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dakar race bikes?


markstertt

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I've been watching the Dakar races and wondered what model Yamaha, KTM & Hondas were being used. KTM looks like a single, but not sure of Honda or Yamaha...are twins allowed to run? Tenere? Africa twin?

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I did see a clip of Lyndon (from the video) crashing out but haven't seen him mentioned again...what did surprise me was to see Andrew Short in the Dakar on a Husky and not doing to bad...I thought when he had retired from super/motocross that I wouldn't see him anymore and always liked watching Shorty, a decent racer and a seemingly decent guy.

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Just to finish this off if anyone is interested, I'm guessing the Dakar bike class is now all singles and even though I can't remember the winners name I did follow Andrew Short and he finished 17th riding the last 2 days on a broken ankle. He said he would have quit if it weren't for the fact that his family was waiting for him at the finish...and he was smiling, I think he did very well for his first Dakar and bet that he'll be back.

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1 hour ago, markstertt said:

Just to finish this off if anyone is interested, I'm guessing the Dakar bike class is now all singles and even though I can't remember the winners name I did follow Andrew Short and he finished 17th riding the last 2 days on a broken ankle. He said he would have quit if it weren't for the fact that his family was waiting for him at the finish...and he was smiling, I think he did very well for his first Dakar and bet that he'll be back.

Matthias Walkner was the winner, an Austrian on an Austrian.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Walkner pulled a  Bradbury on an Australian ( google it. Olympic speed skating). Karma is a bitch...

 

Go forth and modify my son...go forth and modify...

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They limited the displacments to 450cc in 2011, Yamah WR45- based, Honda CR450x KTM the rest assume the same, putting names behnd them as rally is marketing crap.  Simply they are 450s

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.” --Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria

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2 hours ago, r1limited said:

They limited the displacments to 450cc in 2011, Yamah WR45- based, Honda CR450x KTM the rest assume the same, putting names behnd them as rally is marketing crap.  Simply they are 450s

I wonder if anyone has tried the 2 wheel drive kitted 450's? 

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Engine capacity and cylinder restrictions came as a result of the many high speed accidents - the 750 to litre bikes had immense top speeds, in addition to being very heavy. The 450s are plenty fast, though. KTM has won the 17 last races, but if it wasn't for a serious accident, it seems likely Yamaha could have ended that streak this year.

 

 

One of the extreme machines from the early days.

 

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Faffi...thanks for the videos, I knew that they had run multi cylinders but didn't realize they'd use 4 cylinder machines. I can't imagine an off road crash at 100+ mph so no wonder more than a few riders died in the past.

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I know that Peterhansel won the Paris-Dakar 6 times on a Yamaha (and an additional 7 times on four wheels), but to me, Gaston Rahier is the all time hero of the race. A tiny man winning twice on what likely is the biggest and heaviest machine competing. http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/news/a24671/1985-peak-wtf-moment-a-tiny-belgian-won-dakar-against-all-odds/

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4 hours ago, markstertt said:

I wonder if anyone has tried the 2 wheel drive kitted 450's? 

As far as I know Yes they did, it was yamaha who ran it if memory serves me correctly, jeez. It was when the race had a opening liaison stage in Dover, England before taking the chunnel (I think) on to Paris for a opening ceremony. It was towards the time they were about to pull it from Dakar and where taking alternate routes though other African countries. I remember the 2 wheel drive system running along the fork, man it was a long time ago. All of this is from distant memory, so I maybe wrong about Dover and the chunnel and that, but I am certain of the 2-wheel drive bike doing Dakar. It looked more like the enduro-cross 450's as opposed to the bigger Adventure bike's.

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9 hours ago, fzar said:

As far as I know Yes they did, it was yamaha who ran it if memory serves me correctly, jeez. It was when the race had a opening liaison stage in Dover, England before taking the chunnel (I think) on to Paris for a opening ceremony. It was towards the time they were about to pull it from Dakar and where taking alternate routes though other African countries. I remember the 2 wheel drive system running along the fork, man it was a long time ago. All of this is from distant memory, so I maybe wrong about Dover and the chunnel and that, but I am certain of the 2-wheel drive bike doing Dakar. It looked more like the enduro-cross 450's as opposed to the bigger Adventure bike's.

