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Photo - Wayne Marshall and one of his Mean Green machines:
Photo courtesy of Andy McGechan:
Email Andy: He may have a photo of you in his extensive files?
KAWASAKI TEAM GREEN - Press Release:
Wanganui’s Wayne Marshall has a garage that would make most men green with envy. The 44-year-old builder, known affectionately by his friends as “Weasel”, has eight motocross bikes stored in his work shed, all of them bright green Kawasaki machines. He’d certainly rate as one of the most loyal Kawasaki men in the country and, of course, his favourite colour is green.
The treasured dirt bikes take up so much room that he’s either got to extend the building or, if his wife has her way, he’ll sell a couple of them. “I used to race motocross when I was a kid, 13 or 14. But, when I got too old to be competitive at this young man’s sport, I gave it away and went road racing. “Of course, the motocross bikes were so good I could road-race on them too. I used to race an old Kawasaki KX250 A5 around the cemetery circuit in a class that was probably a forerunner to the super motard. I’d ride the same bike on the road as on the dirt, just change the rubber (tyres).”
These days Marshall contents himself with renovating old Kawasaki bikes and racing them in vintage motocross meetings, a branch of the sport that’s really booming, thanks mainly to Marshall and some of his Wanganui buddies. “Now, I’m just reliving what I used to do in my youth,” he said. “I’ve always raced Kawasakis, so it’s natural that I’d buy another one … or two or three,” he laughed.
So far he’s got eight of them – a 1979 KX250 A5, 1981 KDX175, 1983 KX250, 1984 KX250, two 1984 KX500s and a 1985 KX500. It’s an impressive line-up of old iron. “It’s like having an old glove, they’re just so comfortable. They are so reliable and, despite their vintage status, all I really need to do is basic maintenance, just the same as on a modern bike. “Motor-racing is worse than drugs … it’s so addictive … not that I’ve ever done drugs,” he hastened to add.
The third of four rounds in the Mister Vintage Motocross series was staged at Hawera on Sunday (April 10) with the fourth and final round set for Wanganui on May 7.
The sport is driven primarily by Marshall and his Wanganui riding mates, Lloyd McKenzie, Ross Bennett, Brian Simpson and Evan Walpole and is so popular that their central North Island events attract riders from as far as Christchurch and Invercargill and north of Auckland.
