This is one of two bikes commissioned in 1972 from Fritz Egli by the Swiss Laverda importer, Roland Borel. The bike raced in national as well as international events including the first Imola 200.
Fritz Egli Laverda 750 SFC Racer
Compared to a standard SFC the bike is considerably lower, has a shorter wheelbase (1400mm vs 1470mm), has more ground clearance and at 185kg weighs about 20kg less.
This custom 750 SFC features a shorter 1400mm wheelbase
Ceriani GP forks, Lockheed calipers with Scarab discs as well as a Grimeca rear brake are fitted.
The bike is also 20kg lighter than the standard version
Egli went on to make a further 25 frames for the 750 Laverda (up until 1974), before switching to the 1000 triple.
Fritz Egli produced 25 more frames for the 750This machine was commissioned by Swiss Laverda importer, Roland BorelFritz Egli Laverda 750 SFC RacerFritz Egli Laverda 750 SFC RacerFritz Egli Laverda 750 SFC RacerFritz Egli Laverda 750 SFC RacerFritz Egli Laverda 750 SFC Racer
Junior world champion to pilot Husqvarna FC 250 alongside Todd this season.
Image: Foremost Media.
Bailey Malkiewicz will spend his rookie Pirelli MX Nationals MX2 campaign with DPH Motorsport Husqvarna, the 17-year-old has confirmed.
Malkiewicz, surprisingly late to sign a deal for the upcoming season, is one of the hottest emerging talents in the country, earning the 2018 MXD crown along with a career highlight Junior Motocross World Championship in the 125cc category.
The youthful talent will join reigning champion Wilson Todd at the Victorian based squad, along with returning MXGP contender Todd Waters, as revealed earlier this week.
The Husqvarna FC 250 that he’ll pilot this season is somewhat familiar for Malkiewicz, spending the later stages of his junior career aboard the European manufacturer.
“I’m really happy with what I’ve secured for this season,” Malkiewicz explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “DPH Motorsport is a really good team and there are a lot of great people underneath the truck. I’m pretty familiar with Husqvarna motorcycles, I raced them for the last four years of my junior career, so I’m pretty comfortable on it – it’s good to be back.
“It should be a good experience having two successful riders as my teammates. Todd Waters is such a successful rider and is coming off a season in the MXGP – he’ll be a good role model – and also Wilson Todd who won the championship last year. It will be good to follow in their footsteps.
“I believe I can be within the top five throughout the whole season in the championship, but I’m definitely pushing towards a win before the season ends. I know I can do it, but we’ll just have to see what happens.”
Today saw the first leg of the marathon stage at the 2019 Dakar en route from Arequipa to Moquegua, where the 124 remaining motorcycle riders had an early start to cover the opening 85-kilometre link section before the first part of the 205-kilometre special. The day was soured by biting cold and humidity in both the city and the mountainous regions. The special consisted of soft dunes with many areas of dusty Fesh-Fesh leading into faster, hard-packed river beds. Riders had to take care to preserve their tyres on the faster sections while not losing too much time to their rivals. A short liaison then brought the riders to the temporary bivouac situated near Moquegua. As the marathon stage rules state, riders receive no outside assistance overnight. All maintenance must be carried out by themselves or fellow competitors.
Nonetheless, Honda’s Ricky Brabec set off like a bat out of hell, marking the best time in the process. After a neutralisation of 54 kilometres, the second part of the special, over 146 kilometres, proved even better for the American, who cruised home with a six-minute advantage over the nearest finisher, dethroning the previous overall leader Pablo Quintanilla with a walloping twenty minute gap. In doing so, Brabec triumphs for the second time in a stage after the victory in 2017 on the La Paz-Uyuni stage. The American takes the head of the overall rankings for the first time in the world’s toughest rally.
Ricky Brabec – Stage P1 – Overall P1
“Wow! I needed it. I needed a victory like that! Today I wanted to push because as we had studied yesterday, winning today would be able to help me in tomorrow’s stage. We will have the mass motocross-style start, just like on the motocross starting grids. I’m really very happy to have won the stage with a good margin of time which has helped place me at the top of leader board.”
Ricky Brabec
Following his challenging stage three, Matthias Walkner was the 15th rider to enter the day’s timed special. Immediately pushing hard and making the most of his experience to catch and pass riders ahead of him, the 2018 Dakar Champion maintained his strong pace throughout the day on the fast, treacherous route. A heavy landing from one drop-off caused Walkner to hurt his ankle slightly but the Austrian rider was able to continue to complete the stage and finish as runner-up.
