A Golden Summer Part 2: Wheels with Attitude Annual Show

It doesn't take to much to persuade some of us for a ride. Having heard positive comments about this show in Dannevirke over the last few years a group of us decided to go and check it. We assembled at our usual spot outside Manawatu Motorcycles and much interest was shown when Bruce Sagger turned up with his latest purchase, a Suzuki GSXR 750, the first of the slabbies. These bikes are becoming very collectible and if you are interested now is a good time to buy before they start appreciating in value. There comparative lack of chrome compared to earlier bikes can make them more of DIY proposition. However the acres of plastic on many of them has its own costs and challenges as well. Bruce was keen to see how it went as were the rest of us! Alan was on his trusty Kawasaki A7, with Dion bringing his RG400 out for a spin, Paul De Lautour on the mighty GT750, Richard on his trusty T500 and myself on the XJ750. Our trip over the Saddle road convinced us not to include this in any rides for a while with a lot roadworks underway. Once they get it sorted it will once again return to being one of our favourite stretches of road. After regrouping at the bottom of the saddle we continued on to Dannivegas along Top Grass road. A far more interesting route compared to State Highway two. The show was at the northern end of town and what we hadn't realised was it was a part of the annual A&P show. It was a very busy place and had a great carnival atmosphere to it. Well worth the $2.00 dollar entry fee. Once we managed to find a parking/display spot we quickly ditched our gear as the temperature was heading towards 30 degrees and headed out to view and soak up the surroundings. Right next door to the equestrian ring were not only the hotdog and Candy floss stands but a flea market full of vehicle related treasures. Most of the treasures were of the car variety, but the second hand book vendor had a great variety of ex public library motorcycle books. The Kawasaki book I purchased had a some excellent photos but some dubious text and Paul De Lautour managed to find some great Jag books to go with his latest heritage interest, a 1963 E type. (Might have to do a blog on it, Its a beauty!). One of the locals had an interesting selection of bikes on show that included a Honda CL175 and a CT90. As we were enjoying the sites and sounds a few other bikes joined our lineup of VJMC bikes including Roger who turned up on his Walter Wolf RG and a rather nice CBX1000. It was a great morning out and we headed into town for a drink and nibbles at an excellent cafe that had a much appreciated air conditioning unit going full bore. We then retraced our steps back along Top Grass road and home thinking that we will definitely add the show to our calender. Its on in the first weekend of February.
Another excellent reason to go for a ride!
All seems rather surreal looking back as we head towards winter and put another log on the fire!