Rosebank Motorcycle Speedway community to let these rag-tag groups of dirt bikers loose on their purpose built Speedway track . This all culminated in the final race of the season and a winner takes all , prize-money event , that attracted the top 10 Flat Track riders in the North Island and some South Island racers . Over the past two seasons , the number of competitors in the North alone has nearon doubled , with the South Island guys also increasing their rider turnout .
FASTEST GROWING BIKE SPORT IN THE COUNTRY What I enjoy most about Flat Track is the racing side . After spending nearly 15 years racing dirt bikes most weekends , that competitive feeling and adrenaline I got from banging bars at a cross country race , or dodging through trees on a special test was ... umm ... missing . When I first heard about Flat Track , I initially thought it was going to be a little lame ... just going around in circles . But , as I found out , the competition and close quarters racing more than made up for the fact that trees were not involved . It ’ s fair to say I was hooked pretty quickly .
ALL-IN WITH MY CRF450R It didn ’ t take long for me to decided I was going all-in with my old ‘ 09 CRF450R ... to transform it into a Flat Track spec race bike . This meant a 2.5-inch wide rear 19-inch rim , with a 2.15-inch x 19-inch front rim to properly house the 140 / 130 wide Shinko FT Med / Soft tyres . I had the suspension lowered and stiffened , chucked a set of Workshop graphics on it and a custom JW seat to finish off the look . It ’ s pretty cool what a fresh set of plastics and stickers can do to a 13-year old bike ! So ... Flat Track is now my main form of racing and it ’ s not only pretty safe , easy on my ageing body [ come back in 10 years and tell us how you feel ... - Ed ] and cheap . It ’ s also bloody good fun , with a really good bunch of guys out there - all turning left . If you have a dirt bike , you can go Flat Track racing , and that is the real beauty of it . Just don ’ t turn right .
KIWI RIDER 39