From Lounge to Road

With winter well and truely upon us it is a nice time to reflect on the preceding two seasons. Not only were they warmer and the days longer, they seemed to encourage a more adventurous spirit. Winter  is a great reflective time as we spend a lot more time indoors thinking about some of the highlights of recent rides we have been on and how they reflect the changing nature of how we relate to the motorcycling experience. An example of this is our March end of month ride this year where two such things happened.
The usual 9:30 meeting at Manawatu Motorcycles was greeted with a not unfamiliar sound. Rattly tappets from a vee twin. This time though it wasn't Paul on his Guzzi, but PC on his Honda CX650 turbo. A very rare beast indeed and one we had been hearing about for sometime. How precious? It had taken up residence as the centre piece in the living room with Janets(his wife) blessing? Apparently its move from the lounge to the road had allowed Janets Honda Bros to take its place in the lounge! As a group the Blue Haze celebrates gender equality and would encourage PC and Janet to make sure the next bike in the lounge is a two stroke to ensure that appropriate two stroke/four stroke equity also be maintained! It is a large bike and it was great to see it on the road alongside a mixture of bikes also out to enjoy the last day of summer.
Rich on his T500 and Kim on his NSR were holding the fort for the two strokes and Janet was along on her ER6, with Ian supporting the vee brigade on his VX 800, and Bruce on his R1 and myself on the XJ showing the flag for Yamaha. The plan was to do an extended Track and Saddle run through Hopelands and meet up at Woodville with Sir Al and Bruce A who had decided on an Adventure ride up Wharirti Peak. Sir Al had sold his VFR and bought back his Pegasso as he had decided that fast touring wasn't for him. This was his first venture out since its return so it was going to be interesting to see how they fared.
Our exit from town was via the usual route up the Pahiatua Track and unfortunately that is where PC was getting some interesting signals from the electronics on the CX. He decided that caution was the way to go and headed home with fingers and everything else crossed! The rest of us headed on down the Track towards our next stop at Mangamaire where all was in order so we pressed on through Pahiatua and onto our turn off at Mangatainoka. This took us on a great little ride through the Hopelands area and we finally ended up back in Woodville for a cup of tea.
We are making a point of stopping off in Woodville to support the local economy as the closure of the Manawatu Gorge has been pretty devastating for the local economy. It was here we met up with Sir Al and Bruce A who had come down from the 'hills' for a civilised cup of tea. It was great to see PC there to as he obviously made it home and then scampered over the Saddle road to meet us. Sir Al was a happy chappy with his return to an adventure bike and he and Bruce were planning there next expedition.
As time goes by our interest in motorcycling changes. For some it is restoring and riding machines from the past, whilst for others it is restoring and showcasing those machines in your living room! (And then riding them!) For others it is having a go at different styles of riding and then making a more long term commitment to one style. It is whatever you want it to be. What makes it really worthwhile though, is being able to share that interest and passion with others!

Having a go! Manfield Track Day

Motorcycling has so many dimensions to it that when one starts feeling a little to “familiar” with one aspect their is always something else to have a go at. It has been interesting to see how some members of our group have developed an on going interest in getting out on the track to enjoy their motorcycling and two stroke motorcycles. Track days provide a great introduction to this and it was with great interest we popped over to Manfeild to catch up with Ian and Dion who were making the most of the Central Districts Touring Clubs track day. For Dion it was an opportunity to do some sorting out on his NSR and for Ian it was his first time on a race track. For me it was the first track day I had been along to and it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought it was a laid back cruise around the track alongside some occasional friendly competition. How wrong I was! The four groups were organised from fastish through to bloody fast and the bloody fast group were really full on with some really intense racing riding! Everyone was having a great time.

Dion and Ian had set themselves up in a nice posey next to a like minded group of fellow two stroke and classic bike riders. The machines ranged from a Honda CB350 based racer to a track only stripped down RGV 250. ‘Mike’ from the Hutt Valley was their on his beautifully turned out Yamaha TR1. He also brought along his Yamaha DS6 for a spin. A very unusual sight these days! There was plenty to see going for a wander around the pits with one of the more interesting bikes being a Bimota Tesi.

Dion was using the track day for testing his bike after a few modifications and it didn’t end well with the modification seizing up and tipping him on to the track. This resulted in a a few bruises, scrapes and choice words. Dions wife wasn't impressed when she turned up and found a battered bike and no Dion in sight! It was a great way to spend a few hours and you never know, I might give it a go one day!

Number 5? is Alive!

The de Lautour brothers have had a lifelong interest in motorcycle racing and down the back of the workshop they have had a Suzuki TR250 parked up for quite a few years. Questions have always been asked about the fate of the bike, and recently the lads have decided to get her going and all going well, let her roll on some racing circuit tarmac again. Blue Haze Racing numbers are growing! It is no easy task recommissioning one of these old girls again and apart from seeing what the outside looks like, you have very few clues about the state of the inside of the motor and other running gear. The lads have been beavering away over the last few months and have got it to the point where it is runner! May was centred around making the bike quieter with extra mufflers added onto the chambers. The goal for this month is to give it some circuit time at the end of the month at the Friday testing day before the weekend Vic club Winter series meeting. After yesterdays round of testing at the Circuit de Andrew Young, it looks as though the clutch needs attention before that can happen. Any spare TR250/T20 clutch parts out there?
For those who aren't familiar with the Suzuki TR250 it was a race bike from the mid 60s, early 70s. It is based on the Suzuki T20 or X6 road bike from the sixties. The lads bike was built up from a race kit Suzuki supplied where you started with a standard road bike and went from there. Hopefully at a later date we can get a more detailed technical report on the recommissioning and the history of the bike.  Steve Roberts is a part of the story!
Thanks to Dion for the video footage at the start of the video.