Like a lot of riders these days, I’ m juggling bikes, work, and a young family— which means long days at the track are few and far between. What I needed was something I could ride after work, at short notice, without annoying the neighbours or waking the kids. Now, I’ m lucky enough to have access to a small private track out in a semi-rural area, but like most spots that are close to home, noise is always the issue.
THE WHY And that’ s what originally got me curious about the Stark VARG. The idea of being able to sneak in laps in the evening, without firing up a petrol engine, was too tempting to ignore. After a demo ride with the crew at Tracktion Motorcycles in Christchurch, I was impressed enough to buy one— and that’ s the bike you’ re reading about here. This isn’ t a press test. This is my own bike, and I’ ve been living with it long-term.
ERGO’ S AND FIRST SETUP Climbing aboard the VARG for the first time, it feels … familiar. Like hopping on any other
modern MX bike. At 6ft and 90kg, I found the stock cockpit to be a little tight. The stock bars are swept back more than I prefer, and combined with the standard seat and peg position, it all felt a bit cramped for my riding style. To sort that out, I fitted a tall, hard compound Guts gripper seat, moved the pegs 15mm back, and swapped the rubber bar mounts to solid ones to stop the cockpit twisting under pressure. These changes opened the bike up, gave me more room to move, and sharpened up the steering feel, especially through ruts and tight corners.
POWER DELIVERY The Stark VARG is unique in that you can adjust the power output with pinpoint precision. While it’ s capable of a massive 80 horsepower, which puts it well beyond any production motocross bike, I run it at 52hp. That’ s roughly the same output as a modern 350cc four-stroke, which is my go-to engine class for its ideal mix of torque, agility, and overall rideability. At that power setting, the VARG delivers
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