Luke Gough Website - About page

About Luke Gough

Favorite music? Oldies, rock n roll and the blues.
Favourite food? Mums home cooking.
Favourite place to hang out? Race track. If not there, then at Johnson Cams working on my bikes and telling & listening to stories of racing adventures.
Favourite drink? Well, as long as it is after the races and not on the road, a good can of Fosters. That's Australian for beer mate.
Hometown? Hill Top, New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Like most racers, I have been racing since I was very young. I started racing motocross on a Yamaha PeeWee 50 when I was five years old. When I was 14, I saw a dirt track race and it was all over. The speed and sliding were great and I wanted to give it a try. Since then I have ridden hard, trained and moved up the ranks winning along the way. It all paid off in 2005 when I won my first 450cc Long Track title. I went on to win that title again in 2006 and for a third year in a row in 2007! Nobody else has won that title three years running.

In 2008 I rode the AMA Flat Track Series and earned my National Number by qualifying for the Montana Main event. This year I will proudly wear National Number 62. I only rode the singles class that year. In 2009 I rode a hand-built SV650 in the Twins class as well as riding the Singles class. I say hand-built as that is what it is. I found a frame, got a motor from a used bike and built this monster by hand. I machined the hubs for the wheels and built them, hand built the exhaust system, heavily modified the frame and swingarm, even hand formed and welded the tank! Now, all of that said, I could not have done it without the help of my mentor Keith Johnson. Thanks Keith.

2009 was not the season I wanted, but still a great learning year. We got the SV650 based twins machine running stronger than ever and again I learned so much. It is quite an experience to draft somebody at over 100 mph. When they sit up and brake for the corner, you get sucked into the corner going faster than you think you are and it can be very exciting the first few times that happens. My singles races were alright, but the highlight of the season was the Peoria TT where I had a good run in the Main event with some battles with some great riders. It is hard to explain how much there is to learn when racing at this level. All of these guys are fast and can stretch a throttle cable to the limit, so you need to learn the best way to beat them.

You can click here to see some photos. These are slightly older photos and the bike looks much better now as I was able to make tons of small updates and changes before Daytona this year. Just small things it needed after a year of racing. I will try and get some new images posted soon.

To make this year as successful as possible, I continue to require additional sponsorship. Please click here to see how I can help you when you help me.