Matthias Walkner – Stage P2 – Overall P7
“The day was good for me – the bike is running well and I didn’t crash at all today. I did land quite hard from one jump and thought I might have injured my ankle but it seems to be ok. It’s great here in the bivouac, we are all here together as one team and that feels good. I managed to get some time back in the overall today, so I’ll aim to do the same tomorrow.”
Matthias Walkner
Despite a small crash in the latter half of the special, Toby Price put in a great ride to finish as third fastest, less than a minute down on the hard-charging Walkner. Still nursing his injured wrist, the Australian is looking forward to tomorrow’s slightly shorter stage five.
Toby Price – Stage P3 – Overall P3
“That was tough today. It was a long stage and a lot of it was made up of rocky tracks and rivers, they are the worst for my wrist. I did have one get-off along the way but luckily not too bad. I’m not comfortable but it is the way it is and I have to work around it. The goal for the rest of the rally is to keep on doing what I’ve been doing and get the best result possible.”
Toby Price
Fifth away at the start of the stage, Sam Sunderland maintained a strong pace throughout the day, despite losing touch with many of the riders ahead of him and navigating his own way through the fast 405-kilometre stage. The British rider ultimately placed fourth and now also lies fourth in the provisional overall standings.
Sam Sunderland – Stage P4 – Overall P4
“The day started off on some wide-open plains, which was nice. But then they had us go through some really technical stuff, which turned out to be really tricky. I dropped the bike at one point in a ravine and had some trouble getting it to point in the right direction again, but apart from that everything was good. I had to focus to keep my pace at the end there, but I’m happy with my result and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Sam Sunderland
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Pablo Quintanilla is holding on to a strong runner-up position in the event’s provisional overall standings. Four days into the 2019 Dakar and the event in Peru has already proven to be a big challenge for all competitors. Thursday’s stage four was a fast-paced one that featured many tricky navigational challenges.
Racing without the pressure of the opening stages, Yamaha’s Adrien Van Beveren remained fast and consistent from start to finish. Posting the fifth quickest time for the day, the WR450F Rally powered rider is now fifth overall and less than nine-minutes behind the provisional overall leader.
Adrien Van Beveren – Stage P5 – Overall P5
“Everything is going well for me so far and I’m feeling good on the bike. The terrain was not so much to my liking today but I managed to enjoy the stage. The pressure I felt in the opening stages is now gone and I can just focus on my goals for every stage. I’m happy I’ve reached that point and from now on I can just do my own race. Today we rode over some dry river beds and there was a lot of fesh-fesh. The pace was high and I was able to ride well. We’ve made some good work this year with my bike setup and it gives me great confidence in this kind of terrain. I want to continue pushing for some good results in the stages to come.”
Adrien Van Beveren
Monster Energy Honda Team’s Paulo Gonçalves continues to improve in the 2019 edition of the Dakar after a spleen operation just a month ago. The Portuguese rider finished with the sixth fastest time of the day and lies in eighth in the general standings.
Paulo Goncalves – Stage P6 – Overall P8
“Yeah, I’m quite happy. We have done four stages and 40% of the 2019 Dakar and I have made to the marathon stage well, in good health and in a good position. Today I pressed hard until the refuelling through the river area which had plenty of stones. I was very careful. I’m happy because every day I feel better and closer to full fitness. Now let’s try to fight the remaining days of the race.”
Paulo Goncalves
Kevin Benavides occupied ninth place at the finish, one spot behind team-mate Nacho Cornejo, with the Argentine now in sixth place overall.
Kevin Benavides – Stage P9 – Overall P6
“It was an important stage really. We went through a lot of terrain types, hard track, stony areas and even some fesh-fesh. It was fine, but I dropped a bit of time trying to find a waypoint and it didn’t go quite as I had planned. It was difficult to catch other riders because they raised a lot of dust and I preferred to take care of the bike and be able to push later.”
Kevin Benavides
Pablo Quintanilla battled through the day’s tough navigation to post the 14th best time on the special stage but is currently second in the provisional overall standings, two-minutes and 19-seconds behind new provisional overall leader, Ricky Brabec.
