Motorcycle Maketplace Magazine

Mothers Race Day, Manfield, March 27th, 2010.
By Steve Green
www.sportsimages.co.nz

On March 27th, the Mothers Motorcycle Club held their 32nd annual Race Day for British, European and American Motorcycles at Manfield. The event drew large fields of sometimes unusual machines like a turbo charged, 750cc Norton Atlas and a turbo charged 900cc, 2003 Triumph Speedmaster.
As well as the large number of Harley Davidsons and Triumphs both Hinkley & Meridian, there was a good field of Aprilia, Ducati, Buell and Moto Guzzi. A good field of Classic Sidecars rounded out the day and included a few interesting combinations of riders and passengers like Gordon Skilton on the Norton with his granddaughter Maxine as the passenger.
Most of the day was trouble free with only a couple of minor falls along the way and the only injury I heard of was a suspected broken collar bone.
All in all, a good day in the sun for all concerned, a pleasant day at the track with some interesting machines and people.

Women’s Motorcycle Training Day, Manfeild, Tuesday, March 30th.
By Steve Green
www.sportsimages.co.nz

On Tuesday, March 30th, the race track at Manfeild was the venue for a training day for Women motorcyclists which attracted 42 women from the lower North Island including six from the local area. The women who entered rode a very diverse range of motorcycles from Trail bikes and Custom bikes to full on Sports bikes.
The local riders entered had a similarly wide range of bikes including Jennifer Hamilton of Otaki on her Triumph Legend, Linda Burling of Foxton on her 1200cc Harley Davidson Sportster, Vicki Payne of Raumati on her Kawasaki ZX600 and Mischelle Dacre of Manakau on her Suzuki SV650. For others like Maria Van Noorden of Foxton and Karen Slobbe of Foxton Beach, their bikes where both Honda VT750 Customs.
Although the event was at the race track, the main emphasis of the day was on learning riding skills and not speed, with training sessions on braking, cornering, clutch operation, slow speed riding and rider safety. After each track riding session, the group reassembled in the shade of the pits buildings for a drink of water and a feed back session. The idea of the day was for the women riders to learn more riding skills, learn about their bike’s capabilities and to become safer riders.
Head instructor for the day was Karel Pavich of Nelson who has been riding and racing motorcycles for over 30 years, and is a former New Zealand 250GP Road Racing Champion. Now an NZTA approved instructor, Pavich is using her experience to teach her fellow motorcyclists how to ride safely on today’s busy roads and to improve their basic riding skills. All of the riders entered where able to ride their bikes with varying levels of skills from the woman with the L plate on the back of her bike, through to the woman on the Sportsbike. By the end of the day, all the women I spoke to were happy that they had learnt new techniques that would improve their day to day riding skills and safety.
For more information about upcoming riding courses visit: www.prorider.co.nz
For more photos of this event see: www.sportsimages.co.nz

Attached is some information on an early, twin cylinder, Norton Model 77, built in 1952. What I am after is information on the backend of the bike, which is the same as a G18 setup. If  anyone could provide me
with information, a model specific workshop manual or parts and so on, this would be very much appreciated.

