The Kevlar Manifesto

Figure 1 Kevlar klad Alan Jones whoops it up on Black Betty

What is Klub Kevlar? That's a pretty good question to open your little journey through our website.
The name came about at the VMX Classic Dirt 2 Rally in Kyneton, Victoria. Klub member Alan Jones was debuting his shiny new black kevlar blend Rickman riding pants (pictured above). Someone, we suspect it was New Zealander Mike Jolley, said that Alan looked like a "Freddie Mercury wannabe, looking for a leather fetish bar to cruise". After a few more beers the leather bar had become a Kevlar Bar in reverence to Alan’s gorgeous new riding pants and by the end of the weekend, our little group had become known to one and all as Klub Kevlar. The legend was born.

What is this site all about? Well, for a start what we aren't about is reporting race after race at every dreary vintage race meeting. That sucks. There are plenty of sites already up doing just that. We may cover the occasional race meeting but don't expect to see it very often. What we will be showing however, is as many classic racing machines as we can in our Bikes and Feature Stories pages. Although the emphasis will be on vintage motocross machines, expect to find the occasional classic dirt tracker and road racer. We may even throw in the odd race car or boat, just to keep you on your toes.

It is folklore among Aussie vintage motocross circles that the Klub Kevlar chaps loves a beer. Many younger racers look up to us in awe for our ability to throw the odd cold one down with seemingly minimal effort. In our Kooking with Kevlar page, we will pass along the expertise that has prompted one well known TV chef to exclaim "You guys are the Kings of berbecue". In this section we will present barbecue and cocktail recipes that will help make your post race barbecue Party Central. The pit tootsies will be crawling at your feet. We will also be reviewing a liquor store full of beer, one brand at a time with our "Beer of the Month". The same goes with pubs. We love 'em. With our combined 200 years of leaning on bars, we know our shit. We will pass that combined knowledge along to you, the punter in our "Pub of the Month" revue.

The People page will be dedicated to those great folks that make vintage motocross such a hoot. Every month we will present a racer, present or past, that we reckon has done enough to earn his five minutes of fame.

On the Columnists page we are proud to present the most amazing linup of writing talent yet seen on a Vintage Motocross webpage.

*Warren Jack is as funny as shit. For years he has been the entertaining readers of Australasian Dirt Bike magazine with his left field perspectives on the dirt bike culture. In the nineties he wrote a great little column called Wazza Nose. We are proud to have Warren on board, reprising his witty Wazza Nose column. He rides an XR400 and once owned a Maico. Wazza is Klub Kevlars token teetotaller.

*Mark Thompson lives in Cincinatti, Ohio and races 1981 490 and 1974 400 Maicos as well as a late model CR250 Honda. He has been a frontline moto journalist for over 30 years with Cycle News, VMX and his own Classic Bike Rider being his major creative outlets. Adding credibility to his already impressive resume, Mark also spent many years as a senior editor at Readers Digest. An obsessive crosscountry runner, Mark is a member of the Cincinatti chapter of the Hash House Harriers, a group he describes as a "drinking club with a running problem". As well as enjoying far too much Leinkugel Red ale, Mark is the United States VMX distributor.

*P.J.Read is an International man of mystery. All that is known about him is that he hails from Floreat Park, a slum suburb of Perth, Western Australia. His main contribution to Australian journalism was his series of libelous letters to the editor at Australiasian Dirt Bike magazine that created major rumblings in the backrooms and bedrooms of Australia in the late seventies. Long missing from the Australian motocross scene, it was commonly believed that he was incarcerated in a Bankok jail. Recently his name has been popping up in the society pages of many popular women’s magazines, usually as arm candy for sixteen year old soapy starlets or jaded society queens. It is rumoured that he taught Chad Reed his witty interview style.

*Mark Firkin has been reporting on all things vintage motocross since 1986. His monthly Vintage column in Australasian Dirt Bike is the longest serving column dedicated purely to vintage motocross in the world. He writes regular features for Australasian Dirt Bike, VMX and many other publications on subjects as diverse as Rugby and personal hygiene. He owns a number of Maicos, a DT1 Yamaha and is attempting to ressurect a basket case Triumph Metisse. His knowledge of fine wine and ale is only matched by his ability to consume them.

We hope that you enjoy our slant on the world of Vintage racing. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact us.......Klub Kevlar.