Photography & words by Phoenix Naman

When a weekend involves camping under the stars, fresh brewed coffee in the morning, hot breakfast and lunch, and best of all motorcycles, it’s a weekend well spent. That is exactly what Australia saw on the weekend at the Australian inaugural Deus Swank Rally. You might think, “what the heck is a swank rally!?”. Well, it’s a good old fashioned enduro time trial. But not as you know it, it’s a day of fun for the whole family at this friendly championship. Goofy outfits, inappropriate bikes, and a can do attitude are encouraged. Friday night saw keen swankers arrive early to set up camp, and catch up around a fire. Early risers were well caffeinated, and fed thanks to Chef Takeshi and the Deus Cafe team.

A graded and well watered dirt track saw hordes of two stroke vinduro bikes, to four stroke moderns, ride and slide over the course of Saturday. Paul McNeil’s ‘Goof Bike’ not only made an appearance, but actually put through its paces on dirt. The morning was kicked off by an encouraging few words from Dare Jennings. An enduro track that can only be described as a mash up of enduro through trees, rocks, bridges, creeks, and a whole bunch of fun. The time trial started when you hit start on the stopwatch and finished when you hit stop after a dusty trip around the track as fast as you could. Lap times then scribbled against your name, and slapped onto the ‘unofficial leader board’.

After a few hours of “warm up” racing, the hungry faces returned to the Deus tent for a well earnt burger. Experts were seen drawing up strategy to conquer the track in the afternoon session, while the beginners had whet their appetite for more laps! The Jerkyls were amongst it all, with the spirit of enthusiasm. Thankfully the paramedics sat there all day with nothing to do, and everybody came back well raced, well fed, tired, and happy.

Saturday night was to rest the weary bones by the fire, sharing war stories, communing over a frosty Young Henrys tin, and a sneak peek of the new Deus movie, ‘Death Rides A Horse’.

Special thanks to Yamaha Australia, Acerbis, and Metzeler.