Introduction….
First of all thank-you for taking an interest in Mick Extance and visiting this dedicated web page.
Mick has biking in his blood, passed down from his father and grandfather who are sadly no longer with us but would of both been proud of his remarkable achievements. He promised himself at 17 whilst watching the Dakar rally on TV that he would compete in it. 20 years on and 4 Dakar’s later he is realising his dream.
Mick has always had this philosophy on life; live each day as if it were your last, you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow. If you choose to do something whether is sport, a career or a hobby, giving it 100% commitment or it’s not worth doing.
This school of thought has worked well for Mick although not without its sacrifices, which he knows is part of the commitment needed to compete in his sport. He holds down a full time physical job which to most people would have them flopping into the sofa at the end of the day. He then puts in up to 16 hours a week fitness and bike training in readiness for the Dakar rally at the end of a hard year. In between that he travels up and down the country promoting the rally and his sponsors. Most Sundays are Mick day off with his family. With the help of equally committed family, friends and sponsors including Honda racing UK, Mick is finally seeing some recognition for 20 years of hard work and sheer determination.
A small part of the story so far….
The struggle is far from over and backing remains as elusive as ever especially in this a “minority” sport. The work to raise the profile of the Dakar Rally continues.
When Mick entered his first Dakar there was only him and one other Briton competing, he turned up with £10,000.00 in his pocket that he begged and borrowed on the strength of his house, threw it on the table and wheeled his hastily put together rally bike to the start line of the rally. With absolutely no idea of how to use a road map or GPS system he naively set off into the desert and did extremely well until the bike died on him. Four years on, up to 15 Brits regularly compete which is due to, if an ordinary bloke can do it so can they.
To help Mick in future Rally’s M.R.S. have, with Mick’s, Honda,s and Deniss approval and help decided to sell exact replicas of his actual race bike.
About Mick….
- Date of birth: 07/05/63
- Born in England, Lyndhurst, New forest. Now living in the East midlands, Spondon.
- Living with and married to Sharon (nurse) and 3 children, Sophie, Christopher and Adam.
- Started riding competitions at 15. His first bike was a Yamaha TY175 trials bike.
- Height: 5ft 9
- Weight: 11:1/2 stone
- Hair colour is black fading to grey.
- Eyes: Brown
- Favourite rider: Stephan Everts
- Most respected rival: Alfie Cox
Mick’s racing history….
- The 1st British competitor across the finish line in the Dakar rally. 48th overall, finishing his 3rd Dakar.
- The 1st British competitor across the finish line in the Dakar rally. 43rd overall
- The 2nd British competitor across the finish line in the Dakar rally. 42nd overall.
- 1st attempt at the Dakar rally. Non finisher due to mechanical failure.
- European vets champion
- World downhill mountain bike championships masters class 12th in the world. European down hill mountain bike championships 4th overall.
- British championships down hill, mountain bike 1st in master’s class.
- World and British championship Enduros, top 5 in 125 class scoring points at world level.
- Competing in world and British championship Enduros.
- British championship Enduros 125 5th overall.
- World and British championship Enduros 3rd overall in British championship.
- Represented Great Britain in the ISDE overall 3rd Gold medal winner 6th in the world ranking. British Enduros champion in class.
- British Enduros champion in class.
- Silver medal winner in ISDE.
- Silver medal winner in ISDE.
- Competing in British Enduros championship.
- 1st year competing in the British Enduros championships 5th overall.
- ACU clubman’s British champion 1st.
1984-86. competing in ACU & AMCA motocross British championships.
1981-83. competing in trials around the country.
Rallying is probably one of the toughest forms of racing on the planet; the cost of each race is immense.
This highly interesting adventure sport is only just catching on as a spectators sport in the UK, with people like MICK EXTANCE and the coverage on SKY SPORT, its popularity is growing year by year.
M.R.S. has dedicated this page and pages in the shop, available on this site to help Mick with future races.
We will be launching the HONDA CRF450X RALLY, which is a standard HONDA CRF450X enduro motorcycle with all the brackets and equipment you would need to compete in the toughest sport on the planet.
After market kits will also be available, to enable a competent mechanic to build his/her own rally bike from the standard HONDA CRF450F.
The HONDA CRF450F RALLY will be launched sometime in February after the 2005/2006 DAKAR RALLY which will be the ultimate test for this awesome motorcycle. The bike will then be striped and checked before production will proceed.
We are also hoping to develop a road version of the rally bike; this version will include the standard road instruments and a GPS system, all the brackets and other equipment that will be on the rally bike. It will be the ultimate adventure bike.
Part of the profits from the sale of each rally or road bike will go towards helping Mick in future rallies.
If you are interested in the above please contact Les Robinson by e-mail at [email protected] or phone 00441159447666 or fax 00441159447475 with your queries.
Regards Les Robinson (Director of M.R.S. ltd)
Mick progres 2005 / 2006. The Dakar.
The following information was communicated to M.R.S. Direct by Sharon Extance, after direct phone conversations with Mick. This information is not official.
Unlike most competitors Mick did not get the luxury of flying to Lisbon in Portugal. He set out by road on the 26th of December an arrived on the 28th. The driving was shared between Ian Peberdy the mechanic and Dennis Osbourn the builder of the rally bike. Dennis is not doing the Dakar this year due to lack of funds but he went down the bottom of Europe and left him at Malaga.
