@Backscatter
Was the family friend Manny? If so, sorry for your loss, and a huge loss to the offroad racing community. I was at that race and heard the whole thing over the radio. Paid respects when the ambulance drove by.

I've chased a 1/2 1600 from Ensenada to LaPaz in 1995. What a crazy trip there and back. We got 2nd in class.

That bike rider is a stud, was following him on Race-Dezert and Fishgistics on IG, as well as a few other local, and favorite teams.

Awesome

The fact that he flew into San Diego and bought a used bike off Craigslist is hilarious

Legend

Lock that dude in a mansion with no condoms and as many gorgeous conservative women as we can find to bear children.

We can repopulate the US of A and recreate it in the Founder’s image.

What a  cool story

Same type of guy that doesn't think twice about racing on roads?

I did the Manx GP.
I know of couple regional racers that had been over there doing the TT.  One had some connections and arranged the rental.  I made sure I had done enough 'qualifying' races the season prior and months leading up to the event.  Worked out a N. Ireland roadracing license because licensing for Americans was a bit more complicated then than now.  Submitted a race resume to get my IOM Mountain Course license and it was granted.

The guy that brought over the bike had a son competing. His son died after crashing in his second race.  

I had to do some work to the bike just to get it to pass tech and had to do some mods so I could get my steering damper mounted.  I was racing a 1st gen SV650 at the time and the rental was a 2nd gen so it was a bit different for parts compatibility.  I even had to put a new battery in the thing. The feel of a 1st gen to 2nd is a lot different and I had never ridden a 2nd gen until then. I prefer 1st gen.

I got a homestay north of Douglas. The owner picked me up at the airport and dropped me off when it was time to leave. It was a really nice flat above a garage.  I had dinner with him and his wife a few times.  He would also drop me off at the paddock on his way to work.  He also gave me some tours of the island.  When I first got it I rode the bike back to the homestay a bit after sunset on damp roads because I had work to do on it.  First time driving on the wrong side of the road too.

There were two other Americans.  One never even completed the speed-controlled lap led by Milky Quayle and other traveling marshals.  He went straight instead of turning at Ballacraine. A rope running across the road in the runoff area caught him by his neck and crashed him.  He went to the hospital and he was done for the event.

Me and the other guy ended up being guests at the Villa Marina for a pre-race event for the marshals.  We were on stage and interviewed.  I even got recognized later on by a marshal while just out spectating.

I ended up pitting with the other American and some British guys he hired to be his crew, one was a TT racer.  My crew was a local racer with lots of experience there and some of his friends he rounded up.  One day the other American and I rode our race bikes around the course when they weren't closed for racing.  That's certainly awkward feeling.

In my first race I got hit from behind while turning into May Hill.  The other guy crashed but I kept it up.  After the race I discovered a big gash in the tail section.  I was leading the race early on eventually finishing 5th.   I wasn't able to find a softer rear shock spring so that was really holding me back.  I could've made up a bunch of time in the really bumpy section after Ginger Hall.

In my 2nd race it was wet on top of the mountain so I was never able to really pick up the pace there where I could've made the biggest gains.  It felt like I was going really slow up there yet when I checked the speedo I was still doing 90mph+.  

What he did is truly remarkable.
I’m not a rider, but the fact that he did that on a stock bike is quite an endorsement for KTM.

Ummm….please go on.

@4wdBoss
PM sent.

If this isn’t my favorite post lately I don’t know what is.

My buddy was down there co piloting in the Heavy Metal group. They had to drop at 400 miles with a blown tranny but were averaging close to what the trophy trucks were doing in mph

I believe it has already been done.  He wrote a book, maybe there was a movie.  Solo dirt bike rider.  Might be the one already mentioned, "Dust 2 Glory".

At least the locals aren’t trying to kill you in the aisle of man.

My dad use to know a few guys who ran the Baja and the stories they had of locals trying to get them to crash/killed where unbelievable

This.

Privateers are the best.  

Even better when they win.  

Respect.

srsly

Legit.Glad he made it and I hope more try to emulate in other ways to reach big.

Wow

This guy will get a Hollywood movie made about his endeavors.

Gear doesn’t make the man. That’s badass

That's badass, congrats to that man.

I bet he has no problem finding help if he decides to run again, he'll have teams calling him left and right. Pretty smart if you think about it.

He's one tough SOB.

This country used to be full of men like that, and also why we're kind of free men today.

That is awesome.

That's a really cool story, thank you for sharing it.

I bet you could get a book out of that if you did the from the initial dream through the race, to what you're doing now whatever that may be.

Then again, I love anything motorsports and what people will do to get their fix.

You should be able to shoot people that pull that shit.

They just want to steal the parts that fly off the truck so they can sell them, your life means nothing to them.

FUCKING LEGEND

Yep, he had a great ride.

So did the guy who's a paraplegic, and rode his bike for the entire course. He's another legend.

I have a good friend that did it once as part of a team. He said never again. It was the sketchiest thing he said he ever did on a bike.

Pretty cool

Can confirm. The most common was the locals digging huge ditches in the track. Some of them were huge, like they were dug with an excavator. One year some strung a cable across the track at about 5' off the ground. One of our competitors in our class was even shot at. He found a musket ball in the A-pillar of his Ramcharger.

Fucking amazing.

ETA: As well as some of the other stories in this thread.

Dude is a badass.

Yes, I like this idea.

He has skills

AWESOME!!!! Thanks for posting.

This mirrors pretty much those stories exactly. He told me they would ditch massive ditches off to the side of the course and then stand on the course so you would swerve and plow into the hole.

@USMC2671

Studs!

Legend!

J. N. Roberts lives just a few miles from where I'm sitting.  I met the legend at one of our Steel Challenge matches a few years ago.

That’s amazing!  Thanks for the story!

It was an amazing accomplishment.

Of course this is GD.  If he had not finished or had been been injured how many posters would have been commenting that he was a dumb ass and what did he expect?  It is far easier to criticize the man in the arena than to step into his shoes.

I'm impressed that he tried.  Finishing was simply icing on the cake.

You could make the case he was a liability on course.  Especially at night, not knowing much about it.  Not having people expecting or tracking him….but I guess everyone pitched in and covered the bases so he didn’t end up in a ditch needing LifeFlight out.  Still kind of a Wild West aura about the race with a little informality.

Very cool! Looks like an old ktm. Only thing I’d worry about is the old ktm suspension. It sucked.

That's an incredible story. Thanks for sharing.

Riding 1300+ miles with no support on a bike... Fuck that!

And this year the race was exceptionally rough, cold, raining and just a kick in the balls

Cheers to him!

Holy crap!

That's unreal!!

Awesome!

Bike racing in Baja at night isn't for the weak.

Rider was fine.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzzfyRgPI0f/?igshid=MzY1NDJmNzMyNQ==

Gets crazy at night.


https://www.instagram.com/reel/Czvi7vSL-MX/?igshid=MzY1NDJmNzMyNQ==

What a G

Pretty darn good.

Now, if he did this event running....