I see red, I see red, I see red!

Those of us of a certain level of 'maturity' remember a great kiwi band called Split Enz. One of there signature songs we new well and would sing along to with a DB draught in hand was I See Red. It was this song that came to mind when lining up for a ride last weekend we had some new bikes appear and a new face. It was great to welcome Ian Brayshaw to the fold on his lovely red Suzuki GSX600F. He is returning to motorcycling after a decade or so of mortgages, family and running a business. A familiar story to many! Bruce Sagger appeared on his latest purchase, a very bright red Honda VFR 750. These bikes are proving to be very popular amongst our members with three joining the fleet in the last six months. The third red bike was Dions recently acquired Marlboro Yamaha TZR 250 a bike he has been after for a while now.  It was a good turnout considering the dreadful weather we had the day and week before with seven of us gathering at Manawatu Motorcycles. Paul on his GT750, Kim on his H2, Alan on his trusty A7 and yours truly on the XJ. We decided on a shorter run towards some sunshine near the sea through Shannon with Foxton being our final destination. The run through to Shannon was very foggy with many thankful for wearing their polyprops and many layers under their jackets. After a brief stop at Shannon we eventually popped out into some beautiful winter sunshine just short of Foxton. We definitely lingered at the cafe next to the windmill soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the horse drawn tram clip clopping around its circuit. The ride home through Himatangi was a nice cruise in the sunshine soaking up a bit more Vitamin D.

Why Aren't All Hardware Stores Like This?

Over the summer I was fortunate enough to head down to the bottom of the South Island for a family reunion in Bluff. My father and I cruised down in his 2002 Stype Jaguar (which is probably the next best thing if you are not on a bike!) and had a great road trip. It has been a while since I have done such a trip and you definitely re appreciate the differences between the north and south of New Zealand. Not only does the countryside roll out a wide range of vistas, but the people celebrate life in all sorts of fascinating ways. Maybe this is because much of New Zealands early colonial development began in the south with a culture of self reliance and creative application of technology that has manifested itself in all sorts of ways.
E Hayes in Invercargill are a hardware store who have a long history in the south originally as engineers. They are best known for the collection of Burt Munroe bikes and paraphernalia they have in store. What I hadn't appreciated was their large collection of other motorcycle and cars they have on show throughout their extensive store. I have put up mainly photos of the two stroke race bikes they have yet this is only a small part of collection.

http://www.ehayes.co.nz/

Enjoy and visit when you can!

The mighty SType. 4.2 V8. 30+ mpg True!

Remember these!

Just a small part of the store

 1973 Yamaha TZ 350A timed @ 152mph

1978 TZ 750E 140bhp 185mph

TZ350 x 2 = TZ700/750

1994 Yamaha TZ250 V twin 87bhp 150mph

1981 RG500 180mph

1991 Honda V twin two stroke

There were a lot of Aerial square fours spread around the store

This is only a small part of the store.

lovely Yamaha flat tracker

Lovely Corvette

There was a lot of other heritage machinery!