Does anyone who races frequent this message board?

I am putting together a team to do a similar thing. We are considering the KTM 690 Enduro R as our bike. Planning to pre-run the course this year to see how tough we really are, (bunch of single track riders from the north woods!) with the intention of racing in 2011. We are just in the initial phases of planning, but where considering the 690 over the 450 because of sustained speed capability, fuel injection (assume better MPG?) and durability. We have a pretty well equipped crew in both equipment, sponsorship and basic talent, but no real off-road race experience (bunch of retired road racers. We are more than open to any advice on vehicle choice, equipment to bring, the whole process.

You will need good lights. Have your stator rewound for more power. Stock lights are not good racing lights you sould check out Baja Designs and others. You should use a desert gas tank for more gas. Carry a backpack with stuff in case you break and have to spent the night. It can rain and get very cold. Carry large trash bags and large tie wraps. You can tape the tie wraps to the front fender. Both of you say your doing the 2011 1000. It will probably be a loop race since this year it goes to La Paz. If you can come out to this years race or the 500 and hang around Ensenada to get the feel, talk to some bike guys. Go to the riders meeting. On the loop race the toughest part is usually the start and last section to and from Ojos and of course the whoops south of San Felipe.

i would highly suggest that you don't ride the klr650 in the 1000. i rode a xr650r in the 2007 baja 500 and 1000. that weighs in around 350lbs and you feel every ounce of it. especially in the rock and silt. i would suspect that the klr would have a hard time in silt due to weight and nimbleness (or lack of) of it. there are more rocks than you would believe. we did it with a two man riding team and a chase truck. we finished 1296 miles in 51 or 52 hours. key points: prerun and have good lights. we were only able to prerun the first two sections, but it helped tremendously. our times were probably twice as fast than in areas we didn't prerun. lights - spend the $800-$900 and get a good headlight. don't rely on the stocker. we paid $700 for an HID and it sucked. go with the two 8" round halogen. the single HID was not good. it didn't reach far enough and picked up every speck of dust in the sky. additionally i bought one for my helmet. i never used it but my brother did and he said it worked better than the HID that was on the bike. hand guards would have been nice and for some dumb reason we didn't put them on. make sure you have plenty of air filters and they are oiled well. in the 500 we didn't oil them properly and dirt got in and killed the bike. middle of the night and in the middle of a valley. luckily there were some really nice mexicans and they helped me push my bike up the hill and went and got a pickup truck and took me back to the finish line. i gave them like $60 and they were more than happy. when we rebuilt the engine, i broke it down myself and sent the head and cylinder away to have it fixed. another $800. somehow through drunken bike maintence, that thing ended up being a monster. not a single issue on the 1000. new air filter every 200 miles. also, depending on how many riders you have, don't do sections more than 300 miles. 200 are about ideal. 300 miles after a 200 mile section hours before was nearly impossible. you'll loose all of your speed. you won't be doing 100mph, ever. unless you're a pro. 75mph on unfamiliar terrain is probably the most you're going to eek out and even that won't happen often. make sure you have good tires. one tire change was sufficient for us. also, buy heavy duty tubes. they feel like they weigh 5 pounds each, but they work. in addition, put slim in your tubes to further help you out. we pitted with mag 7. they did a good job and no complaints. hopes this helps. you'll have an awesome time. don't try to win it, try to finish it.

You'll find the '10 course far smoother than the '11 course. 2010 may be a decent 690 course, but in reality an xr650R or 450x would be the best choices. It only makes sense to go with common brands, you'll see those Hondas all over Baja. Next good bet would be a 450KTM. If you show up with a 690 you better have all your bases covered 'cause you'll be the only one with one of those bikes.
I ran the Factory BMW Germany HP2 team for 7 of these big races. We were of course on an odd bike, but we also had as many spares as Team Honda including 25 sets of race ready wheels, that's having bases covered.
Don't plan on using the "sustained speed capability" of your 690, you'd be better off on a 450cc. I've put a 125cc 2-stroke into 10th OverAll bike in a 1000 to La Paz, and that only went ~75 mph. I've also raced Factory Team Honda 450X's in '07-'08 finishing 2nd OverAll (both years) and those trick Team bikes only went ~92.
High top speed is not going to help you like you might be thinking.



Riding a KLR650 in a "loop" 1000 is asking to not finish. If your goal is to finish it only makes sense to ride a bike that will be easy to prepare, easy to ride, reliable, handle well, and easy to locate parts for.
Like I said above, you'd be the only entry on a KLR, guaranteed. IF you were to break a part (radiator, wheel, whatever) you better have a spare. if you break anything on a 450x the odds of you finding a replacement (before the race, during race, from moto or car teams) is very good odds.

We'll be riding (supported) the basic route of the 2010 course to La Paz in late September and again in October.
It will be a good chance for new Baja racers to see the route, terrain, and start putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
We also do Baja training rides in Baja with Johnny Campbell.

Best of luck to all in the B1k!
Tim Morton
Baja Bound Moto

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Kawasaki KLR650 i have that also in my garage...