I was living in New Zealand in the late 90’s, racing downhill when my mate Nathan and I spotted 2 brand new Z50s in a Honda lawn mower shop in a small town on the south island. We left a deposit and picked them up on our way back to Queenstown where we based ourselves. I found some video of us riding them in dry river beds and up in the mountains the other day. We used to go on all day epics through the mountains, 100% stock and they never let us down (once we worked out they couldn’t go through deep streams!). We bought those Zeds late ‘98. It was only the next year that I bought the Z home to the UK that I started tuning it (and ruined a beautiful example of the last production Z50 in the process). I have a good story about getting that Z home in my luggage……

Before the 50 scene, myself and some friends had started riding XR70s for a bit of fun. I’d also seen Z50s being raced in Mitch Paytons back yard with the likes of Emig, McGrath, Pingree and some other Pro Circuit boys from the early nineties, it like fun and I wanted to do the same. Once I had come home with my Z50 from New Zealand I wanted to make it more sturdy and faster. I bought a Takegawa exhaust for my Z50 from monkey bike Dave , it cost over £200, I flipped the bike the day I put it on and snapped the silencer clean off. At that point I figured there must be something out there for what we were doing that could take the abuse. Somehow I found Fast50s and got in touch with them. I phoned up and said I’d like to buy some parts and they seemed pretty cool, so I asked if I could import their stuff. No one else had called from the UK, so I guess I was first in. I jumped on a plane without arranging a meeting, called from the San Francisco airport and asked how I found them. They were a little surprised at first and were like “you better hurry up cos we close the factory soon for the day”. I remember thinking, cheeky fuckers, I’ve come all the way from England and they’re being luke warm but once I turned up, rode a bike on their track and had a couple of beers, the deal was done. By the time I’d landed back in the UK I’d come up with the name Minibikepro and our strap line “Minibikes built for full size abuse”. After that things went mental, minibikes almost had a craze status within the bike world and we made a lot of money whilst having a lot of fun. In hindsight, it could never have kept going like it did, but it was great fun while it did.

Yes, in a word. I went to some early races in California and knew that anyone with a love of bikes and banging bars was going to be into it. There was just this really good buzz about the whole thing. We had a good buzz in the early days here too, there were pockets of minibike madness in different parts of the country and every one was of 50’s or Z’s. Lots of ghetto tracks and no organised races, just a cool scene really. Looking at the pictures of the Wildmoor track reminded me of the ghetto indoor track at SIMX in Sheffield, I can picture Trev Scott and the East Anglia crew in an old Granada limo with a trailer full of bikes and Stella towing behind. That derelict factory was like a scene out of the first Robocop and there was even a crazy gang fight with some hard nut Sheffield thugs that kicked off in there at one the events! The Scrappy Raceway was another great early venue, all sorts of bastardised bikes and the Shrewsbury crew were mad for it. There were lots of little pockets of minibike revolutions taking place up and down the country. In general minibiking hasn’t changed really, people are still out there doing there own thing on the low down, which is what its all about.

Mega. Its great to turn up and open the throttle wide open without any organisational worries. I always enjoyed running events and races, it’s a good challenge and I wanted to raise the bar with MINI4GB, providing the best organisation and the best tracks. We got a lot of exposure for minibiking through our activities over the years, which can only be a good thing. It’s all about having a vision but without good helpers and money, you’re never going to pull it off. Organisers need help, just asks James (Breckon). Luke and Sara Coker were unbelievable helpers and deserve a special mention, always there to drive a van or pack up after a show, often for little more than diesel money. Its people like that who make things happen, goods sorts that want to see their sports moving forward. I have had some amazing helpers over the years, too many too name here. If you ever helped me out, from the bottom of my heart, a massive thankyou, you guys know who you are.

What do you think of the Minibike Masters series?

