RIDER – IVAN MILLER
With works bikes in their arsenal, the Colemans needed the best
riders and their attention was drawn to a young New Zealander who
was rapidly making a big name for himself in England – Ivan Miller.
Miller had gone to England as a New Zealand and Australian
champion. He took a low-key approach at first, but soon cleaned
up at a race meeting on a bike belonging to an Aussie friend.
“My mate asked me if I wanted to ride, because he didn’t want to
go out as it was too wet. I told him I couldn’t, but he encouraged
me to just dress in his gear. I won all the races by a country mile.
This guy had never won a race,” Ivan remembers. “The press got
wind of how some unknown, riding under someone else’s name,
had shot everyone to pieces.”
The resulting publicity led to a certain level of notoriety. KTM
took notice and before long, Miller had his first full works ride
He was later signed to ride for Bultaco as well.
Miller had to start out in the junior classes, and needed to
accumulate enough points over six months before he could
move up to expert. He scored sufficient points in just one day,
but still had to wait out the six months probation period.
In Miller, the Colemans had a rider who could do justice to
their works bike. Their invitation to come to New Zealand and
ride professionally for the Suzuki team was the start of a long
association – in fact Miller ended up riding the motocross season
in both hemispheres for nine years – 18 summers in a row. To this
day, he finds winters hard to take.
Miller rode all three classes – 125, 250 and 400 – but it was the
big works bike that he recalls fondly; and no wonder, after he won
every race except his first in the 72/73 season, and took out the
open class championship for two seasons.
“Straight out of the crate it was just beautiful,” he recalls, “The
suspension and engine were really nice. It had good power, and
we didn’t have to do anything except personalise the handlebars.
The frame was all tricked up, and the nuts and bolts were
titanium. It had an aluminium tank and titanium handlebars.
It was a very light bike, and I could pick it up quite easily with
two hands. It was absolutely brilliant – far ahead of anything
else at the time.
“I always liked the big bikes – the horsepower. No one could
ride that quick, and nothing could compete with us.”
Miller would ride the RN400L until it was superseded by the
longer travel RM machines.
In his early 20s, at the peak of his abilities, his constant riding
maintained superb match fitness to complement his natural
talent. He would typically compete in 120 races over the season,
in all three classes.
30 KIWI RIDER