Invercargill is humming with the influx of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts for the annual Burt Munro Challenge.
An estimated 1500 riders, most of them from out of town, converged on the city midweek for the four-day rally and racing programme.
The roar of bikes echoes around city streets, gleaming machines line the footpaths and the tills ring in Invercargill shops, bars and restaurants as the riders, most of them in the 50-plus age bracket, socialise in-between the racing.
The event, organised by the Southland Motorcycle Club, has been an annual drawcard since 2006.
It was now officially the largest multidiscipline motorcycle event in Australia or New Zealand, club president Andy Underhill said yesterday.
He said the challenge was entirely run by about 60 volunteers.
''We couldn't do it without them.''
About 320 riders were registered for the racing events.
''That's the beauty of the challenge - we have pre-1930s bikes racing in the same events as 2014 bikes, and $200,000 machines racing alongside cheaper models. The love of the sport is a great leveller.''
The challenge began to capitalise on the worldwide interest generated in Southland motorcycle racer and character Burt Munro (1899-1978) when Anthony Hopkins played him in the successful 2005 movie The World's Fastest Indian.
Munro set New Zealand land-speed records in the 1940s and 1950s on his highly modified 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle and achieved a land-speed record of 178.98mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, United States, in 1962.
He returned to Bonneville a further eight times and set two more world records.
Mr Underhill said the other attraction of the challenge was the social side - including inspecting the motorcycle display at E. Hayes and Sons central city hardware store, which bought Munro's bikes and has built a mini museum around them, and swapping stories at the ''pop up'' campsite near Oreti Beach.
''It is immensely enjoyable being involved in this event. We have spectators from babes in arms to a Gore man who remembers meeting Burt.''
