A Busy month!

The local newspaper photographer took this!

Its been a while since one of these has been on the tracks

Outside the Ashhurst Inn

Some great old heritage vehicles

Having a nice cool one with the lads

February has been a busy month! The weather has certainly cooperated enough for people to get out and about and enjoy the great outdoors. For those of us on two wheels and into motorcycles of the Vintage Japanese persuasion we did this in a number of ways over February. The month began with Alan and I joining the Manawatu Classic Motorcycle Club for a ride on the 12th. After the monthly meeting at the Bridge Club in Linton street we made our way over to the Railcar Society open day in Pahiatua. They were running rides up the track to Woodville return in their recently restored rail car. A gold coin entry saw us line up with a range of vintage and veteran machinery. The carnival atmosphere was a nice backdrop for the Tokomaru as it made its way up and down the track. After sampling a few bangers off the BBQ and a good wander around the place we made our way to the Ashhurst via the Saddle Road for some light refreshments and a nibble. The Saddle road was diabolical. It was a very very slow ride over a very trashed surface with Alans H2 carbs struggling to provide the small amount of fuel needed to ride so slowly. The Classic guys are very welcoming and they do a wonderful job promoting our Motorcycle heritage around the region.

Where is Bruce?

Just before the rain came down!

For a bit of a change to our social get together on the second Tuesday of the month we had a short ride before retiring to the Rose and Crown. Apart from some confusion about where and when we were to meet and others running low on petrol and the rain it went really well! Paul De Lautour had the RE5 out for a run and Dion had his X7, his latest bargain, Alan on his Pegaso, Bruce on the RD/RZ 350 and myself on the XJ. I was somewhat surprised at how much I had to twist the throttle to keep up with Bruce on his RD/RZ down Maindrain road. The ride certainly made us feel more deserving of our meals!

From the Guardian Newspaper

Richards Suzuki T200

VJMC corner

The public enjoying the bikes

Some great conversations were had over the day

To finish off we had a display as part of the City Council Esplanade Day. We were hoping for a few more bikes but as often happens with these things 'shit happens' John Logies S3 throttle cable broke that morning and Bruce lost an important part to the carb on his RT1 in his lawn. His cunning plan to invite people around to his place for a coffee on said lawn actually worked with the lost part being very quickly found. The public really enjoyed the bikes with a big thank you to Paul, Alan and Richard for spending the day with the bikes and for their efforts they managed to get themselves into the Guardian newspaper. Also a big thanks to Ross Charlton for sending up the VJMC banner and Barry Drummond from Wellington who popped in to see us after his Ferrari Club get together in Shannon.
The little kids were really attracted to the 'pretty pink bike' and many conversations around the H2 'widow maker' Richards T200 got some attention with its very sixties styling. The Rotary also got attention with people trying to work out what it is. Dions KH screamed out 70s bling with its brand new set of nos pipes and recently re chromed and respoked wheels. Bruces RD350 represented the eighties in all its plastic's glory! We rounded off the day with