Bikers provide a boost to Invercargill's economy

Sunday, 14 February 2021

Suzanne and Owen Miller watched the street racing Sunday after supporting their son Mitchell Miller at the drag racing on Friday night. They live just outside of Invercargill, but Suzanne said she was in town every day during the Burt Munro Challenge.

Invercargill businesses welcomed bikers as they arrived in droves and helped to boost’s the town’s economy during the Burt Munro Challenge.

The 15th event wrapped up on Sunday with the final event being the street racing held in the city, and because of Covid-19 pandemic the usual influx of international motorbike enthusiasts was missing.

The challenge was one of the first big events for Southland since the Covid-19 outbreak began and organiser Craig Hyde said there were a couple of Zoom calls during the national lockdown where organisers weren’t sure what to do.

They decided to forge ahead with planning, but made a few small tweaks to ensure the loss of initial capital outlay wouldn’t be too great, should Covid-19 put the brakes on.

* Final fine-tuning marks the start of this year's Burt Munro Challenge beach champs

* John Munro gives visitors the inside scoop on Burt's life

“We were lucky enough to go ahead. I think people just wanted to go out and do stuff,” Hyde said.

The only event to be cancelled was the annual Bluff hill climb race because of the weather, which also resulted in the drag racing being postponed.

Jamie (9), right, and Ryan (7) Oosterbroek made sure their ears were protected while they watched the street racing at this year's Burt Munro Challenge. They were keeping an eye out for one of their dad's colleagues who was scheduled to race.

At Classic Motorcycle Mecca, it was difficult to see the entrance as bikes lined Tay St for most of the week.

Meccaspresso Café manager Brenda Hayes said the shop had record trade days.

“It's our favourite week of the year,” she said.

“On Friday morning there were probably about 20 people waiting at the door,” Hayes said.

The Kourse Motorcycle Club travelled from Dunedin to take part in the Burt Munro Challenge. Katie Henry (right) was excited to be racing alongside her dad Allan Henry (left) and Craig Ellis.

It was standing room only at E. Hayes And Sons – home of the popular Burt Munro exhibition – on Thursday and Friday.

Manager Debbie Hodges said visitors were there for the exhibition experience, but some bought from the café or picked up memorabilia.

“There was leather and helmets for Africa,” she said, although things did seem a bit quieter than previous years.

Global Byte manager Pratima Patel-McKenzie said it had been fantastic to see people countrywide in Invercargill for the challenge.

Bikers were keen to try local foods like blue cod and home baked breads, and she had made a point of promoting Southland produce, she said.

Patel-McKenzie and her staff had been a little apprehensive about how a Burt Munro Challenge without international visitors would look, but the steady flow of customers put their minds at rest.

“It just shows what Invercargill is capable of. We should have more events,” she said.

Julian Bragg, from Invercargill, made sure his hair matched his bike for this year's Burt Munro Challenge.

Dunedin rider Katie Henry had participated in the sprint races at Teretonga Park on Saturday, but said the street races were short and sharp.

“You’re on and off your brakes a lot more, while Teretonga is wide and open,” she explained.

Henry’s dad Allen had raced at almost every Burt Munro Challenge, but usually came down with her brother.

“Now it's me and him out there racing,” she said.

In the pit area on Sunday, some riders were prepping their bikes under big gazebos, with all sorts of gear, while others were clearly taking a more casual approach to the racing.

Henry's team were among those to have their tyres wrapped up and heated ahead of the race.

Teammate Craig Ellis explained that this made the tyres last longer and meant only putting them through one heat cycle rather than having them warm up and cool down with each track event.

Julian Bragg, of Invercargill, had given himself a flash hair colour to match his bike, even shaving his race number into the side of his head.

He’d participated in 14 Burt Munro Challenges, but Sunday was his first street race, after deciding last year that he wasn’t getting enough of an adrenalin rush at the beach racing.

Bragg wasn’t all that comfortable from the outset though. “I’m just hoping to finish without any broken bones. That's a win for me,” he said.

Andrew and Juliette Clark had been watching the street racing since the first Burt Munro Challenge.

“We absolutely love them,” Andrew said, while Juliette added “It all goes so fast,” referring to Burt Munro week.

The two were there to see John Crawford race his Suzuki RM-Z450.

Suzanne Miller had been hanging around town all week to watch the challenge events.

“It’s fantastic. We love it,” she said, excitedly.

She and husband Owen even got to cheer their son Mitchell Miller on at the drag racing event on Friday night.

Some minor spills on the track had spectators gasping – overzealous acceleration causing the bike to flip, or riders missing a corner – but Hyde said there had been no serious accidents or injuries throughout the week.