Eight Two Strokes, 10 fours and a Shed Raid. EoMR February 2021

  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.

Aprilia RS250. The Last of the Blue Haze Sports Bikes

The weather at this time of the year is a bit hit and miss if you are after appropriate riding conditions. For our July ride we struck a relatively warm and sunny day and we were also fortunate to have along for the run a couple of new people on their modern bikes. Kenny turned up on his very green BMW and John brought along his Aprilia RS250. This had the likes of Dion swooning all over it as he knows all to well that it was the last of the two stroke sports bikes. John has had it for half a year and he has been thoroughly enjoying it. It truly is a work of art and one that some people might like as a centrepiece in the living room! Also along for the ride was Rich on the mighty T500, Kim on his H2, Brian on his Yamaha XT600, Ian on his GSX 600, Paul was taking his H1b out for a spin, as was Dion on his KH400 and yours truly on the XJ. A wander up to Hunterville was the chosen destination and as we exited the city via Railway Road the haze at the city limits was probably mistaken for the passing of a steam train. We then proceeded through Feilding and headed up Makino road to our first stop at the top of Cheltenham hill. After videoing the departure I had to really give the old Yamaha a bit of a work out to catch up with the crew and we eventually arrived at our destination and decided to visit the local Motorcycle museum located in what used to be a bank. There was an interesting variety of machines to look over whilst waiting for our cuppa. Our return journey home was via the back roads that run parallel to State highway one. I decided to have my first play with the Gopro the family gave me for my birthday and I am looking forward to having a bit of fun with it on our rides. As can be seen from he video the roads we prefer to take are the back roads, and the more corners the better. After rejoining the main drag we ended up bidding farewell to the Feilding lads at Halcombe and headed towards our final stop at Mount Stewart. With a quick debrief from our ride we headed home with a wonderful dose of the sights, sounds and sensations unique to motorcycling.
Roll on spring for more of the same!