6 DAYS IN THE SAND! :) My 2000km CHALLENGE in the EMPTY Quarter!
- Thread starter Kenisis
- Start date
ClimbingTurtle
Bachelor Dog
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Jirre - now my nerves.....
SUB!!!!
SUB!!!!
Dirt Junkie
Race Dog
Sub..
Katundu
Pack Dog
Sub
Kenisis
Race Dog
Hey Boys.
Glad to see i have you interested.
Ill work on the next installment in the morning!!
Cheers
Al
Glad to see i have you interested.
Ill work on the next installment in the morning!!
Cheers
Al
Buff
Grey Hound
Lekka lekka, this one's gonna be a goodie ;D :thumleft:
Sub
Sub
Kenisis
Race Dog
Day Minus 2 – Continued.
So now we left the Rally HQ at Yas Island and headed back to my house in Dubai. The plan for the afternoon was to Fit the Irritrac, Sentinel and GPS ready for the Next day’s Scrutineering.
This mainly involved a lot of running wires one way Cable tying. Cutting loose and re-doing. Checking the rotation of the steering for snags etc. This all included with the Antennae for these unit 4 in total.
We then spent the remainder of the night packing all my goods and making sure that I haven’t forgotten anything.
So now we left the Rally HQ at Yas Island and headed back to my house in Dubai. The plan for the afternoon was to Fit the Irritrac, Sentinel and GPS ready for the Next day’s Scrutineering.
This mainly involved a lot of running wires one way Cable tying. Cutting loose and re-doing. Checking the rotation of the steering for snags etc. This all included with the Antennae for these unit 4 in total.
We then spent the remainder of the night packing all my goods and making sure that I haven’t forgotten anything.
MalcolmX
Race Dog
.
Kenisis
Race Dog
Day Minus 1 – Saturday(Scrutineering)
So I woke up after having an OKish night’s sleep. Kicked all the rest of my family`s arses to get them out of bed and into the Car.
We had booked into the Yas Marina Rotana Hotel for 2 nights so that my Family could be with me at the start of the Challenge. We had an uneventful drive through to Rally HQ.
I off loaded my bike and put it under the Gecko Honda gazebo. There was a Flurry of activity at the Rally HQ. This did not help my nerves at all. Everyone is checking something and the rechecking everything. Now with me having done all my Prep myself this had me doubting whether I had done everything properly. So I began checking my antennae`s and wiring before I had to present myself to the Scrutineers. The problem was I had two hours to get rid of and the way I was feeling I could easily rebuild the bike I that time and just as easily F%^$ the bike up in that time.
Gecko Honda`s Pit area at Rally HQ
Luckily there was a Frenchy in our Camp that needed help in our camp and this was great as my attention was diverted from my bike to His. There was a small problem with his wiring and that was easily rectified.
Suddenly I had two visitors at my bike. An official from TDDcom and a lady from ERTF. The prick from TDcom couldn’t string two words together in English. So he nearly got a slap from me when i Asked him if my bike was all good and he replied an astounding “No!” Turns out my French sucks as badly as his English and he actually meant Yes. I must admit i was glad not to give him too much kak! The lady from ERTF was very delightful and gave us lots of advice and even cracked the odd joke. I think she could tell I was a little stressed. When they were finished they put stickers on the bike to say that they had done their checks. They also Signed off our Scrutineering sheets and the First part was completed!
Here is the Lady from ERTF. Performing her checks.
Here are the Stickers that put on the Bike.
After they had done their checks I suddenly found out that there were stickers that needed to put stuck to my bike. A Scrutineering requirement. So I then put Monkey to work to cut all these stickers up so that we could stick them to the bike.
Here you can see where we played find a spot to put the stickers!
Straight after we had stuck the “Sponsors” Stickers to my bike I was Instructed to present myself to the scrutineers with all my gear and my Bike.
The Sound Level Test.
One part of the FIM regulations state that the bike may not exceed 115 Db in the sound test. I was a little concerned about this . When I put the baffle in it chokes the bike and I`d lose 20% power. Not good when you need the power! So I drilled some of the holes out in the baffle to get rid of the restriction. Not having a Db meter I had no idea where I stood on this test.