regards
James Lynch
james@waterfordpress.co.nz

By Steve Green
www.workshopmanuals.co.nz

On Wednesday 13th of January I was one of the large crowd at the Wanganui Speedway for the Totalspan, Balls of Steel, Speedfest which was nominally a Speedway Sidecar challenge between new Zealand and Australia. The actual event included much more, both on the ground and quite literally up in the air.
The entertainment started off with a trio of Freestyle Motocross jumpers who had a launching and landing ramp set up out on the infield where an impressive display was put on by Ryan Laskey, Nick Franklin and Mitch Machardy. The one trick performed by the Encounter FMX team that really got the crowd’s attention was a back flip by Franklin which he repeated a couple of times later in the evening. It was very strange to see a motocross bike flip completely upside down then rotate around and land back on its wheels as if it was perfectly normal to be flying through the air completely upside down twenty meters above the grass. Both Laskey and Machardy also did a number of unusual midair tricks which impressed the crowd.
The other interesting object in the air over the speedway was one of the New Zealand airforce’s helicopters which came in and hovered over a Honda Big Red off roader at one end off the field, hooked a strap to it, then proceeded to lift it into the air and deposit it at the other end of the track. Very impresive to watch, and good to know that however tiny our airforce has become, at least they are still highly skilled.
As well as the Sidecars there were Solo bikes and Dwarf cars which are powered by 1000cc and 1100cc motorcycle engines.
The main events of the evening were the Sidecars which saw some truly amazing cornering, especially in the first corner. One of the riders I spoke to said that one race he was on the outside closest to the Pit wall and as they went into the corner he found that his fairings where touching the guy next to him who was touching the guy next to him and there was this wall of sidecars five wide going into the corner as one. Fortunately the group broke up before he was pushed out into the wall but it clearly showed the calibre of riders competing as in most races the whole pack of six bike were virtually side by side right up to the first corner. There were a few incidents over the evening with one roll over, one bouncing off the pit wall and a couple of big wheel stands away from the start line. The sidecar challenge was based on six bikes for each team and run over five rounds with two races per round and six sidecars in each race. Overall points accumulated over the five rounds determined the winner which at the end of the night was the Kiwi’s who won by 119 points to the Australian’s 73 points. Top Kiwi team was John Hannan and Tony Hinini with 27 points and right behind them was the top Australian team of Darren Treloar and Sam Plaisted with 26 points.
For more information about the Wanganui Oceanview Speedway visit their Website: www.oceanviewspeedway.co.nz and for photos of the event visit www.sportsimages.co.nz

By Steve Green
www.workshopmanuals.co.nz

As part of the action at the Drag Race meeting at Hood aerodrome on the outskirts of Masterton, January 9th, the organizers held a burn out competition on their purpose built concrete pad. There was a large turn out of spectators in the grandstands and an equally big field of entrants in a variety of vehicles from standard street cars to purpose built vehicles.
There was plenty of tyre smoke and a few smoking cars providing the evenings entertainment, in fact a couple of cars even went so far as to actually catch fire. Others simply made some loud and rather expensive noises before they stopped moving, one rear diff was so badly damaged that the rear wheels would not even turn around when it was being towed off the pad.
Although some of the smaller Japanese cars were falling by the wayside, the big V8′s were thundering away until their radiators started to boil. One old V8 Holden kept producing huge clouds of smoke from the rear tyres until both had popped and ripped to shreds, then it went out and found another set for another go.
The Ford Econovan of Peter Clark from Upper Hutt was a clear crowd favorite producing huge clouds of tyre smoke every time it came out and when he clipped the concrete safety wall the crowd were in an uproar yelling their approval. It’s popularity was also in part due to the massive, 408 cubic inch Cleveland V8 that now resides under the front seats in place of the original four cylinder engine. The Van now has a Ford C4 automatic transmission and a Ford nine inch diff to handle all the extra horsepower.

