Eastward Ho

The weather for Sunday looked hopeful and by Saturday it looked certain so a quick text around showed some interest in a ride for the Sunday. The weather mans predictions turned out to be correct and the roll call had eight ticks beside it by 9:15am.
Bruce Sagger - Suzuki T500J
Richard  Kerr - Suzuki T500M
Alan Clark - Kawasaki 750H2
Paul De Lautour - Suzuki GT750J
Kim De Lautour - Kawasaki 750H2a
Paul Whiting - Kawasaki Gpz 750R
Bruce Andrews - BMW GS650
Gary Whiting - Yamaha XJ750 IIE
The usual discussion then ensued around the ride route with an easterly direction settled on and a return ETA back into town of 11:30 had us heading over to Rongomai via the Pahiatua track. The usual puff of two stroke smoke at the bottom of the track signaled the beginning of a great run up to the top with very little traffic and after a regroup at the top it was down the other side. Looks like the closure of the Manawatu Gorge is providing the roading contractors with plenty of work patching up and improving one of the regions many motorcycle friendly routes as we made our way through Mangamaire. The short five minute run down State Highway 2 had us turning off for our back road blast through Rongomai. The threat of a shower soon disappeared to the south as we got into the rhythm of the road. All to soon we came in through the back of Pahiatua and another regroup.  Brother Paul and I swapped bikes for the return journey over the track. The GPz was definetly better than the XJ around the corners and had more go up top and it is easy to see why they are now regarded as classic. The traffic was a bit heavier on the track but we still manged to arrive back in town by 11:30. The Rendezvous restaurant and cafe provided a great venue to finish off the ride with good coffee, cake and conversation to go with it.

An Autumn Wander and Swap Meet

It was another one of those chocolate box autumn days that got a group of us out and about on our trusty old Japa bikes. It had been two weeks since the national rally so the posteriors were ready for another session in the saddle. The two De Lautours arrived on there Kawasaki H2s, 'Top Gun' Paul Whiting was  on Kawasaki the mighty GPz 750r, Alan had the Avenger out for a spin, Dion had his dazzling KH400 out of his garage, Bruce turned up on his lovely sounding FZR 1000 and myself on the ever faithful XJ750. An easterly direction was decided on with a run through one of our favourite back roads chosen. After a surprisingly lightly trafficed run over the Pahiatua track we made our way through Mangamaire and after a brief run down Highway two it was on to Rongomai and then a loop back to Pahiatua. These roads are ideal for our style of riding which involves lots of twisty bits that don't require a great deal of horsepower but do need plenty of technique to keep up good corner speed on challenging suspension, chassis's and skinny tyres. The bonus is Mr Plod the revenue collector doesn't do very well out of us so we get to spend more on restoring and riding our bikes. We then made our way back over the track to the Rendezvous cafe for a coffee and cake. What a great way spend an autumn day!
The pevious weekends weather wasn't as nice, but at least it wasn't raining for the Manawatu Classic Motorcycle clubs swap meet. Some interesting buys amongst the vendors with some good conversation washed down with a breakfast sausage, bread and cup of tea.

Valley and Track run

From PacificMCC@Manfield run

From PacificMCC@Manfield run

From PacificMCC@Manfield run

From PacificMCC@Manfield run

Here are some photos and video from another January run some of the VJMC/Blue Haze Manawatu crew went on. Hard to beat a morning run up the Pohangina Valley just as the day is beginning to warm up. Great to see Paul Whitings daughter Teia along for the ride to see what Dad gets up to when he disappears some Sunday mornings on his bike and comes back smiling. The run up to the Pilgrims Rest found it closed, so back down the valley to the Waterford for a coffee and tea. After a chat we were back on the bikes and heading to Feilding and Manfeild to see how Tim was doing on his Honda CBR600. This was his second outing on it and it was great to see the Hawkes Bay based Pacific Motorcycle Club giving a lot of club riders from the lower half of the North Island the opportunity to get out on the track. It was neat to see Tim and four generations of his family having a day out at the track. Nothing like a Manfeild hotdog and chips while you watch Dad tear around a race track! Great for morning talks at school on Monday morning. Our bikes generated some interest with some talk of organising rallys and/or shows around these sort of race meetings. Not a bad idea.
It was a great way to spend a summers day and add another golden weather memory to the memory bank.

