RAGLAN DAZE

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An epic hard event in its day the Raglan Enduro was akin to the heroics of the modern Romaniacs. Despite the effort required to finish riders would party hard on occasions right through to dawn. Happy daze indeed.

NORTH SHORE DAZE

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Shane Kelly shared this great bunch of vintage dirt riding pics with us. Shane was bred on Auckland's North Shore where dirt bikes were  a popular way to get around and weekend fun. The photos give  a great flavour of the times including some of the basic transport modes used in those simpler and far less plentiful days. 

VINDURO FOR NZ

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 Vinduro has finally made it to NZ with the Waitemata MCC's celebration of the Virgin Swamps Enduro at Riverhead Forest on December 6th. The VSE is celebrates forty years of enduros held in the forest  west of Auckland city. The special VSE Vinduro celebration will include a trail ride and scaled down version of the famous VSE enduro.  
In the photo: The joy of riding a vintage enduro bike in great Kiwi terrain. It's 1984 and Glen Tasker is full bore in Riverhead Forest in this great pic by Geoff Osborne. So good was this photo that it was chosen as the cover photo in Kiwi Rider's first issue.
For more info on Vinduro go to the vinduronz.com site

TRIUMPH TR5 TROPHY
OFF ROAD VIDEO 

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Off road video action like you have never seen. Part two of this video of a classic 1952 Triumph TR5 Trophy being ridden across the rugged Coromandel Ranges. The route follows an historic pack horse track - real hard core trailriding on a genuine vintage dirt bike. 

TRAIL SKILLS
TIGHT TURNS

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Ultra tight turns are a part of trail riding in New Zealand. If you can’t easily ride the turn on full lock the situation can quickly become embarrassing as your dirt bike has no reverse gear and it's usually impossible to back up. This article shows a couple of techniques to handle tight corners in both up and downhill situations.    

1952 TRIUMPH TR5
OFF ROAD TEST

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At last a classic off road bike test that goes more than 50 yards from the pub.  To get an idea of what its really was like to ride a 62 year old dirt bike under tough off road conditions I enlisted the help of long time riding buddy Dene Humphrey to accompany me on an ambitious all-day crossing of the rugged Coromandel ranges via the old Puriri to Hikuai pack horse track, a ride that leaves many riders on modern machinery wondering why they bothered. 

RUAPEHU ADVENTURE
TRAIL RIDE VIDEO

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More video action from day three of Britton Adventures four day adventure trail ride around Ruapehu. Day two offered over two hundred kays of riding, including some brilliant single track and hours of mud, ruts and face-slapping rain forest vegetation.

EXTREME TRAILRIDING
VIDEOS

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Riding extreme trails may not be everyone's ideal way to spend a Sunday but if you are up for a challenge have a look and see how riding a trials bike can open up a whole new world of trailriding.

2016 YAMAHA WR250F HIGH COUNTRY TEST

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HIGH COUNTRY HIGH

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Autumn adventure trail riding with friends in the incomparable South Island High Country. Photos by Neil Caughey.

ROTORUA MCC

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The Burgess family and the Rotorua MCC are names that went hand in hand in offroad motorcycling for many years. Here's some fascinating photos from a box Paul and Neil Burgess dug out of the cupboard that show just how much fun they really had.

NORTH SHORE DAZE - 2

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More great shots from Shane and Lee Kelly featuring action from those crazy days of the Waitemata MCC and NZ Enduro Champs from the seventies and eighties.

VSE VINDURO

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Perfect weather and a good turnout made NZ's inaugural vintage enduro ride a great success. Held at Riverhead Forest near Auckland, the Virgin Swamps Vinduro was hosted by the innovative and hard-working Waitemata MCC. Results photos and video.

 BULLETPROOF
YOUR BIKE

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New Zealand conditions can be amongst the most demanding on the planet, so whether you ride the occasional charity trail ride, or tackle the big five day guided epics, at some stage your preparation will be tested. Here are twenty ways I bulletproof my bike for long trail rides.

VINTAGE ON DISPLAY

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Some truly stunning vintage trail and enduro bikes will be on display at the 40th Virgin Swamps Enduro celebrations at Riverhead Forest on December 6th including these immaculate Suzuki trail bikes, a 1970 eight speed Husqvarna 400 and one the world’s first specialist enduro bikes a 1952 Triumph Trophy.

ADVENTURE SKILLS
TRACTION CONTROL

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When traction becomes marginal both acceleration and hill climbing can be affected. In some off road situations maximum grip with minimal wheelspin best maintains forward momentum, while in others it’s just the opposite - more wheelspin gets best results. Understanding why this is and when to apply the two wildly different techniques is the secret to the puzzle.

TRIUMPH TRAIL RIDE
VIDEO

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Here's a cruisey Sunday trailride on vintage Triumphs as some mates take to the back roads and some scenic west Auckland countryside and farms and even a stop for coffee, looks like the lads are getting soft!

MORE VINTAGE PICS

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More vintage dirt biking photos, the latest batch from Mark Prowse, the fastest dolly stuffer on Auckland's North Shore in the early 70s. In real life Mark has since made an enviable profession out of driving cars dangerously for TV ads and movies.

ENDURO HISTORY
1979

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1979 was a pivotal year for enduro in NZ with more interest in the sport from across the country. Major rule changes and individual North and South Island Championships were also instated and despite some controversy over the tough nature of many events, interest was growing. Action photos from the time plus results and comment.

YOUR PICS
LESTER YATES & THE TVMCC

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The Thames Valley MCC were involved with enduros from the mid seventies. The local terrain of the Coromandel Ranges is endowed with fantastic terrain, at least for those who like their rides on the wilder side of wet and steep. This uncompromising country has bred some tough riders none less so than club stalwarts Lester Yates and John Isdaile.

MANGAWEKA ADVENTURE

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If you like spectacular views and kay after kay of smooth hill country farm tracks you should have gone to Mangaweka Adventure ride. The ride strings together many farms, gravel roads and for the big bike option some great windy back country sealed roads.

BUSH START A BIKE

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Extreme trail riding in remote places can pose some interesting problems. On a recent ride in rugged North Island bush the kick start on Duncan's Gas Gas trails bike failed. Our situation was not promising, we were on flat muddy ground in thick bush with no track to push the bike along and with trees spaced at sub handlebar width We came up with the idea of rolling a lightweight towing strop around the wheel and spinning the engine into life. With the Gas Gas set up on a log in fifth gear (maybe third gear on an enduro bike) we gave it a shot. Here's the result.