Tuareg Rallye Berg

Here's a few pics of my FE550 getting ready to go in the crate and ship over to Spain from Canada.



Mod's include:

Maxxis Desert IT tire (front)
Dunlop D908RR (rear)
Bridgestone UHD tubes
Heavier fork springs
Seal Savers
Enduro Engineering hand guards
Accessory fairing
Touratech road book
Watchdog computer (will use as the ODO/Speedo)
Garmin GPS V w/external antenna
Husaberg Hard Parts Skid plate with added water pump protection
Orangeberg water pump seal/bearing kit
OHLINS damper with sub-mount
KTM rad fan
Clarke 15L tank
Renazco Race-Rallye Suede seat
Custom under seat storage area
Custom Ty-Er-Irons mount
Custom exhaust heat sheild
Custom nav gear mount to frame
SS 2L water tank under RHS rear number plate.
Custom aluminum front fender bracket w/tool bag
"Fastboy" rear fender took bag.
Custom graphics by RIDE Industries
BONZ front axle handle
EK MVZX Chain
Ironman rear sprocket

Great post, and GREAT BIKE!!!

May I suggest using Garmin 76SCx instead of GPS V. I know that you cannot use it sideways, but it has great reception, great battery life, 10 times faster processor, a lot of memory for tracks and wayponts and last but not least color screen. It also has very strong case.

Re: RE: Tuareg Rallye Berg

sabink said:

Great post, and GREAT BIKE!!!

May I suggest using Garmin 76SCx instead of GPS V. I know that you cannot use it sideways, but it has great reception, great battery life, 10 times faster processor, a lot of memory for tracks and wayponts and last but not least color screen. It also has very strong case.

Click to expand...

I went with the old GPS V for a few reasons. It's basically "bomb-proof", dirt cheap (picked up two for $90), compact and simple. I've got it hooked up into the bike's power with battery back up.

Sure...my eyes aren't what they used to be.. ...but most of my use here will be "follow the arrow" type of navigation when we hit the dunes. So...hopefully my "low-tech" solution will work out OK even with its puny B&W screen.

RE: Re: RE: Tuareg Rallye Berg

Wow!, "She's a beaut Clark" Good luck and be safe, remember to finish first, you must first finish.
Later
Ron

RE: Re: RE: Tuareg Rallye Berg

Hey looks great !!! add some more photos to the Adv Berg rallye bike thread, have heaps of fun !!!

Hi Ron (#33?),

Great looking bike! Hope you, and your bike, have a good trip to Spain!
Looking forward to meet you! I will be "doing" the Tuareg as well. Too bad it won't be on a Berg but on a GasGas. I'm involved in preparing these bike's for rally's so for me it's fairly easy to take one and give some new part's a test ride.

See you!

Robbert

Cheesehead said:

Hi Ron (#33?),

I will be "doing" the Tuareg as well. Too bad it won't be on a Berg but on a GasGas. I'm involved in preparing these bike's for rally's so for me it's fairly easy to take one and give some new part's a test ride.

Click to expand...

Hope you have better luck than the Gas Gas team at Dakar this year, all of them had multiple engine blow ups from what I heard and all dnf'd except the 250 I think it was.
Do you know those guys at all ??

Cheesehead said:

Hi Ron (#33?),

Great looking bike! Hope you, and your bike, have a good trip to Spain!
Looking forward to meet you! I will be "doing" the Tuareg as well. Too bad it won't be on a Berg but on a GasGas. I'm involved in preparing these bike's for rally's so for me it's fairly easy to take one and give some new part's a test ride.

See you!

Robbert

Click to expand...

Yes, I'm listed as #33. See you there!

We (I have another buddy on an FE550 entered as well #68) we looked at Husky, Gas Gas, and Beta for this event since we were getting support from Scott at Ross Rocher's. I've been riding Husky for a couple of years and was quite happy but in the end we went with the Berg's because of the larger displacement and wider gear box.

The Gasser was just too unproven for my liking. I also have a friend who raced one of the earlier 450's and it just had too many engine break downs.

