Australasian Dirt Bike – September 2019

FACTORYRIDE / READERSRIDE /HERITAGE / ACTION / OAS/ BUYERS GUIDE

Howdidyougetthe
bikebug?
It wasin highschool
atWollongongwhen
somematesandI
startedmucking
aboutonoldpaddock
bashersatMountKembla.I
wasabout 16 andhada Yamaha
YL1,whichwasa 100cc
twin-cylinderroadbike,andI
strippedit downtomakeit
moredirtworthy(laughing).By
thetimeI hadstartedmy
apprenticeshipasanengine
re-conditionerI couldseethe
benefitsofbeingin a clubsoI
joinedWollongongMCCand
boughta Greeves250,whichI
stillhave,androdethatatMt
Kemblain clubMXevents.Next
wasa SuzukiHoncho 90 that
hadrotarydiscinductionand
thatwasfollowedbya Honda
XL250Motosport.
Yourodeandfinishednine
ISDEs,howdidtheyturnout?
I’dlovetoclaimsomeGold
Medalsbutit wasonlyever
“tarnishedgold”andsilver.
Giventhatsomeoftheevents
weresupertoughI’mhappyto
havefinishedatall.Waleswas
myfirstSix-Daysin 1983.I rode
a Husqvarna 250 hirebikeand
it wasnearlyallpeatbogs,wind
andrain.Thecoursewaslooped
andafterrunningthroughone
bogwithdifficultyI was
wonderingwhatit wouldbelike
thesecondtimeround.Onthe
secondloop,whilesearchingfor
a goodline,I spottedMurray
Watt’sbikebeingpulledoutby
a tractor.ThatyearI earnedmy
firsttarnished-gold(bronze)
medal.I rodeanIT200in 1984
in HollandforanotherBronze.
Spainwasnextin ’85,dry,dusty
andloadsofrocks,ona YZ250
thatI tookwithmefrom
Australia.Italycamenextin
1986,I piloteda sensational
Cagiva 125 arrangedthrough
FraserMotorcyclesin Sydney.

I’dmovedbackto

Sydneythatyear,

havingtakena job

asADB’sfirst

advertisingmanager.

I hadnocontactswith

Yamahain Sydneyat

thattimeandFraserswere

supportingmein theNSW

enduroseriesona Cagiva.I was

backona Yamahain 1987for

thePolishSix-Days,whereI met

mywifeRenata,I missedthe

1988 eventandthenwentto

Germanyin 1989ona YZ250,

missedoutagainin 1990and

’91thenrodethe’92eventin

Cessnockona Yamaha

WR250ZscoringSilver.In 1995

it wasbacktoPolandwhere

Renatawasinvaluableasan

interpreter,andherextended

familygavea terrific amountof

helptotheAussieteam.Cheap

accommodation,a welder,

whateverweneededtheyhad

thecontacts.MylastISDEwas

1998 in Victoriaforanother

SilverMedalona WR250Z.

Soallyourridinghasbeenin

enduroevents?

IntheearlydaysI rode

motocrossbutit wasmostly

enduro.I rodea supercrossin

CairnsonceaboardanIT490,

takingouta TVnews

cameramanwhenI lostcontrol

overa doublejump.Therewas

plentyoftestridingwithADB

andthenwithTrailzoneafter

Clubbystartedthatmagazine.

Doesanyridestandout?

MyfirstSix-Daysin Wales,that

waswhenI caughttheISDE

bug,I wasverygreento

internationalcompetition,a lot

ofridersDNF’edbutI madeit

through.I seizedthepistonat

theendofDayFivecominginto

theparcferme.MurrayWatt

stayedupwithmewellintothe

nightandmademedofour

pistonreplacementsona spare

biketogetreadyfortherepair

jobin thenextmorning’swork

REAR GUARD

NINE FINISHES AT THE ISDE

PHIL GIELISWASANISDE TRAGIC AND ADB’S FIRST ADVERTISING MANAGER

some ways, actually it revs even

higher, occasionally I’ll ride it to

work. It’s extremely versatile.

Trailzone has closed, what do

you do these days?

Trailzone was only a second job,

my full-time employment was as

a fi tter and I’ve been at Arnotts

Biscuits for 25 years.

Your favourite bike?

As I’ve said I always love

two-strokes but the WR250R I

have is just so good, and you

have to love the convenience of

button start and 40,000km

valve clearance checks.

What was the toughest event?

Poland in 1995, it was so cold

and snowing. The conditions

were so bad that riders were

DNF’ing with hyperthermia. The

jackets we had were not

suitable. Dave McAndrew and I

wandered around the sales

stands looking for something

better and he’d heard Goretex

jackets were pretty good. They

cost $390, which was a lot back

then, but they did the job and I

still have mine.

The nickname Popgun, how’d

that happen?

In Cairns a lot of the gun riders

were on European machinery

and would tell me that as long

as I was on a Japanese bike all I

could ever be was a popgun.

Has anyone infl uenced your

career that needs a mention?

Peter Payne was a hero fi gure,

as was Bob Melvin. Murray Watt

did heaps for me, especially

when I started at ADB and was

new to Sydney. Clubby was

sensational as well. Geoff

Eldridge and Dianna Farmer

were instrumental in me

returning to Sydney. Warren

Fraser and Warren Lee from

Fraser Motorcycles, John Hall

(RIP), Steven Cotterell and Ross

King all played major roles in my

riding career. Thanks everyone ,

I love ya’s all.

with Warren Jack

MMMMUUUURRRRRRRRAAAAYYYYWWWWAAAATTTTTTTTDDDDIIIIDDDD

HHEEAAPPSSFFOORRMMEE,

ESPECIALLYWHEN

I STARTED AT ADB

FI

VE

MINUTES

WITH

PHIL

GIELIS

period. I did it in 23 minutes,

blowing the Cold Start test but

going on to fi nish.

Any events you maybe should

have had a start in?

The Queensland Yamaha

importer, who supported me in

Cairns, wanted me to ride the

Finke Desert Race. They fl ew

me down to have a look with the

intention of entering the next

year but I decided against it.

What’s in your shed?

Well I still have that Greeves

250 which needs to go to make

some room. Would you like to

buy it? I also have an ADR’ed

Yamaha WR250Z 1998 model,

I’ve always liked two-strokes,

also a 2008 Yamaha WR250R

which is as good on-road as it is

in the Upper Monkerai at

Stroud. It’s like a two-stroke in

160 |SEPTEMBER 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au