Enduro Reports
By Rory Mead

Hi all

Martinborough. What a ride. It had everything.
120 kilometres of snow, hail, rain, mud, river crossings and awesome technical farmland terrain.
All the ingredients for a top ride.

We started off late as the organisers had to make a few changes to the track to take into account the weather.

There were only two terrain tests, in the first I was going really strong, but collided with Steven Bird as his bike stalled on a corner, so ended up coming in 2nd behind Cam Smith by 4 seconds.

In the second test, I had a good run and came in 12 seconds ahead of Cam Smith.

In the final loop we were riding flat out, as we had to complete 16km in 16 minutes. I had a high speed down hill crash, bending handlebars and exhaust, but managed to straighten out things the best I could and came home in 20minutes, the same time as Adam Reeves and a minute ahead of Cam Smith.

In the final results I took the overall spot, Cam Smith was second and Adam Reeves was third.

We have one more round in the Central Series to go, at Santoft in July, and there’s only one point separating myself and Adam Reeves. Its going to be a great finale.

Martinborough was a great ride and I would like to thank the organisers for all their hard work in putting on such a great event.

A special thanks to Phil Turnbull Motorcycles for preparing my bike and to Yamaha New Zealand for the WR250F.

Cheers Rory

Special thanks to
   PETER PAYNE OF YAMAHA NEW ZEALAND
   ANDREW LAWRENCE OF DARBI’S
   PHIL TURNBULL MOTORCYCLES
   THE BROTHERS MEAD

Hi all

I’d been looking forward to Gwavas all week, watching the weather forecast and hoping for shitty weather.

And I got it, a wet miserable day full of slippery tree roots and ruts.

I was given race number 3, which I knew would be a great help over the next 140km of pine forest.

I got a good start and was really humming in the first terrain test, I knew my time was going to be awesome and then I fell off 20metres from the finish. I was gutted. However, I still managed to get the fastest time along with Adrian Smith.

The next three terrain tests went well; I won two of them and was second to Adam Reeves in the other.

In the final results I won the E1 class and was 1st overall, 21sec ahead of Adam Reeves and 47sec ahead of Damon Neild. A great result for the Yamaha WR250F over the bigger bikes.

I guess my trials riding skills paid off… it certainly took balance and control to stay up right.

I’m currently leading the E1 class and am 4th in the overall standings. I can’t wait for Santoft (the final round)

Check out Andy McGechan’s website for report and photos. www.bikesportnz.com

A special thanks to my dad and uncle for their on going support

Cheers Rory

Special thanks to
   YAMAHA NEW ZEALAND
   PHIL TURNBULL MOTORCYCLES
   THE BROTHERS MEAD

Hi all

For the first time in a while I was going to have a weekend break, and spend time on my Beta Trial bike. An ideal time to hone up on my technical skills.

However, it wasn’t to be. Robert Brookes of Phil Turnbull Motorcycles asked if I wanted to ride Yamaha WR450F at Taupo on Sunday. I’ve never ridden a 450 before, so I was rapped to be given the chance.

I headed up to the shop on Saturday morning, put my tyres and moose’s on the bike, and then on to Taupo.

Sunday was a beautiful day, you couldn’t have asked for better.

For the first in a long time, I got number 1 as a starting number. I would really have to keep my eyes peeled, 140K of riding, fresh tracks, and no tyre marks to follow.

I got off to a good start, the first terrain test was two minutes into the event and I had no time to get use to the bike or even get warmed up. It was tight pine tracks and I managed to win the test by a couple of seconds over Damon Neild.

The rest of the day went really well, I won the remaining terrain tests and finished the day 36 seconds ahead of Phil Singleton, and another 14 seconds ahead of Damon Neild.

I was will pleased with my results. The Yamaha WR450F was awesome; an amazing amount of torque which I really enjoyed and it really suited my riding style.

A special thanks to Robert Brookes of Phil Turnbull Motorcycles for making the bike available to ride.