By Steve Green
www.workshopmanuals.co.nz

The first Drag Race meeting of the new season at Hood aerodrome on the outskirts of Masterton was held over the weekend of January 9th & 10th, with a couple a warm Summers days. Competitors came from all over the lower North Island and as far South as Upper Moutere in Nelson which was where Chris Gaines came from with his Harley Davidson V-Rod Destroyer, a Factory built Drag Bike. Matt and Vicki Gibbons from Wellington had a shorter trip to bring their 1968 Dodge Dart Replica to the track. Under the bonnet is a large 426 cubic inch Chrysler Hemi V8 topped off with a pair of 780 Holley carburetors mounted on an unusual cross ram manifold. A three speed automatic transmission drives the Chrysler Dana 60 rear diff and a pair of large Drag Slicks.
A couple of drivers I met at the Mawley Park camping ground came all the way from Taranaki to race their cars, Peter Stanford drove all the way from Waitara on the other side of New Plymouth to be there. His car is a 1978, Oldsmobile powered by a 383 cubic inch, Chevrolet V8 with a single 850 Holley Carburetor, Turbo 350 transmission and a nine inch Ford diff.
Andy Maddox of Stratford had a slightly shorter journey from Stratford to race his unique looking Reliant Scimitar which was powered by a 383 cubic inch Chrysler V8 with a single 750 Demon carburetor, 727 Torque Flight transmission and Ford nine inch diff.
Walking about the pits on Saturday I came across the biggest Nitrous Oxide bottle I have ever seen in a street car. This gas is the same stuff your dentist uses when drilling holes in your teeth, since when breathed in by a human metabolism the gas makes you feel all happy and peaceful, and feel no pain. Feed the same gas into a 308 cubic inch Holden V8 in the front of a VL Commodore Stationwagon and it makes noticeably extra horsepower instead. For Matthew Crook of Lower Hutt, feeding it into his cars engine certainly made him happy and he was feeling no pain at all.
Two drivers with plenty of automotive horsepower available to them were Otaki driver Rex Duckett in a 1988, Chevrolet Corvette which is powered by a 540 cubic inch, Reher Morrison V8 engine and Alex Hogg in his front engined Rail Dragster. Alex is a Levin Dairy Farmer who took time off from milking the 130 cows down on his dairy farm in favour of some American horsepower. His Dragster is powered by a very rare SOHC, 427ci, American Ford V8 that was built in 1966, and has since been fitted with fuel injection and eight shiny intake tubes. The gearbox is a Powerglide filled with aftermarket gears and driving the rear wheels via a nine inch Ford Diff.
In the bike class there was plenty of horsepower, just packaged in smaller capacity engines like the Suzuki Hayabusa of Aaron Monty from Wellington and the TL1000S of Mark Mulholland of Wainuiomata. For Jeff Godden of Carterton on his 1450cc Harley Davidson, he may not have had the high horsepower numbers of some of his competitors however at the end of Sunday he came away as winner of the bike field, closely followed by Mark Mulholland in second, Chris Gaines in third and Waitarere Drag Racer Steve Green in fourth on a Yamaha TT500 Drag Bike.
Although generally, lots of horsepower is a good thing for a Drag Racer, there were a couple of cars that found they had too much power for the drive train, notably a twin turbo, Corvette that ripped the end off it’s drive shaft along with a bit of the diff. Watching it as it launched, there was a roar from the engine followed by a loud and very expensive sounding bang from the diff, then a six inch long section of the drive shaft rolled out from under the back of the car and a small pool of oil started to grow on the track under the diff.

Over the weekend a few cars blew up and left oil on the start line or down the track, one even had a small engine fire further down the track which unfortunately burnt for a short while before anyone realized that there was a problem. By this stage a number of cars had already failed and rolled off the track so it took a couple of moments before the fire crew got under way in their full sized fire engine. The Burn Out competition on Saturday night added a few more mechanical casualties to the weekends list, however no one was injured in any of the incidents over the weekend and all the mechanical parts can eventually be repaired.
The next meeting at Masterton is the Central Nationals on February 20th & 21st which will see most of the countries top Drag Racers descend on Masterton for the meeting. For more information on the Masterton meetings visit their website: www.mastertonmotorplex.co.nz

By Steve Green
www.workshopmanuals.co.nz

Motorcycle Street Racing at Wanganui in the lower North Island of New Zealand has a long standing tradition dating back to the first official race meeting in 1951. The circuit used currently is quite short at just nine tenths of a mile however it is very demanding on the riders with plenty of tight corners, changes in elevation, bumps and even railway tracks to contend with. And for those unlucky enough to slide off the track there are plenty of houses, trees, tomb stones and even flower gardens to contend with.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Steve Green
www.workshopmanuals.co.nz

Round one of the Suzuki Tri Series was held on Saturday, December 19th at Manfield on a dry track with a mild breeze blowing all day. Shannon Agricultural Contractor Jason Easton was already set up when I arrived, complete with his father’s huge Speedway Sprintcar transporter. Without Ian Easton’s big Sprintcar present, there was plenty of room inside for a solitary bike, although there were still huge dirt track tires hanging from the roof and various Sprintcar spares hung off the walls. Read the rest of this entry »

New Zealand Moto Trials Championships, Labour Weekend.
By Steve Green
www.workshopmanuals.co.nz

