H
aving never been to a Shiny Side Up event
before, I didn’t really know what to expect,
however there is no better way to learn than
being thrown in at the deep end. With 11 locations
in total, made up of four Bike Fest events and
seven Talk series events, it’s fair to say most of the
country was covered.
I was the MC for the Bike Fest events, with
the four locations being Nelson, Christchurch,
Tauranga and Kapiti on four consecutive
Sundays this past summer. I had an absolute
blast meeting and talking with Kiwi riders from
all over the country. Hearing stories about their
riding adventures, experiences on different bikes
and swapping ideas and techniques. We struck
it pretty lucky with the weather also, with the
closest we got to rain being in Nelson.
TALENT
Some of the talent involved in the event included
Jake and Jane Whitaker. They were at all four bike
fest events, with Jake demonstrating incredible
balance and control on the Montessa trials bike
and the KTM 300 Enduro machine.
Yamaha factory Stunt rider Dave Mckenna
made a return to NZ with his 2020 Yamaha MT-
09SP, “lightly modified” with larger rear brake
disc, triple rear calipers, oversized rear sprocket,
independent rear brake leaver, dished fuel tank
and 2-o’clock wheelie bar. For a 205kg machine,
Dave had no trouble getting it up on the back
wheel, or throwing it into a nose stoppie from
close to 100km/h, and pirouetting through 180
degrees to plant the rear tyre on terra firma again.
Fest-goers were treated to four rounds of
blistering action in the NZ MotoGymKhana
Championship with only the occasional dropped
bike. NZ police were in attendance showing off
their cone weaving skills and superior control on
the big 1300cc Honda machines. Demonstrations
from local Ride Forever instructors on the
benefits of ABS and following distances were
also on show.
In the lounge, punters were treated to talks
from the likes of Dr Chris Hurren, from Deakin
University. Chris is the driving force behind the
massive amount of research going into MotoCap.
In essence, they buy motorcycle gear of
KIWI RIDER 25