Cheers Rory

Special thanks to
   YAMAHA NEW ZEALAND
   PHIL TURNBULL MOTORCYCLES
   THE BROTHERS MEAD

Check out the MNZ report on this event.

Hi all

The A4DE is a great event and I thoroughly recommend it to any keen Kiwi Enduro rider. Its 4 days of some of Australia’s best riding, not as technical as New Zealand, but hard and fast, and then you finish up on the last day with a motocross style event. The best part is riding an overseas event with other Kiwi’s; they are great to travel with. This year only 7 riders competed, compared to last years 14.

This years event was held in place called Warragul, situated 1 hours drive east of Melbourne. Beautiful country side, rolling hills, very similar to the Waikato.

We arrived with most of the kiwi’s on Friday, to find we had the place to ourselves. The guys unpacked their bikes and started reassembling them. I had to wait for Geoff Ballard to arrive, Peter Payne of Yamaha NZ had arranged for me to ride one of Ballards WRF’s. It finally arrived late Saturday night. I spent Sunday walking the terrain tests with the other Kiwi’s and putting my bark busters, tyres and mooses on the bike.

Most of Monday and Tuesday was taken up with walking the trails, Chris Birch putting the Subaru through its paces getting to the tests. We only got lost once, but better now than in the event. Tuesday afternoon we put the bikes into Parc Ferme after scrutineering and noise tests. The WR250F proving to be one of the quietest bikes at 92 decibels. Wednesday we did a little more walking and then rested up for the start of Day 1.

Now the hard work begins, and hopefully all those months of preparation finally pay off.

Day 1- up at 5am, I’m number 11 so I start at 7.15am. We’re to do some 260kms and 7 hours of riding.

Into Parc Ferme for the 10min work period, nothing to do on the 1st day apart from just a quick dry of the seat and were ready for the cold start. Feeling a little bit nervous as I push my bike to the line, Ballards don’t run the electric start on their WR’s, but sure enough the trusty WR started up just fine on the kicker….

After 25mins of road section on a really cold morning and we’re into the Motul test. Being the 11th bike through it was rather slippery with heavy dew that night. It was a test on its own to stay upright. Then it’s on to the 1st check, into the bush and onto some flowing trails. I was starting to get the hang of the Ballards machine; the next 3 MX tests and 2 Enduro tests ran smoothly with no dramas. Then it was back on the trails to Parc Ferme for the final work period, 2 new tyres and an air filter later the bike was tucked in Parc Ferme ready for day 2.

Day 2- up again early for an another early start, and another freezing cold morning. Out of Parc Ferme and down to the Motul teat again, quite different to yesterday as new lines had formed, ruts and loamy beams. The 1st test of the day always seemed the hardest as you’re still getting warmed up. At the 1st check of the day I caught up with Adrian Smith, Adrian is on no. 5 and as we leave within a few minutes of each other, we are always chatting about the special tests and how each others bikes were running. However, this time when Adrian started up his bike it started making weird engine noises. I later passed him down the track, his bike was dead, not a nice day for him or the team.

All the tests were the same as day one although we rode them backwards. They were really rough as near 400 bikes had been over them twice the day before. Nevertheless I still throughly enjoyed them. The dust from the tracks started to form early on, it was like bull dust, once you hit it, and it went like powder. It seemed to get worse as the day went on as we repeated the same tracks throughout the day, the bigger bikes behind really churning up the ground.

After another 260 odd kms the day was up and back to Parc Ferme for the 15 minute work period. Tyres, filters and a change of oil.

Day 3- Today was going to be good with new trails. New terrain tests so hopefully not so much dust. I was wrong, plenty of dust and real fast terrain tests, really suited for the big bikes, but the little WR coped well.

Jason Davis bike started to lose power; Jono Kight’s bike had an electrical problem, a dodgy spark plug cap, which he managed to sort out real quick.