The history of Motorcycle Trials began in England way back in 1909 with the running of the first Scottish 6 Day Trial from Edinburgh to John O’Groats and the first New Zealand Championship for Observed Trials, was held in 1955. Over Labour Weekend, the 2009 New Zealand Moto Trials Championship was held on the Kapiti coast and run by the Ixion Motorcycle club, which was first started way back in 1928. Day one was held at the top end of Maugakotukutuku Valley Road at Paraparaumu. Day two was on the Alexander Farm on Emerald Glen Road, Raumati South with the third day at Waihoanga Road across the swing bridge off Otaki Gorge Road.
Riders entered included current New Zealand Expert Champion, 18 year old Jake Whitaker from Wellington, former New Zealand and Australian Champion Warren Laugesen of Levin, as well as South Island Champion Jason Baker.
The basic idea of Trials riding is that riders have to ride their light weight Trials bike’s over natural obstacles without putting their feet on the ground along the way.
The sections on the first day were set out along a rocky creek bed, with lots of slippery tree roots, water and slippery mud. The second day confronted the riders with steep climbs, fallen trees and piles of logs. Day three up Otaki Gorge featured plenty of rocks, in fact there was, rocks with grass, rocks with water, rocks with mud and my personal favourite, huge rocks on a bed of smaller rocks. Faced with these difficult obstacles, even some of the countries best Trials riders would occasionally put a foot down or in the case of local rider Warren Laugesen his whole body. One section on Monday afternoon saw him take a bad tumble, backwards down a rocky slope after attempting a near vertical section of rocks and tree roots.
Even current New Zealand Expert Champion, Jake Whitaker, who has similarly impressive riding skills, but is half Laugesen’s age, had trouble on this section. Whitaker also had the benefit of a minder who is a non competing rider who’s job is to act as an extra pair of eyes, give suggestions and be on hand to catch you if you fall from one of these sometimes huge obstacles. As far as the results went, Laugesen placed second in the Expert class with the National Championship win going to Whitaker.
The Nationals were a family affair with a number of parents and children competing although usually riding in different classes. Paul McLeod of TePuke was riding in the Presidents grade while 12 year old son Ben was in the Social grade. In the Junior grade, 15 year old Gabrielle Gundry of Tauranga was riding her 125cc GasGas in the same grade as her younger brother, 11 year old Jacob on an 80cc Beta. While both riders were trying to win the class, as far as I can see from the results sheets, although not in first place, Gabrielle did manage to beat her little brother.
Many riders came a long way to compete in the Nationals like Ashley Halder who drove all the way from Invercargill to ride his 250cc, Beta Rev3 in the Intermediate grade. More information on local Trials events and the full results can be found on the Ixion Motorcycle club’s Website www.ixion.org.nz More photos of this event can be viewed on www.sportsimages.co.nz

Vintage Motocross Funday, Labour Weekend.
By Steve Green
www.workshopmanuals.co.nz

On Sunday the VMX Central Motorcycle Club held a Vintage Motocross fun day to help raise money for local woman, Jane Challis who has just undergone a kidney operation to remove cancer and is faced with a $38,000 bill for the very medication she needs to stay alive and recover.
The venue for the event was a undulating paddock on the corner of Paiaka Road, just North of Levin, and attracted a small but enthusiastic group of riders from as far a field as Wellington and Palmerston North. Warren Summers of Wellington make the trip up to compete on his potent Suzuki RM370B, a 1977 Motocrosser with a habit of lifting the front wheel coming out of corners. Local Levin builder Terry Sanson had fun drifting his 250cc, Honda XR250 around the sweeping top corner with the front wheel barely touching the track.
Mostly the fields of riders were on two wheelers with the notable exception of Bruce Love and his son Joseph who were both riding three wheeled, Yamaha, 250cc, Tri-Z’s. In the hands of experts like these two riders, they are fast and fun, however the three wheelers have some interesting handling characteristics which are part of the reason all similar ATV’s today have four wheels.
On the children’s track there were a half dozen or more younger riders who kept the watching parents busy all day restarting stalled engines and refuelling machines and riders alike. Getting her Honda XR80R airborne over the small bumps on the children’s track was eleven year old Alysha Gibbard of Koputaroa who looked like she will soon be moving up to riding on the big track.
Also of interest for fans of old Motocross, it has been confirmed that the Johnny Old Motocross will be held on Saturday 24th April, 2010 on the original property on Kukutauaki Road, where it was held in the 1970′s and 1980′s, thanks to assistance from Mrs Flora Old and Peter Bartholomew. Although the event has not been run since 1987, the 2010 event is expected to draw riders from all over the country to compete. The event will be run as a Vintage Motocross so it is expected that many of the very same bikes and riders that were at the original Motocrosses will attend. For more information on the Johnny Old Motocross send an email to jo.owen@xtra.co.nz More photos of the recent Labour weekend event can be viewed on www.sportsimages.co.nz