Pablo Quintanilla – Stage P14 – Overall P2
“It was a really hard stage today. The first part had some tricky navigation in the fesh-fesh. In the last waypoint before the refuelling I made a mistake but was able to get back on the tracks quickly. Then after the neutralisation point the tracks were really hard. There was a long dry river bed with many stones and it was hard to make some time. I knew from the beginning of the stage that it was possible to get caught by other riders and when it happened I just tried to ride with them. Overall, I’m happy to have finished the first part of the marathon stage without any problems. After some rest tonight, I’m hoping to be back stronger for the second part of the marathon stage tomorrow.”
Pablo Quintanilla
After winning Wednesday’s stage three, Xavier de Soultrait had the demanding task of opening the stage for all following competitors and earned a 15th place result on stage four. Xavier is now ninth and the second Yamaha powered rider inside the top 10 in the provisional overall standings.
Xavier de Soultrait – Stage P15 – Overall P9
“It was a challenging day for me. Today I led the way for most of the special, opening the tracks with a small group of riders. At one point the others got lost and I was left alone opening the tracks in the dunes. I’m really confident with my navigation and I was happy not to make any big mistakes. When you’re leading the way in these conditions, it’s impossible not to make errors and I made a few of them today, which cost me some time. This is always part of the Dakar, we take it and move on. I have a very good starting position for tomorrow and that gives me extra motivation to push. Tomorrow we will be starting in rows of 10 riders every five minutes. I will be in the second row so I am hoping I can catch the leading group and ride with them. The goal now is to reach the Rest Day on Saturday with a good position in the overall.”
Xavier de Soultrait
Experienced Dakar racer Laia Sanz knows the importance of caring for your bike on the first half of the marathon stage. Putting in another solid ride, Laia once again finished the day inside the top-20 as 19th fastest.
Laia Sanz – Stage P20 – Overall P19
“It was a long day today but I am happy with how it went. It’s important to arrive here at the bivouac with the bike in one piece on the marathon stage and I managed to finish without any problems. The day was quite hard with lots of dust at first and then later on the river bed was really tough. I’m hoping for another good day tomorrow.”
Laia Sanz
Queensland’s Rodney Faggotter was forced to retire with technical problems earlier in the rally.
Competitors spend the night at Moquegua camp where they can rest and prepare the second leg of the marathon stage. The riders will, however, be left to their own devices as no outside mechanical assistance is permitted. Instead any technical help will have to wait until the close of tomorrow’s stage back at the Arequipa bivouac. The fifth stage will add a total of 776 kilometres to the 1109 disputed so far and will include 345 kilometres against the clock.
2019 Dakar Rally Provisional Results Stage Four
BRABEC Ricky USA Honda 03:40’30
WALKNER Matthias AUT KTM +06’19
PRICE Toby AUS KTM +07’07
SUNDERLAND Sam GBR KTM +11’35
VAN BEVEREN Adrien FRA Yamaha +13’29
GONCALVES Paulo POR Honda +13’36
SVITKO Stefan SLO KTM +14’10
CORNEJO José Ignacio CHI Honda 14’33
BENAVIDES Kevin ARG Honda +15’20
SANTOLINO Lorenzo SPA Sherco +17’02
2019 Dakar Rally Outright Standings after Stage Four
BRABEC Ricky USA Monster Energy Honda Team 12:33’00
QUINTANILLA Pablo CHI Rockstar Husqvarna Factory Racing +02’19
PRICE Toby AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Team +04’22
SUNDERLAND Sam GBR Red Bull KTM Rally Team +05’45
VAN BEVEREN Adrien FRA Yamaha Official Rally Team +08’56
BENAVIDES Kevin ARG Monster Energy Honda Team +09’01
WALKNER Matthias AUT Red Bull KTM Rally Team +09’31
GONCALVES Paulo POR Monster Energy Honda Team +20’45
DE SOULTRAIT Xavier FRA Yamaha Official Rally Team +22’00
Price ranked third in overall classification with P3 on day four.
Image: Supplied.
A win on stage four of the 2019 Dakar Rally has granted Monster Energy Honda Team’s Ricky Brabec the lead, following yet another shake up in the standings.
The stage marked the first half of the marathon of the event, where riders left Arequipa and headed for the temporary bivouac in Moquegua, receiving no outside assistance from their teams. The 511-kilometre stage included a gruelling 405-kilometre timed special – the longest of the rally.