VJMC Blue Hazes first run for 2011

From 10,000 mile Kawasaki H2

From 10,000 mile Kawasaki H2

From 10,000 mile Kawasaki H2

From 10,000 mile Kawasaki H2

From 10,000 mile Kawasaki H2

From 10,000 mile Kawasaki H2

Weather wise, January 2011 was very kind to motorcyclists in the Manawatu. And so it was for our first monthly run of 2011. The run was to finish with a sausage and bread BBQ at Paul and Janices. After meeting at Manawatu Motorcycles, Hunterville was decided on as a suitable culinary destination that could top up the cholesterol count. The roll call for the ride was
Paul De Lautour - Kawasaki H1a,
Bruce Andrews - Yamaha YPVS RD350,
Alan Clark - Kawasaki H2,
Kim De Lautour - Yamaha RZ250,
Don Mardle - Yamaha RZ350,
Geoff Noyes - Kawasaki KR150,
Paul Whiting - Kawasaki GPz750
Dion Tornquist - Kawasaki KH400
Gary Whiting - Suzuki T500
First stop was Cheltenham hill after going through Colyton and the outskirts of Feilding and then on to Stormy Point along the Vinegar Hill road and finally to Hunterville. We enjoyed the food and drink along with the banter from the waitress at the cafe. A great place to stop. Great to see Sir Als odometer just tick over the 10000 miles. With such an immaculate and valuable bike it would be very easy to be precious with it and hide it away in the garage. Not Alan, hes out there using very regularly each month. Ride it dont hide it!
For our return journey we decided on the long way home so we could avoid most of State Highway One. Rangatira Road was new for us, but turned out to be a great road with a nice mix of tight and open corners through some great countryside. A short scoot down state highway one to Porewa Road then had us not to far from the turnoff at Kakariki. Through to Halcombe and then on to Mt Stewart and then to Pauls place. The bread and sausages turned out to be an absolutely lovely 5+ a day meal. Thanks Paul and Janice.
A great start to the year and lets hope every last Sunday of the month is a fine one!

PS. Our thoughts and feelings go out to everyone in Christchurch after the latest earthquake. I will never forget our visit down to the CCJMG show in Christchurch last year and how the crew pulled it together so soon after the first quake. I am sure that the spirit displayed then will stand you in good stead for the challenges that lye ahead.
Kia kaha

