ay 1984 saw Kiwi Dirt Rider mag-
azine launch into the New Zea-
land market. It was the start of a
long and winding journey into publish-
ing about the world of motorcycling. The
magazine came about after a weekend of
trail riding in the Coromandel Ranges in
the January heat. John Nicholson, Shaun
Stanbridge and Pete ‘Vege’ McPhee de-
cided to get a real dirt bike magazine go-
ing, one that catered to a New Zealand
audience. We were all racing enduro and
cross country, with a bit of MX thrown into
the mix... and we had the bug, real bad.
By the end of April ‘84 we had our first is-
sue together. It was finally off to the print-
er after lots of late nights and a heap of
stress. The magazine landed on shelves
on the first Thursday in May 1984. There
was, of course, no social media and no
fan fare to speak of, but the first issue of
Kiwi Dirt Rider magazine was out there –
giving Kiwis the stuff they wanted to read
about. Initial sales were encouraging. It
was clear that New Zealanders wanted
New Zealand content, so we got stuck into
the next issue. This has been the case ever
since... we’ve made New Zealand content
for New Zealanders for the last 35 years.
To commemorate the original magazine
we pulled out one of the few surviving first
editions and scanned it, for you all to see
where we’ve come from. The May 1984 is-
sue is up on our Joomag platform and is
free for you to read. Just click on the cov-
er of the magazine and you can read what
motorcycling was about in mid-80s New
Zealand. I’m sure it will bring back memo-
ries for many of you and give the rest of you
an idea of where KR has come from, while
we embrace the future in a digital world.
Enjoy! Pete McPhee... aka Vege.