Bryan Wade was known as "Wild Wade" when he was taking his bike to the edge to win British motocross titles; now he's the "Wild Man of Borneo".
Having retired from racing in 1979, he runs motorcycling tours from the northern part of the island, part of Malaysia. In his prime, he raced in the United States and in European Grand Prix and later ran riding schools in Africa - but this month he is in New Zealand for the first time.
And tomorrow he will get back on a bike - a replica of the 1970 world championship winning 500cc Husqvarna - to take part in scramble races in Wanganui.
But don't expect too much wild riding from the veteran whose body has taken a beating from a stellar career on two wheels. "I crashed a lot when I was young - and you end up paying the price."
The five-times British champion has been invited to New Zealand by Wanganui bike enthusiast Robert Cochrane, who founded the NZ Classic & Twinshock Trials & Scramble Association and who is running a four-round scramble series, of which Wanganui is part three.
Wade is special guest at this weekend's Classic Dirt event and will stay for the final round of the series at Upper Hutt next weekend.
Starting at age 14, the man from Leeds, England, rates his first British title in 1969 as the highlight of his career. That was achieved riding a Greeves but when the bike failed to match his talents next year, he spoke out about it and was let go.
He switched to Husqvarna and was rewarded with the 250cc title in 1971, followed by the 500cc and 125cc titles in the following years. In 1974 he became the first rider to claim a British title on a Suzuki.
"My full-on riding style earned me the nickname 'Wild Wade' as I was determined to go as fast as I could to win. Quite often I ended up upside-down but it made good press and the crowd loved it."
The Classic Dirt event will take place at the Kildare property, north of the city at 181B State Highway Three, and features Twin Shock trials today at 1pm and tomorrow at 10am, and scrambling tomorrow from 11am.
Classic motorcycles will also be on display.