It all began somewhere back around March 2010,After a telephone conversation with Peter Ramage(Roadrace commission chairman),After watching and listening too the efforts he and his brother Grant(multiple 250 prod champ)put into trying to get the Prolite class recognised during the 2010 series,I made it my mission to set out and complete the task.
Six bikes on the grid at round 1 was the requirement and there were already Seth Devereux's and Jared Pikes machines available in the South Island,So 4 more it was,Theres a few running in the Actrix series,Should be able to convince a couple of them to do the Nationals(Tui ad right here)and then I can probably supply a couple if need be!
First hurdle!None of the riders I spoke too at the Actrix series were even remotely interested,Oh well,Maybe that will change as the series progresses,So Im on a mission too find 2 machines to turn into racebikes,Easy peasy found 1 almost immediately right here in Papamoa,A Hyosung comet,This set the scene really as it made sense too have both bikes the same brand too limit the spares I needed to carry so the search was on for another Hyosung,Found 1 about 2 months later that had been on trade me for a while,By now it was rd 3 of the Actrix series and it was becoming apparent the guys I had spoken too earlier just weren't going too change their minds!Right 2 more it is then after much searching and negotiating managed too secure 2 more comets out of Wellington the week before rd 4 of the Actrix series and managed to get Ernie Cudby and Russell forrest to bring them to Manfeild for me(Thanks guys without people like you this would never have happened),So weve got the bikes just gotta turn them into racebikes!
I figured the best plan would be too fabricate everything for the 4 bikes off 1 I had set up on a stand and then if I stopped taking orders for bodywork at the end of November it would give me 7 weeks to get them raceready,Having spent sometime working with Bernard racing when the team first started,I seemed too remember 4-6 bikes turning up a week or 2 before rd 1 and we'd all get stuck in and after some late nights the bikes would be all set for raceday,So 7 weeks is gonna be heaps,Right!! WRONG!,Next thing I discover Jared Pykes got a motard now and isnt going too run his Prolite machine and Seth Devereux wants too ride his 150 in the support class instead as well WTF!! Mmm best I find 2 more bikes then which I managed too do quite quickly,At this stage I have more stock than Hyosung NZ LOL.
About now hurdle no2 raises its ugly head,How am I going too transport 6 bikes all the way to Invercargill and back??The $30,000 budget's starting too look shaky with the introduction of 4 extra bikes so I cant afford an enclosed trailer,Luckily a 10' caravan comes up on trade me that someone has already stripped out and put a brand new chassis under,Awesome I can get 3 bikes in the van and 3 in the caravan if I put a door opening in the back,Lucky I remembered to do an adult apprenticeship on coachbuilding back in the 70s.
So now Ive got 6 bikes too build in 7 weeks,By myself Mmm,A sane person would have flagged it all right about here,But not me for some reason I still thought I could do it easily.End of November comes and I realise I cant stop taking orders for bodywork or we are going to run out $$$$,NO SWEAT,I'll just work late at nights,By this time Ive already developed and produced most of bracketery required so we are not running the exspensive factory items and organised a full set of crash spares for each bike,Anew set of tyres/brakepads/chains/oil/brake fluid for each bike,Then out of the blue Max Woodruffe contacts me and asks if I can transport his bike south as he wants to do the Nationals as well,Cool 1 less bike too build.
By now its mid December and I havent actually started building any bikes yet as Im flat out making bodywork for Midge Smart and Stu Smart,By the time thats finished its Xmas time and I still havent started building bikes???NO SWEAT I'll just work even later at nights(plenty of time for sleep when your dead eh!).Boxing day dawns and Im in the laying room redesigning the bodywork so I can make new moulds as the ones we brought in and copied are Shite,Took me til New years day but came up with a much improved fairing,Problem being theres only 26 days til we are on the ferry,Have realised by now that you cant fit 3 Hyosungs in the back of the van so we're limited to 5 bikes,4 of mine and Max's which now means I have 2 bikes too many,I hire someone too come in and strip 2 of them and put all the parts in the spares kit and I start building bikes,Hire more staff cause theres still no bodywork for the bikes Im building and they need to be painted as well,3 1/2 weeks too build 4 bikes,NO SWEAT!!