Good in general. The tracks have been fun that I have ridden, which is half the battle when running a minibike event. The organisation has been average from what I’ve seen at the events that I have been too, it’s a thankless task and there are never enough helpers. You can’t knock anyone that is prepared to put their neck and reputation on the line by giving race/event orginsation a go. Lots of people talk shit on forums and behind the organisers back at any oppurtunity, these individuals rarely do anything to actually help the sport. James needs more helpers, its plain to see that. The kids classes are good for getting kids involved, the flip side is that there is less track time for the adult minibike classes. I always maintained that if I ran racing we would not have kids classes, I still sit on that side of the fence but am all for encouraging any age to race. The real problem is that there is only so much time in the day, races should be longer than they are at the moment. As usual there are low entry classes, the classes that people race seem to be in a constant state of flux, one minute there is a full line up of open mini, then there are barely any. Perhaps there are too many classes? If I ran a race series again, I’d cut the number of classes down and probably specialise in the more mini side of things, 50s, 88s and Superstocks.

Everyone I ever helped with a couple of exceptions has been great. I only ever sponsored people that were on the same wave length. No wankers. I always looked for style over speed, I’d rather see riders banging out shapes over the big set and coming 3rd rather than a 1st place rider who has an ugly style. There’s no point in helping the fastest rider if they’re a cock is there. Most of the riders are still good friends, the people have been the best part of this whole adventure. I have friends all around the world from riding childrens motorbikes!.

The first person to phone up for sponsorship was Carl (Nunn), he was keen for some parts and through Carl I met Trev Scott. Whilst Trev is not the biggest name in the MX industry, he is the biggest name in minibiking in this country. No one has won in every class like Trev. Always unassuming, he has had plenty to be an arrogant cock about over the years but he’s always just been the same good guy, he is a great example of a champion. He has been the most pleasurable to work with(and he still brings me pleasure!)

I could write a really long list of top level riders, from all areas of bikes sports who have run our logo at some point or another. Its still makes me smile to see people running MBP stickers, they didn’t just peel ‘em off and go fuck that lot. Maybe MBP’s not done yet…

The Isle of Wight MXGP was the pinnacle I guess, that was something special. We had a strong crew and a whole lot of passion to make a spectacular show. Trev (Scott), Jonny (Groves) and I had the every piece of plant we desired and the best dirt on tap to build a mega track. We even had Jonny Douglas Hamilton building berms and the start straight for us when he wasn’t working on the GP track. My mate Daz built 10 brand new Superstocks for the invitational race, looking back, that was the start of Superstock Midsize really. Every one of those KLX’s went out in practice and the stock footpegs mounts bent down, leaving us with 10 pretty sorry looking bikes. Daz had to go round to every one who had a 50 and who wasn’t racing and borrow they’re pegs and mounts, a little filing and we were back on track. We managed to get Jeff Emig to come from the States and race along with a host of ex British GP riders, at one point Ben Townley raced in the 50’s, he even jumped the start knowing full well that his 50 wasn’t fast enough to compete with regular minibike racers 50s. We had the crowd 10 deep in places all around the track, air horns blasting and the tunes pumping with JB on the sound system. I was on the mic revving the crowd up and it was just a mental atmosphere.

Alexander Palace in London was a good event from the point of view of operating in a different type of venue, we converted an ice rink into a supercross track for the MCN London bike show, the logistics of getting the dirt in wasn’t easy, especially in London. We were trucking into the carpark, dropping dirt onto boards then going in with dumpers that had an inch each side to get through the doors. The Dirt Bike show at Telford was cool because we built the whole track out of wood, all pukka transitions and a really good whoop section, not a single piece of dirt. It worked really well and was like racing in a skate park. The Dirt Bike Shows were good, the first one was insane as the whole scene was just getting going and it fired the motocross boys and girls up to get into minis. We sold £15,000 worth of parts in 4 days, all basic 50 stuff like bar clamp throttle kits, peg, springs and footpegs. Again, it was the riders that helped make the shows, I just invited people I knew who could ride and that would get along as a group in the evening. We paid their accommodation and beer and had a grand old time.

