So who wants to do a rally? (big bike rally challenge)

[herman]

Not doubting that it is superb or that it will HUGELY benefit my riding, its this, Friday, up at 6am, home at 8pm, jump on bike, sweet lamb by midnight(ish) camp by 1am, up at 7, ride bike and learn new skills. - basically by Saturday I'm normally the walking dead. It would be amazing to have that training locally, but nothing would compare.

Thought for BBR events you needed ACU licence and FIM tyres? good to know you don't as it all adds up and I have to join a club that doesn't holds no interest just to get the ACU or pay extra for day licence....

pm on way B)

[Burtieboy]

O

Just summarising what has been said and indicating interest.

1/ Training / introduction day for sure. I've tried to do this with Burt 3 times already but its a long way to get there.

2/ Somewhere in the south of England so its not a 5 hour + ride to get there..

3/ Novice entrants / tiered levels out at the same time. Having someone scream GET THE F** OUT THE WAY and running you over is no fun (not talking bbr here).

4/ Fire-track sure, some technical stuff if you want to have a go.

5/ Ability to use any knobbly's you want not just FIM approved.

6/ 650 ++ or weight related class of bikes.

Like others have said I would love to get involved in these but time poor and funds maIe it harder to do, which is a shame. Still need to get to Burt for some training!

If it helps we can run some Cotswolds based training as an intro to Adventure bikes and rallying. Let me know if your interested. This nearer to home for me but it is not a substitute for Sweet Lamb as their facilities and the tracks are superb.

[Kelvyn]

Wish I'd known that about the TKC80 before Kielder!
Still, it was a blast.

[Mike54]

As an introduction to events have a look at blue light offroads event on salisbury plain over weekend of 15 / 16 september

It's not a rally though Nd there isn't training or "open question" type thing so I'd encourage anyone to do a day or two with Burt and Moly

[oliverrussell]

My first post on ABR as I have recently changed bike and this sounds exactly what I need. Most of my friends have road bikes so have few opportunities when out with them.

After a fairly serious bicycle accident in January I decided to purchase a KTM 990 Adv as I have wanted one for a while. I had put it off before I was married last year, but life is too short so made the purchase once I was well enough. I am keen to get it muddy, but my experience is very limited. I took it up Peddars Way in Norfolk with standard tyres in the wet and found it tough going in the deep ruts. I slipped of it 3 times, normally I would be worried (about me and the bike), but the whole experience was fun just trying. It was also at a slow pace.

Racing is for some, but personally it is the adventure of trying something new. I would love to build up my off road skills without the peer pressure and to meet like minded bikers.

I take the wife on a tour of Europe in just over two weeks taking in 10 countries. This will be road, but the next trip I would like to mix it up off road, if I can.

My bike is standard with panniers, what would I need to invest in for this type of weekend? Would the change of tyres really be necessary?

Finally where do I sign up?

I look forward to reading more on this...

[Mike54]

Yes, offroad tyres are a neccessity. Road tyres just don't have the grip on loose ground or on gravel etc.

I'm sure Burt will stick something up on the Big Bike Rally Challenge website pretty soon.

[Burtieboy]

Yes, offroad tyres are a neccessity. Road tyres just don't have the grip on loose ground or on gravel etc.

I'm sure Burt will stick something up on the Big Bike Rally Challenge website pretty soon.

I do most of the training at Sweet Lamb on a 990R and TKC's are fine but on the rallys you will need an enduro spec front tyre for the muddy bits.

[oliverrussell]

Thanks Burtieboy.

Excuse my ignorance whilst I get up to speed, but what is the difference between an TKC front and a enduro front tyre? Bigger nobblies/spacing?

Also do most bikers ride to BBRC with TKC's on or do they change wheels/tyres once they arrive as I have read earlier in this post?

Don't really need to say I am a newbie to this? Certainly not with questions like the above.

Thanks

[Burtieboy]

Thanks Burtieboy.

Excuse my ignorance whilst I get up to speed, but what is the difference between an TKC front and a enduro front tyre? Bigger nobblies/spacing?

Also do most bikers ride to BBRC with TKC's on or do they change wheels/tyres once they arrive as I have read earlier in this post?

Don't really need to say I am a newbie to this? Certainly not with questions like the above.

Thanks

No problem.
A TKC is a tyre which is suited to road / off road use - hence the tyre has knobblies but not a lot of space between them. I use this tyre to ride to a venue and then do light off road / gravel hard based tracks and the tre is very good.

An FIM Enduro tyre is still road legal and should be E marked (or DOT marked - this is the US marking). The tyre will have a greater space between the knobblies - hence it works better in mud and will clear easily. This tyre will look more like a motocross tyre (but motocross tyres are more aggressive again, road illegal and not allowed on Rallies.)

Most riders will trailer or van their bike to an event - a very rare few will carry spare wheels and change them at the event.

FIM type tyres don't last long on the road - 100 miles will see the leading edge of the tyre (the bit that does all the good work) destroyed.

Hope this helps.

[Mad Cow]

Oliver

Enduro tyres have less blocks more widely spaced than a TKC.

Most of us tend to use vans or trailers to get to the Rallies but saying that, Lyndon Poskitt rode to all but one of the rallies last year on his 950 Adventure and won the twins class in the series :woohoo:

Then you have Mike F who rides his BMW 1150GS to Rallies on road wheels/tyres with his off road wheels attached to a spindle that is strapped to the rear rack! a quick change and he is ready to race.

The thing is if you just want to ride for the craic then you can get away with a more road biased tyre but have to accept the limitations. I will tackle the odd dry green lane on my 990 Adventure on the stock Pirelli Scorpion ATs but wouldn't want to do anything more serious without fitting some better rubber. I've entered it in the Witley 100 Long Distance Trail (nowhere near as serious as a rally) and will most probably use a TKC on the Front (as i've been donated a couple of part worns) and a Mitas E09 or E10 on the back.

One thing that we all accept is that off road tyres do not last very long but equally they are cheaper than road tyres. I can get a pair of Enduro Tyres for my CCM for under a hundred quid, yet the last rear tyre I bought for my Tiger 1050 (the 990's predecessor) cost me £150.

If your question about where to sign up for the BLORC Salisbury Plain event it's HERE

If it's about Rallying in general click HERE

And for BBRC training click HERE