Bergs at Finke Desert Race- Australia

Finke

Does anyone have the results for the Finke ???

True but they did take out 2 - 3 in their class though !!

the top guy in the open 4S class was on a bored out CRF and is a top running rider from USA. so very good effort by the Berg guys !! and that was against a swarm of 525's, 510's etc

451CC AND ABOVE FOUR STROKE
Hengeveld, Steve - 5:00:36 Honda CRF450R CA
Ewin, Jared - 5:34:40 Husaberg FE 650 NSW
McKay, Angus - 5:49:25 Husaberg FE650E NT

Gazza said:

True but they did take out 2 - 3 in their class though !!

the top guy in the open 4S class was on a bored out CRF and is a top running rider from USA. so very good effort by the Berg guys !! and that was against a swarm of 525's, 510's etc

451CC AND ABOVE FOUR STROKE
Hengeveld, Steve - 5:00:36 Honda CRF450R CA
Ewin, Jared - 5:34:40 Husaberg FE 650 NSW
McKay, Angus - 5:49:25 Husaberg FE650E NT

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G,day gazza its ORANGEBERG, have some info about Jared Ewin and finke. Jared is a local kid and was riding my special FORCE 650 project bike i fully sponsored him for the event unfortunately on the return trip not long after taking the lead in class and 11th outright after williscroft crashed jared got air over a rocky outcrop a land awkwardly and speared of the track into a gully and highsided knocking his head hard and badly bruising his hip, he was 3 mins ahead of the yank at the time. The bike was fine and undamaged and jared limped home about 30th. we were looking at a top 10 so its unfortunate.
Some other stats on the bike you might be interested in are that jared spent a week pre running and consumed 70 litres of fuel in that time we replaced only a front chain guide and the plastic mud flap for the rear shock, checked the valve clearance and an oil change for the race, put a soft terrain MOTOZ tyre on for the race. the bike ran faultlessy. it was 5 hrs old before the event with only full akro fitted but with endless bolt on bits. Heavier fork springs .44 and an old style WP PDS 3 shock spring.( better for the small hits at speed, you should use this at safari ).
My bike will be back this friday after being flogged around the desert its worth over 20 grand and i have not even ridden it yet. How generous am i.
Im doing a few quick ride practice days on it then its of to the Hattah desert race and im the pilot this time. over 40 class. Then back to Condobolin 2 weeks later for a 440 km cross country looking to better 3rd from last year 650 06 175 kmh but have to run against Damien Grabham yep Bens brother he won Finke their locals down the road in Bathurst.
My bet is all i will do is change oil and tyres on the force 650 and it will stand up to what gets dished out.
ORANGEBERG

Well i was one of the 8 husabergs to finish the finke right down the back though in 328 place managed to do my medial ligament in both knees two days before the event in the whoops section practicing .

Bike ran great shame about the rider thanks to orangeberg for the parts and help with set up what a good event was definitely tough [was for me anyway]cant wait till next year.

ORANGEBERG said:

Some other stats on the bike you might be interested in are that jared spent a week pre running and consumed 70 litres of fuel in that time we replaced only a front chain guide and the plastic mud flap for the rear shock, checked the valve clearance and an oil change for the race, put a soft terrain MOTOZ tyre on for the race. the bike ran faultlessy. it was 5 hrs old before the event with only full akro fitted but with endless bolt on bits. Heavier fork springs .44 and an old style WP PDS 3 shock spring.( better for the small hits at speed, you should use this at safari ).[ORANGEBERG

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John send me some photos !!

What gearing did you run on the bike and what top speed did it hit ?

so how many kms/litre did it average do you think ??

Unfortunately i was one of the DNF'ed Bergs.

For me the Finke was a run of bad luck - my rebuilt front brake locked solid during prologue! I had to drain all fluid and continue with no brakes, thus starting the race from the back of the pack. Starting second last i then followed 450 odd bikes into the dust, got 25km then pop goes the motor and my race was over. Also blew up the car gearbox on the way home with 2200km still to travel...

Let's hope next year sees better luck.

Car and bikes due back home in a week or so, then i can figure out what it was that went pop - i'm thinking valve springs (or maybe i'm just being optimistic and in denial that the prehistoric talcum powder dust has claimed another victim and a full teardown is needed)

sorry to here about that Andrew Its a long way to go to have problems you must have felt gutted when that engine went.


I know what you mean with the dust with that many bikes you are constantly riding in dust and you know some of it will get in the engine i put a chux wipe over the top of the air filter as like a pre filter the thing was unrecognizable at the finish.

Hope you get it sorted though and its nothing to serious.

Great reading. Thanx for sharing.

I've never really followed bike racing but have developed more interest in this long endurance style racing. It's great reading about the tough conditions, picturing hot, dry temps and the toll it must take on bike & rider.

Cheers once again!

Hi All,

It's also quite noteworthy that in the 'Outfits' (sidecar) class at Finke, a "Berg hauled not 1 but 2 mad ***** across the finish line in first.

I found it on the Husaberg.uk site. http://pdf.finkedesertrace.com.au/pdf/OverallBikeResultsByClassTop3.pdf

Nice work to all, and commiserations to those who suffered a DNF of some sort, but im sure your now well and truly infected with the Finke bug! we will raise our stubbies for you all next year for sure!

Azza.

Gazza said:

ORANGEBERG said:

Some other stats on the bike you might be interested in are that jared spent a week pre running and consumed 70 litres of fuel in that time we replaced only a front chain guide and the plastic mud flap for the rear shock, checked the valve clearance and an oil change for the race, put a soft terrain MOTOZ tyre on for the race. the bike ran faultlessy. it was 5 hrs old before the event with only full akro fitted but with endless bolt on bits. Heavier fork springs .44 and an old style WP PDS 3 shock spring.( better for the small hits at speed, you should use this at safari ).[ORANGEBERG

Click to expand...

John send me some photos !!

What gearing did you run on the bike and what top speed did it hit ?

so how many kms/litre did it average do you think ??

Click to expand...

jarod ran 16/44