So Im doin it,I get half way through the first bike and Ive realised turning a brand new Suzuki onto a racebike is far,far easier than a secondhand Hyosung and I spend more time fixing things than changing them,It takes me a whole week too get one about half done and the panic sets in,I know I'll start another 1 and somehow in my scrambled by this stage mind it means Im further ahead,(Another tui ad here please)So if thats the case I should start another one cause I can work LATER at nights too catch up,NO SWEAT!!!! Right fuck it Im gonna start the last 1 as well,Now you cant even move in the shed for half built racebikes and I realise,SNAPPIN ARESHOLES,I havent done the door in the back of the caravan yet and its only 5 days til we're on the ferry,Thank Christ I have leased a lock up where I can work on the caravan,Phew!Plan W,I'll work on the caravan during the day and I can work on the bikes at home at night,Great except by now there just about isnt any night left in my life,Its about now I realise the Kidney stone that had been lodged in my bladder since late November was actually a good thing cause you cant sleep when you want to go tinkles every 10 mins anyway LOL.
Its now wednesday morning the 26th of Jan and we're on the ferry at 8.30 the next morning in Wellington(Final check in 7.30am) and the trailers not finished and neither are any of the bikes,Again,NO SWEAT Iarise at 6.30am after around 7 1/2 mins sleep and rip into it,Work like a madman til about 3pm and remember the lights arent hooked up on the caravan,Easy peasy done this job a thousand times with no problem!I rip through it less than an hour but cant get the tail lights too work,After 3 hours of swearing and spanner throwing I realise the problem is the tail lights arent working in the van either,A relay has tripped somewhere and theres no feed in the van,Luckily its a jap import and everything inside the van is written in japanese,BRILLIANT!!! At this stage Im LOVIN IT,Its now 9pm so i hard wire the lights in the trailer too a battery and start loading the 4 unfinished bikes plus Max's bike,Fill the trailer too the roof and likewise the van have a shower and pack some clothes and its 11.20 pm,Mmm its a 7 hour drive to wellington in a car and we have 8 hours before final check in,But we 5 Hyosungs on board and a shitload of other gear and I dont know if the van will even pull it let alone get us to Wellington in 8 hours,Yet again NO SWEAT and we're off,Got too the terminal at 7.20am and pull in behind Robert Ramshaw(Choppas sponsor),15 mins and we're on the boat FAAAARK that was close.
By now Ive been awake for 25 hours and figure I'll get some shut eye on the boat before driving through to Timaru,Yet ANOTHER tui ad here,Bumped into old mates Vince Steur,Adam Unsworth and Stu Dawes in the lounge and we start talking about racing back in the 80s and having a laugh,Neat thing we're in Picton,I reiterate,Plenty of time for sleep when your dead,So we disembark and head off towards Timaru,Had to pick Simon Vollmer up from CH CH airport on the way at 5pm,Cruise off from there and as Im driving the last stretch between CH CH and Timaru,I realise the only reson I dont fall asleep is cause Im too fucked to move my eyelids in a downward direction,Arrive in Timaru early evening and by the time we organise a motel and some food and get too bed Its 11,00pm and Ive been awake for 41 hours,But hey like I said earlier,NO SWEAT.
Friday morning and I sleep in(cant think why but Im sure I'll work it out later) and get too the track around 9.30 am much too the disgust of the riders,Like I give a fuck at this stage atleast we're here arent we??Work like a mad man all day to get everyone on track and finish around 9.30pm just in time too have a beer with Spyda and then get some sleep,
Saturday morning and its all go,Get the bikes scrutineered and out for practice and qualifying all goes well and we're ready for the first ever National Championship for this exciting new class,No less than 8 bikes on the grid WOO FUCKIN HOOOOO!!!!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
The rest is history and congratulations too Seth Devereux Prolite 250 Champion 2011(NZs first ever)
A huge thank you has to go out too all the people that helped along the way:
Peter Ramage,
Your help and advice in clarifying the rules and offering inspiration through the whole project
Jos Mason from NZ badd,
Your backing and the inspiration you have given us in the last 4 years is irreplacable
and I can only hope too be able to repay you in some small way at some stage and GOOD LUCK with the rest of your life now you have stepped down as the driving force behind NZ BADD.
Eurotred NZ for supplying us with the following
Bridgestone tyres
Goldfren brake pads
Putoline motor,Fork oil and high performance brake fluid
Ozzy Performance.
For your support and the supply of
DID chains
JT sprockets
Hyosung NZ
For all your support and the supply of genuine Hyosung parts and service information
The board at MNZ and in particular Paul Stewart who instigated the class.
And finally the riders,
Paul Billington (2nd overall)
Sarah Elliot (3rd overall)
Simon Vollmer
Glen Orwin
Alex Bowers
All the abovementioned are the lifeblood of the sport and without your participation this class would not exsist
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Originally Posted by Mental Trousers
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Guess the pressure was tooooooo much eh.
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