Now I don’t know about you guys but I am a little protective of things and when I got into the sound level test area I was told to start my bike and then to Let them do their thing. So literally 5 seconds from when I started my bike it was having its neck wrung like a Turkey in thanksgiving! No foreplay straight to the point! Apparently they are scared that us as the competitors would nurse the throttle at the test. After this I voiced my opinion and after that I did notice that they asked everyone behind me if they would like to warm their bike up?
Here I am going through the Sound level checks.
.
The guys then check my VIN and Engine numbers against my registration card. Suppose to make sure that the bike is actually road legal.
Now I am asked for my gear.
Now this is where I had one of my best chirps ever. I am not a person who argues well with other people but for once i had a chirp straight back at the scrutineer. It all started when I had to show my safety equipment. Amongst all of the safety equipment I had a Compass that I got out of a larney Christmas cracker! The Scrutineer was not impressed that I had a “Lucky Packet” Compass. I thought it was a rather nice one and when I asked him what more a bought compass does? Quite frankly the only requirement that I am interested in is that it had to show north! To which he had no come back!
He then looked at the safety stickers of my helmet and then the Rule book was thrown at me. I have a Shoei VFX-W helmet that I bought a couple of months earlier. It seems that mine did not have the required rating of SNELL 2010 but rather had a rating of SNELL 2005. Now for this the scrutineer was not willing to budge! I was told to go and get another helmet and then bring it back to the scrutineers. Now Dubai is a vibrant place but when it comes to finding helmets with the right SNELL rating would prove to be impossible. I even considered buying a ”Concussion Magnet” helmet from one of the dealers but they were surprise, surprise out of Stock!
I was then asked to complete the rest of the Scrutineering with my bike. So on I went to the Technical check. Brake light, Fog lamp, Water tank, Kill Switch Etc. Hennie a South African performed these checks and asked me why i did not have the correct helmet? This was as a joke as I don’t think he was getting on with his by the book fellow scrutineer. In confidence he told me not to stress about the helmet as there were already 15 of us with the same problem. Soon I was to find out that my Mate Sean Gaugain has the same problem with his sponsored Fox helmet that he received 3 days earlier.
Here is a pic of the tests that Hennie did.
After this the scrutineers had to Seal the engine to the frame. Did not have a spot to do this so i had to drill a hole in a tab on my engine so they could do the sealing. This took a lot of running around to find a Drill then to find a drill bit, Go back for another because the bit was blunt and eventually they could seal the engine. They then also marked every thing up with my engine number and i was good to go back to our pit area.
The Sealing.
The Marking.
I went back to our pit/workshop area and there was still a hive of activity. I was stressing about my helmet. I called every bike shop in Dubai. I even called The Most expensive Store in Dubai up. The conversation went something like this.
Me: “Hi is this (Store name Withheld)?”
Shop Assistant: “Yes”
Me: “ Hi my name is Alan, I am looking for a Helmet urgently!”
Shop Assistant: “Yes?”
Me: “Can you tell me what safety rating you have on your helmets?”
Shop Assistant: “Hold on I will take a look!”
Rummaging noises in the background
Shop Assistant: “XL!”
Me: “ XL? Maybe you don’t understand, I am looking for the safety rating. It will be Either SNELL, DOT or the European E rating! Please check again?”
Shop Assistant: “OK!”
More Rummaging in the Back ground.
Shop Assistant: “ The Other helmets safety rating is XXL!”
Me: “Ok Thanks Good Bye!”
I couldn’t handle it any more! People in Dubai seem to think that service is the ability to smile and say hello. Rant Off!
Somewhere in all of the Sean told me to relax. I think he said it 3 times in 30min. About an hour and a half after I got my bike through I was summonsed back to the scrutineers. There we were presented with two Books. The FIM and the FIA Formula one book. It seems that the FIA formula one Book my helmet is allowed to be used. The SNELL 2005 rating is approved. Now the Race director was allowing us to use our helmets. I almost jumped for joy. I just managed to contain my enthusiasm, Just!
There was still a hive of activity in the gecko Camp. Now this is when I met a true legend (In my books anyway), his name is David Donald from Aberdeen. A true Scot who loves riding Bikes really loves riding. He is no spring chicken, His bike was not ready when he arrived and Djalal one of our mechanics kept on coming back with reports like “ Your Wheel nut is Loose” ‘ your tire is flat” Etc. I at this point thought he would never get his bike through Scrutineering! But he Did! I will do a Section in this RR just on him!
