Hi Ed

Sorry didn't see that you weren't in the UK.

TBM stands for Trail bike & Enduro Magazine but its know as TBM.

ISSN no 1359-0324
Subscriptions 0044 207 903 3993

Rallyrider site is more so for rally info etc and you can buy second hand rally parts on there.

£25K is about the price you'll be looking at to do the Dakar, some can do it for less with no support etc. But its not a cheap race which keeps the number of competitors down.

Example of costs

ENTRY FEE £6300
GPS HIRE £220 DEPOSITS
GPS FIXING KIT £90 refunded in March/ April 2003
BEACON HIRE £200 TSO GUARANTEE £1000
FUEL £900 GPS £350
FLIGHTS HOME £600 BEACON £800
HOTELS £450 TOTAL £2150
TENT/SBAG £150
JACKET/PANTS £250
EXPENSES £200
VISAS £200
FIM LICENCE £50
TOTAL £9,610

add to that the cost of :-
- buying a bike and preparing it anything from £8000 to £13,000.
- buying spares, wheels, tyres, engine etc.
- shipping them and the bike to France and return from Dakar.
- paying someone to carry your spares @ £20 per kilo ( eg. an engine £800 )
- mechanic entry fee £5000 plus paying for them to ride in a truck £7000 and the final total is over £30,000 and you still have no support on the specials stages.

They do a full package for £25,000 from the UK. This includes rental of a bike etc


Hope this helps

Julio