Its the Sound Stupid!

Why is it we devote large proportion of time and expense to old pieces of metal and plastic that should have long ago been recycled into cellphones, flowerpots and garden ornaments? We tell our significant others about there investment value and how we are making a significant contribution to the heritage of our country. Whilst this is all very true maybe there is a more basic reason. It makes us feel human!
As parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties we take great pleasure in seeing little people experiencing new things in the world. The first ice cream, touching snow for the first time and watching the little persons head follow that two wheeled machine that just went past. As we get older some say we gradually revert back to being a child (Some more rapidly than others. As can be seen on the video!) and we start to treasure those memories from the past. Rekindling those memories is best experienced through our senses and whilst putting the video together for this post it was sound of an H2 on song that put a smile on my dial! The sound of a Kawasaki triple is so very unique. Watching and hearing Sir Al punting one of these through our countryside and hearing two of them together as he followed Paul D on his reminds us of why we love these old machines. It is these visceral experiences that we get from restoring and then riding them that makes us fell human. If it also means reverting back to our younger selves so be it!
Enough ruminations, the sound thing was definitely a nice way to frame the ride we had in late January with an assortment of bikes out for a spin. We certainly encourage and enjoy a 'broad church' on our rides and great to have a variety of 'sounds' along. Alan and Bruce came up from the Horowhenua on two very different types of machinery. Alan on his lovely cafed R100 that just burbles along whilst Bruce was on his frantic sounding CBR600. Paul turned up on his bright white Guzzi that loops along with that lovely tappety sound unique to them. Terrys GL700 was another take on the across the frame v configuration with that same Guzzi sound minus the tappets and a little more subdued in the exhaust note. The V theme was continued with Bruce Andrews VF750. It is a unique sound that many of us heard for the first time in the early eighties and has become an integral part of our motorcycling experience ever since. The XJ750 is very much an underrated motorcycle and often called in a derogatory manner a UJM (Universal Japanese Motorcycle). Most bikes UJMs ended up with four into ones so the fact that it still has standard pipes gives it that nice muted four cylinder sound typical of this genre of bikes. Ians very busy GS450 rounds out the four strokes with its chromed cam caps and rustling top end pumping out that very revvy twin cylinder bark through its cycleworks two into one.
Our trip around the Apiti loop certainly mixed together this cacophony of sounds as we made our way through the countryside. With stops along the way at Cheltenham  Hill, Kimbolton and Totara Reserve we finally 'orchestrated' (yes I know, very corny) our way into the Fusion Cafe in Ashhurst.
What did we take away from our time on the road? The sights, the smells and yes those wonderful sounds still ringing in our ears and that wonderful feeling to be alive and feel human!

PS. No apologies for the extended play video. Its not for now, but when we are all older and retro retro and have plenty of time to remember our Golden Summers together on the road!

Enjoy,
Gary

Strokers and Shafts to Hooterville

The weather forecast for the weekend was looking a bit iffy during the week, but by 10:00am Sunday morning a group of eight individuals fronted up to Manawatu Motorcycles for our August end of month ride out.  The precipitation was threatening but not enough to put us off for a wander up the Rangitikei to Huntreville to sample the delights at one of our favourite cafes. We were treated to a few drops of H2O as we left town and headed out towards Bunnythorpe, through Colyton and to our first stop at Cheltnham. It was great having Paul along on his Moto Guzzi 1000 Le Mans with its v twin bellow alongside Johns immaculate BMW 600 that just purrs along up the road. Ian was giving his GS450s another airing with its two into one exhaust bellowing out that lovely parallel twin sound. It was good to hear Richards T500 burble its way up the road in its usual unfused manner and then not to to far in front of him was Kim on the RG400 that had that other lovely Suzuki square four burble. The only other two stroke sound came from Dion on his ever faithful TZR. The inline four sounds were provided by Michael on his immaculate GSX750 whilst my ever trusty XJ750 rounded out motorcycle orchestra. The trip up to Vinegar Hill was cautious as the road was still damp in places from recent rain, but the pace was enough to enjoy the wonderful scenery along the way. All to soon we were parked up outside our refreshment spot where major purchasing decisions had to be made about the personal consumption of food and beverages. It was just as well the two Brucies were absent as the food cabinet contained only one raspberry custard square. If they had both been there the resolution of this problem would have been fascinating. We hear custard square politics are a serious matter and nations may one day go to war over them! After a good feed and watering along with solving all the worlds most serious problems through talking about motorcycles we headed home via all the backroads that run parallel to State Highway One. It was then off to Halcombe and through to Mount Stewart and then home. It was a great run and a great way to farewell winter and with all those daffodils everywhere spring has definitely sprung.
See you out there