I eventually saw that everyone was faffing around their bikes and i decided that it would be best that I leave my bike alone before I break it! We went and checked into the Hotel and I spent the afternoon at the Swimming pool sucking ice cold Heinekens while the others fixed their perfectly good bikes!
I now felt like I had achieved the first step in my Challenge!
So I woke up after having an OKish night’s sleep. Kicked all the rest of my family`s arses to get them out of bed and into the Car.
We had booked into the Yas Marina Rotana Hotel for 2 nights so that my Family could be with me at the start of the Challenge. We had an uneventful drive through to Rally HQ.
I off loaded my bike and put it under the Gecko Honda gazebo. There was a Flurry of activity at the Rally HQ. This did not help my nerves at all. Everyone is checking something and the rechecking everything. Now with me having done all my Prep myself this had me doubting whether I had done everything properly. So I began checking my antennae`s and wiring before I had to present myself to the Scrutineers. The problem was I had two hours to get rid of and the way I was feeling I could easily rebuild the bike I that time and just as easily F%^$ the bike up in that time.
Gecko Honda`s Pit area at Rally HQ
Luckily there was a Frenchy in our Camp that needed help in our camp and this was great as my attention was diverted from my bike to His. There was a small problem with his wiring and that was easily rectified.
Suddenly I had two visitors at my bike. An official from TDDcom and a lady from ERTF. The prick from TDcom couldn’t string two words together in English. So he nearly got a slap from me when i Asked him if my bike was all good and he replied an astounding “No!” Turns out my French sucks as badly as his English and he actually meant Yes. I must admit i was glad not to give him too much kak! The lady from ERTF was very delightful and gave us lots of advice and even cracked the odd joke. I think she could tell I was a little stressed. When they were finished they put stickers on the bike to say that they had done their checks. They also Signed off our Scrutineering sheets and the First part was completed!
Here is the Lady from ERTF. Performing her checks.
Here are the Stickers that put on the Bike.
After they had done their checks I suddenly found out that there were stickers that needed to put stuck to my bike. A Scrutineering requirement. So I then put Monkey to work to cut all these stickers up so that we could stick them to the bike.
Here you can see where we played find a spot to put the stickers!
Straight after we had stuck the “Sponsors” Stickers to my bike I was Instructed to present myself to the scrutineers with all my gear and my Bike.
The Sound Level Test.
One part of the FIM regulations state that the bike may not exceed 115 Db in the sound test. I was a little concerned about this . When I put the baffle in it chokes the bike and I`d lose 20% power. Not good when you need the power! So I drilled some of the holes out in the baffle to get rid of the restriction. Not having a Db meter I had no idea where I stood on this test.
Now I don’t know about you guys but I am a little protective of things and when I got into the sound level test area I was told to start my bike and then to Let them do their thing. So literally 5 seconds from when I started my bike it was having its neck wrung like a Turkey in thanksgiving! No foreplay straight to the point! Apparently they are scared that us as the competitors would nurse the throttle at the test. After this I voiced my opinion and after that I did notice that they asked everyone behind me if they would like to warm their bike up?
Here I am going through the Sound level checks.
The guys then check my VIN and Engine numbers against my registration card. Suppose to make sure that the bike is actually road legal.
Now I am asked for my gear.
Now this is where I had one of my best chirps ever. I am not a person who argues well with other people but for once i had a chirp straight back at the scrutineer. It all started when I had to show my safety equipment. Amongst all of the safety equipment I had a Compass that I got out of a larney Christmas cracker! The Scrutineer was not impressed that I had a “Lucky Packet” Compass. I thought it was a rather nice one and when I asked him what more a bought compass does? Quite frankly the only requirement that I am interested in is that it had to show north! To which he had no come back!
He then looked at the safety stickers of my helmet and then the Rule book was thrown at me. I have a Shoei VFX-W helmet that I bought a couple of months earlier. It seems that mine did not have the required rating of SNELL 2010 but rather had a rating of SNELL 2005. Now for this the scrutineer was not willing to budge! I was told to go and get another helmet and then bring it back to the scrutineers. Now Dubai is a vibrant place but when it comes to finding helmets with the right SNELL rating would prove to be impossible. I even considered buying a ”Concussion Magnet” helmet from one of the dealers but they were surprise, surprise out of Stock!