Brabec lodged a time of 3h40m30s, edging out last year’s champion Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) by 6m19s – a crucial result for the number one after a horrid stage three.
Australian Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was third, bumping him up to third in the overall classification, and was followed by Adrien van Beveren (Yamalube Yamaha Rally) and Sam Sunderland (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
The overall standings now sees Brabec in P1 ahead of former leader Pablo Quintanilla (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – who battled to 14th in the stage – while Price holds down third over Sunderland and van Beveren.
Friday’s 776-kilometre stage five will see the first of two mass starts at this year’s event. Riders will set off motocross-style into the Ilo dunes as they contest the 345-kilometre timed special. As the day makes up the second half of the marathon stage, competitors will need to conserve their tyres and machines in order to arrive back at the bivouac safely.
$250 off Pioneer 700-2, Pioneer 500, TRX500FM2 & TRX420TM1
The Honda Work Range is offering big savings until the 31st March, available on selected ATVs and SXSs from the Pioneer 1000, through to the TRX420TM1.
From the SXS range, the Pioneer 1000-3 has $500 off and features a class-leading, purpose built 999cc parallel twin engine, with state of the art beltless transmissions for optimum durability and low maintenance.
Honda’s premium Pioneer 1000-3, now with $500 savings until March 31, 2019
The Pioneer 1000 is a smooth riding and extremely versatile SXS, with power steering and an automatic Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) as well as 2wd/4wd. The ultra-versatile Dual Clutch Transmission System (DCT) offers the performance and flexibility of a manual transmission with the convenience of an automatic.
Add in a big towing capacity, tilt adjustable electric power steering and reduced noise level and the Pioneer 1000 is the premium choice in the large capacity SXS market.
The Pioneer 700-2
The Pioneer 700-2 is also in on the action, with $250 off, its Honda’s mid-range machine developed from farmer feedback and specifically designed for Australian conditions.
With electric power steering and fully automatic transmission with a manual mode that can be activated via a dash-mounted toggle switch, the Pioneer 700 is a ‘fair dinkum’ work horse that will get the job done.
The auto transmission is all-gear so no belts that slip, break or burn out. Paddle shifters can be used to change gears while in manual mode or to override shift points on the fly while in automatic mode.
Honda Pioneer 500, now benefiting from $250 in savings until March 31, 2019
Those in need of a compact SXS should certainly look at the Pioneer 500; with an all gear transmission – no belts, automatic with paddle shift as well as 2WD/4WD and PGM-FI. It has $250 off and it’s an ideal workhorse for narrow trails or between rows of fruit trees and vines.
All Honda Pioneers offers a seat belt interlock system, which prompts drivers to wear their seat belt when operating the machine, and if the seatbelt is not engaged then the vehicles speed is limited.
From the ATV line up, enjoy $250 off either the TRX500FM2 or TRX420TM1. Aussie farmers count on Honda ATVs and have done so for generations, due to their bulletproof engines and unmatched reliability.
Honda TRX420TM1
Both the TRX500FM2 and TRX420TM1 offer Electronic Power Steering (EPS), which incorporates new ECU mapping for improved linearity in steering response, reduced low-speed steering effort for enhanced manoeuvrability and decreased kickback traits for improved all-around steering action.
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The TRX420TM1s rugged OHV liquid-cooled, fuel-injected 420cc longitudinally mounted engine allows direct driveshaft alignment to both front and rear wheels for maximum drivetrain efficiency.
The Honda Work range also boasts a ‘fair dinkum’ 3 year warranty period, so what are you waiting for? Make the most of these great savings and visit your nearest Honda Dealer, ring 1 300 1 HONDA or go to www.hondamotorcycles.com.au (link)
The Fine Print
*$250 dollars off when purchasing a new TRX420TM1, TRX500FM2, Pioneer 500 or Pioneer 700-2. $500 dollars off when purchasing a new Pioneer 1000-3. Not redeemable in store and are not redeemable for cash, dollars off include GST. Available between 1 January and 31 March 2019. Only at participating Honda Dealers. Accessories shown not included. Overseas models shown.
Consistency is the key to Australian rider Toby Price’s fourth Dakar Rally, now sitting in third place after four stages and carrying the hopes of his nation for a second historic win.
Unfortunately, fellow Aussie Rodney Faggotter is out after mechanical failures on his factory Yamaha on stage three.
It was the Queenslander’s fifth Dakar mission after finishing 16th last year.