Boxing day in Whanganui

From Boxing Day Races 2010

From Boxing Day Races 2010

From Boxing Day Races 2010

From Boxing Day Races 2010

From Boxing Day Races 2010

From Boxing Day Races 2010

What to do on Boxing Day has never been an issue for some of us. None of the jostling in malls and big box stores looking for bargains, but rather sitting in a cemetery watching others eat hotdogs and drink beer whilst a crazy bunch of motorcyclists burn off their Christmas dinner racing each other. And so a bunch of us from Palmy gathered together at Manawatu Motorcycles and headed off in a westerly direction towards Whanganui. Its a great feeling sharing the road with so many bikes all heading in the same direction.
We were all very interested to see how one of own (Tim) would do on his recently acquired Honda CBR600. This would be its first outing. Tims previous bikes at Whanganui have been of a 2 stroke kind, but have proved very fragile. You can only loctite and wire up a YZ490 only so many times! He not only completed all his races, but improved his placings as he got used to the bike. Having said all that, we did miss the mighty YZ vibrating and smoking its way around the circuit. The racing is only part of the experience and along with the culinary delights of Hot Dogs and Chips, you can check out the pits and spectator bikes. I was impressed with Alan De Lautours restraint when he and Dion had an interesting discussion with an RG500 "expert" over an RG500s fairing details. Alan is probably the expert in New Zealand on all things RG500. All adds to the colour of the day. After watching the usual smorgasbord of sidecars, motard, F1, F2, Post Classics etc we decided to head home at threeish. Or so we thought! Sir Al managed to misplace the key to a lockup we had all our gear in. We had visions of sitting on the riverbank throwing stones whilst we waited for help to arrive. Luckily for us a key was found and our departure was delayed by an acceptable hour.
The tail wind home was great for fuel economy and upon arrival at home the BBQ was fired up and we had a great turnout of friends, kids, partners etc. Great to see Barry Drummond and his son on the mighty Z1 pop in on there way home. The anticipated fireworks highlight of the evening courtesy of the De Lautour brothers literally fizzed out in spite of there obvious pyromaniac tendencies. Cheap fireworks are cheap for a reason!

The 500 Corner Ride

From Taihape via Apiti

From Taihape via Apiti

From Taihape via Apiti

From Taihape via Apiti

The official November VJMC/Blue Haze run took sometime to get underway. Our quick getaway was foiled by a lack of air! You would think that the word 'service' was an important word in the vocabulary of Petrol Service Stations, but no. I had to go to four stations before I was able to find an airhose that was working. To busy selling lattes and gourmet pies! Paul W was on his Kawasaki GPz 750r, Dion on his Kawasaki KH400, Sir Al on his Kawasaki KH750, Kim on his Yamaha RZ250 and myself on my Yamaha XJ750. The route was to be up to Apiti via the Pohangina Valley, through Rangiwahia and then to Mangaweka, State Highway 1 and up to Taihape for fuel. The return journey was to be through Vinegar Hill and back home. The trip up the valley required extra attention with a lot lose seal on the road and despite a subdued pace a few of us had a few whoppsie moments. At our first stop at Apiti we got to talking with one of the locals who proved to be a bit of a character. His story was he had decided to retire to Apiti and he had 'the largest shed in town. Apparently it is filled with all sorts of racing cars from the sixties along with a motorcycle that he uses to explore the countryside. Next stop was Rangiwahia with a lot of talk about the great road we had just come through. We then carried on through to Mangaweka and up to Taihape for a refuel. It was then back to Mangaweka International Airport for one of there famous toasties and a cup of tea. By now the temperature must have been getting pretty close to 30 degrees so it was good to get back on the bikes and cool down. The run down State Highway one was the usual boring one and the run through Vinegar Hill was tempered by a lot of traffic returning from the Round Taupo Cycle Race. A quick stop at Stormy point to view the scenery and we were back on the road. Paul W thought he could do the whole trip on one tank, but had to duck into Feilding to refuel.

Southwards Car Museum

From Southwards Museum

From Southwards Museum

From Southwards Museum

From Southwards Museum

From Southwards Museum

Sir Al decided to celebrate his half century with a trip to Southwards Car Museum where a large collection of motor vehicles have been restored and displayed. Paul W turned up on his Gpz 750r, Kim and Sir Al on the H2s, Dion on his X7 and myself on the KH250. Our departure from Palmy proved to be a cold one as we made our way south via Shannon. After a brief warming of the the hands stop there we continued south through the crisp air. We then joined the procession down State Highway One to Paraparaumu and made our way into the very cold museum. The staff were very accommodating with all our gear and gave us our own room to store it in and we then spent a couple of hours wandering around the exhibits. We were all particularly interested in the 70s bikes (funny that) and great to see some of the Suzuki race bikes from the era. We then spent some time in the cafe and enjoyed some of their great food. After replenishing the KHs fuel tank we then made our way back to Palmy into a solid cold south easterly. Spending to much time on the main highways definetly makes one appreciate the predominantly back roads we do the majority of our riding on.

Leedstown?