Scrutineering at 11.30am on the 29th went OK finishing at 5.00pm
A bit of R&R then, until the start
31st December 2005
Mick rang us this day and seemed very pleased to be in the position of 34th, a nice steady off.
1st January 2006
Much the same this day with a good position to go into Africa with.
2nd January 2006
Crossing from Malaga all went well ok.
3rd January 2006
Starting the stage well but made the classic error of following another rider, one of the Repsol KTMs. He got lost and so did Mick and that pushed him back to 90th on the stage and 52nd overall. Not so good and Mick was a little cross with himself to say the least.
4th January 2006
Mick now tried to make up time and pushed hard as he knew that once out of the top 50, the going get harder with the dust from the cars and truck later in the day.
5th January 2006
Much the same with Mick pushing hard.
6th January 2006
Although Mick has a great day pushing hard and having a scratch position of 39th, the ASO have him at 74th on the day which dropped him to 49th overall. We are convinced this is an error, so we have sent a few e-mails to the organisers to try and get things looked at.
7th January 2006
Stonkin day as Mick finished 17th on the day and that pushed him up to 32nd . For a while he was riding with Mr Depres, and loving every minute of it. That goes to show how good the Honda is as the last Brit to get as high on a day was Deacon.
8th January 2006
Rest day and Mick gets a chance to catch up. We had hoped that Mick would call this day and give us an update but as we write this we have had no contact as yet
That’s it for now but as information comes in I will post it on this web site. You can also log on to the official Dakar web site for up to the minuet information.
Thanks to Geoff Homer
I would like to thank Geoff Homer from Wales for the financial support he offered and sent it was much needed. Again many thanks.
Mick Extance, media coverage & ambitious plans for the future.
Mick attracts the media. He has appeared on East Midlands today (a BBC local news program for the midlands, shown on date 8/02/2006), “The SUN” national news paper, dated 10/02/2006. Coverage in the “Derby Evening Telegraph” has been non stop since before the Dakar.
Performance Bike the biggest motorcycle magazine in the UK. Has a global readership and is about to give up to 6 pages to Mick and his bike.
The new found interest, in this magical adventure sport has got to be an advertising chance in a million.
Any company wanting to get global recognition and at the same time, be involved with a UK rider and this great adventure sport, this has got to be a fantastic opportunity.
If you would like information, regarding the amount of coverage given to the Dakar rally by Euro Sport and many other television companies and more detailed information on the coverage Mick has attracted, please e-mail [email protected]
Mick Extance, Honda Racing, & M.R.S. direct are in the process of completing a package , which would see a 6 bike’s compete in the Dakar rally and a few of the smaller rally’s. It would include full back up, including part’s support and mechanics through-out the rallies. Advanced training with Mick Extance will be available for Riding Skills and Navigation.
The bikes used will exclusively be the Honda CRF450X RALLY machine prepared and supplied by M.R.S.
The Honda CRF 450X finished 5 out of 5 in the Dakar rally. That is a fantastic achievement for any bike.
We are looking for skilled determined riders, mail or female. If you would like to get involved in this competitive sport and adventure e-mail [email protected] .
Be under no illusion, this sport is not for the faint hearted.
You would need a financial package. It would have to support you through the training if needed and each Rally.
Rally bike accessories and prices (Honda CRF450X)
- RH Rear petrol tank
- LH Rear petrol tank
- Air box conversion
- Rear petrol tank pipes
- Main Petrol tank(14 litre plastic)…£196.00 + VAT
- Heavy duty side stand bracket
- Tilt footrests
- Engine sprocket chain guard…£25.52 + VAT
- Sump guard
- Sump guard bracket (front)
- Sump guard bracket (R/H rear)
- Sump guard bracket (L/h rear)
- Sump guard protection plate (front)
- Auxiliary oil tank protection plate
- Auxiliary oil tank
- Steering damper kit…£242.54 + VAT
- Main fairing stay, to hold the road book bracket, GPS and auxiliary switch gear. Approximately £240.00 + VAT (price to be confirmed)
- Main fairing
- Front mudguard
- Auxiliary wiring loom
- Road book bracket
- Handlebar risers
- Radiator fans
- Front wheel 21 X 1.6 (in various colours)…£220.00 +VAT
- Paintwork in your colours (M.R.S.)
- Decals, for supporting companies, ect.
- Brush guards
- Akrapovic exhaust (muffler)
- Akrapovic exhaust (front pipe)
- Akropovic exhaust (middle pipe)
- Akropovic exhaust (complete)
- Sub-frame extension
- Rear wheel (18 X 2.5) with cush drive (in various colours)…..£350.00 + VAT
- Wiring loom
- Rally brake pipe
All the parts above were all used to make the Honda CRF450X, Mick Extance used in the Dakar rally a competitive bike. He commented, (the bike was incredible it’s ready to do another rally)
His official finish place was 27th, he was the first UK rider past the finish line and the first non works Honda.
As we get the prices confirmed, we will be posting them on the web site.
You can order by e-mail, phone or fax. You pay by card, bank transfer or cheque. We will only process orders on cleared funds.
