Motorcycle Maketplace Magazine

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

Palmerston North Speedway, October 25th, 2009.
By Steve Green
www.workshopmanuals.co.nz

The big action at the Robertson Holden International Speedway was in the Super Stockcar class with the first round of the $45,000 Placemakers Superstock Series. Between the close racing and a huge roll over late in the evening, which saw Dave Tarrant bounce along the track below the grandstand there was plenty of mayhem.
In the Stockcar class one race was so intense that of the of the 35 starters only 11 finished and most of the them required assistance from the tow trucks to get them back to the pits for repairs. At the start of the race the cars were lined up from the start line right down and around the start of the South end turn.
In the Minisprints Levin driver Declan Roe was having engine troubles with the motor cutting out at inopportune times, however when it was running properly he seemed to be on a par with most of the other drivers. One Minisprint driver who also did not have such a good night was Chris Ash who did a huge, end for end, rolling down the track and up the pit wall just past the start finish line. His roll cage did it’s job and worked well and he was able to walk away unharmed, however the top wing of his car was a crumpled mess.
The Ministock classes also had large fields. In the Solo motorcycles, Steve Mudgeway may have a few bruises this week after one start which saw his bike drive out from underneath him. Effectively the bike did a wheelstand and kept going forward, driving right out from underneath Mudgeway sending him face down in the dirt much to the amusement of the crowd who got to watch it in slow motion on the big screen, a couple of times. As for the other Solo’s, they provided the large crowd of spectators with some fast racing and very close side by side racing.
For more information about the Robertson Holden International Speedway visit their Website: www.pnspeedway.co.nz and for photos of the event visit www.sportsimages.co.nz

Angelic Bulldog Project Ltd

www.angelicbulldog.org.uk
info@angelicbulldog.org.uk

Summer 09 Bulldog Newsletter {PDF}

BURT MUNRO CHALLENGE Southland, November 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 2009.

Events:
Bluff Hill Climb, Flagstaff Road, Bluff, Thursday 26th, racing from 10.am.
Bike Rally, Oreti Park, Invercargill, Friday 27th to Sunday 29th.
Motorcycle Beach Races, Oreti Beach, Invercargill Friday 27th, Racing from 5pm.
Teretonga Motorcycle Sprint Races, Teretonga Raceway, Invercargill, Saturday 28th, 9.am to 4.pm.
Motorcycle Speedway, Oreti Park Speedway, Invercargill, Saturday 28th, racing from 5pm.
Motorcycle Toy Run, Rally site to Wyndham, Sunday 29th, 9.am start.
Wyndham Motorcycle Street Races, Wyndham township, Southland, Sunday 29th, from 10.am to 5.pm.

Media Release, Monday, 28th September, 2009.
Bluff Hill Climb takes the Burt Munro Challenge to new heights.

The new event with the biggest bragging rights at this year’s Burt Munro Challenge will be the Bluff Hill Climb.

This National Championship hill climb is a dangerous event and with a rough, uneven surface and plenty of technical turns, competitors will need nerves of steel to take on the 2.4 Kilometer hill climb. According to event organiser Ant Edwards, the Open Classic bikes are likely to reach up to 120mph on the course.

“It will be the most exciting minute and a half riders spend on their bikes,” Mr Edwards said.

The Bluff Hill Climb has a long history with the Southland Motor Cycle Club running the event since 1928 with a great following. Over the years there have been some rather famous competitors who have raced up Bluff Hill including World Land Speed Record Holder Russell Wright, Local Fighter Pilot Ace Johnny Checketts, Norman Hayes from E Hayes & Sons, local motorcycle racer Neil Neilson, George Begg who built the world famous Begg race cars that went on to win numerous International Grand Prix and of course Burt Munro himself who won the event in 1940 and 1950.

The event was one of Burt Munro’s favourites and will take place on Thursday the 26th of November, adding to an already action packed weekend. Other events include Oreti Beach Racing, Teretonga Sprint Racing, Oreti Speedway Spectacular and the Wyndham Street Race.

Following the success of the 2005 movie about Burt Munro’s inspirational life, “The World’s Fastest Indian” the Southland Motorcycle Club created the Burt Munro Challenge to honour Burt, his ingenuity, determination, and love of speed and motorcycles. The inaugural event was held in 2006, and it has since forged a name for itself as one of New Zealand’s major motorsport events. It has a strong local & national following, and is rapidly growing international interest. It attracts top New Zealand riders as well as all the weekend warriors, all provided with a variety of exciting events, fantastic entertainment, and famous southern hospitality.

It is hoped that the addition of the Bluff Hill Climb event with National Motorcycling New Zealand hill climb titles up for grabs, will take this year’s Burt Munro Challenge to new heights and attract record crowds.

“With all the trees being felled on Bluff Hill, there will be plenty of vantage points for spectators,” Mr Edwards said.

For further information visit the event website: www.burtmunrochallenge.com

Or contact:
Jade Gillies, Administration Assistant
Venture Southland
Phone: 03-211-1427
Mobile: 021-079-9676
Email: jade@venturesouthland.co.nz

One of New Zealand’s most famous race bikes has been stolen!
On Monday night September 8th the original McIntosh GS1000 F1 race bike was stolen from a secure Glen Innes business.
This was the very first McIntosh Suzuki to be built and is often referred to as the Keith Turner McIntosh.
Rodger Freeth won on debut at Hawkesbury 1980 and Dave Hiscock won his first NZ Open Racing class title on this race bike.
The bike has been restored to pristine condition and is easily recognisable due do to the period paint scheme. This McIntosh can never be used or taken to a race track (or anywhere) without being instantly recognised, therefore it is worthless to anybody but the true owner.
Also stolen were a number of spare parts including an unused GS1000 2 valve head, crankcases, a pair of Ohlins rear suspension units and new Ceriani 38mm front forks.
Someone must know something about it, they may try to sell it as a whole bike?
A $1,000 reward is being offered by the owner for information leading to recovery of this irreplaceable bike.

Contact: Ross Peden on 027-672-3120.
Terry Stevenson, 07-850-4294, 027-505-1945 or tappit@paradise.net.nz
Or your local Police Station.