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Mighty Rocket III in bike economy run

The smallest capacity class has been increased to 700cc and split into two, Class A for street machines and class B for dual purpose models.

In the street class last year's top two, Reg Gurnell and Alan Dougherty, both on F650CS BMWs, again will be going for overall honours as well.

They will have company, and competition, from the top two women finishers from last year, Tanya Gibson and Jenny Gill, on similar machines.

Other makes represented are Suzuki, with a GSXR600 and an SV650, and two Yamaha R6s.

The majority of the light class dual-purpose riders are on F650G BeeEms, but this year some competition is promised from a gaggle of KTMs, a Suzuki DL650, and an MZ Bagheera 660.

Stalwarts

Two stalwarts in the 1-litre class who have both won past events, Peter de la Rey and Graham Mephius, will set to in class B (701 to 1 050 cc) after winning different classes last year.

Mephius moves down from a 1-litre four cylinder to a YamahaTTM850 twin.

Other former top 10 finishers entered in this class are George Bie (Triumph Sprint RT) and Clive Strugnell, who won the unlimited class last year. He has also moved to a GSXR 1000 K3 Special Edition.

Bound to attract attention will be the newly launched biggest series production bike in the world, the 2 300 cc Triumph Rocket III, piloted by Pretoria rider Gerhardt Schutte. It may not win, but what a presence in the over 1 051cc class!

Its opposition includes a a couple of Harley-Davidson engined Buell XB12s and other small fry such as rhew BMW 1100S, Suzuki Hyabusa 1300 and Kawasaki ZZ1200 models.

In the big dual-purpose class (over 700cc) a lone Honda XL100 Varadero and a Triumph Tiger 995i will do battle against seven BMW GS models.

In the touring class Leon Barnard was the only entry on his H-D Electra Glide last year, but he's up against four BMW K1200GT models this time.

Pre-1990 entries are a mixed bag from 750 and 1000 BeeEms, a ZX11 Kawa, a Yamaha TT Special to a Moto Guzzi.

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