Our February end of month ride has been and gone, but in its wake are some great inspirational memories of why we have a passion for these old bikes. Warren had generously offered to host an end of ride shed raid and share some of his wonderful heritage vehicles he has been collecting alongside others his father has passed down to him. The message went out and they came on the day with eighteen bikes lined up for the ride. The weather cooperated with a fine morning and with our ride a little shorter than usual a bit more time was spent with pre ride chatter. And there was plenty to see and talk about with some interesting machinery appearing.
It was great to see Roger from Levin bring along his recently rebuilt little Benelli 2C. They have a great reputation for sweet handling in a lightweight package and Roger has done a great job with the restoration. It was also nice to see another air cooled two stroke Yamaha out for a play with Mike from Feilding on his RD400. Mikes next door neighbour Dave was also out for a spin on his only running bike at the moment A 1949 Norton International. The Guzzi is waiting for electronic parts and the Honda 750 in need of a cam chain to get it back on the road. John, also another Feilding resident was out on his Aprilia RS250 and wonderful to see Ross out on his 1968 Suzuki Cobra in all its chrome and metallic paint glory. Kim had his Kawasaki H2a out for a run and good to see Dion on his Honda NS400R. Warren brought out his 'other' Walter Wulf, a Suzuki RG250 and Stuart was out on his sweet running Waterbus. Another VJMC Suzuki was Bruce on his GS 750. A really sweet running bike.
Kerryn was on his Triumph Bonny and Ian was out on his Vmax and Rich on his Veestrom. Max had his Bandit out for a spin and Alan was on his Harley Sportster. Bruce A popped in to say hi and bye whilst on his way to trade in his BMW GS650 on his new adventure bike in Tauranga. We were soon on our way with a shorter ride called for to give some extended time at Warrens. Our one and only stop at the Raumai Bridge turn off proved to be a no go for Kim on his H2a. It proved to be a very reluctant starter with a total lack of sparks. Its last outing was to the South Island so definitely some sort of luck/fate involved.
Our cafe stop was at the Fusion Cafe in Ashhurst with a pleasant time spent yarning in the sun, but we were soon on our way again to Warrens back in town. Warren certainly has a great space to indulge his passion for his heritage vehicles. Definitely a chip off the old block and bringing back memories of when Warren and his father came out together on one of our earlier runs some years ago. A big thank you to Warren for his hospitality and long may he continue restoring and sharing his wonderful heritage vehicle collection.
