One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor
Certainly the case when it comes to
collecting old bikes.
Mother’s Day; Kim, Dion, Ian, and myself
headed to the capital to visit Barry D and collect a NOS exhaust end for my
Kawasaki A7. A perfect day for a ride joining the masses heading up and down
SH1. After a coffee stop at Riverstone café in Otaki, we arrived at Bazza’s
about 1.30pm.
Ian rode his GSX600, myself on the Aprilia
(taking some stick over my choice), and Kim and Dion on Yamaha TZRs, a 3XV and 1KT
respectively. The arrival of the TZRs inspired Barry to wheel out his TZR 3MA.
Then the RZ 350 and RZ 250. Then the YDS1 (with interesting race pedigree) and YDS2
and YDS6. And then the DT1 and RT3. And that’s just the Yamahas! There were
Kawasaki, Honda, and Suzuki. Several of each. We lined the Yamahas up for a
photo session in the afternoon sun. Had a good poke around the garage and a
small shed that could well be the original Tardus, judging by the selection of
bikes and tyres, bars, and parts that came out of it. Clearly none of us are
using the space we have at home to best effect. Every nook and cranny at Barry’s
had something interesting stored away. Barry’s talent for collecting is
surpassed only by the inimitable Paul W!
We headed back about 4pm and filtered
through the endless stream of 4-wheeled flotsam & jetsam that clogs SH1
north of the capital on weekends. All went well until the 3XV lost forward
momentum just out of Tokomaru. 6 neutrals. So it was a dub home on the Aprilia
to get the van. There’s always something to work on during the week when you
have old bikes.
