Big K has the numbers!

Last weekend was a busy time for the troops as some made there way up north to Hampden Downs for the Motofest, others were wandering around the South Island dodging fires and those of us who remained decided on a nice quiet ride over the Pahiatua Track to ride the Rongomai loop. The turnout was nearly a full Kawasaki affair with the XJ flying a lonely flag for Yamaha. Bruce decided to bring out his 1989  Kawasaki KR-1 for a spin and it was a nice generational contrast to Sir Als H2. The four of us set out from our usual starting off place outside Manawatu Motorcycles and headed eastwards to the track and after despatching a few SUVs Sir Al opened up the mighty H2 and we made our way up and over the hill. Bruce couldn't help himself as he got the KR1 on the pipe and disappeared off into the distance as he made the most of the excellent road conditions. Since the closure of the Manawatu Gorge road the Saddle Road and Pahiatua Track have received a lot of attention. The surface on the track road is the best I have seen it in years. It is absolutely brilliant for bend swinging when you have a clear road. The four of us certainly did and we all had big smiles when we pulled up to our first stop at Mangamaire.
The next part of our ride was just as 'sedate', but with a little more caution as we were very aware of  the intensive farming country we were going through with its fair share of animal movements, planned and unplanned! Mangaone road is always a great ride with its lovely mix of bends and following Sir Al on his H2 he was certainly pushing her along and making the most of the H2s generous ground clearance and power. Bruce was doing the same, but even more so as he made the most of the KR1s extra years of two stroke and chassis development. All to soon we arrived in Pahiatua just in time for the opening of The Black Stump Cafe.
 We were still smiling after our last lot of bend swinging as we supped our tea and coffees. Some of the conversation was around the great two stroke developments that happened between H2 and the KR1. If only those developments had carried on goodness knows where we would be today. KTMs development of its 300cc enduro bike certainly gives us some hope for a positive two stroke future for motorcycles. After having a good yarn we were soon on our way back over the track. With Ian on the W650 setting the pace at the front this time, we certainly didn't complete the last part of our ride in a quiet manner. When we reached the bottom of the track at Aokautere I think the smiles had become a permanent part of our faces. I hope those who went elsewhere over the weekend ended up with there share of smiles. I am sure mine is still there!