Greg Gilson‘s bike for the Qatar Worldwide Baja is older than a few of his fellow rivals. Whereas most riders can be racing their regular 450cc bikes, Gilson is entered on a 1980 Honda XLS 125.
He bought the bike for €300 in 2018, although bills for components and upkeep elevated the whole tenfold. Sure modifications had been constituted of when he purchased it resembling bigger sprockets, although others stay inventory.
The XLS line was launched in 1978 because the successor to the XL that débuted three years prior. The inaugural Paris–Dakar Rally in 1979 noticed Grégoire Verhaeghe and Alain Quie race the XLS 125, the smallest bikes within the area; Quie didn’t end, whereas Verhaeghe positioned sixty-fifth total. Gérard Barbezant tried the 1985 Dakar on one however retired.
Trendy off-road bikes are clearly extra highly effective and sturdy than Gilson’s, although that has not stopped him from doing something and the whole lot with it. He ran the 2019 Rallye du Maroc on the Honda, efficiently reaching the end twelfth within the Enduro class regardless of a damaged collarbone. It has additionally gained thrice in Morocco’s cross-country rally championship and even noticed motion within the FIM Enduro World Championship’s Requista spherical in 2020, the place Gilson positioned forty-ninth total.
Even outdoors of racing, he likes to take the Honda out for metropolis cruising or lengthy street journeys.
“The message is straightforward, is to do huge with small issues,” Gilson instructed Rally Raid Spirit. “Even when we don’t have loads of energy, we’ll attempt to end the race with a motorcycle that’s 45 years outdated with fourteen horsepower. However she’s actually used to used to driving within the Sahara in Morocco so I feel the dunes would be the identical in Qatar, I hope. See you on the end line.”
Though 450cc is the norm at this time, it stems extra from being the utmost engine displacement allowed by the FIM (outdoors of the Path class for 600cc and above). These hoping to win would clearly desire the very best tools, that means everyone seems to be on a 450cc bike, although anybody might theoretically enter with smaller bikes if they want. Sylain Espinasse even accomplished the 2016 Dakar Rally on a two-stroke Husqvarna 125cc bike.
Sixty-two bikes are entered for the Qatar Worldwide Baja, which begins on Thursday. It’s the fifth spherical of the 2024 FIM Bajas World Cup.
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