The bike that will eventually finish Vegas to Reno

TA-DAA! 

After all the bike I have rode and raced, I am going to be running a 1996 ATK 605 in the 2016 Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno race.  I had a hard time deciding which bike to run and why.  It was hard to resist the urge to go with the newest flashiest bike, or jump on something that all the magazines loved and I may have not been comfortable on.

I chose this bike for a few reasons.

1.  It wasn't something you see everyday.  It was unique, but still reliable and fairly easy to come across parts for.  In the sea of orange, red, yellow, green, and blue I can't tell who is who.  But I can tell you every ATK I have ever come across in person.  It was oddball enough to get my attention, and I hope it will attract other's attention as well.  Honestly it was between this and an XR650R, but I went ATK because of the uniqueness and history of the company, and it had electric start.

2.  It is a fairly light 600 cc bike.  As far as 600s go, it is pretty light.  300sih pounds may seem heavy for a dirt bike, but in the open desert at high speed I feel very well planted on a bike of this weight.  I don't feel that ruts and rocks that sneak upon me or are buried in the sand will deflect the bike nearly as much as if I was on a 230 pound bike. 

3.  Its a 600.  It has the torque and horsepower to go fast, but I don't have to fight aggressive power delivery, I can miss shifts, I can lug, I can just point and shoot.  I don't feel that I need to ride super aggressive to get the full benefit of the bike.  I don't have to scream the motor to get to the power or abuse the clutch trying to find it.

4.  It is very reliable.  450s make about the same power and torque, but I have seen the life span of a few.  If something goes wrong, I feel this motor will get me where I need to go.  I have almost 3 quarts of oil to work with.  It is air cooled.  Wide ratio 5 speed.  Simple easy DIY maintenance.  I wanted something I can ride and practice with over the next year, fix the issues I find, and still be able to afford to "freshen up" before the big race.  On this Rotax motor, by freshen I mean rings....maybe.  These Rotax motors seem to eat up miles if taken care of.

5.  And just plain cool factor.  These ATKs were built by hand, with all sort of high end parts.  When you dig into one there are all kinds of cool touches and features.  To me things like the aluminum air boxes, billet hubs, billet triple clamps, stainless exhaust, all seem like features you would see on the old "works" bikes.  I love the old bikes that were built for the 4 stroke nationals of the 80's, and this just reminds me of those types of bikes.  ATK built these bike with a lot of the parts most racers went out and bought after the fact too.  Stock you get an aluminum skid plate, Talon hubs, heavy duty spokes, D.I.D wheels, 190W stator, Answer bars, talon sprockets, billet clamps, tunable Supertrapp exhaust, electric start, 3+ gal tank, and California plated.  I have spent a good chuck of change getting some bikes up to the point where this bike is stock.

These 605's have some pretty cool engineering built into them.  With the single sided frame, engine used as a stressed member of the chassis, linkless suspension that actually works really well.  I have gone through the forks already, done a valve inspection, added a Scotts stabilizer and mount.  These will be covered at another time. 

When I bought this bike, an added benefit was that it came with a complete set of plastics and a second tank.  This also included 2 brand new WHITE rear fenders.  If your an ATK fan, you probably know how hard white rear fenders are to come by.  So prior to the race I hope to have a near new looking ATK 605 to bring to he starting line.

I will follow with the maintenance and build up of this bike, along with ride and race reports.  Along with other desert racing and dual sporting related information.  Got a lot of work and training ahead of me.