Australia’s two other Dakar competitors are rookies Victorian Ben Young (#72 Duust Rally Team) and Canberran James Ferguson (#121 KTM).
Young is in a commendable 21st position among the rookies and 67th overall.
James was in 106th overall out of 149 starters at the end of stage 3 and 34th among the rookies.
So far, he has not come in, but at this point only 95 have finished the gruelling 406km fourth stage. We will update when James finishes.
Unique rally
This year’s Dakar is unique as it is being staged in only one country, Peru, and so far almost ll the racing has been in the dunes.
It’s also one of the most competitive with four different winner sin the four stages and three different bike brands.
Leaders
Current leader Ricky Brabec
KTM, which is chasing its 18th straight win, has only scored a win in the second stage for last year’s winner, Austrian Matthais Walkner.
Joan Barreda Bort won the firsts age on his Honda, Xavier de Soultrait won stage three for Yamaha and American Ricky Brabec scored Honda’s second stage win over night.
Ricky is now leading, ahead of consistent riders Pablo Quintanilla for Husqvarna just 2 minutes behind, ahead of Toby who is less than six minutes form the lead.
Consistency
Mr Consistency Toby Price
Toby, who is also the first Australian to win the World Cross-Country Rallies Championship with victory in the final round in Morocco last month, is nursing a mending broken wrist.
“The wrist is a little sore but I think I’ll make the distance, it’s all or nothing!” says Toby who won in only his second Dakar in 2016.
Toby started racing the Dakar in 2015, became a KTM factory rider in 2016 and was the first Aussie to win the rally. He broke his leg in 2017 and last year finished an unbelievable third despite not racing for a year due to injury.
Toby’s strategy in each event is consistency in the first half and attack in the second half which starts next week.
Click here if you would like to send him best wishes for a successful rally.
WestX1000 reports on special stage 3 from Dakar 2019.
Begin Press Release:
SS3, New Terrain Added New Obstacles
The Dakar Rally Proves Unpredictable Once More with Fresh Winners and Withdrawals
Special Stage Three offered racers a mix of geographical features, bringing the men and women of Dakar to the shores of the Pacific and back inland down another long, windy route. Expected to be a great navigational challenge, this section led to some exciting and unexpected outcomes.
It was the only cloud-cover the event had seen yet. A welcome change from the unrelenting sun. But early morning fog enveloped the view in some parts of the course for some time, only to be replaced by an extreme amount of dust, as many riders reported. Quite silty, the situation was likely made worse due the cars departing prior to the bikes and quads, creating additional hurdles to overcome. For those who could focus on the rare window of clarity appearing between the shroud of dirt, navigating the rocky terrain past their blind opponents was, if not easy, possible.
“It was very dusty and kind of sketchy and rocky. But if you got out of the dust, you could see just enough to avoid the rocks. So, I was pinning it… full Hare and Hound. [Like in] Baja. Exactly like everything I’ve ever raced before. The whole first 70 kilometers were like that… I passed so many people, so quickly.” – Skyler Howes #73, Garrett Off-Road Racing Team, USA
Tough day at the office for a handful of top seeded riders in the Bikes category on the 331 KM Special Stage to Arequipa, Peru. Joan Barreda Bort (#5), who looked to be a contender for the overall win, had to pull out of the race after a long struggle to escape a basin where he and his motorbike had been stuck for several hours. This of course helps clear the way – just a bit – for his most worthy adversaries. With new riders finishing in the primary five positions, we’re reminded every round at the world’s most infamous off-road rally starts a fresh battle where anyone can make it to the winner’s circle and the shoe-ins can fall from drastic heights. Xavier de Soultrait (#18) secured his first Dakar stage win just seconds, 15 to be precise, ahead of overall leader Pablo Quintanilla (#6). Kevin Benavides (#47) and Adrien Van Beveren (#4) fought miraculously through the crowd to snatch up 3rd and 4th in the stage.
Meanwhile, stage opener Matthias Walkner (#1) lost his way, supposedly taking Barreda, American Ricky Brabec (#15) and a few others with him while Yamaha’s Soultrait gapped everyone else by over six mins at the midway point. Brabec and Walkner were off by as much as 24 and 29 mins respectively at the gas stop.