Spoilt For Choice

Met the classic lads at the Feilding Railway Station

Our bikes became a part of the display

Simons Kawasaki GPz 750 A3

Takes one back!

Paul De Lautour had one of these

..and now he has one of these

Spent many miles sitting in the back of one of these!

The company Suzuki 'borrowed' ideas from!

2 cylinders, 6 litres and 38hp

The ultimate 60s holiday setup

For Dion

The motorcycling season is well under way with last weekend providing a great range of destinations for a ride. The Whanganui Speed show looked really interesting with a range of interesting boats, cars and motorcycles on show. Manfield had a day of motorcycle racing run by the Vic Club and to top it all off Levin had an Early Transport show on that was worth a visit as well. Of course this all tied in with the beginning of daylight saving so we had a whole 'extra' hour to play with. To celebrate we decided to shift our departure time to 9:00 am so compared to last weekends time we were actually a whole hour earlier. It certainly felt like it waking up that morning and as we assembled at Manawatu Motorcycles Simon turned up from Paraparamu for his first ride out with us. Welcome aboard and a great effort considering the distance he came. Paul turned up on his trusty GT750, with Dion on his now crank sealed KH400, Al on the ever reliable A7 and myself on the XJ. A quick discussion had us heading out towards Ashurst with a quick run around the back of Colyton to meet the Classic lads at the Feilding Railway Station. A quick show of hands as to our destination had us heading out of Feilding to towards Awahuri and onwards around the back roads to our one and only stop at Shannon. After a brief stop we headed on down to Levin and we were ushered through the entrance to become a part of the display in the show. Cool. There was some great machinery on display and the various Horowhenua clubs involved are to be congratulated for putting a great show together. We spent a couple of hours wandering around and after watching the world record being broken for assembling a Model T Ford we headed back home with a stop off at The Old Plum Duff Tearooms in Shannon for a cuppa and a chat. Thanks to the Classic club for letting us tag along. A great way to enjoy a Sunday morning.

Mangahao Meander

Here is a quick view of the road to the top!