Yes that all sounds about right...the maker of the kit is now selling a complete bike and I think it's a Chinese knock off of the Honda 450 with his front wheel drive kit already installed, I'm thinking about $13,000.00 US, it or he has an Italian sounding name that I just can't remember at the moment. 

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7 hours ago, markstertt said:

Yes that all sounds about right...the maker of the kit is now selling a complete bike and I think it's a Chinese knock off of the Honda 450 with his front wheel drive kit already installed, I'm thinking about $13,000.00 US, it or he has an Italian sounding name that I just can't remember at the moment. 

We you thinking of the Christini?

http://www.advpulse.com/adv-bikes/christini-motorcycles-best-dual-sport/

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7 hours ago, markstertt said:

Yes that all sounds about right...the maker of the kit is now selling a complete bike and I think it's a Chinese knock off of the Honda 450 with his front wheel drive kit already installed, I'm thinking about $13,000.00 US, it or he has an Italian sounding name that I just can't remember at the moment. 

Christini is what you're thinking of.  I believe it's a Chinese built Honda 450 engine on their frame (I believe it's also a copy of the Honda CRF450).

https://thumpertalk.com/forums/topic/945138-christini-450-awd/

I remember Yamaha working on 2WD in the 80's and 90's I believe.  They were kitting out dirt and street bikes and the results looked pretty good.  Homda was doing it later.

I imagine there's a lot more maintenance and things to break down, though.

I felt about 2WD bikes kind of the same way I feel about the Nikken now - neat idea, but not for me.

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Yes, Christini is the bike. I think converting a new bike ended up to expensive so he went to the purpose built frame and then had to access an affordable engine, hence the cheaper knock off of CRF450...and it appears to be less expensive than I thought and at 278# not to bad...it would be fun to try one. The video and article make it sound as though genuine Honda parts and aftermarket parts would interchange, big plus there for sure. I would have to have the lowered version with the addition of a recluse clutch and the bigger tank mentioned. To me it doesn't appear to be a mod that would incur a big increase in maintenance and for my older body/reflexes and my aging skill level might be a real asset. I would be less concerned with the added drive system (maintenance & quality) than i would be in the knock off engine. To put it in perspective, I currently ride a 2002 Suzuki that with my mods & accessories weighs around 310#, has a range of about 200 miles and has been bullet proof since new. If I thought the Christini at 278#, could get 150+ mile range and have the longevity at least 1/2 of my old DRZ then I would be interested...oh, and it would have to have elec. start.

 

The cut away of the AWD bike (pedal power) was also very interesting, add that drive system to the Trek electric mountain bike and you'd have a pretty cool machine, although probably almost as expensive as the 450 Christini. 

 

Thanks for the input guys...the AWD system would appear to be  real asset in a race like the Dakar... but maybe the added complexity and wt. just wasn't needed.

 

 

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I went to the christini.com site to see if this company still existed and check on it's products...rather interesting...even make AWD bikes for the military special forces. The engine used is a Chinese clone of the 2005-08 Honda CRF450 with 11-1 cr, fuel injection and about 40 hp but all aftermarket performance parts for genuine Honda interchange. The street legal dual sport weighs 288# wet, the Explorer 298# and runs just under $10K. The site has a motorcycle magazine ride review with pros and cons, also some videos and such. It sounds as though the bike has a rather lean cough issue off idle (EPA?) but I wouldn't doubt this issue could be rectified and they went on to say at higher rpms there weren't any issues with fueling. 

 

Christini says the clone engine had to run 15,000 miles for testing/ EPA cert. and at that mileage was cleaner than when new and even at 30,000 miles the top end was fine. The engine may not be the concern I had voiced. Anyway, when I win the lotto I'll get one of these to play with.

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