Winter Warriors?

Winter is always a challenging time for riding motorcycles and the older you get the more inclined you become to finding excuses not to ride. To be fair many are excellent excuses around cold, dampness and precipitation that if not 'managed' properly can lead to some rather nasty health outcomes. Some amongst us are able to spend time in warmer climes riding, and good on them, but it is great to see people make the effort to get out and about at this time of the year. The last month has seen has seen just such happen with some heading off to the Caribbean, and some of us wrapping up heading out into the countryside for a ride.  For these runs we tend to not wander too far as the weather seems to encourage a closer proximity to home should the need arise to make a hasty retreat home. It means we get to frequent some of the wonderful roads and cafes that are 20 to 30 minutes away and the last couple of weekends have seen us visiting some of these places.

Foxton is within easy commuting distance of Palmerston North and the last few years have seen a revival of the township with a new cultural centre being built next to the windmill. The Dutch and Maori heritage presented alongside each other is certainly a point of difference compared to other tourist destinations. The National Museum of Audio Visual Arts & Sciences is also located nearby and well worth a visit at the same time. Our run took us down through Tokomaru and then across to Foxton where we ended up at the Dutch Oven, another one of our favourite cafes in the region. This time around Ian and Rich enjoyed a delicious kahawai fish pie whilst Sir Al and I went for the scotch egg sausage roll. Great tucker.

The following weekend a group of six of us fronted up to Manawatu Motorcycles for what promised to be at least a cool ride and maybe a damp one as well. It was nice to meet Terry for the first time on his 'small block' Moto Guzzi Breva 750. Ian turned up on his ever faithful Kawasaki W650 and Gary brought out his little Yamaha Scorpio for another play. Sir Al thought it was time to try out a Harley Davidson Street Rod and Dave brought out his Honda CB750 for a run. Yours truly was on my ever faithful Yamaha XJ750. Our destination was to be Sanson and Vivs Kitchen to see what the latest cream horn tally was. Ian led the way out through Bunnythorpe and onto Colyton, Makino Road and a stop at Stanway Hall. We had the usual striding around we do with any new bike that shows up on a ride and critiqued the Streetrod to the point that Sir Al might trade his H2 in on it! Dave and I swapped bikes for the ride to Sanson and I had my first ride on a single cam Honda CB750. For a motorcycle that first came out in 1969 (that's fifty years ago!) it was remarkable how capable it is by today's standards. It certainly deserves the title of a grand classic.
After warming ourselves up next to some heaters and consuming pies, cream horns and coffee we had thawed out enough to make the final run home for the warmth of our living rooms and slippers! Mission accomplished for the Winter Warriors.

A 400,000+ km Motorcycle!

It's not everyday you get to see a 400 000 km motorcycle and its rider. The Guzzi owners in the Manawatu Classic Motor Cycle Club certainly took an extra keen interest in Peters 850 Le Mans Mk III with its well used patina 'shining' through the paint and metal of what I believe is still his daily ride to and from work. After much pre meeting chatting the June monthly club meeting soon got underway and once the business side of things was completed Sir Al and Ian outlined the Rongomai Loop as the route for the days ride. For us in the Blue Haze it has always been one of our favourite rides with its mix of open road and tight sections and some wonderful cambers and climbs through the quake prone countryside of the Tararua district. The ride seemed to encourage a good turnout of members riding a variety of more modern machinery and the fine weather probably persuaded a few more to leave the comfort of their sofas, recliners and workshops for a winter spin. After the formalities of the meeting and a cup of tea and biscuit we were hurried out the door to get on our way.
It was at this point everyone was distracted with Billy and his early thirties AJS. Interesting listening to the conversations around the bike with Phil Pearce, one of the oldest club members reminiscing about a similar one being his first motorcycle. What a great machine that seems to go as well as it looks. Eventually we all followed Billy out the drive and hung a right to make our way through to Ashhurst where some of the members headed off for a shorter run. The rest of us made our way to Aokautere before heading over the track to our first stop in Pahiatua to check out the facilities for the 2020 National Classic Motor Cycle Rally that the club is hosting. The converted hospital is going to be a great venue for it. After a tour around the complex we were soon on our way again down State Highway Two to the turnoff to Rongomai. After looping back to Pahiatua through some great countryside we were soon on our way to our lunch stop at the Tui Brewery
A great feed was had by all and we were soon back on the road in dribs and drabs heading back over the track to Palmerston North. It was a great run with some very spirited riding making use of the upgraded road surfaces due to the closure of the Manawatu Gorge road. All to soon we were back in town and making our way home to to more mundane day to day activities. However, our little wander around the countryside was certainly going to make carrying out of those activities a little more tolerable as we looked forward to our next ride and maybe we might get a little closer to clocking up 400,000 kays on a motorcycle/s!

A Harley Anyone?

It has been an interesting time having one of the troops working for the local Honda dealership. As a part of his job he gets to ride the bikes he is selling in the shop, and from time to time he brings one along on one of our rides. Our EoMR for May was one such occasion and the chuffing sound of a Harley coming around the corner wasn't something we were expecting. The previous arrival of Bruce on his RG500 was more in line with expectations and a two stroke square four certainly makes quite a different sound to a Harley. At least Rich on his Vstrom has some affinity with its V twin motor, but an Adventure style bike is certainly a long way from a Harley Davidson Softail Injected Deluxe 2005! The remaining engine configurations had Ian on his parallel twin W650 and Ross and I had our across the frame fours, with Ross on his Bandit and yours truly on the XJ.
Our departure from town was in an easterly that had us in Ashhurst and then on up the Pohangina Valley and down Valley Road to Colyton. it was here that we encountered a cycle race. I am sure Sir Al thought they were cheering him and the Harley on as passed through the crowds...... (those tassels really get people going!) The crowd was noticeably more subdued when the rest of us passed through, ...sigh. We were soon making our way through the back of Feilding and onto Makino Road where we had our first stop at Stanway Hall. Sir Al was a late arrival with caution dictating a restrained riding style due to an unfamiliar bike? After a short natter we were on our way to our cup of tea spot, Vivs kitchen in Sanson.
Vivs kitchen is one of our favourite destinations. They have done really well with the fifties/sixties ambience and made a huge feature out of the cream horns they make. This visit saw them past there 100,000th, so definitely a few calories worth have gone across the counter. Naturally some of us had to celebrate the occasion by supporting the cause with a purchase. After a good feed and conversation we made our way onto State Highway one and then onto three for the run home. Sir Al and the Harley certainly seemed more comfortable on these roads as we headed for town. Another great run around the countryside and time will tell if certain members have been seduced by the Achdee cult and all its tassels and chrome!