Yes, I know them well since I prepared 3 of the 4 GasGas Desert bikes. Funny how stories change so rapidly!
The Spanish driver did good, without any major issues with his 450 he made it to the finish. The first GasGas Dutchie to leave the rally (second day) got run over by Mr. Alfie C and was brought home with a shoulder problem. The second one to leave the rally was overtaking someone by using the side of the dirt track and he hit a small wooden pole with his radiator which caused his engine to overheat. It took 24 hours before he was near the camp which was already abandoned. He decided to withdraw since it made no sence to push on. The third GasGas had strange electrical problems from the start on. The driver decided to swap the 515cc with a 450cc engine on the third day but forgot to load the CPU with 450cc software. Needless to say that doesn’t work very well. He was so fed up that he decided to go on as a mechanic because the professional mechanic had to leave the rally early with severe back problems caused by the service truck hitting a major bump. As you can see; the first real rally experience of the GasGas team was not very easy going.
So this is why the Dakar team had a bumpy ride though South America. BTW the rally bikes are built and maintained by the Dutch importer without any factory help.
I will be riding the bike that had an engine swap, last Saturday we loaded the correct software and it has been running fine since then. Let’s see what the next challenge will bring us and more important, what we can learn!
For you guy’s out there who would like to do a rally like the Tuareg but don’t want the bike preparing headaches, contact me.

Cheese thanks for the real story, I saw the guys there and they did not seem very happy, I spoke to one who sounds like it was the guy with the electrical /CPU issue, he was pretty depressed, very understandable !!

Was the Spanish rider on the bike with the narrow front main tank ? I thought that one was the 250, how'd the 250 go ?

Good luck with the Tuareg

Will the team be going back for Dakar 2010 ?

The Spanish guy was driving a 450, white with blue. I can't imagine a GasGas 250 would compete because they don't have a 250 4 stroke as far as I know, only 2 strokes.
About the 2010 Dakar, yes I think we will compete. It would be a waste not to use the experience we have now! But in the end, the budget will decide

Robbert.

sorry yes you are right, I was thinking of the Sherco 250 that ran and finished.

Good luck with it, hope to see you in BA come next Jan. Look for the Aussie Berg 570 !

Wow

Oh Yea!!! That's sweet. Need a co-rider?

RE: Wow

Finally back home now.

Both Berg's ran flawlessly over the course of the rally. We did not even use a single spare part that we took.

With tons of power in a light weight package we felt we had very competitive and reliable bikes.

Sorry to say Cheeshead didn't have quite the same luck with the Gasser...it is a really, really nice package, very nicely engineered. It was a shame that an intermitent electrical problem held him back.

There was a new 09 450 Berg entered from Germany, however the rider crashed and broke his collarbone on (I think) day 3 or 4.

I wouldn't hesitate to use the Husaberg in a long distance rally again

RE: Wow

WOW!!! I just love the new look of your bike - I always had something for rally bikes and yours looks great.

RE: Wow

@ goldenboy: any idea how the german guy solved the fuell problem on his 09 berg? i have planned to do the 2010 touareq. with my 09 berg.

RE: Wow

by end of July Aqualine Safari tanks here in Australia will have rallye tanks available, an extra 12L for the front (so with original tnak = 20L) plus a 8L rear wrap over saddle tank like the Honda one here http://www.rvaqualine.com.au/sitefiles/ ... le20_1.jpg

so total of 28L


then add 4L from sub-frame mod as well if needed = potential 32L all up, more than enough for Dakar !

Re: RE: Wow

Gazza said:

by end of July Aqualine Safari tanks here in Australia will have rallye tanks available, an extra 12L for the front (so with original tnak = 20L) plus a 8L rear wrap over saddle tank like the Honda one here http://www.rvaqualine.com.au/sitefiles/ ... le20_1.jpg

so total of 28L


then add 4L from sub-frame mod as well if needed = potential 32L all up, more than enough for Dakar !

Click to expand...

The rear wrap-over tank will be welcome for me. If I want to leave open the option of a Christini mod, then I will have to accept whatever tank they provide with that unit. Two plus gallons in the rear tanks, plus two plus gallons in the front tank would be about right for my riding. I think I would save the subframe for water.

Hi Goldenboy,

How well have the decals lasted on the BOSS tank?? just looking into some for my tank.

Cheers!
Azza.