GS Safari Is Go!

This entry is part 8 of 21 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #42

After an unbroken run of over two decades BMW Motorrad’s GS Safari was finally stopped in its tracks. The challenge for the organisers was immense. With everything balanced on a knife’s edge as we write this, the event is poised for a restart in September.

There wouldn’t be too many Australian adventure riders on any brand of bike who don’t know of the BMW GS Safari. It kicked off in 1994 with a ride from Sydney to Fraser Island and has become the standard for other manufacturer rides to measure up to. The service and support provided to riders is astonishing and the terrain and destinations are always awesome.

The huge success of the GS Safari has led to BMW Motorrad hosting similar rides for the road riders and more hard-core adventurers, and it’s not unusual for any of the BMW Safaris to sell out in less than 24 hours. Typically, that means up to 250 riders serviced by up to 20 BMW staff.

It’s a hell of a logistical feat, and Adventure Rider Magazine has been lucky enough to ride several events over the years, and the precision and attention to detail in the planning and execution of every one of them has been astonishing.

But 2020’s brought a lot of things to a grinding halt, including this customer-focussed adventure-riding juggernaut. Organisers Shane Booth and Chris Urquhart of Moto Development have had to deal with some serious setbacks, but, like true adventure riders, they’ve held tight to the ’bars, kept everything upright while they regained control, and are ready to get going again.

It wasn’t easy.

Smashed

“It was our second year of running GS and TS Safaris.” Said Urky.

“We’ve been running BMW Off Road Training since 2013, so we had a feel for the riders and were ready to rock and roll for the 2020 GS Safari from Phillip Island in Victoria to the Blue Mountains in NSW.

“We’d done three recces and mapped everything out. Everything had been designed and all the printing had been done for the riders. All customer and crew bikes were booked on freight and a lot of bikes were in Melbourne ready to roll. We’d booked all our flights and all the hotels for the 240 riders and staff had been paid deposits. We were literally ready to hit the go button for the event.

“Then, within a matter of days, the COVID lockdown came around.”

Organisers went from full throttle on the rev limiter to bogged at a dead stop.

“It was almost panic stations,” Chris remembered. “We had the hotels calling to say we couldn’t come and customers ringing and wondering where their bikes were and what the situation was…all that sort of stuff.”

Shane Booth (left) and Chris Urquhart of Moto Development.

Think quick

Of course, the boys themselves, and Moto Development logistics guru Anthea Verdoorn, didn’t know what was going on at that time. No-one did.

After a couple of weeks of what Chris described as ‘scurrying around’ the pin was pulled on the March event completely and everyone began looking for a postponement date.

Right now Moto Development is back on the front foot and aiming at September 13 to 18.

“We’ve been working flat out in the background during the lockdown,” said Chris eagerly. “We had a lot of cleaning up and a lot of loose ends to tie up, and then a complete reschedule.

“Leading into a Safari is a three- or four-month build up getting all the dots to align so the event runs smoothly.

For us it was basically hitting the reset button on that. We had to feel our way through a lot of unknowns. At the same time we had to reschedule our BMW Off Road Training calendar. We’d had 25 events booked nationwide at the same time as the Safaris, so we had to postpone and move and change all of those as well.”

Fingers crossed

So thanks to Moto Development never giving up and BMW Motorrad Australia maintaining its commitment, the 2020 GS Safari is back in the starting gate and ready to roost.

The gate drops on September 13 at Phillip Island.

History

The GS Safari – along with its sister event for road bikes, the TS Safari – is unique to Australia. Other countries have BMW-branded events, but the GS Safari only happens here.

The event started in 1994 when the German manager at the time decided to run a customer ride and came up with the idea. It started from Pyrmont Bridge in Sydney and had a police escort out of the city.

Since that first GS Safari it’s grown consistently, year after year, to become a centrepiece for the Australian motor-cycle division of BMW and spurned sister rides like the GS Safari Enduro and the TS Safari. All three rides sell out quickly and all three embrace the same philosophies of safety, fabulous routes and locations, and a premium customer experience.

Series Navigation<< Adventurous EncounterSuzuki V-Strom 1050 >>