Getting the DT's.
On behalf of, ‘Geng Tril Tua’ of Indonesia, Yamaha DT Indonesia delivered their 2nd Jamboree in Bandung last Weekend. What a turnout there was, well into the hundreds streaming in from all regions of Indonesia there to ride or lend support to their local vintage Motocross riders & clubs. Legendary 80’s Yamaha Indonesia rider "Sugiyanto Baitho " who was heading up the racing committee, was a massive surprise & honour for everyone.
In amongst the throng of weekend racers who descended on Bandung Lembang was two of our Deus Ambassadors, Giang Gaw and Deni ‘Blackboy’ Firdaus. They were ostensibly riding for their local club ‘Kurawa Geng Tril Tua Pangandaran’, but from what they were wearing, you wouldn’t be mistaken to think that we had a team on the ground. They were representing in true Indonesian form, well done!
This wasn’t either Giang or Deni’s first time attending one of the Indonesian VMX jamborees, in fact, these days, more often than not, they can be found at every VMX gathering they can get to. This one though, according to Giang, was very different. Bandung Lembang, the area the event was held, is on the mountainside outside Bandung, and being up high, the place is cold, especially for the boys, who, coming from the coast where the only respite from the tropical climate is a breeze across the water, really felt the chill at the higher altitude, especially at night. But there is a simple answer to most problems and they solved it together with some of the other participants by building themselves a fire. Giang doesn’t leave home without his guitar and as you can imagine, once they have a fire with people sitting around, it didn’t take them long before a makeshift band was cobbled together from amongst the fireside serenaders. To a man they all embraced the beautiful tenet of these jamboree’s; that friendship comes from shared passion and experiences.
Race day and Giang found himself in three out of the five different classes. The first, the Yamaha DT Modification class. The second was the Reed Valve Class and the third, the FFA BUILT UP. Meanwhile Deni was only in one class, the Reed Valve. In fact, it was in this class, the boys faced each other and Deni was eliminated straight up with Giang going on. Giang also lucked out of this class a little later but made it right through to the finals of both the FFA BUILT UP and DT Modifications, 4th & 5th place respectively, only to have his bike crap out on him.
Then it came time to pack up the tent, turn tail and head home. The weekend was disappearing like the sun in the west. It was time to head south, back to the coast. They weren’t taking a trophy with them but to them this wasn’t about winning or losing it was the fact that they got to play the game. They had tried their best and having had an amazing time with a whole bunch of likeminded folk they felt like winners. They hadn’t forgotten either, there is always next time.
Images lifted from film shot by @adrian_curts
Original Indonesian text by Giang Gaw.
Artistic licence taken with the English version by Ano.