Despite the loss in time, Brabec still earned a respectable 13th place at the finish, while US rider Andrew Short (#29) was quite steadfast at 12th. Skyler Howes (#73) keeps clawing his way to the top, even battling Brabec for a while before landing 17th in line. Keep in mind, the Dakar Rally is only the third navigation rally the rookie Howes has ever competed in. Two of which – the Sonora Rally and BAJA RALLY – he won, overall. Grassroots racer Nathan Rafferty (#104) too moves fluidly up the rankings taking 70th today. But the real Cinderella Story was of privateer racer, Garrett Poucher (#71), making a major comeback starting 120th in the lineup and ending the round at 28th. About 75 kilometers from the final of Special Stage Two, Poucher had suffered a malfunction which in his words, “disintegrated my bib and soon [thereafter] ripped off my rear tire.” But he pushed onward, completing both the special and liaison stages, qualifying to race the following morning. And race he did, as he jumped 92 spots which puts him at 79th in the General Classification.
At the conclusion of Day 3 of racing, in the General Classification (overall) for Motorcycles, there sits two Americans in the Top Ten: Brabec at 7th, Short at 10th; one just outside of the premiere 20: Howes with the 21st seed; and two Americans in the in the top 100: Rafferty in 77th and of course Poucher sitting at 79th. Not bad for the often-under-represented United States! But it might be too soon to make this same statement about the cars? Casey Currie in SxS #343 made another huge leap to 4th place, the US drivers, Blade Hildebrand (#367) and Cole Potts (#346) crossed the finish line at 27th and 56th. Though, we’re left to wonder, where’s off-road legend, Robby Gordon (#316)? The answer is yet to be determined…
KEY POINTS:
Ø Rankings of Americans
BIKE
12th Andrew Short #29 – 04h 22’ 52”; 10th in the General Classification
13th Ricky Brabec #15 – 04h 27’ 43”; 7th in the General Classification
17th Skyler Howes #73 – 04h 38’ 28”; 21st in the General Classification
28th Garrett Poucher #71 – 05h 03’ 24”; 79th in the General Classification
70th Nathan Rafferty #104 – 06h 08’ 30”; 77th in the General Classification
CAR
27th Blade Hildebrand, Bill Conger #367 – 05h 27’ 55”; 25th in the General Classification
56th Cole Potts, Max Eddy #346 – 07h 12’ 29”; 65th in the General Classification
TBD Robby Gordon, Kellon Walch #316 – –h –’ –”; TBD in the General Classification
SIDE-BY-SIDE
4th Casey Currie #343 – 04h 47’ 27”; 8th in the General Classification
Ø Top Ten Stage Finishers in Motorcycles
1st Xavier de Soultrait #18 – 04h 07’ 42”; 6th in the General Classification
2nd Pablo Quintanillo #6 – 04h 07’ 57”; 1st in the General Classification
3rd Kevin Benavides #47 – 04h 10’ 19”; 2nd in the General Classification
4th Adrien Van Beveren #4 – 04h 14’ 24”; 4th in the General Classification
5th Sam Sunderland #14 – 04h 16’ 08”; 3rd in the General Classification
6th Paulo Goncalves #2 – 04h 17’ 13”; 9th in the General Classification
7th Stefan Svitko #11 – 04h 18’ 32”; 11th in the General Classification
8th Oriol Mena #7 – 04h 18’ 57”; 12th in the General Classification
9th Toby Price #3 – 04h 21’ 58”; 5th in the General Classification
10th Michael Metge #16 – 04h 22’ 27”; 26th in the General Classification
Ø Tomorrow, January 10th to 11th sets off the Marathon stage sending racers on a loop around Arequipa before splitting Cars/Trucks/SxS off to Tacna and Motorbikes and Quads to Moquegua.
Hundreds of bikes of many different styles and descriptions descend upon the Pendleton convention center during Bike Week. Some wait to go on organized rides, others visit the vendors, and the numbers continue to grow through the weekend. Photos by the author.
Nestled among ranchland and wheat fields in the state’s northeast corner, reviewing the history of Pendleton, Oregon, conjures images of rough-and-tumble rodeo cowboys, Native Americans, woolen blankets and whiskey. Now for the fourth consecutive year, a new type of rough and “rumble” is settling in during the dog days of summer: Pendleton Bike Week, or PBW.
Local MC club riders were on hand with a sweet drone to provide aerial footage of the gathering and performances.
