RallyMoto race

[ropedrag]

Wanted to bring attention to a newish racing format that I think you might have fun with.

The Wild West RallyMoto September 26th and 27th near Pomeroy, WA

Here’s your chance to race your street legal dual sport in a RallyMoto event. The first RallyMoto event ever in the PNW was held last October near Mt Hood, since then we’ve had the DooWop rally in Aberdeen, WA in early March (crazy weather included) and most recently the Idaho Rally last month.

OK, so your likely asking what the hell is RallyMoto, well….. What is NASA Rally Sport's RallyMoto™ program? It allows motorcycles to compete on closed roads in a stage rally format. There are transits on open, public roads connecting the stages, which are legally closed roads where fastest time wins (typical race or "special" stage distance varies from 5 to 15 miles). One rider leaves every sixty seconds, free to race the clock and the road to the best of their ability. If you've seen WRC, it's like that, only with bikes. Rally cars and rally bikes tearing through the woods in a flat out race for glory! Basically full speed racing on closed gravel roads!

It’s allot of fun, great racing and great camaraderie. As an added bonus the car drivers and co-drivers think we are crazy as hell and place us close to near god like status. One of the Idaho stages has a turn around after the finish so we could run the stage in reverse. As I putted by the cars to re-stage for the start every car offered thumbs up and applause. Good thing my helmet kept my head from getting big! Anyway that only helps to illustrate the camaraderie of the rally folks.

So the downside is that your bike must be street legal and be insured apart from the laundry list of rules, apparently the rally folks love them some rules. It’s not to difficult to sort out and if you’re interested in trying this I will help you get things figured out. The Wild West Rally is really hoping to have a decent moto turnout and as such have locked the entry fee in a $150 which is almost half of what the entry fee typically is for a two day multi stage rally. So if you have the bike and the time this is a great opportunity to experience rally. Let’s race!

PS; a plated supermotard with knobbies is an excellent bike for this.

I’ve attached a helmet cam video from one of the DooWop stages editing in a couple of starts and finishes. The last stage on the 2nd day, being a bit tired I kind of slacked off until about 5 minutes into the stage and then got back on it. If you decide to waste the time watching the video make sure to click the HQ button.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRaTUBcPMOc

Also a video of the cars which is allot better then my video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eLQV...ture=quicklist

[Lincolnlock]

Son of a!!! How did I miss this? Crap

[gs2offroad]

Son of a!!! How did I miss this? Crap

Never too late, the Mt. Hood Rally is coming up October 24. A great event for the first-time Rallymoto(tm)-ist.

http://www.mthoodrally.com/2009/

[PeteN]

Come on, who has a street legal SM bike that isn't afraid of speeds greater than a go-kart track? 90mph on a gravel road is crazy fun, you need to try it! Rain tires on 17s work great. There was an Ape 550 at Pomeroy that was running them and hooking up well. Here is a shot from the Wild West Rally at Pomeroy:

[trachy357]

Man...That looks really cool. Maybe I'll try it next year!

[ropedrag]

Mt Hood 2008 was the first RallyMoto on the west coast, this will give you a bit of flavor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWKvT_fntyk

This year their will be no night stage(s). Their will be 6 special "race" stages totaling 48.7 miles.

A hand full of cars are still kicking our ass for overall time, some more moto talent would be awesome!

Check out the official website for questions or PM me direct if you need additional info.

[Big Duke 6]

Sounds great but why is it so expensive? I could get into it but not at$300 plus a pop.

[ropedrag]

Sounds great but why is it so expensive? I could get into it but not at$300 plus a pop.

I hear ya brother. Entry was $200 but for your first time you have to join NASA and purchase a racing license which add to the cost. The recent Wild West Rally which was a 2 day rally was $150. The Idaho rally back in July was $300 for their 2 day rally.

Allot of the costs go to the governing bodies (no surprise) and then all the logistics, EMT's, things for the scores of volunteers, timing systems, etc.... These things are events.

But its a cost I'm willing to pay having (mt hood as an example) 3 gravel roads totaling close to 30 miles totally secure so I can blast down them (twice) without fear of traffic, etc.. and knowing that if I wad it up help is on hand. But mostly to compete and enjoy the camaraderie.

But then again if my non-motard bike was suitable for enduro or hair scramble, etc.. I'd likely be doing the $40 events. Where else are you going to race a 650 dual sport.....and be competitive?

I've tried to make sure these rally folks know that with their specialized cars this type of event is all they have while motos have a large number of things they can do for a lot less money. Maybe they heard us, the entry fees have came down quite a lot but I don't suspect they will get any cheaper. This Mt Hood event last year was over $300 for the entry.

[PeteN]

They are holding the early entry pricing right up to the rally, if the pricing was holding you back. FYI

[VT Rally]

There are also rallies in the east. The Sandblast is in Feb. and Tennessee is coming up Memorial day weekend. Tennessee is a 99% paved rally. You get two days of racing and a day to get home. Ever want to know what a real Irish road racer feels like...http://rallytennessee.com/2010/index.php