How to do motorcycle rallysport and not spend a fortune…. Demystifying participation and the tech systems used for motorcycle rallysport. Questions for the future.

Introduction.

Geo-Positioning Systems and information technology are a ubiquitous part of modern human existence. Rallysport, along with many sports, has made much good use of GPS and information technology in the recent years. Gifted tech engineers and systems developers spot market needs and opportunities for IT applications, develop systems and earn incomes selling user licences having promoted their creation as the perfect solution to your every problem - often there is significant overlap in the functions these systems provide.

Market Positioning of VIME events.

At the outset of the VIME project, the events were intended for rally novices. Motorcycle enthusiasts who may have participated in motorcycle sport decades earlier, or who had never actually participated but had had a longstanding interest in Motorsport. Riders who did not have wads of cash to spend on their passion yet wanted to experience motorcycle motorsport participation.

Therefore, the opening gambit was that there would be a low bar to participation….

• Local events ie British Columbia

• Road legal motorcycles - dualsport and adventure, showroom floor models (although “developed” bikes and exotica would not be excluded)

• Licence and insurance requirements to be no more than BC ICBC requirements.

• Events to run in a manner which complies with BC motoring legislation over highway-classified Forest Service Roads

• A range of navigation systems would be permitted to encourage participation, including smartphone mapping apps, paper scroll roadbooks, smartphone PDF roadbooks-reader apps and a specific smartphone GPS rally timing system (Richta Rally Timing).

The intention always has been to provide an easy on-ramp to the sport and so, encourage new people to come and have a go.

Part of the encouragement has been to provide an escalator of participation.

Providing routes that could be navigated by

• GPS-driven mapping apps for those riders who were new to long distance backcountry travel.

• Navigated by rally-style roadbooks, either in the traditional way as a paper scroll or as a PDF on a smartphone roadbook reader app.

• For those wanting a dash of competition, setting the route in a Time/Speed/Distance regularity context and having their performances quantified by a GPS rally timing app.

In keeping with the spirit of grassroots participation, the equipment costs of the navigation systems required is minimal. All the apps mentioned are either low-cost or free. They are

• Gaia. A mapping app that presents GIS (Geographic Information System) data as a map and uses GPS data to locate the user on the map. It has an annual subscription fee of about $80Cdn.

• Roadbooks are distributed as PDFs by email and can either be printed by participants and assembled into scrolls or uploaded onto a Rally Roadbook Reader app on a smartphone. The App uses GPS data to also provide compass, speed and odometer information. The app is free to download and has no in-app purchases.

• Timing and scoring is provided by a further app called Richta Rally Timing. It is a free to download and use app. The only cost for its use is $5US per participant per day which is absorbed into the operating costs of the VIME organisation.

• All these apps run on smartphones (iOS and Android) and do not need cell or wifi connectivity to function once they are set for the day. They run well on old, stripped-out smartphones that do not have a SIM card and are continually charged by a wired-in usb charger.

In this way, the “participation overheads” have been kept to a minimum and the functionality of the systems have been entirely appropriate to the intended users and uses. There is no denying the fact that the Gaia/Rally Roadbook Reader/Richta suite of apps has fulfilled the requirements of grassroots backcountry rallysport.

The New Kid on the block…

First, a little backpedaling. Richta is a GPS system developed primarily for the Sports Car Club of America community for use in road car Time Speed Distance rallies. Its advantages are that it is straightforward, cheap and can run on iOS and Android devices. It’s disadvantages are that it has a basic functionality sufficient for timing and scoring a TDS rally. If ease and cheapness of use are important to you this many not be a disadvantage at all but an attractive advantage…

Richta has proved sufficiently flexible in the ways it can be used that a unique mode of operation suitable for motorcycle events in mountainous terrain has been developed that continues to meet the needs of novice-level competitive events.

The new kid on the block is a system called Terra Pirata. It is a system that has been developed from the requirements of higher level national and international rallysport, specifically motorcycle rallysport. It is a system that provides both on-the-day and in-the-field functions for a rally (roadbook reader, speedo/odo/compass, speed monitoring and scoring) plus many or all of the “back office” functions for a rally organiser (distributing roadbooks, controlling access to authored material. Many, if not all of the “office functions” provided by Terra Pirata have already been met by using home computing software. The in-the-field functions of Terra Pirata replicate the functions required for higher level Rallysport competition.

Terra Pirata comes with a €300 professional-use annual licence ($485Cdn at time of writing) that the event organiser would need to pay.

Terra Pirata runs on Android and the recommendation is that it is run on a “rally toughened” tablet with specific hardware that adds up to €850 ($1400Cdn plus import duties).

So the set-up costs are not insignificant. You can expect that the event organiser will pass the setup costs on to event participants by way of increased event entry fees. Also, event participants wishing to take part in the competitive class of the rally would also need to up-spec their equipment.

Terra Pirata does provide riders with a “rally experience” that is more representative of higher-level events held elsewhere and is strongly advocated for by motorcycle rally aficionados…

So the question to be asked and answered is…

Do VIME events continue to use the Gaia/Rally Roadbook Reader/Richta smartphone apps to provide accessible events that require a minimum of rally “insider knowledge” ie roadbooks written using intuitive symbols and self evident information?

OR

Do we as a community gear up to making a switch from Richta to Terra Pirata in 2027 with the extra associated costs and complexities?

A supplementary question that is just as relevant is “How many extra entrants would appear if the competition system was Terra Pirata compared to how many fewer entrants would there be, put off by the extra commitment required for Terra Pirata?”

As a Service Provider, I need to be sensitive and responsive to the requirements of my potential and actual customer base. Call this a consultation exercise, market research, user feedback.

What do you say?

Terra Pirata

“Enterprise” Plan €300/yr $485 CAD. Cost passed on in entry fees

Only runs on Android. Hardware costs about $2000 for entrants.

Publish roadbooks through TP

VIME needs Rally Nav pro licence $200 US/yr

Replicates “higher level” rally complexities

Provides a higher level rally experience - leads riders on to higher level events

vs

Rally Roadbook Reader + Richta

VIME needs Rally Nav pro licence $200 US/yr

$5US per rider per day Richta

Rally Roadbook Reader - no cost app

Minimum level complexity - easy introduction to rallysport, appropriate for novices

Runs on iOS - old smartphones