Australasian Dirt Bike – May 2019

FACTORY RIDE/ READERSRIDE /HERITAGE /ACTION /OAS/ BUYERSGUIDE

Howwasyourfirst
dirtbike
experience?
Painfulbut
memorable.Iwas
onlyfiveandmydad
hadaPE175.Wewereat
aridingareaatAllambie
HeightsinSydney’snorthand
heletmehavearide.Hesatme
onitandlettheclutchoutandI
wasoff.Literally.Mythrottle
controlwasnotthebestandI
flippeditandtoreoffa
fingernail.Dadwrappedthe
injuryinhiscleanhanky,he
alwayscarriedtwoandwewent
home.WhenIwaseight,Igota
1984 RM50and,togetabit
moregroundclearance,Dadput
theshocksfromaTY250[trials
bike]ontheback.Itlookedsilly
butdidthejobasIwascasing
outonjumps.
I’dbeendoingminimotocross
andgymkhanaeventsuntilDad
tookmetoNepeanforashort
circuit(dirttrack)raceandI
decidedIlikedthatracingbest.
Dadmadeupanylonrear
sprocketfortheRM50to
increasetopspeed,whichitdid,
butatthecostofacceleration.
WheneverIchangedupagear
themotorwouldbogdownabit.
Istillhavethatsprocketinthe
shed(laughs).NextIendedup
withaKX60and,throughthe
mid-’80s,Irodeasmanyclasses
asIcould,50,60,80,Big-Wheel
80, 125 andfour-stroke.
BetweenmybrotherandI,we
hadsevenbikes.
Ridinginsomanyclassesyou
musthavehadafewwins?
Iwasmostlythebridesmaidand
occasionallythebride.Thetop
stepofthepodiumalways
eludedmeinthebigevents.In
mylastyearofracing,1990,I
scoredasecondandtwothirds
inthenationalJuniortitlesin
theBig-Wheel 80 and 125
classes.IalsohavetheNSW
crownfortheBig-Wheel 80

classfor 1990 and

wasamemberof

thewinningteamin

the 1989 NSW

teamschampionship.

Hasallyourriding

beenindirttrackand

shortcircuitordidyou

tryotherfacetsofthesport?

Ididn’thavethebuildorfitness

formotocross,myenthusiasm

wouldwritechequesthatmy

bodycouldn’tcash.Ilovedthe

speedofdirttrack,it’sagreat

feelingwhenrevvinga

two-stroketothelimitdownthe

straightandthenputtingit

sidewaysintothecorner.Ihada

goaltobeaspeedwayriderbut

Ihadanaccidentat 16 that

damagedmykneeandtheoffer

ofanapprenticeshipasa

mechanicseemedthemore

sensiblechoice.AtthatageI’d

alsodiscoveredthedistraction

ofgirlsandcars,somy

prioritieschangedalittle.

Thekneeinjurywasbad?

Itcouldhavebeenworsebutit

wasbadenough,it’sallgood

nowthough.Igotcaughtupina

crashinthesecondcornerofa

raceinCanberra.Bikeswere

goingeverywhereandIended

upwithmykneejammedin

anotherrider’sfork.

Doesanyparticularwinholda

specialmemoryforyou?

Ataregionalmeetingin

TamworthIhadagreatday.I

scoredfivewinsfromfivestarts

ridingthreedifferentbikesin

differentclasses.Itwasanoiled

trackandrainingandwewere

runninggrooved,wetweather

slicksaswehadnosparetyres.

Everyonewashavingtraction

problemsasyoucanimagine

butImanagedtokeepthings

uprightmorethantheothers

andalsoscoredtheriderofthe

meetingaward.

Arethereanyeventsyou

nevergottotickoff?

Iwaslookingforwardtomy

REAR GUARD

MONEY TOO TIGHT TO MENTION

DIRTTRACKERMARKPEACOCK CHOSE AN APPRENTICESHIP OVER A SENIOR CAREER

and a “Streety” Jawa (that’s an

OHC Jawa slider that has a Neil

Street conversion). Neil built

them for Phil Crump in the

1970s and he won a world title

with one. That gives me the best

of both worlds, a ridiculously

fast two-stroke that’s hard to

ride but heaps of fun, and a

more traditional four-stroke

slider. My dream bike would be a

current Jawa long tracker.

Do you still work as a

mechanic?

Only as a hobby now, restoring

Datsun 1600s. I have my own air

conditioning business at Dural,

with the family, called Icoolm Air

Conditioning. I’ve been doing

that for about 15 years.

Everybody has a race they

regard as their toughest,

what was yours?

My last major ride in the Junior

nationals in the 125 class. I’d

always wanted that title and I

won the fi rst three heats but

choked in the last two for third

overall. It was the one that got

away and a real disappointment

for me, but that’s racing I

suppose.

Does any bike hold a special

place in the memory bank?

I had a 1989 Kawasaki big wheel

80 that was prepared by Alan

Tomkins at Kawasaki West for

the ’89/90 season. It had the

U.S. spec 82cc barrel and

custom underslung pipe and

went very well. I had most of my

wins on that and I’m looking for

one to do up if you hear of any

in good condition. The only ones

I’ve found so far have been

very rough.

Who were the big names in

Juniors in your day?

“Rocket” Rodney Macdonald

was a fast one and another was

Dean Masters but the biggest

name was Anthony Gobert. He

had so much talent. He could

ride the wheels off anything.

with Warren Jack

IDIDN’THAVETHE

BUILDORFITNESS

FORMOTOCROSS,

MYENTHUSIASM

WOULDWOULDWRITEWRITE

CHEQUESTHATMY

BODYCOULDN’T

CASH

FI

VE

MINUTES

WITH

MARK

PEACOCK

Senior years so I could ride in

the King of Nepean but a

combination of things meant

that never happened. The knee

injury and the added costs of

Senior competition put paid to

that idea. I’d had a lot of help

from Alan Tomkins at Kawasaki

West as a Junior but when I had

to pay it all myself on an

apprentice’s wage it was a bit

hard. $142 a week didn’t go

very far.

What is your current ride?

I have a 1983 CR480 that I’ve

done up, it makes about 62hp,

and I ride that in vintage dirt

track and occasional VMX ride

days. I also have a Hagon JAP

142 |MAY 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au