An early finish today. Ready for the MX. Jason stripping his bike to replace the rings.

Day 4- A long road ride in the freezing temperature and heavy fog. It was about 60 kms to the Motocross track. Once there your bike is locked up until your race is called. I was in race 8 and by that time the track was really cut up with plenty of dust. The water trucks making no difference. My big race, I got an average start, 12th in pack of 30. I couldn’t see where I was going with the dust. It’s no fun riding into a corner blind and hoping you come out the other side okay. I managed to finish 12th, I was really pleased, as I’ve haven’t ridden in dust like that before, not just the motocross but the whole event.

After 800 odd kilometres in 4 days I finished 12th in my class (up to 250cc 4 strokes) and a gold medal. I was rapped as I finished with a bronze last year. The best of the Kiwis was Chris Birch who finished 2nd in his class and 13th outright.

Results are on the website, including great photos of all the riders. www.a4de.com

As I said in the beginning this is a great event and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. You meet some wonderful people and you get to ride as a team, rather than as individuals as we normally do. I’ll be there next year and look forward to seeing more kiwis competing.

Many thanks to all my helpers, Dad, my uncle Rick and Justin Stevenson and all the guys from the Kiwi team. Thanks Guys

Cheers Rory

Very Special thanks to
   PETER PAYNE OF YAMAHA NEW ZEALAND
   GEOFF BALLARD
   PHIL TURNBULLS MOTORCYCLES
   DARBI ACCESSORIES
   FIRTH INDUSTRIES
   REEVES CONCRETE SERVICES
   THE BROTHERS MEAD

Hi all

It had been a busy short week; we had only got back from the A4DE on Monday and had to get the bike sorted for Saturday.

Pahiatua is a great ride, with fast open farm land and some tight trails thrown in for fun. I knew it was going to be hard up against the big boys on the larger cc bikes, but was really looking forward it. The WR250F comes into its own on that sort of terrain.

It was a beautiful day with no sign of the rain that had been forecast. I got off to a good start and the day went well. I managed some fast terrain test times with the little WR tapped out and flying. The larger bikes only just pulling away from me, but I had them in the tight technical stuff.

The terrain tests went well; my times were consistent and were getting faster as the day went on.

In the final results I finished 1st in the E1 class by 100seconds, and 5th overall, just 8sec behind Reece Burgess.

Congratulations to Adam Reeves for fine a win.

Many thanks to Steven Bird and Phil Turnbull Motorcycles, and of course my uncle Rick for his words of wisdom and encouragement.

Cheers Rory

Special thanks to
   YAMAHA NEW ZEALAND
   PHIL TURNBULL MOTORCYCLES
   THE BROTHERS MEAD

Hi All

We headed north early Saturday, arriving in Whangamata around three in the afternoon. The weather was hot and it stayed that way on Sunday.

I hadn’t ridden an Enduro at Whangamata but was told to expect a fast, smooth and tight Enduro. And it certainly turned out to be that way, 167km in 5hrs and 25 mins with an average speed of 39kph. I had that little Yamaha WR250F humming trying to keep up with the bigger bikes.

There were 6 terrain tests, 3 tests done twice each. I rode them blind as I didn’t get a chance to walk them before hand. My times were okay, but still a wee way to go before I get close to Chris Birch.

I ended up winning the E1class, which is my main goal this year, and finished 7th overall. Birchy once again cleaning up. I was pleased with my performance as I had the Yamaha tapped out most of the day. A little more technical would have certainly suited me better, but that’s the breaks.

After 3 rounds of the National’s, I’m leading the E1 Class (up to 125cc 2 strokes, 250cc 4 strokes) but there’s still along way to go. The Yamaha WR250F is great bike and the more I ride it, the better we become.

A special thanks’ to Steven Bird of Phil Turnbull Motorcycles and his brother Ross for their help in getting my bike prepared and the kind word’s of encouragement from Peter Payne of Yamaha New Zealand. Thanks for turning up, it means a lot to me. I was hoping to thank you at prize giving, but there was none.