From Leedstown

From Leedstown

From Leedstown

The Manawatu branch of the VJMC decided on a run to make the most of the continuing great autumn weather. Dions used this as a test run for his T500 and as the video shows the oil pump needs serious adjusting! Found some great new roads out the back of Hunterville with one road seeming to suggest a town none of us had heard of. Worth investigating. It proved to be a phantom town but the road to get to it had some great corners and scenery. Our stop off in Hunterville at our favourite cafe was greeted with the usual good quality food and great to see they had the fire on as the temperatures are definetly dropping as we get closer to the shortest day of the year. Dion rejoined us after turning around in Feilding with a T500 needing more fettling but as usual his replacement bike, the KR250 was still suffering from starting issues. Bruce didn't have to go to the gymn that day as he pushed Dion up the road to get him started!

VJMC Blue Haze Explore Hopelands

From Hopelands

From Hopelands

From Hopelands

From Hopelands

The Manawatu chapter of the VJMC club made the most of yet another autumn day and headed towards the blue sky in the Wairarapa. We decided to explore an area between Mangatainoka and Woodville called Hopelands. It proved to be an excellent choice with some great roads now added to our destinations. After making our way over the Pahiatua track and then through to Mangatainoka we headed east over a variety of back country roads and eventually made our way to Woodville for a refreshment stop at Cafe 88. Highly recommended if you want great food at a good price with great service. Sir Al brought along the latest addition to his garage. A very low mileage H2 in original order. It went really well with Alan taking it very easy whilst he gets used to it. I think he was very pleased to find that it was very docile. I am sure it wont be long before he explores the other parts of its perfomance. Don arrived on his trusty Bonneville to a chorus of "Its making the wrong noise" only to find out that the Honda MT250 he intended to bring had only just been picked up off the garage floor. Its broken clutch lever made it difficult to ride. Don hasn't had a lot of luck with the MT lately.

Three go to Riverview

From Three to Riverview

From Three to Riverview

A small but keen group of VJMC/ Blue Haze members went for a ride last Sunday morning up the Pohangina Valley to a place called Riverview. Sir Al on his A7, Sparkie on his H2a and Rusty on his Gpz750 left Palmy at nine and headed in a north easterly direction out of town towards the Ruahine Ranges. Riverview is just north of one of our favourite destinations, The Pilgrims Rest Tearooms and as it wasn't open the Ashurst Domain Cafe was chosen as the refreshment spot. A great mornings ride through an autumn landscape.

VJMC Blue Haze to Tui Central via Rongomai short cut

From Rongomai

From Rongomai

From Rongomai

From Rongomai

From Rongomai

Another great day out and about on the roads around the Wairarapa and Manawatu. After a few delays due to mechanical problems we spent the best part of the day roaming around some lovely windy bits of road. We tried a new bit of road that took us to Rongomai without having to do the boring straight bit of road from Mangamaire to Eketahuna. Although the road was a bit damp in places and required some care, the Pahiatua Track was great with no traffic to speak of. The great cloud of blue haze that billows after the Aokautere turnoff is sight to behold as the oil residue from town running is cleared from the pipes accompanied by that unique two stroke hydrocarbon aroma as you climb up the track. A quick stop at the top and then off to Mangamaire where with a quick consultation of the map saw us off to explore a shortcut to Rongomai. It meant we could miss out the boring straight bits of road to Ekatahuna. It proved to be a very curvy replacement as Dion and I took the lead on the 250s. It was during this part of the ride Dion had a close encounter with a falcon, and not the four wheeled variety. It was quite a sight following behind as it looked as though the birds wings were about to be wrapped around his helmet. No wonder his hand measurement when decribing the incident is so generous! Of course the sympathy for Dion from the troops extended to "bullshit, it was a sparrow!". Joking aside, it was a timely reminder about being very aware and careful when riding. After tea, coffee and food at Tui Central Mangatainoka it was back over the Saddle with a short stop at the top and then home.