ROAD NEWS
ISLE OF MAN REES STYLE
Mitch Rees has had a few races in the UK in preparation for his IOMTT debut and has already raised a few eyebrows with his pace on unfamiliar circuits like the iconic Northwest 200. A dizzyingly fast and long street course that sees riders top the double-ton( yep, 200mph) and negotiate roundabouts and chicanes as well, Rees posted an eleventh place out of a massive grid of sixty as he re-gears his mind to the challenge ahead. Adding to that impressive NW200 debut is the recovering from a mistake that saw Rees crash in practice, so he started in the second wave. The first wave take off and then the next wave are released, so Mitch had to battle through the faster second wave racers and then move up through the first wave to get a good time. This on a Superstock-spec machine in the Superbike race. His great mate and Suzuki Series
competitor in NZ, Davey Todd, was the man of the meeting and while competing against each other in the TT, he is also helping our guy( do you like how we slipped that in there) with what must be the greatest challenge in motorcycle racing. Riding for Padgetts on pretty familiar machinery, the Whakatane based Honda motorcycle dealer will use the same bike for Superstock and Superbike, swapping over the parts that are for the class. To say it was impressive to see Mitch adapt so fast and place so high among legends of the real roads scene is such an understatement. Knowing how quick he is, it was still mind-blowing to see his name up there with the riders he has been watching. Book the time off, attach seat belts to the sofa and stream the racing, there is simply nothing on this earth like the IOMTT.
ROYAL MILLION
Royal Enfield sold 1.09million motorcycles last financial year, topping that magic mark for the first time. And this year looks like it will be even bigger for the iconic Indian brand with March seeing a 34 percent increase over 2024. With their new facilities in Thailand and Bangladesh opening in time for the 125th anniversary of the launch of Royal Enfield, the once conservative motorcycle manufacturing giant is embarking on a bold expansion into new markets at the same time as releasing a raft of new models recently. Adding to this is the‘ spy’ sightings of things to come in the near future, based on their latest platforms and a tantalising new one widely rumoured to be well and truly in the works. That total means that, on average, 2986 completed machines roll off the floor every single day, if you based it on seven day per week production. No wonder Royal Enfield Managing Director, B Govindarajan said,“ This year has been nothing short of extraordinary for Royal Enfield. Crossing the one million annual sales milestone, our highest ever, is a testament to how far we’ ve come. From a time when 50,000 motorcycles a year felt like a big win to now setting new global benchmarks in the mid-size segment, our journey has been incredible”.
84 KIWI RIDER