Blair Rendle with the damage caused by electric motorbikes to the Hawke's Bay BMX track. Photo / Warren Buckland
Blair Rendle with the damage caused by electric motorbikes to the Hawke's Bay BMX track. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawke’s Bay BMX Club president Blair Rendle has had enough after discovering electric motorbikes once again damaged their specialised track in Havelock North.
Rendle said 50-millimetre ruts had been carved into the compacted limestone by the bikes last Saturday night, putting BMX riders at risk.
Thinner bike tyres could get caught in the ruts and cause riders to crash, so the track would need to be repaired before being used again, he said.
Blair Rendle with the damage at the Hawke's Bay BMX track. Photo / Warren Buckland
“The ruts are on the backside of the first jump so no one can see them from the top of the start ramp.
“If the front wheel goes in there, it’s all over at 50km/h.”
He said rain could also pool in the ruts and wear at the limestone.
“It is a specialised race surface. It is supposed to be as hard as possible to be as fast as possible - so it’s a bugger when the whole surface has been loosened off.”
Ruts carved into the Hawke's Bay BMX track by electric motorbikes can be dangerous for other riders. Photo / Warren Buckland
Rendle said the most recent incident was the fourth or fifth time the track had been damaged this year.
Those involved drove a Sur-Ron electric bike, which he understood was not roadworthy as there were no pedals, lights or number plates.
“Because they are silent it doesn’t seem like it’s a motorbike, but it is tearing up everything.”
Rendle said a working bee of club volunteers would do all the repair work to fix and re-roll the track over King’s Birthday weekend.
“There is no one we can call to say we need this fixed, so we do it ourselves.”
He said there had been a lot of outpouring after he posted the incident to social media and he believed the group was well known throughout the community.
People riding electric motorbikes have damaged the Hawke's Bay BMX Club track.
The track was previously damaged in the lead-up to the BMX National Championships held in March which had over 600 riders at the event.
A police spokesperson said they were following active lines of enquiry to locate the people responsible for property damage.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay newsrooms. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
