Adventure Bike Tour

The Dakar Rally takes place from January 2nd to 16th, 2027. A prologue on January 2 will be followed by 14 race days with divided into 12 stages where two are marathon stages over two days and a rest day.

Who is this tour for

The Meet Dakar Adventure Bike Tour is a unique adventure through the beautiful landscape of Saudi Arabia, where you'll follow and experience the world's toughest and longest rally – the Dakar Rally – up close on an adventure bike.

Tour Offers

The Ride Xpower Adventure Bike Tour meeting the Dakar is offered as

• 19-Day Full Distance Tour from Dec 31 to Jan 18

• 13-Day Start Tour from Dec 31 to Jan 10

• 12-Day Finish Tour from Jan 8 to 19

Race and tour dates are provisional and subject to confirmation by the Dakar Rally.

New Years Eve in Jeddah

Jeddah is a cool city on the Red Sea. We're organizing a New Year's Eve dinner and a guided city tour, along with an overnight stay in a comfortable hotel with a rooftop pool on Heera Street, one of Jeddah's most popular streets.

Tour Bikes

We have partnered with Hertz Ride and can offer BMW GS 800s and 1300s for the Meet Dakar Adventure Bike Tour. In principle, it is possible to transport your own motorcycle to Saudi Arabia.

Difficulty Level

The difficulty level of the tour is medium. The greatest challenge is the distances covered, not the difficulty of the terrain. We ride on small asphalt roads, which in the desert may be in poor condition and possibly contain sand drifts. Gravel roads and desert tracks are only used for short distances and in consultation with the group.

Route

The tour lasts a total of 19 days, with 17 days spent on the bike. Arrival and departure are in Jeddah, and the rest day, depending on the Dakar tour schedule, is likely after 10 days in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

The route will be adapted to the Dakar route, but we will ensure that we include the sights along the route and nearby without losing sight of the "Meet Dakar" theme of the tour.

The Dakar leads through the most beautiful regions of Saudi Arabia, all the way down to the Empty Quarter. Including the Elephant Rock in Al-Ula, of course the photo for Instagram is a must.

Accommodation

During the tour, we will stay in hotels, apartments, and guesthouses, depending on availability and in the Empty Quarter in the Meet Dakar desert camps together with the Enduro, 4x4 and buggy riders.

Service car and luggage transport, Rescue 4x4 and Emergency

A Ride Xpower 4x4 will follow the groups for assistance and emergencies. The Saudi rescue system is very well organized with ambulances, desert rescue vehicles and helicopters. We have a satellite emergency rescue system and team communication via satellite messaging.

You pack your personal belongings for the trip in a 90-liter travel bag (no suitcases, please), which we will transport in the support vehicle and hand over to you each evening. You pack everything you need during the day, including rain gear, in the top box of your motorcycle. You are welcome to bring your own tank bag.

Dakar is a real Adventure

Meet Dakar means you'll follow every stage of the Dakar Rally from start to finish. You'll be there at the start for the scrutineering and the prologue, and then follow the race stages until the rest day and the finale.

You'll be at the stage start, at the refueling points, at the stage finish, and at spectator points, which you can reach on an adventure bike. You'll visit the bivouacs and participate in the awards ceremony.

You'll ride on roads and, in some cases, gravel or desert roads that are manageable for average riders on an adventure bike, and you'll sleep in hotels, apartments, and guest houses along the route.

Tour Program and Route

The route will be adapted to the Dakar route, but we will ensure that we include the sights along the route and nearby without losing sight of the "Meet Dakar" theme of the tour. The Dakar leads through the most beautiful regions of Saudi Arabia, all the way down to the Empty Quarter.

This tour is an adventure where we will cover long distances in a challenging landscape.

We've pre-planned the route and reserved accommodations, but we've left the daily schedule open to allow for maximum flexibility. We'll find plenty of food, gas stations, garages, and tire service along our route.

The rally will not announce the day's route and spectator points until late the previous day. Shortly before the start, the racers receive the road book for the next day. We have to anticipate and adjust our routes accordingly - that's part of the adventure, you never know what's going to happen tomorrow, managing it is the adventure of this tour. What we will know are the locations of the rally overnight camps between stages, but not the route taken by the racers.

The daily tour program, the starting order for the Dakar Rally, and the final starting location will be announced at the daily Dakar briefing at approximately 9:30 PM and subsequently shared in the Ride Xpower WhatsApp group. Therefore, the tour program for the following day can only be finalized after the Dakar briefing.

The Ride Xpower team will be in Saudi Arabia throughout December exploring the routes, desert camps and hotels for the Meet Dakar Tour.

GPS Navigation

The daily routes will be provided in the WhatsApp group for navigation in Google Maps or a navigation device that can read GPX files. Ideally, we use Garmin Tread and make the routes available via Garmin Explore; these will then automatically update to the Tread app. The Tread app displays all tour participants, so you can see everyone's location at any time.

You should familiarize yourself with Garmin Tread, Google Maps, or alternative navigation devices, as well as how to upload the navigation data, beforehand.

Please bring your navigation device, a mount for BMW GS 1300 and a holder for your mobile phone for installation on the bike.

Alternatively, you can simply follow the tour guide.

Visit to the Dakar Bivouac

In the tour price included are 5-Day tickets to the Dakar bivouac and the Dakar VIP Club. The regular price for a Bivouac ticket is €350 per day and person. We will visit the Dakar bivouac on the prologue day, the start day of stage 1, the rest day and the two final days including the price giving ceremony which is great show and you party with all racers and Dakar makers.

Tour Package.

Tour Brochure

Detailed information about the tour and the tour packages can be found in the brochure, which is also available for download as a PDF to send to friends.

The tour package includes

• Overnight stays in hotels, apartments, guest houses and if no hotels are available in a desert camp

• Breakfast, lunch and dinner, non alcoholic drinks

• New Year's Eve dinner and guided city tour into the New Year

• Single room accommodation where available, single tents in desert camps

• Motorbike BMW GS 1300 incl. CDW (2.000€ deductible)

• Dakar Bivouac and Dakar VIP Club tickets for 5 days, on the short tour for 3 days

• Professional tour manager and guide

• Service car transporting the luggage (90 L Duffle Bag, no suitcases)

• Replacement motorcycle provided by the service vehicle to ensure a seamless continuation of the journey in case of technical problems with the rental motorcycle.

• Ride Xpower Meet Dakar Hoodie, T-Shirt and cap

Not included

• Fuel

• 2.000€ excess for damages covered by the CDW

• Tyres repair and replacement

• Single room accommodation in hotels when not available in the hotel

• Alcoholic drinks

• Ride Xpower Rebooking Cover (offered as extra)

• Visa, personal insurances, travel cancellation cover

• Flight tickets and airport transfers