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.

Classics at Manfield

A few weeks ago some of the troops decided on a run around the Rangitikei countryside with the ultimate destination being Manfield. The New Zealand Classic Motorcycle Racing Register, along with the New Zealand Post Classic Racing Association run this meeting at this time each year. We headed out from Manawatu Motorcycles on our ride around 9ish into a showery morning looking forward to a growing number of sunny patches. We had decided on a run out to Ashhurst and back along Valley road to Colyton. The damp road required a bit of restraint as we then headed around the back of Feilding to our first stop at the Stanway hall. After a run through Halcombe and Mount Biggs we arrived at a very sunny and dry Manfield. It was great to soak in the smells, sights and sounds of these bikes as we headed for our first stop at the track; the hot dog stand! It was a bit of shock as the price of hot dog had gone up to $3.50, but Richard our resident hot dog connoisseur still bought two as he reckons they are the best hot dogs in the world! (Its all to do with the batter apparently) After refreshing and refuelling the inner self a wander around the pits revealed some interesting bikes. Some well turned out Nortons, Triumphs, Rudges, BSAs, NSUs, Harleys etc of the four stroke variety, but amongst them some interesting two strokes. Its the first time I have seen a Maico kitted out for the track along with some Benellis,CZs, and a 125cc Cagiva. Amongst the posties were the usual GSs, Zeds, FZs, ZXRs and a TZ along with Alan De Lautours RG500. I never tire of that wonderful two stroke square four sound and seeing these bikes out on the track is a real treat for us "Stinkies'. It was also a treat to see Roger Hintons (Levin Motorcycle Centre) Walter Wolf RG500 out and about and looking forward to them coming out on a run with us. Mention also needs to be made of one Alans greatest supporters "GSXR Bernard" It is no problem for him to ride down from New Plymouth for the afternoon to show his support and then ride back home again. On our way out I spied a couple of really neat customised Honda CB750s. They looked as though they were on tour. Cool! It was a great way to spend a few hours of a Sunday and definitely whets the appetite for racing and more riding this summer.

One very fast Benelli 2c

Although the Japanese dominated the two stroke scene in the seventies a number of European brands made there way to New Zealand. The Benelli 2c was one of the better known bikes from that time and it was great to see two of these at the New Zealand Classic Motorcycle Racing Register (http://www.nzcmrr.com) round at Manfeild in August. 159 is being ridden by Terri Prangnall who at this stage is leading the 250 Post Classic class and the other one had some issues that kept it off the track.