We talk to Red Bull KTM Factory team rider Toby Price about the KTM 450 Rally he rode to victory at the 2019 Dakar Rally.
THE RIDER TOBY PRICE
My KTM 450 Rally bike is kind of based off the adventure-style bikes. KTM only produces about 120 of these motorcycles a year. The controls are the main thing that I can try and set up for myself. I like the handlebar a bit taller to suit my size and the other thing is foam handgrips, which you need to ride for 10 days.
They minimise the vibration and the blisters. Setting up a rally bike is quite similar to what you do on a Finke bike but I like to rake out the rally bike more. It is quite a big bike, about 180kg compared to my Finke bike that is about 110kg, so we rake it out just to give it a bit more stability at high speed.
If that rally bike gets out of control, once it gets past a point not so far from being straight, it becomes a beast to try and hang on to. If it goes too far, it will damn-well hurt.
There is a lot to the navigation tower that hangs out the front of the bike. There are basically two ICO trips. One is the tripmeter, which gives us our distance in kilometres. That is on the top left and on the top right is another ICO that gives us our compass headings. Underneath that is what looks like a lunch box with a clear lid; that’s where our roadbook goes. The roadbook is basically our bible for the day and we need to follow it 100%.
Underneath that we have another ICO tripmeter, which we can use if we get into trouble. We can use that to backtrack a little bit. Everything is controlled by a switchblock on the ’bar with five buttons on it. There is also a toggle switch that rolls the roadbook through. It’s very complex and very difficult to do when you’re riding at 150-160kmh.
I really like the styling of the rally bike. It looks sharp, neat and clean and with the colours, it really stands out in the desert. But it’s an amazing bit of equipment to ride. It does everything that I want to do and the bike designers have got it perfect.
ORANGE SUCCESS
KTM’s success firstly comes down to the motorcycle. It builds an amazing bike which can put up with these harsh conditions day in, day out and it never really seems to faulter. Previously they have had some issues with some bikes but somehow the lead bike has always been there at the front of the pack.
The second point is the people behind the scenes at the event. They are switched on and they know what they need to do. No one is walking around looking lost; everyone knows their role, they all know their place and when they need to do everything. The organisation of it all is just a big part to it. The whole package is very hard to beat with this KTM team, that’s for sure. with Dylan Ruddy