Meet Gerald Meyer, Senior Technician and performance specialist at AMAC Motorcycles
Would you wait two years for a job? And would you move half way round the world for it?
According to Gerald Meyer, AMAC Motorcycle’s new Senior Technician, the answer is yes - if it’s what you love.
The motor oil runs deep in this man’s veins.
A quick look at his career highlights a clear passion for technical problem solving and results under pressure. He’s one of those rare beasts that loves fault finding: diagnosing and tweaking a bike’s performance to its best on and off the track.
Most days at AMAC you’ll find him magnetically drawn to the dyno, which has been recently kitted out with new mapping options under Gerald’s guidance.
Gerald has honed his motorcycle craft in his homeland of South Africa since his early teens, with stints with Yamaha, Ducati and Suzuki. For 14 years he ran his own workshop and built a reputation as the performance bike technician to have on speed dial, due in part to his racing mechanic pedigree.
Drawn to high performance bikes and, by default the track, Gerald found himself on Bike SA Magazine’s racing team as a race technician, and in their first year as a team, blitzed the field, winning the Championship on a 1198S V Twin Ducati for Donovan Fourie in 2007.
“We tested, learned and perfected the bike as we went,” says Meyer. “Building a race bike from scratch and beating Ducati factory trained teams where real money and many seasons was involved felt great. We ran away with the championship.”
Gerald has worked on drag bikes and circuit bikes, won the Battle of the Twins championship in South Africa and worked in various race teams in the National SuperBikes (South Africa) and the British Superstock for Shoesmith Racing.
The man knows how to compete.
He’s a bit of technical data geek too.
From 2005-2010, Gerald was Bike SA Magazine’s Racing Technician, responsible for building, setting up and maintaining their large fleet of race bikes, and managing the technical data for South Africa’s largest motorcycle publication.
“I take what I’ve learned trackside, and make it work for bike owners of every budget. You can get a whole lot more than you expect from your manufacturer’s set up.”
“I’m adapting to the higher safety standards here in Australia - South Africa may have been a bit wilder!”
So how’s life in Cairns?
“It’s been a whirlwind,” shares Meyer. “COVID put the brakes on our planned move for two years, but now we’re here we love it.”
Gerald and his wife relocated this year and it’s been non-stop ever since. They plan to buy a house and make Cairns their home.
“AMAC has been a home for drag bikes and performance bikes,” says AMAC Office Manager and drag bike racer, Kylie Ripepi, “and Gerald adds another layer of technical and performance expertise to the team that customers are loving.”
“We waited so long to get Gerald across to Aus,” says Laurie, Head Mechanic and co-founder of AMAC. “He’s fit right into the team and we’re pretty proud of the diagnostics and performance tuning he delivers.”
What’s in the garage?
“While I have had many bikes in the garage, including a Ducati 1200 Enduro, Honda Africa twin, Kawasaki ZX10, my all-time favourite bike is my Suzuki GSXR1000 (custom) Turbo,’ says Meyer.
With his bikes taking the slow boat over from South Africa, for now you can catch him on a Ducati Hyperstrada. Well, you can try.
Tech Sheet
An all-rounder with 25 years experience, Gerald is also a specialist performance technician, focusing on:
Engine rebuilds, performance modifications and fault diagnosing
Suspension rebuilds, set up and performance tuning
Engine performance modification (Cams, pistons, GasFlo and blue printing, etc)
Fabrication, modification and customising
Electrical fault finding and repair
Accident assessment and repairs
Expert Race Technician (suspension, data logging, fuelling set up & track support)
Dyno tuning (ECU Flashing, piggy-back fuelling systems and stand-alone management)
Keen to see what your bike can really do? Book a dyno tune or explore performance mods and set up with Gerald.