Running those events is hard work, especially building and dismantling the tracks. 4 days setting up, 4 to 10 days running the event and then 24 hrs to get the arena back to clean and empty. We rarely made any money after all the costs were taken care of but that didn’t matter. It was all about having a good time and getting people into minibikes.

50s are what minibikes are all about, small wheels and small motors without a clutch. They require the most skill. If you were there at the beginning, you’ll know the score and remember how good it was. Then it all got out of hand really, bigger bikes with bigger, clutched motors. Once minibikes started to grow in wheel and motor size a lot of the good people left the sport, they turned up to events on their 50s and just saw it as minibiking turning into motocross. The Superstock midsize was really my way of trying to find a middle ground between the minibike and the midsize. It captures the 50 feeling of no clutch, simple engineering, drums brakes and basic suspension but has the grunt and bigger wheels of the midsize bike. No clutches for squaring off the corners, you still need flow to get the most out of them. You cant beat a Honda or Kawasaki in my book for a good solid minibike, the KLX110 is a solid platform for a great bike, providing you don’t push the motor too big. There’s a point where you might as well ride a motocross bike though, how big and fast do you want your MINI bike to be? I still think that Chinese bikes are wank, how many of the guys racing them for the “teams” are riding the standard bike that the “company” is selling to its customers. Ask yourself this, would that rider buy the bike out of his own money if he wasn’t “sponsored”? I can see more and more people riding Superstock style classes in the future.

Where do you start on this one, looking back with hindsight it’s easy to see why we had to call it a day. Ambition played a part in it, I always wanted to grow the business and diversify into various areas of motorcycling, which we did pretty successfully for a few years. I started out in my mum’s garage, no overheads and no wages to pay. By the time I decided to call it a day  last year we had a 4000 sq ft warehouse with offices and a pukka workshop. I had several wages to pay and a load of costs associated with a business that all required a large turnover to keep the wheels turning, which did keep turning for a number of years. I wanted to be the Mitch Payton of minibikes, and we were, but there wasn’t enough of those high end customers to to run a business alone, they were the icing on the cake. Then the “credit crunch” took hold. The press went mad reporting it and practically scared people into not spending their money. Our turnover took a massive knock and things got difficult very quickly. The rent including rates etc was expensive, then the wages on top of that and all those other costs were dragging us down. The bank then called in their over draft and things became impossible. It was heart breaking to see something you had built from nothing going pear shaped and worse still, being out of your control. We tried to keep going but in the end had to cut our losses, I can remember the morning I decided it was over. I laid in bed after another sleepless night, told my girlfriend I was going to shut up shop, shed some tears and got on with it. People pull together in hard times and having a good woman at my side and having my friends and family there for me made it a lot easier to deal with. I guess we move on and grow through good and bad experiences. My mum summed it up best when she simply commented on MBP’s demise, ”nobody died”. She’s right, life goes on and right now it could not be any better.

I’ll be there whenever I can, using every inch of the track! . I enjoyed having a rage at Chatteris, it was fast and open. It wasn’t very physical and it would be good if the motos were longer. Slough didn’t look too technical but became more technical as you began to tire. Whoops, rhythm sections and that kind of stuff should be in a minibike track. I missed the 3rd a 4th rounds with a broken leg and family holidays. I made it through practice at Dartford but an old nagging injury stopped me from riding. The track was pretty cool, definately in the true flavour of a real minibike track. Jonny has done a good job of the tracks in general, you’ll never please all of the people all of the time. The best racing is with my mates up our local spots on old XR70s, it’s always bar to bar and the grin factor is massive. I love racing anything with 2 wheels, variety is the spice as life as they say.