I’m of to Australia for the 4 day in 2 weeks, and will report to you on my return. I would like to thanks Firth Industries for there support in getting me there and Yamaha New Zealand for arranging a bike for me to ride. Hope to return the favour by riding well and hopefully get a good result.

I can’t finish without saying a special thanks to my Dad and Uncle Rick (The Brothers Mead) for their continuing support and encouragement. Thanks guys.

Cheers Rory

Special thanks to
   Yamaha New Zealand
   Phil Turnbull Motorcycles
   Darbi Accessories
   The Brothers Mead
   Northern Distributors

Hi All

Were do I start, last week was hectic. I’d had been asked by Yamaha New Zealand to ride the 2008 WR 250F.

We picked up the bike from Phil Turnbull’s Motorcycle’s 4 days before the event, after Steven Bird had done an excellent job preparing the bike. I took Thursday afternoon off work and spent a couple hours with my brother Sean getting use to the bike.

The Kapi Mana Enduro is always difficult with 160kms of fast gravel roads, slippery clay and treacherous rocks and this weekend was no exception.

The day started off badly when I crashed in the first terrain test, but still managed 7th fastest time.

The second terrain test was twisting off chamber pine tree trails, I managed to finish 1st in my class and came in with the 4th fastest time.

The third was real fast and long, some 13 minutes, once again I came 1st in my class and 3rd fastest time.

The fourth test was the same as the first, and once again I fell off, but managed to pick myself up quickly and not lose too much time. I came in 2nd in class.

Overall the day went off well with my times getting better as I got the hang of the WR. The Bridgestone tyres I had chosen for the event performed great, handling the roads, rocks and tree roots exceptional well and were prefect for the conditions.

In the final results I finished 4th overall ( 15 seconds behind Jason Davis and 1 second ahead of Karl Power) and 1st in the E1 class, which was great considering I still haven’t got use to the bike.

I’m really rapped to have been given the opportunity to ride the Yamaha WR 250 F and would like thank Peter Payne of Yamaha New Zealand, Sean Clarke and Steven Bird for all their encouragement and support.

Cheers Rory

Special Thanks to
   YAMAHA NEW ZEALAND
   PHIL TURNBULL MOTORCYCLES
   THE BROTHERS MEAD

Hi All

Day 2 carried on from the previous weekend, similar trails and terrain tests, with an extreme test thrown in for good measure.

The day started off overcast, which is what we wanted but it soon turn into a scorcher. Up on the top test the dust cloud hang around for ages, which meant the 2nd terrain test up there had to be cancelled.

I didn’t start off well and crashed on the first test, losing 11 sec., the rest of my test times were okay. It wasn’t until the expert extreme test that I started to loosen up and get into the groove. I won this test by 3 sec over Mitchell Neild, but feel I still could have gone a lot faster.

I finished 2nd overall for the day, which was good considering I wasn’t riding 100%.

On the way up on Friday night we had an accident in the van, on oncoming vehicle blew a tyre and started veering across the road towards us, Dad braked and swerved, and almost had the drift controlled when the front tyres caught on the asphalt and the van rolled.

The van was a write off, but the bikes were okay. So we borrowed my Uncle Rick’s van and started off again, 2 hours later, finally arriving at Otorohanga at midnight.

So 2nd overall was good. Mitchell Neild taking the day.

Day 3 was wet. It started raining about 4am and continued all day. Those that wanted no dust they certainly got their wish.

The day started off well and on the 1st terrain test I was only 2 sec. off the pace.

The expert extreme test had trebled in length which was great and I finished 2nd to Chris Power. The final test proved to be the decider, and I finished on equal time with Chris Power. Chris won the day and I was 2nd.

When the final results were added up for the three days, I had won the E1 class and also the overall Championship. I was now the North Island Enduro Champion. I felt great.