Event organizer Eric Folkestad is no stranger to this type of venue, since he was previously behind the Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally. After four years of great support from local officials, law enforcement and the community, Folkestad feels PBW will continue to grow and present enough to attendees to make the list of many riders’ annual “go to” events.
A few dual-sports were sprinkled among the crowd, not the norm for this type of event but all very welcome.
Some great music was in the house, with sounds from the 1970s to today, played live by Foghat, Petty Fever (Tom Petty tribute band), Roni Lee and many great acts in between. Also on hand were the Seattle Cossacks stunt and drill team, who were celebrating 80 years of performing as an organized group, which was marked with a downtown celebration and presentation to the Cossacks of the key to the city. These guys are a spectacle that must be seen at least once in a rider’s life–witnessing a third-generation Cossack take on the harder stunts in the heat three times a day restored my faith in motorcycling youth.
A few classy Bavarians were among the crowd of mostly V-twin machines at the 2018 Pendleton Bike Week.
On that note, it was hard to ignore that the crowd’s average age continues to rise. Perhaps the lure of redesigned machines with trendy and appealing features like the bikes available for demo rides from Indian and Yamaha will start to draw in newer riders. The 2018 PBW also hosted a flat track race on Saturday night as well as organized day rides, poker runs and a memorial ride. Great riding spreads out from Pendleton like the spokes on a wagon wheel, so there was something for everyone to enjoy at their own pace.
For those weekends when you can’t decide on trailering, riding or vintage auto driving, this Boss Hoss has them all covered.
Pendleton itself has always been one of my favorite stops and has historic buildings, fantastic food and some cool stuff to see and do off the bike. I took in the Pendleton Underground Tour, which regales participants with the often sad, bawdy, illicit history of Pendleton and how it shaped the town into what it has become. It was very much worth the price of admission.
Joining forces, my GRG (Guardrail Gang) attacks Battle Mountain, a convoluted span of pavement along U.S. Route 395 south of Pendleton.
I also used the long weekend to reassemble my band of miscreants I have dubbed the “Guardrail Gang,” which includes me, my son, a nephew and a friend since birth. Seventeen years ago, we set out on a route very close by and just four hours into it my son, with the sun in his eyes, misjudged his entry speed and kissed a guardrail…hard. I saw more of the inside of his kneecap than I ever wanted to that day. My friend Mike had ridden ahead to our night’s destination, and many hours later when he got word he rode through the night to meet us back at the hospital. We all have a good story now, and this was the first time we have reassembled since then for a much less dramatic 200-mile loop on some lovely roads.
Portland and Vegas based See See Coffee was on hand with its cool Ural Grinder side-hack rig to fill up the caffeine deficits of Pendleton Bike Week visitors.
We left our digs in Athena, Oregon, and headed into the cool of Tollgate Pass, riding east on State Route 204 to the welcoming town of Elgin. After a brief southward jaunt via U.S. Route 82 to La Grande, we grabbed breakfast at the Smokehouse Café (highly recommended), then picked up U.S. Route 84 north until Hilgard junction gave us access to State Route 244 westward, bound for Ukiah. After some delicious curves in the quickly warming day, we took U.S. Route 395 at Ukiah and headed north again to Pendleton over the undulating Battle Mountain, a real treat for any rider.
If you get bored of sweating out mid-July where you currently reside, make the trek to Pendleton for the 2019 Bike Week (July 17-21); it will surely warm you up in more ways than one.
On any surface, in all weather, the Seattle Cossacks ply their skills, often in very tight quarters and in near contact with avid spectators, as shown here at the 2018 Pendleton Bike Week.During Pendleton Bike Week the main drag is not completely lined with bikes as at other venues, but some hardware is ever-present around the eating and drinking establishments as eye candy dessert.Some serious looking flat track bikes wait for the showdown on Saturday night to settle some old H-D vs. Indian scores.Sponsor of the 2018 Pendleton Bike Week, Indian Motorcycles had its entire lineup of demo machines and a well-oiled test ride crew ready to tend to the curious. The Scout Bobber I tried out has real potential.What event would be complete without a classic/modern Triumph representative like this Thruxton enjoying PBW.No bike week anywhere would be complete without adorable ladies in cute costumes and Pendleton is no exception. (The one with the beard is my nephew.)
Flat track’s applicability to pavement—as evinced by MotoGP champs—had the Duke of Richmond inviting some star-spangled stars to his Goodwood Festival of Speed.
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