I am into racing anything at the moment. Downhilling is great fun and I wish I could do it more often. My fitness and strength is good at the moment (apart from a dodgy neck and shoulder!), so racing full size motocross enduro is a favourite, I love woods riding, it’s my favourite place to ride.  Mountain bikes are my main passion these days, I like the fact that you power it, you tune your own turbo and that gets me pumped. I have a bad ass Santa Cruz that you can pedal up the steepest mountain then rock the shit out of it on the way back down. I had my best result at the kona Mash Up the other day, so its nice to see trainig pays off. I want to win, I have become more competitive as I’ve got older and have had 3 second places this year on the downhills out of 3 races, as my good mate Ricky Bobby says “if you aint first, you’re last”. Sometimes I race cross country type events too, I like to push my body as it’s a buzz, I think its a getting older thing. I have a few other toys that don’t get enough use, my favourite being a paraglider. I have more time for riding and kayaking these days, any opportunity to get into the great outdoors and I’m there. I have a family life that put the brakes on things a little but it’s all good.

More power to the Fiddy Forum. I’m into it, I’m a lurker though, not a poster. I was never a fan of forums, especially adrenalin trip. The only time I only registered on that was to have a go at that twat from the British Pitbike Promoters Association ( I hate the name Pit Bike too, it doesn’t do our sport justice ) Forums can be cliquey and bitchy, both negatives in general. I go on some great mountain bike forums where there is some really good discussion, no bullshit, just really good information. A forum is only as good as the people who post on it. Real minibiking takes place in the woods and the fields. I hope that Fiddy Forum can be a good, open resource for minibiking in the UK without the negativity that I felt was on Ad Trip. I like Fiddy Forum so far, good on the boys for sorting it out.

12. Will there be a Battle Royal this year, that would make it 10 years of Battle’s if I am correct ?

You fucking bet there will be. Open to all with the right attitude, non competitive and just a lot of fun on bikes and partying. Its on the 10^th and 11^th of October, usual venue. Steve and I have not pushed it too hard, just really relying on word of mouth. We’re trying to get the old school together for a final rage, we’ve decided to make this the last one and are going to make it count. We have a great mini track planned and want to see as many 50s there as possible. They’ll be a ghetto 50 race with some 50 inspired prizes, so if you have 50, bring it along. We’re not into running loads of races but want to run a 50 race as a nod to where it all started. Motocross is featuring heavily too, with some fun races and plenty of Battle Royal entrant only track time. If you have an MX bike or can borrow one, bring it, it will be worth it.  If you didn’t know, there were no minis at the first 3 Battle Royals, just motocross. The Battle started off a season end party for the downhill/MTB scene. Once Peaty got into minibikes at the beginning of it all, we decided to push the event to the mini scene in general. As the years passed by, its morped into quite a large event. It’s not a money making exercise, we just put the money into next years event. We have some rad T-shirts to mark the 10^th anniversary, designed by NickBayliss from Royal racing. The evening will be what we all make of it. Monster are going to be laying on their usual event support, they’ll be sounds all through the night. Over the years, it seems people want to have their own little party with their mates, we’d like to see everyone rage together this year. It’s the 10^th and last one, lets give the Battle Royal the send off it deserves. We’re going back to the roots and its gonna be mega, see you there for an old school Battle…

13. Any final words

Firstly, I hope this isn’t too long and rambling. I could have written ten times as much but hopefully the photo archive will be enjoyed by everyone, they say a picture says a thousand words. Mainly though, I just like to say thankyou  from me really. If you ever bought parts from MBP, helped at a race, entered a race or just ran a free sticker on your bike, then a massive thanks to you. Without your support, none of the MBP adventure would of been possible. Minibiking has changed from how it started, sometimes a few steps back can be progress in itself for a sport. Think about it. Now get out on your bikes and bang out some shapes……Cheers

The Tristan Tunstall interview continues in photo format, covering there US road trips, Events,  MBP riders, Loads of unseen pics and much more.

Click on the images to view Tristan’s annotations. CLICK HERE

Fiddy Forum Team.

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