It is with a heavy heart that we report the death of Paulo Gonçalves, who died Sunday while racing Stage 7 of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.
Always one of the riders to watch each year at The Dakar, Gonçalves was competing this year under the Hero Motorcycles factory team banner, making his 13th start at this iconic and grueling race.
If the KTM 790 Adventure R wasn’t off-roady enough for you, the Austrians have just announced another trim level to the ground-breaking ADV machine, which will make it even more suited to long-distance traveling where the asphalt ends.
As such, say hello to the KTM 790 Adventure R Rally for the 2020 model year. Though restricted to just 500 units worldwide, KTM owners can still replicate much of what the “Ready to Race” brand is doing by raiding the KTM power parts bin.
This is because the KTM 790 Adventure R Rally is basically the adventure bike built with all of KTM’s best farkles. But, don’t let that notion distract you into thinking that this is just a simple parts bin pony.
KTM is building a potent machine, with the hopes of getting the imaginations stirring for those with dirt in their blood.
As we expected, the Dakar Rally will head to the Middle East for its 2020 edition. The move is a radical departure from the South American continent, which has hosted the iconic race for the last 11 years.
Perhaps over-staying its welcome, the Dakar organizers could only convince Peru to host the 2019 race, and for next year, a new host was picked, with Saudi Arabia’s bid winning out.
As such, the Dakar Rally will be in the Middle East for the next five years, with the 2020 race being exclusively in the country of Saudi Arabia. And now this week, we get our first glimpse of the route for next year.
For the past 17 runnings of the Dakar Rally, one name has stood above all the others in the motorcycle class: KTM.
Now with another victory in the most grueling motorcycle race on earth, the Austrian brand can add race win #18 to the tally, thanks to factory rider Toby Price.
Crossing the finish line Lima, Peru today, Price was clear of his nearest rival (last year’s winner, Matthias Walkner) by a comfortable margin of 9 minutes 13 seconds.
With three KTM bikes in the Top 3, and the Top 5 consisting of only KTM and Husqvarna brand machines, the Austrian conglomerate can rest easy in 2019 after securing another year of its legacy, but don’t mistake this year’s edition of the race as a blowout.
Yesterday, we brought you photos of the Honda CRF450L Rally concept – a machine that Big Red was quietly debuting at the EICMA show in Milan.
And now today, thanks to our friends at American Honda, we have not only a bunch of new high-resolution photos for you to drool over, as well as a few details on this machine.
Before we get to it though, we want to make an above-the-fold plea to anyone who might be reading in Honda factory back in Japan…
Please Honda, please pretty please, make this motorcycle a production model. Don’t change a thing. Just build it. Thank you.
When the Honda CRF450 Rally debuted for rally raid competitors in 2012, there was a cry for a production model of this Dakar-ready dirt bike. It took a while, but Big Red finally answer…sort of.
The Honda CRF250L Rally wasn’t exactly the bike that we expect to see in 2015, and it took over a year (and many, many teasings) for the concept to become a reality for the 2017 model year.
The 250cc platform was an interesting choice for Honda to make for its race-replica dirt bike, especially with the underwhelming debut of the CRF250L model, and thus the want for a 450cc version continued.
Now with the potent CRF450L on the market, it looks like that idea is starting to take shape…though, you would hardly know it from the Japanese brand’s actions at EICMA.
Do you have eyes on starting your rally raid racing career? If so, we suggest KTM’s updated privateer model, the 2019 KTM 450 Rally Replica. There is one slight problem, however…it’s already sold out.
Built off the same machine that took Matthias Walkner to the winner’s circle during the 2018 edition, the Rally Replica model is still built for racers only, but it keeps in mind those who are competing without the budget of a factory team.
For 2019, KTM says that it has redesigned the Rally Replica from the ground up, to provide an excellent racing platform for the company’s racing customers.
As such, the 2019 KTM 450 Rally Replica has a completely new chassis, which has improved mass centralization.
Race officials for the Dakar Rally have just released their initial plans for the 2019 edition of the grueling off-road race, and next year Dakar competitors will compete in only one country: Peru.
The news is a bit of a shock, since in the past The Dakar has found hosts in multiple South American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, & Chile). But, South America’s hospitality has been on the wane, which leads us to our next bit of news…
There is a growing idea that the Dakar Rally could be headed back to Africa for the 2020 edition and onward. Boom goes the dynamite.
Track days are winding down, the new machines for next year have already been revealed, and the cold of winter is upon us. For the motorcycle industry, this is the low-point of the season.
There is something to look forward to in the off-season, however, and it’s the Dakar Rally.
In just about one month’s time, the world’s top off-road racers will take part in what is called the most grueling motorcycle race on the planet.
The 2018 Dakar Rally is the 40th edition of the iconic rally raid, and once again it will take place far from its namesake, with competitors racing through Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.
This year’s route will take racers to the Pacific Ocean, through the Huacachina sand dunes, and beyond, until they finish in Córdoba.
When it comes to adventure-tourers that can actually go off-road, the Honda Africa Twin easily rises to the top of the list. Couple that to Honda’s pursuits in the Dakar Rally and other rally raid events, and its easy to see where the Honda Africa Twin Rally could be born.
A special model being built by Italy’s Honda importer that was unveiled at this year’s Motodays show, the Africa Twin Rally won’t be hitting other markets any time soon (read: never), though it shows a machine that many ADV riders have been clamoring for, since the first shots of the Honda CRF450 Rally hit the internet.
The 2017 Dakar Rally is done and dusted. The competitors are either already on their way home, or now spending a well-deserved vacation in South America, after tackling what is easily the most difficult motorcycle race on the planet.
The Dakar is of course iconic and well-known for its difficulty, where it is not uncommon to see riders perish on its course, but this year’s rally raid was billed as one of the most challenging editions of the Dakar Rally ever.
When a man like Marc Coma – a man who has won the race five times – tells you that, your default mode is to believe him.
Tackling that challenge were 143 riders, of which only on 96 made it all the way to Buenos Aires. And while KTM has been the dominant manufacturer for the past 15 years, the 2017 edition saw early on that any of the major four brands could have a hand on the trophy in Argentina.
Of course we know that KTM made it to a sweet 16th victory, sweeping the podium no less, but the results sheet betrays what happened on the course. As such, I wanted to share some notes I have from the 2017 Dakar Rally.