The little KTM 250 EXC F was awesome and never missed a beat, and did really well to beat the more powerfully bikes.

I like to thank my Dad for getting me to the event in one piece and to KTM for providing me with great bike.

Cheers Rory

Special Thanks to
   KTM NEW ZEALAND
   WHEELS OF THAMES
   THE BROTHERS MEAD

Hi All

I have been really looking forward to the start of the season and building on last years result.

This year I was on a new bike (2008 KTM 250 EXCF) and with the revised classes it puts me in the E1 class, which happens to be the biggest field, with many of the top riders choosing to ride the smaller bikes, either 125cc 2 strokes or 250cc 4 strokes.

This was my 2nd year in the National Enduro series, so I would be familiar with the venues, which helps takes a lot of the nervousness away knowing what sort of terrain you will be up against. In respect of Waimiha I knew Gary Powell and his team of organisers would make it a tough event.

The day started off well, with clearly marked out trails and terrain tests very similar to the previous year. As the day went on, it got hotter which made for an exhausting ride. With most of the terrain tests towards the end of the ride, it was essential to stay smooth and keep up a steady pace in the trail sections, as to not lose too much of that much needed energy.

The 4th section was where the trail time tightened up and unless you were travelling at your 100% terrain test pace you were certain to lose time. This ended up being the case. I wasn’t riding fast enough during this section and ended up losing 5mins.

This put me back into 8th overall and 3rd in the E1 class.

Whist I was not happy with the result, I was rapped with my terrain test times.

My times being 2nd fastest in 3 of the 5 tests and placing me only 6 seconds behind Chris Birch in the 1st test and 1 second behind in the 4th test.

I was 3rd fastest overall on terrain test time.

And then we started the long journey home, back to Wellington, analysing and discussing the results.

The 08 KTM 250 EXCF is an awesome bike, and the more I ride the more I love it. I’m glad Lester Yates talked me into riding it. I believe it will hold me in good stead for the future.

A special thanks to my dad and uncle for their support, Lester Yates for putting me on the bike and Richie Ebbett of Motosr for fine tuning the suspension.

Cheers Rory

Special thanks to
   KTM NEW ZEALAND
   LESTER YATES WHEELS OF THAMES
   RICHARD EBBETT MOTOSR
   THE BROTHERS MEAD

Hi all

I had never raced at Oparau before, so wasn’t sure what to expect. We had driven up the night before from Wellington and stayed over night in Otorohanga, then up early and off to Enduro. It is definitely a long way out, so we’ll be sure to camp on site for rounds 2 and 3

We arrived about 8am and I managed to get 12A as my number for the day, which was great, as I prefer to ride at the back of the field on farmland terrain. With 140km to be ridden and the day getting hotter all the time, expected to reach over 30 degrees, I was in for a tough ride.

It started off well with no terrain tests in the 1st section, so a good chance to warm up and get use to the unfamiliar terrain. Over the following 5 hours my bike never faulted, the new KTM 250 EXCF was really starting to prove its worth in my Enduro campaign. The terrain was hard and fast, but bumpy as hell. Not as technical as I would have liked.

All special tests went smoothly with no crashes or hold-ups and I managing to stay on time for the whole day. I was hoping for a good result.

I finished the day in third spot, only 2 seconds behind Mitchell Neild and 7 seconds behind Australian Geoff Braico. I also won the E1 class.

I have mixed feelings about the result, 7 seconds in hardly anything over 5 terrain tests, and farm land is not my forte, so from that point of view I’m happy with the results and I’m really looking forward to rounds 2 and 3 this weekend. It’s a shame it’s not in the forest at Tokorua as I enjoy that ride.

A special thanks to my uncle Rick Mead for travelling with me to the event, and to Lester Yates (Wheels of Thames) for all his support and encouragement.

Cheers Rory

Special thanks to
   KTM NEW ZEALAND
   LESTER YATES WHEELS OF THAMES
   THE BROTHERS MEAD