Greg Gilson‘s motorbike for the Qatar Worldwide Baja is older than a few of his fellow opponents. Whereas most riders might be racing their normal 450cc bikes, Gilson is entered on a 1980 Honda XLS 125.
He bought the bike for €300 in 2018, although bills for elements and upkeep elevated the entire tenfold. Sure modifications had been made out of when he purchased it reminiscent of bigger sprockets, although others stay inventory.
The XLS line was launched in 1978 because the successor to the XL that débuted three years prior. The inaugural Paris–Dakar Rally in 1979 noticed Grégoire Verhaeghe and Alain Quie race the XLS 125, the smallest bikes within the discipline; Quie didn’t end, whereas Verhaeghe positioned sixty-fifth total. Gérard Barbezant tried the 1985 Dakar on one however retired.
Fashionable off-road bikes are clearly extra highly effective and sturdy than Gilson’s, although that has not stopped him from doing something and the whole lot with it. He ran the 2019 Rallye du Maroc on the Honda, efficiently reaching the end twelfth within the Enduro class regardless of a damaged collarbone. It has additionally gained thrice in Morocco’s cross-country rally championship and even noticed motion within the FIM Enduro World Championship’s Requista spherical in 2020, the place Gilson positioned forty-ninth total.
Even outdoors of racing, he likes to take the Honda out for metropolis cruising or lengthy highway journeys.
“The message is straightforward, is to do large with small issues,” Gilson instructed Rally Raid Spirit. “Even when we don’t have a variety of energy, we’ll attempt to end the race with a motorcycle that’s 45 years outdated with fourteen horsepower. However she’s actually used to used to driving within the Sahara in Morocco so I feel the dunes would be the identical in Qatar, I hope. See you on the end line.”
Though 450cc is the norm in the present day, it stems extra from being the utmost engine displacement allowed by the FIM (outdoors of the Path class for 600cc and above). These hoping to win would clearly desire the very best gear, that means everyone seems to be on a 450cc bike, although anybody may theoretically enter with smaller bikes if they need. Sylain Espinasse even accomplished the 2016 Dakar Rally on a two-stroke Husqvarna 125cc bike.
Sixty-two bikes are entered for the Qatar Worldwide Baja, which begins on Thursday. It’s the fifth spherical of the 2024 FIM Bajas World Cup.
