MotoTuesdays at Oakleigh Go Kart track on an Ohvale
With Wayne Vickers – Images RBMotoLens
Ohvale Australia. No it’s not the local Rossi fan club, they’re the folks behind the MiniGP scene down under. If you haven’t seen or heard of MiniGP bikes you might want to get out more, but we thought we’d take a first hand crack and see for ourselves if they are as fun as they look…
Back to Ohvale Australia for a sec. Not only do they import and distribute the Ohvale MiniGP bikes, but they also run a bunch of events including ‘MotoTuesdays’ at tracks like the Oakleigh Go Kart track in Victoria where you can get the knees down on your own MiniGP bike – or indeed hire one, as we did.
I understand they also have days at Port Melbourne and Bendigo in Victoria, as well as Eastern Creek (the kart track) and Ipswich. There’s also some bloke called Wayne Maxwell in the mix to give tips and advice. Wayne is part of the trio behind Ohvale Australia along with Dim and Nick. Thanks for having us chaps.
On top of those track days, the local Ohvale boys also run the National FIM endorsed MiniGP series. The winner of that Australian series gets a chance to race in the World Series final, the winner of which secures a spot in one of the Road to MotoGP programs.
So there’s a bit to play for if you want to go after it. Sounds like a great junior program.
So what exactly is an Ohvale MiniGP bike? Glad you asked. They come in a few variants. Notably:
GP-0 in three specs
- 10 inch wheels
- Available with 110 cc Auto gearbox for ages seven-years and up
- Or 160 cc four-speed for nine-years and up
- Or ‘the full nelly’ on the 190 cc four-speed for 13-years and up
Or the GP-2
- 12 inch wheels, physically a little roomier
- 190 cc Daytona four-speed for 13-years and up
They’re all four stroke single cylinder jobbies, with funky tube frames, under-seat exhausts, lightning quick steering and one finger braking.
Either version (GP-0 or GP-2) with the four-speed is apparently the go for the MiniGP races. Worth noting that on MotoTuesdays you can also bring other bikes such as Pitbikes or Groms as long as they meet a few requirements (including <212 cc for four-strokes, <85 cc two-strokes, maximum 12 inch wheels).
It’s a nice mix of bikes out on track in some sessions, but it seemed like all the quick folks are on the Ohvale… just sayin.
On arrival at the freshly resurfaced track – I couldn’t help but be impressed at the turnout. Heaps of bikes and a great atmosphere. Everyone smiling and helping each other out. And a wide range of rider ages and skills. The emphasis was clearly on fun.
After a quick bit of paperwork and designation of a hire bike, I took the opportunity to watch a few sessions before mine came up in order to get my head around how you might ride these little beasts.
Apart from the obvious in terms of it looking all knees and elbows – everything else looked fairly straight forward… So either I was in for a rude shock, or it would hopefully make sense.
Snapper Rob has previously had a crack and shared some words of wisdom for me, “They steer at thought speed – so it’ll take some time to get used to that. And try and keep momentum up, your lines will be similar to go kart lines” Ok. Cool.
“Oh and don’t forget they’re race shift”. The Wayne train looked at me and grinned – “You’ll be fine – just have fun”.
Two-minutes came over the speaker system and it was time to get ready. Lid on, tyre warmers off, a couple of kicks and it was fired up ready to go. Let’s roll out last says me… the rest of the group had already had a couple of sessions on me and I didn’t want to get in the way too much.
Out I roll, messing up my very first gear change as I immediately forget about race shift. Luckily they have a slipper clutch so all good there. Then I get to the first left kink, which is not even a corner, but I manage to turn it into one. Ooooohhh my god they weren’t kidding about the steering! Woah.
Then I take what seemed like five bites at the first corner. The little GP-2 is so light and steers and stops so well it takes almost the full session to get a complete lap without multiple bites at a corner.
No doubt riding my Tiger 800 to the track probably didn’t help, but my feeble brain struggled to comprehend just how much grip is available and how quickly these can corner.
Everybody is giving heaps of room on track though, no one cares that I’m wobbling around giggling inside my helmet. Just smiles all around when I get back in.
Into the pits and my brain is still trying to deal. I have a good laugh at myself, try to collect my thoughts and by the time session two comes around I’m ready to go. Back out on track and it’s beginning to come together now.
I’m not being passed any more, lines are starting to smoothen out and I even manage to get the knee down a few times. Confidence is starting to build. By mid session I can see that I’m making up serious ground in the faster sections of the track and can start to explore the braking limits a little further.
Even with just one finger these things pull up in a heartbeat. And can trail into the corner a surprisingly long way. Amazing. I can already see how these could be addictive…
Another thing I notice is that I’m not getting tired. Physically these little bikes are a doddle to ride. They are so light that the effort to change direction and put them where you want them is minuscule compared to a big bike at a full sized track.
Session three can’t come around fast enough. I head out near the front of the group and pretty quickly find some clear track. Knees are down at most corners now and lines are starting to flow. Despite knowing that I’m far from race pace, I’m getting along at a decent rate and having a ball.
All in all these are super easy to learn, but like anything, I’d imagine that getting the last few percent down in lap time would be a great challenge. I’m later told that the quick juniors were breaking into the sub 50-second lap times.
I managed to get into the 52s in that third session. I’m ok with that. Then Wayne tells me he does 44s! Sunuva…
I reckon if you’re looking for something a bit less intense, less expensive and a little safer than full sized race bikes at full sized tracks – these little MiniGP bikes are worth a look at. While there will be some taking the MiniGP series seriously, the MotoTuesday events focus is squarely on everyone having a good time.
Beyond purchase price (or you can hire a bike remember…) they should be fairly cheap to run. They obviously won’t use too much fuel or tyre rubber and they seem to crash well, they’re so low and light that most crashes seem to be little low side spins where the rider slides a few metres and gets back on it.
Which is a lot better than getting up from a crash at Phillip Island and looking around to find the biggest chunks of your bike… I’m keen to get back and have another crack.
Oh – final note – the final round is back at Oakleigh at the end of September. I’ll be trying to get along to see how it’s done properly. Should be a hoot.
