Japanese import Tsuyoshi Watanabe is the man
working to keep Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing
Team rider Maximus Purvis on track.
“I do maintenance for all three bikes in the team
actually. Max’s 250cc bike is always the most
maintenance. The 450cc bike is not so much
work,” said Watanabe.
“I strip everything down before race day and
check everything is nice and tight and lubricated.
His engine is almost standard but sometimes I
will be changing piston, cleaning chassis, swingarm,
steering and so on. Always quite busy, but I
like this job.
“New Zealand tracks are very beautiful, and I
like it very much here. Max is a fun guy to work
with too.”
Waikato man Darren “Luppy” Lupton is the
mechanic for Motul Honda Team stars Cody
Cooper and Wyatt Chase and it’s a natural
extension of his working week as manager of
the Honda dealership in Pio Pio.
“With Wyatt injured at the moment, I’ve been
working mainly with Cody,” he said.
“Basically, the riders look after their own
practice bikes and I look after their race bikes.
I take them home and check clearances, check
bolts and strip them down to get them prepared
for race weekend. The bikes are very reliable
these days, but you never can be too sure. I’ll
change gearing and tyres. We are pretty lucky
with Honda because we always have plenty of
OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts
on hand.
“We don’t do any modifications on the bike,
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