Time Machines

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BIKE HEAD-TO-HEAD

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t’s like a horse; it knows when you’re scared.” Not the sort of conversation we normally overhear on a Transmoto test, but these spoken words have just brushed the bristles of one of Australia’s most famous moustaches – but this one that hasn’t tried to blow-torch the soles of your feet or throw a cricket ball square at you. Geoff Ballard, master enduro rider and custodian of the said ‘thirdeyebrow’, has the beginning of a rye smile forming on his face. The words are aimed at the rider trying to start the bright-red 1981 Maico 490GS. Damian Smith, one of Australia’s most capped ISDE riders and the kind of guy that wouldn’t sweat in a sauna, looks the most flustered I’ve ever seen him. It takes Ballard, casually sauntering over in what can only be described as ‘sporting clogs for the older gentleman’ two prods to fire the Maico into a barkingly smokey existence. Now let me set the scene further. We’re at Ballard’s Ranch, on the outskirts of Sydney, and there’s more enduro talent on this small paddock than perhaps anywhere else in the world right now. The 2011 race team has just been on a photoshoot and I’m recognising dirty – but famous – faces everywhere. Stefan Merriman mingles with Chris Hollis, Matthew Phillips talks lines with Jess Gardiner, while ISDE veterans Laurie Alderton and Ballard are talking previous victories riding Maicos in the ’80s. But all the laughter and chat stops with the metallic zing of the old girl filling the air. Such is the mystique of the grand old Maico. In contrast, I count eight, 2011-model WR-Fs that are waiting for a nappy change, but ignored as the fridge in your kitchen. The Maico 490GS and Yamaha WR450F are both iconic bush bashers. Separated by three decades, the Maico’s air-cooling, twin-shock suspension and blockey European styling has given way to the latest Japanese technology and fashion. But does that mean the Yamaha is indistinguishable from its older brother? I guess riding the pair over the next 12 hours will tell. “

TIME MACHINES Transmoto tests two enduro icons – separated by three decades – to see if the future has brought us the bike we really need. Or have style and personality become overlooked commodities? MARTIN CHILD

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iKAPTURE IMAGES

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