As I pulled the KH out of the garage on Sunday morning, little did I know what lay ahead that day. The Saturday before weather didn't bode well for the following day, but some faith in Metservice had me making some late night texts to gauge interest in ride out in the country. Sir Als reply was informed me that he and Bruce were heading out for some more 'Adventure Riding' out the back of Shannon. We made a loose arrangement to meet in Shannon the following day.  The less demanding terrain south of Palmy was an ideal opportunity to give the KH250 a run and so our 10am meeting time had a group of us parked up outside Manawatu Motorcycles. Richard arrived on his trusty T500, with Kim on his RZ, Shorty on his SV, Clint on his Katana and yours truely on the KH250. We made our way to Shannon via the long way down Lockwood road, Main Drain road (I wonder how it got that name?) then on to Bainese and down a back road to Foxton then finally on to the Shanon Foxton road. Nothing to challenging apart from the usual cow pooh on the roads. It was good to be out on the little KH and enjoy all the usual Kawasaki two stroke triple sensations. The new tyre on the back had lowered the gearing a tad and it was now sitting nicely in the bottom part of the power band at 100 kmh. After a bit of discussion we decided on Horsemans Cafe for food and refreshments whilst we awaited the arrival of the 'Adventure Bikers'. Bruce Sagger 'flew' in from Levin on his Yellow rocket, his Yamaha RZ350 to join us for a cuppa. The cafe was a pleasant surprise with delicious loaf shaped pies, very tasty Bacon and Egg butties all washed down with good coffee and hot chocolates. Recommended. After waiting for Al and Bruce to arrive some decided to head on home whilst Shorty, Richard and myself headed up to the Mangahao power station and a suggestion was made to head up to the first dam. The last time I was here was to have a look at the power station and the white water centre so I was fascinated to find out a bit more about The metal road was narrow and very windy as it made its way up the hill to the top of the ranges. The surface was nice and damp so no dust and as we followed Shorty up Richard and I were very pleased to be on our narrow tyred stink wheels from the seventies as he hunched over his wide tyred sports bike. As we neared the first dam a couple of bikes came into view. I think they were a little surprised to see us as we stopped had had a chat on the side of the road. They were just on there way back from having a cuppa at the last dam and informed us that the first dam was five minutes away. We said our goodbyes and parked up next to the first dam. Having never been up there it was a really pleasant surprise to see the scale of it. Walking along the top of dam I wouldn't be to sure about living in Shannon should a descent earthquake strike! Shorty was pleased for the break as his wrists were getting sore and he wasn't looking forward to going back down. Richard took the lead heading back down and disappeared off down the road on the mighty Titan. Our stop down at the power station had us admiring the wonderful 1920s architecture and admiring the whole engineering feat for the time. It was apparently the first large power station built in New Zealand and the fact that it is still operating 88 years later is a tribute to the engineers of the time. You can find more information here. Our ride back to town had me thinking about doing a bit more exploring around our region, as I am sure there are some more hidden gems like this in our region. The KH did well but maybe I need to look for something more suitable. I think Barrys definitely got the right idea. Might have to start looking for a suitable mount.....Must be a few old DTs, TSs, KTs and XLs out there!

Hondas nearly outnumber Kawasakis!

Our end of month ride was notable for a number of reasons. The day began with nearly a frost but with the promise of a wonderful sunny day. Manawatu Motorcycles saw the arrival of a range of motorcycles. The plan was to go for a run around the back of Pahiatua and Woodville and come back over the track and down to Shannon to meet up with the Classic lads from the Manawatu and Wellington. As happens  with anything older one of the fleet decided to break down by leaking petrol through its fuel tap. It was a shame as we were keen to see how Johns recently acquired Yamaha R5 would run but John made the call to replace his lightweight Yamaha with his 'not light' Honda GL 1000. The role call was
John McKeagg - Yamaha R5/Honda GL 1000,
Paul De Lautour -  Kawasaki 500 H1b
Kim De Lautour - Suzuki RE5
Dion Tornquist - Honda NSR 400
Dave Henwood - Honda XL500s
Bruce Andrews - BMW GS650
Alan Clark - Kawasaki 750 H1
Paul Clemoes - Kawasaki 400 S3a
Richard Kerr - Suzuki T500
Gary Whiting - Yamaha XJ750
Our first port of call was at the top of the Pahiatua track and with everyone accounted for we headed off down the other side for a quick stop at Pahiatua and then on to Mangatainoka. It was from here that we headed off around the back roads that brought us out just north of Woodville. Time was running out to catch the classic lads so another quick stop in Woodville had us on our way back over the track via the Ballance bridge. After  skirting around Palmy via Old west road we caught the convoy of classics just south of Tokomaru. A decision was made not to chase them as everyone was hanging out for a cuppa and we ducked off down a side road to the Horse Shoe Bend Cafe. We hadn't been there for some time and its location on top of a very high bluff looking up into the Tararua Ranges made for a very pleasant cup of tea. From here we headed back into town and dispersed with Dave making his way back over the track for the fourth time in a day and heading back to Masterton. Richard and I decided to try and catch the Classic lads at Ashhurst only to see them disappearing up the road.
Next time.
It was a great way to spend part of a Sunday. With the days getting longer and the daffodils beginning to emerge out of the ground one definitely feels more encouraged to get out and about. Winter hibernation time is over so come on out for a ride. We would love to see you
Roll on spring and summer!