Dust Hustle 5 Event Wrap Part 2

Date Posted:11 December 2017

Let's wrap up the Ellaspede Dust Hustle 5 event with part 2 of our coverage and a stack of photos! Part 1 covered the mornings action ad a stack of pro riders who also came out to get dusty. Read on while we recount the rest of the action!

While the on track action was finding top gear, the off track attractions weren’t far behind with a swag of product demos happening across the sponsor stands.

It didn’t take long for the Food Truck RoundUp to fire up the burners as 10 gourmet food trucks turned it on to feed the 2200 spectators with some of the best trackside food ever experienced at a motorcycle event.

Fonzie Abbott Espresso were on hand with Brisbane’s best coffee from Brisbanes coolest coffee van, while Sailor Jerry rum and Young Henrys beer were washing down the treats at the trackside bar right next to the start line.

After rotating through the ride classes all morning it was time to take a break from the inappropriate to see how dirt track was really done. A stacked gate of North Brisbane Junior Motorcycle Club Pros was joined by State and Australian dirt track champions Jarred Brook, Michael Kirkness, Briony Hendrickson, Max Whale and even enduro star Jemma Wilson who got in on the racing action.

It might have only been 2 exhibition races, but when the gate dropped on both starts you would have thought they were battling for an Aussie title! You think you’re riding pretty quickly until you see a pro at the peak of their game, and that’s exactly what the crowd was treated too. Sideways wheel stands out of the last corner anyone?

In between the pro races was a stack of slippery demos in true Dust Hustle spirit. Triumph Australia was back out to stretch the legs on their Street Scrambler and Moto Guzzi V7 with a clear track. Shannons Insurance rolled out a methanol breathing Triumph sidecar unit and an uber rare Buell flat tracker from the states for some spritely laps for such expensive machines, but we assume they’ve got insurance should anything go wrong! CTI Knee Braces had Stephen Gall on the stand and he didn’t miss an opportunity for a demo lap on an actual Mad Max bike from the latest Hollywood flick too.

So who’s actually stupid enough to enter an event that focuses on weird, wonderful and woefully unsuitable bikes being ridden on the dirt? Well the crowd got a good look at them during the riders lunchtime parade lap. Pick your favourite superhero, pet or princess as the 140 riders rolled around the track for their 15 minutes of fame before the adoring and appreciative crowd.

With the demos and parade all said and done, it was time to change up the track layout and get the classes back out for an afternoon of more inappropriate fun.

As the day rolled on the attrition rate grew as both man and machine succumbed to the heat, mechanical failures (nothing to do with riding the wrong bikes on dirt, surely) and the lure of a cold frothy at the trackside bar.

But for many they resembled iron men and women rather that individuals of average fitness (let’s be honest, this isn’t no pro racer get together) as they continued to slip, slide and narrowly avoid many highsides.

With the afternoons riding drawing to a close, the last engines were shut down, faces were dusty and smiles were wide. A crowd of spectators and riders gathered around the Ellaspede stand for the all important awards ceremony where the Best In Class for the event was crowned and the spectator raffle was drawn.

Dust Hustle isn’t a race meeting, so rarely do the fastest riders or bikes on track win a prize. Rather, the awards go to those who get the spirit of the event, have moved mountains or travelled far to get there, or just generally embrace the laid back fun that comes from riding inappropriate and mismatched machines. To highlight the nature of the awards, two riders were judged as tying for the win the Risky Road Bikes class, so they decided to ‘rock off’ to see who won the prize!

Once prizes were awarded and applause was had the crowd made the most of the fading afternoon at the trackside bar while the sun set on another day of dusty debauchery.

The last bikes were loaded and gear was packed as riders and spectators readied themselves for possibly the most important part of the day, the bench racing and tall story telling at the official after party! 8:00pm rolled around and as quickly as the day had finished the after party begun at Crowbar Brisbane’s Church Bar in Fortitude Valley. With such a day to discuss, the conversation was as action packed as the days riding, luckily Sailor Jerry and Young Henrys were still on hand to lubricate the legends well into the night.

So the fifth Dust Hustle has been run and we like to think that everyone won. In an era of continually increasing performance and pressure, we’re running the opposite direction in an attempt to capture the fun and freedom sometimes lost in motorcycle sport.

Although motorcycles can be a individual pursuit, nothing feels more like family than the crew of mismatched muppets this event seems to attract year in year out. The common bond between knee draggers, dirt squirters, old metal enthusiasts, chopper hoppers and scooter booters? They’re all entered in Dust Hustle, so you know whatever the ride they’re obviously keen for a good time and that’s something we can all agree on!