Middle of winter and a good turnout of 6 riders for June's EOM ride. It ended up being a short but interesting trip for a couple of reasons; Firstly Dion had his Honda NS400R back on the road following a top-end rebuild and the fitting of a set of JL chambers. And secondly we had a shed raid to view Dave T's new collection of old bikes and parts for some upcoming projects.
Dave recently acquired a job lot of old Suzuki and Honda bikes and parts. The most interesting and with the best prospects, were a Suzuki GS1000G and GSX1135EF. The EF looks to be around 1985 to '87 and was mostly intact. Suzuki claimed 124 bhp (at the crank) for the EF when new, so they must have been really quick. Their reputation suggests considerably more HP can be extracted, so it might make Dave a good 1/4 mile bike. The GS1000G is a shaft drive tourer from the early 80s with a little over 90 bhp and weighing in at around 250 kg dry! Would make a great tourer. This bike is also mostly there although is running a different set of carbs. It will be interesting to see the progress on these two. Would make a good series of articles for the website Dave.
There were also a couple of '70s Suzuki 2-stroke twins and 2 small Hondas. Parts bikes you might call them. Possibly fished out of the Cook Strait.
Dion's NS400 has enjoyed some deserved pampering while he was doing the top-end overhaul. With the plastics removed it is quite obvious why Honda had a reputation for the best build quality in the 80s. Wheels, brakes, frame, swing arm, nothing looks worn or aged. The bike ran faultlessly first time out and sounded great with the chambers fitted. That addition has a twofold benefit for the NS; they should help the engine to develop more power and the three chambers weigh the same as one of the original exhausts, which amounts to a 13 kg weight saving.
After a good poke around Dave's collection and a cup of coffee for the lads we headed out to Colyton and through Valley Road to Ashhurst and then various routes back to Palmerston North.
