2008 Grand Challenge route revealed

[insomnia01]

Well done Hami

Expect to see your write-up and photos soon. How were your wrists and arse??

all good, my hips where killing me by the time i had finished... have spoken to RT & he reckons turn the pre-load down to make it softer, I'm off to wgtn this weekend so have made a couple of adjustments to the rear & will see how it goes otherwise I may need to call on your advise in setting it up properly... other than that it was magic. I bumped into another BB owner who has meet you before, maori bloke called Kim 97'BB you organised his 6mm spacer nice bloke not sure how he got on, but as the night grew so did my pain, but managed to get around it by scretching regularly

[Hitcher]

but managed to get around it by scretching regularly

There are laws against that you know.

[Bass]

have spoken to RT & he reckons turn the pre-load down to make it softer,

Common misconception discussed at length in these columns before. Reducing preload will not make it softer, only closer to the ground.

[Gremlin]

Fortunately I had a fairing to hide behind. I expect that it would have been diabolical on a naked bike.

I always laughed a bit at the st and such like... but now they make a lot of sense. Fairing, huge tank range etc...

Thanks for making me feel like a hard bastard... I saw you regularly, I was the supermoto behind the blackbird

The event is incredibly well organised though and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with what Lee and his team have put together.

What an amazing event.

I have no idea how many gearshifts I did, but not having a huge torque range, I shifted gears a LOT (ie, sometimes a couple every 5 secs) resulted in fantastic cramp in my left leg, but the route (while daunting for a newbie) contained gorgeous roads. Having a supermoto also made it more fun. Straights were boring, but the twisty bits, well, I loved.

Definitely looking to do my 2nd next year... hopefully with a nice seat and bigger tank. The frequency of the stops probably killed us the most, with me not able to match the range of a blackbird.

[bryce]

bryce here [gn 250] i did finish ,the only three parts i did wrong was about 5ks up the gentle anne ,i over shot that turn [they warned us not to],and the wrong way through parmy,i dissconected all the eletrices to keep the motor ranning ,and broke down out of benneydale at 7;06 check in at te kuiti at 11;45.made it back with 10 m to spear.was 6th bike on the road .2nd at waipuk got past by an sv and was 6th bike checked in at masterton .past them bake at taihape,the only cold part was when the over suit i borowed wasn't sealed right an my crutch filled up from the ran on the desert road ,

[Mystic13]

if you are getting cramp - go vist your chemist and get some quinine pills that will stop it

lR

Thanks and how do you cure the sore butt quickly after the event. Next time I'm going straight across to the Tokaanu hot pools.

[Mystic13]

bryce here [gn 250] i did finish ,the only three parts i did wrong was about 5ks up the gentle anne ,i over shot that turn [they warned us not to],and the wrong way through parmy,i dissconected all the eletrices to keep the motor ranning ,and broke down out of benneydale at 7;06 check in at te kuiti at 11;45.made it back with 10 m to spear.was 6th bike on the road .2nd at waipuk got past by an sv and was 6th bike checked in at masterton .past them bake at taihape,the only cold part was when the over suit i borowed wasn't sealed right an my crutch filled up from the ran on the desert road ,

Hey Bryce, they asked me at the National Park checkpoint if I'd seen you and I mentioned seeing you parked up at Bennydale. I assumed you had stopped at home or a friends for a hot meal and drink etc.

I'm very impressed that you did it on that bike. Very, very impressed.

[insomnia01]

Common misconception discussed at length in these columns before. Reducing preload will not make it softer, only closer to the ground.

so are you suggesting that I leave the preload alone & adjust the compression dampner?? I have only started feeling the pain since I had the Ohlins installed & know bugger all about bike set-up's, I'm really just having a play.....

[Bass]

so are you suggesting that I leave the preload alone & adjust the compression dampner?? I have only started feeling the pain since I had the Ohlins installed & know bugger all about bike set-up's, I'm really just having a play.....

Sorry.
It's off topic for this thread so I will send you a PM

[DougieNZ]

short of having transponders on the route and sensors on all the bikes to record their passing very little we can do.

We dont have to look at them in the mirror.

And when all said and done they do complete 1000 miles as well. Maybe a little easier, but if you allow for people covering extra when lost etc you could never "even it out" so it comes down to trust.

Those who follow the route and do it all the hard way know who they are and they know that they have our utmost respect.

Absolutely correct Lee. This is ceretainly not a reflection on the magnificent job that you and the follow rustys do in organising this event. It is very much appreciated by us all. I have done a couple of Rusty events now and have really enjoyed them.

It just pisses me off that some feel they have to cheat the system. But like you say, they have to look at themselves in the mirror at the end of the day.

Congrats on what soulds like another typical demanding rusty route (sp?)!!

[DougieNZ]

...........................

[KoroJ]

Here's a few pix. I seem to get a bit pre-occupied on these rides and forget to take many.


My Report/Blog here: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/bl...9500&entry=523



1&2: Scrutineering
3: The ST & 'Busa by the cabins
4: The Map
5&6: Starting to gather on Saturday After lunch

[KoroJ]

1: Gathering for the start
2: The Briefing
3&4: Time Check at Te Anga
5&6: 1st Check Point at Te Kawa

[KoroJ]

1: Checkpoint 5 at Te Kuiti
2: Back at turangi Cabins (taken at 1250)

[warewolf]

I missed it this year, damn shame. Well done to everyone who gave it a go.

A couple of my mates retired this year, one has 8 finishes already, the other has a couple. They got lost early on, had their normally satisfactory rain gear fail so got very cold, and by half-time were seriously behind time - by several hours. They are not quick riders so decided it was best to admit defeat on this one.

As to the "cheats"; don't under-estimate the amount of work required to run this event. Adding any further checks may just be stretching things too far.

I'm quite happy to use all of the available 24 hours to finish; I wonder how many ppl who substitute highways for by-ways get back with oodles of time to spare?