Riding and racing older bikes with like-minded riders is a lot of fun, Glenn Davies explains the world of club scrambles.
The Auckland Classic Scramble Club started back in 1989 as‘ Greybeards’ with pre-69 and pre-75 Classes, a subsidiary of the Waitemata MCC. This was as a demonstration sport to give classes to all the pre-75 short travel twin shock machines from the golden age, keeping them alive and being used. The motto was“ Ride‘ em, don’ t hide‘ em!” In the early 2000s an independent club was formed, the ACSC. From what I understand, it was a small group of enthusiasts who had a number of natural terrain properties dotted around Auckland, and to this day still do, although in recent years the territory has spread to include North Waikato farms too. The club founding families are the Clark’ s, Steadman’ s, along with Bill Werry and Barry Moody. The Clark family were, for a long time, the driving force of the Club. In those early days there were even council grants and ambulance discounts.
I joined up in early 2005 when the Evolution bikes had been introduced, I wanted a way to keep racing affordable due to ever expanding costs. Around 2010-2015, Pre-1986 machines were brought into the fold with racing kept in separate categories including Pre-1986, Classics, etc. There were no bungy starts, just handicap starts in small groups sent off with a flag wave, with the faster, more confident riders running at the rear. Children and learners got to practise and gain confidence during the lunch breaks. Originally, the bikes were purely classic machines, 15 years and older, mostly Japanese with the odd European and a selection of British bikes( BSA, CCM, CZ, Husqvarna etc.). Most were in excellent, showroom condition. The club operated on minimal riders but as the years rolled on, expenses have snowballed to the point where 55 or more riders barely breaks even at an event. The
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