SPOKE Festival 2024 the last word in fun

It’s not often you see a KTM 1290 Adventure S, a Bultaco 250 vintage trail bike, a Harley-Davidson Low Rider and a Royal Enfield Himalayan racing in the same event, but if you want to marvel – and have a laugh – at the outcome, Tasmania’s SPOKE festival is definitely the place to go.

Held over three days in March on the gorgeous smooth sands of Mayfield Beach, on the island state’s glorious east coast, SPOKE aims to bring all sorts of bikers together for a weekend of riding and people.

“When I first put the event together three years ago, I wanted to offer something that was all about bikes, but wasn’t just for riders,” says Brett Withington, SPOKE’s organiser. “We deliberately went with the name SPOKE because our festival is about talking bikes as well as riding them,” he adds.

So, in 2022, Withington organised a proper beach race like Bert Munro (the real-life subject of the hit movie, The World’s Fastest Indian) used to contest, and threw in open-entry grass track races for dirt bike riders. And a drag race on dirt. Plus slow races, gymkhana, moto polo and trials – and even postie bike race. “If you have a two-wheeler, you can bring it to SPOKE and compete, and bring the family too,” he grins.

And boy, do bikers love it.

Hundreds of trailers, utes, vans, tents and just men and women and kids on bikes descended on Mayfield this year, set up camp on the huge open property and had a ball. Kids were everywhere, riding bikes, climbing on hay bales and having fun, while Bill from Western Australia told us about his weekend.

“I rode over here from Perth,” he said. “Did the West Coast Explorer on my Indian, and ended up here today. I have to go back to Perth tomorrow to work, but I am so stoked I came to this event. It’s a riot.”

Organiser Brett told us around 10 per cent of the people this year came from the mainland – Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and, like Bill, from Western Australia too. “No matter where you come from or what you ride, we reckon if you can pull on a helmet, you have a story to tell,” says Withington.

Like Jass from NSW, for instance. “I built my bike from bits two years ago, but never got to race it because of COVID,” he explains. “So coming to SPOKE and getting to do real beach racing like Burt Monroe did is a dream come true.”

As well as The World’s Fastest Indian, Withington says he got inspiration from the UK’s Malle Mile beach event (which describes itself as an Inappropriate Motorcycle Race and Festival) held at Grimsthorpe in the East Midlands. He says that like Malle, SPOKE is as much about “… catching up, talking about stuff and meeting new people, making friends and creating a community, as it is about bikes.”

Jim Pearson, who bravely rode his Himalayan in the beach race, agrees. He fried his clutch in the excitement of sand racing, but a group of complete strangers helped him get the bike up and running again. “Totally brilliant,” he enthuses. “I hope I can be here next year.” That will be a diary entry for February 28 to March 2, 2025, then.

Not all bikers at the event came a long way though.

Local hero Matthew Voss came from down the road in Tassie to race – on his banged-up KTM 1290 Adventure S. Watching him ride the dirt track, the drag race, the trials competition and the beach race on the 220kg monster was hilarious – and showed that you don’t have to have the latest-tech whizzo bike to take part. Just skill, and the right attitude.

Another Mainlander, Kat Kingsley, was coming to Tassie anyway to run some of her women’s off-road coaching courses, and decided to drop in to Mayfield.

“Everything happened,” she says. “I had problems catching the ferry, then I got seasick on the way over, then I drove non-stop in my van to get to SPOKE.”

But once she was there things got considerably better. She won the grasstrack, slalom and sprint events in her class, and walked away with a trophy to prove it.
“I drove six days straight to get here,” she says. “But when I did, I felt instantly welcome. The vibe was amazing – I felt so welcome and got to race against a KTM 1090 and mini-bikes too. Mad.

“Brett did a fantastic job of organising everything and it was just so good, such fun for everybody. I loved it.”

In fact, Kat was so impressed with the Tassie scene she will be staying here for a while longer, touring around and running dirt bike coaching classes.

But one of the most telling comments came not from a biker, but one of the staff at a drinks stall. “I’ve around travelled a bit, but never on a bike. Now, after being here and listening to what people have got up to, I reckon I might just give it a try,” she laughed.

That’s what you’d call a great festival result. See you at SPOKE, on Tassie’s east coast, next February.

Photos courtesy Jeremy Torr, Ros Wharton, Dean Mance, Kat Kingsley, Jim Pearson