Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Left) Macchu Picchu. as seen by the rallyists,. (Above) Gualtieri Brissoni and hili Beta finished third overall, The Peru Incas Rally By Mike Sweeney The motorcycling phenomenon of the 1980s has to be the long-distance rally. The de~ert races, or "raids" as they are coming to be known with typical Latin machismo, have arrived center-stage with astonishing speed in Europe. particularly in France and Italy. There may be only around half' 32 a dozen or so which have achieved a premier status - the time, commitment, preparation and money required to participate makes their number necessarily limited - but these rew events have come to innuence motorcycling in Europe out of all proportion to their numbers. You only have to look at the enormous range or lookalike poseurs' gear which has appeared on the market there in the last rew years; it ranges rrom the sublime to the ridiculous. The Yamaha Tenere is by rar Europe's biggest-selling machine but in its bulky shadow are the mewling and puking infants or the genre -dozens of SOand l25cc "Paris-Dakar replicas" rrom n~r1y as many obscure Italian factories. It seems that you can bung a 10-gallon tank on just about any old nail and have a sales winner on your hands. Even the normally dignified BMW ractory, with admittedly more to boastaboUlthan most in this rield, isn't above such plastic surgery on its rading stars. And the rest or the world? With almost the sole exception or Australia there has been hardlv a nicker or interest despite the undeniably romantic and macho image or mighty thumpers with rueltanks the size o[ gasometers thundering across endless shimmering wastes. Sure, there are races like the Baja, but these are on a diHerent scale to the marathon treks across great continents that the Euro. pe-dns have been going in for in the last rew years. There's the Paris-Dakar event, or course; everyone's heard or that, but in Europe rallies like the Djerba, the Atlas and the Pharoah are rapidly becoming c1as ics. What had the Mediterranean types stumbled upon? What was going on? This was a matter ror fearless investigative reporting, reckoned a ~red hack in Morecambre, England. And that, gentle reader, is how and why number 34 or 43 entrants got himsel£ to the start line o[ the inaugural 2500mile, around-Peru Acerbi Incas Rally, already rather beginning to wish that he·hadn't ... It wasn't quite as simple as that, or course; it never is. The entry ree was [2,500 ($3740)! The bit that should have been the hardest- rinding suitable transporl - was actually the easiest. A phone call revealed that Armstrong, purveyors or motor bicycles to the British military, had just such a machine available ror wrecking ... er. testing . ... in suitably tough condition.s. It was a police version actually, with electric start, white plastic and, alma,t miraculously, an essential six-gallon tank. Otherwise, the machine wa very similar to the one now entering service with the British Army after their [5 million ($7.48 million) order. Other armies which have ordered the bike are the Canadian and the Jordanian. The bike is a close relative to the machine which is just about to start trial with the British De patch Riders' Association a a possible industrystandard, low-tech workhorse, a kind or London taxi ror the 6000 or so motorcycle couriers who earn a living in Britain's cities by rushing vital parcels rrom oHice to office. The ORA's members have been getting more and more red up with the cost and frequent non-availability or spares to keep their machines on the road, A simple, economical and reliable motorcycle which could be bought in bulk along with the necessary spares, thus achieving economies of scale, could be a breakthrough ror its members. A race like this, across mountains, rivers and deserts, on unsurfaced roads and sometimes no roads at all, would be the uLtimate test ror a bike designed to be as strong and reliable as possi ble. It wouldn't be strictly competitive with machines like the R&D XR600 works Honda that Andrea Balestrieri raced to third in this year's ParisDakar and would be riding in the Incas, but it was available, it was designed ror sketchy maintenance schedules and it was certainly diHerent. For racing purposes, it was also under-suspended, under-braked,. too slow and at about 400 pounds ready to roll, ·way too heavy. Still, the aim was simply to rinish and without any back-up team, I reckoned the Annstrong might just be the thing ror the job. And then the back-up team materialized. Actually, that's putting it a little grandiosely. Bob's knowledge and opinion of the motorcycle is encapsulated in his derinition; "a wheel at each end and a fool in the middle," but as the only British entrant in this roily it would be a help to have someone along to wave his arms and shout loudly at all the roreigners. That seems to be all team managers do. Anyway, Bob was the only person J knew rich and stupid enough to pay vast sums or money to be bumped around Pew in a rour-wheel-drive vehicle and comractthe runs. Being a marketing chappie. he also reckoned that he'd be able to secure vast sums or sponsorship money to pay ror the whole jaunt. His sanguinity about this started to pale as polite interest rrom marketing directors and PR per ons turned to robbing-orfflannel as soon as rinancial involvement was invited. By now time was running short and hysteria loomed as we napped about trying to get a thousand and one things done. Bike preparation consisted or borrowing it ror a weekend before crating it up, ritting a brace of the long-lasting Czechoslovakian Barum tires and removing mirrors and lights. The only ride I had on it was to pick up the tires. The panic mounted and then suddenly disappeared. For some reason all the petty frustrations stopped getting to us and we began to treat the whole thing as a big joke. The same thing happened to Armstrong boss Alan Clews. He had been terse and reserved every time I had visited the factory, no doubt regretting what he had let himself in ror but once he saw the crated up bike on the trailer behind the clapped-out Sweeneymobile he just started laughing at the unlikelihood or me even making it to the shippers 200 miles away in London, let alone across Peru. The bike's designer, Mike Eatough, reacted the opposite way, He just giggled his socks of[ at the whole ludicrous escapade when I bumped into him at the factory and then started getting serious. "It might get you there, y'know. It's not been properly prepared but the engi ne and chassis are pretty bul~ letprooL Have you got a spare cambelt? Watch your reet in ruts - the rootrests are on the low side. Hey this sounds like good run. Wish I was going." You can always tell an ex-racer ... With just24 hours to go before the plan left we had given up any hope or rinding major sponsorship but a last desperate phone call to Charles Hewitt (whom God preserve) or Rock Oil, a local lubricants company ran thus: "Charles will you sponsor us?" "OK." "But Charles, it'd be great publicity ... what?" "Yes; OK." I co"ldn't believe it. We now had an all-northwest British eHortand so, c1utchinga couple or gallons of Rock's jolly slipperyTRM racing engine oil and assorted other products as personal baggage - which made the Heathrow airport security starr a rrac-

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