? Team OBT on XR’s taking on the rest of the world? I’ll service crew for you!:laugh:
Is there room on the front mud guard for guard stickers, if so give me an address in WA and I will frieght some overnight in the morning
Next year, careful could hold you to that, and text anything you can I will update it
PM me your mobile pls I will do the same
TB
1 of my favourites,
Not the best action shot as far as the bike, but imagine that chasing ya so close,,,, :dry:
Today we packed the trailer and ute reaady for Dave to head off tomorrow. I snapped a few piccies of the bike for anyone interested in that sort of thing! The specs are: Husky TE610, 2007 model. Safari tank (17 litres?), Nomad bum tank (5 litres), Scott steering damper, MD Roadbook holder (motorised), heated grips, custom water tank on bash plate. Michy Desert tyres with Mousse in the front. Dust light (custom wiring by ECKS with custom bracket fabrication by Dave). Tecknik have done the suspension – I was not involved with that so don’t know the specifics of what was done. Two tripmeters (ICO) and a custom fairing/bracket for it all. Doherty Smith & Associates Consulting Surveyors (that’s me, I’s a SPONSOR baby!) stickers (add at least 40% more torque) and Trang Imagineering (that’s Dave) stickers (reduce wind resistance by 27% and increase top speed by 13km/h)! At the moment there is a bit of blank space but we have a heap of sponsor stickers to go on (Michelin, West Australia, the Safari itself) that are compulsary. I suspect some will end up stuck to the bottom of the bashplate or something! There is possibly more, but that’s a brief summary!
She’s a heavy thing to wheel around, but I hope at racing speeds it will be better mannered.
Anyway enough jibber jabber, here’s the bike:
Ok chappies, this is it! I get one more sleep in my own bed and then it is SAFARI TIME!!!
Just spoke to Dave and he made it through scrutineering with minor problems (engine number on bike didn’t match the rego papers – surprisingly common that one). He was absolutely BUZZING with excitement and I think he is maybe a touch nervous!
I fly out of Dubbo tomorrow morning at 6:30am, sit on my fat backside in Sydney for a couple of hours then on to Perth, arriving about 1:30pm.
Keep your eyes peeled, I’ll be trying to keep TB in the loop on results and maybe a few piccies.
Rock on OBT!
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