[3][4] Payne represented New Zealand in the road race at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
He was unplaced after being part of a two-man breakaway with Malcolm Campbell of Wales that led for most of the race before being overtaken on the penultimate lap.
[5] Four years later, Payne again competed in British Empire and Commonwealth Games road race.
He was in the leading group of three riders with 11 kilometres (7 mi) remaining, but punctured and eventually finished in 11th place.
[3][6] In 1959, Payne was struck by a car in a head-on collision at Paremata, but he recovered and continued his amateur cycling career, winning the Tour of Manawatū in 1962, before retiring two years later.