I was then asked to complete the rest of the Scrutineering with my bike. So on I went to the Technical check. Brake light, Fog lamp, Water tank, Kill Switch Etc. Hennie a South African performed these checks and asked me why i did not have the correct helmet? This was as a joke as I don’t think he was getting on with his by the book fellow scrutineer. In confidence he told me not to stress about the helmet as there were already 15 of us with the same problem. Soon I was to find out that my Mate Sean Gaugain has the same problem with his sponsored Fox helmet that he received 3 days earlier.
Here is a pic of the tests that Hennie did.
After this the scrutineers had to Seal the engine to the frame. Did not have a spot to do this so i had to drill a hole in a tab on my engine so they could do the sealing. This took a lot of running around to find a Drill then to find a drill bit, Go back for another because the bit was blunt and eventually they could seal the engine. They then also marked every thing up with my engine number and i was good to go back to our pit area.
The Sealing.
The Marking.
I went back to our pit/workshop area and there was still a hive of activity. I was stressing about my helmet. I called every bike shop in Dubai. I even called The Most expensive Store in Dubai up. The conversation went something like this.
Me: “Hi is this (Store name Withheld)?”
Shop Assistant: “Yes”
Me: “ Hi my name is Alan, I am looking for a Helmet urgently!”
Shop Assistant: “Yes?”
Me: “Can you tell me what safety rating you have on your helmets?”
Shop Assistant: “Hold on I will take a look!”
Rummaging noises in the background
Shop Assistant: “XL!”
Me: “ XL? Maybe you don’t understand, I am looking for the safety rating. It will be Either SNELL, DOT or the European E rating! Please check again?”
Shop Assistant: “OK!”
More Rummaging in the Back ground.
Shop Assistant: “ The Other helmets safety rating is XXL!”
Me: “Ok Thanks Good Bye!”
I couldn’t handle it any more! People in Dubai seem to think that service is the ability to smile and say hello. Rant Off!
Somewhere in all of the Sean told me to relax. I think he said it 3 times in 30min. About an hour and a half after I got my bike through I was summonsed back to the scrutineers. There we were presented with two Books. The FIM and the FIA Formula one book. It seems that the FIA formula one Book my helmet is allowed to be used. The SNELL 2005 rating is approved. Now the Race director was allowing us to use our helmets. I almost jumped for joy. I just managed to contain my enthusiasm, Just!
There was still a hive of activity in the gecko Camp. Now this is when I met a true legend (In my books anyway), his name is David Donald from Aberdeen. A true Scot who loves riding Bikes really loves riding. He is no spring chicken, His bike was not ready when he arrived and Djalal one of our mechanics kept on coming back with reports like “ Your Wheel nut is Loose” ‘ your tire is flat” Etc. I at this point thought he would never get his bike through Scrutineering! But he Did! I will do a Section in this RR just on him!
I eventually saw that everyone was faffing around their bikes and i decided that it would be best that I leave my bike alone before I break it! We went and checked into the Hotel and I spent the afternoon at the Swimming pool sucking ice cold Heinekens while the others fixed their perfectly good bikes!
I now felt like I had achieved the first step in my Challenge!
Roela
Race Dog
Great RR!! Definitaly subscribed.
On fiddling with the bikes prior to the start, I have seen that during my boatracing days as well. Guys prepare everything and then at the race, they see someone fiddling and then they do too! Almost always for the bad. It takes quite a mindset to believe that you have done everything right. Anyway, shoot brother, we are waiting. :3some:
On fiddling with the bikes prior to the start, I have seen that during my boatracing days as well. Guys prepare everything and then at the race, they see someone fiddling and then they do too! Almost always for the bad. It takes quite a mindset to believe that you have done everything right. Anyway, shoot brother, we are waiting. :3some:
not just sub'd - kin awe-inspired !
Rolling Stone
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Subsc
Ploegskaar
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Great RR, keep it coming. I lived in Dubai from 2004 to 2007 and marshalled at the Dessert Challenge for those three years. Great race and atmosphere, shit I miss the action. Enjoy the race and good luck.
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Great report!
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