Tool Kit in a Bottle

Whats with the lawn mower Dion?

Three generations of twostrokes

Just needs a Kenny Roberts signature 

Always a nice little stop

Time for a cuppa

Labour Day looked like a good opportunity to head out for a ride around the district. With many of the troops off doing other activities over the long weekend a hardy bunch of four of us lined up at Manawatu Motorcycles. And hardy we needed to be with a gathering wind strength and chill factor we headed out towards Pohongina for our first stop and then back through the flowing curves to Colyton. The T500 was in its element with its long and low profile sweeping through the corners and looking in the rear vision mirrors, the usual smokey accompanyment wasn't visible. Hopefully the addition of some Wynnes Engine Oil Stop Leak might delay replacement of the crank seals. Alan on his trusty A7 was giving his new Hagon shocks a workout whilst Bruce was seeing if his now completed paint job on the RZ made his bike go faster. Geoff on the KR150 was enjoying the sights and sounds of old two strokes as he continued to impress with the performance of 150ccs of recent two stroke technology.  After skirting around the back of Feilding to our next stop at Stanway the conversation was around "Where did Spring go?"and the cooling temperature had us looking for a hot cuppa. We made our way through Halcombe and back to Feilding a cafe. We had one unintended stop before we arrived with my side cover flapping around in the breeze and minus the knob. Nothing like the old T500 vibes for unscrewing things. Luckily I have a spare at home that I picked up from the local Suzuki dealer for a whole $12 (ex Japan!) Geoff carried on home and we joined a growing number of locals refueling after the previous nights rugby revelry. It was a great little ride and a nice reminder about all the great roads we have close by. The only downside to the ride is the tool kit in a bottle sort of worked, but not enough to avoid the motor coming out of the T500. Time to roll my sleeves up!

Blue Haze Planking

From Kawasaki KR150

If you have been wondering where the planking phenomenen came from, wonder no more. As would be expected it was some one who has blue haze running through there veins. Now we know another reason why Geoff has a KR150. It appears to be the ideal platform for this activity. All he needs is the custom paint job!
If you want to read more about Geoffs bike, pop on over to the latest featured bike at the Blue Haze website.

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

Labour Day Ride 2010

From Labour Day Ride 2010

From Labour Day Ride 2010

From Labour Day Ride 2010

From Labour Day Ride 2010

From Labour Day Ride 2010

The weather forecast at the begining of the week looked promising for a Labour Day ride so the email was sent out and a group of nine gathered at Manawatu Motorcycles ready for a wander around the countryside. It was good to see Terry on his Suzuki GT550 a bike he has used as his daily commute since he purchased it in 1981. It has done over 50 thousand miles and has had nothing done to the motor. Amazing. Also along for a ride was John on his immaculate Suzuki T500 in blue with only a few thousand miles on the clock. Can't wait to see some of the other bikes he has in his garage. Geoff came arrived on his immaculate little Kawasaki KR150. A great little machine that has no difficulty keeping up with the group. Sir Al brought along his Suzuki TS250 that is running extremely well after its recent rebuild. Sparkie (Kim) decided to test his rewired RZ250 that was moving but still awaiting the repair of some 'spiked' electronic parts. Dr Sprocket (Paul D) wheeled out his immaculate Kawasaki H1a, Dion on the mighty KH400, Don on his Honda MT and myself on my KH250. After some discussion a ride was decided on. The route took in the Pahiatua track and on to Rongomai via Mangamaire and back through Pahiatua and back through to Ballance and over the Saddle road to Ashurst. First stop was at the top of the track and then onto Mangamaire. The Rongomai section of the run was as always a lot of fun with a range of tight and tighter corners well suited to these bikes. You can still have a lot of fun on 40hp or less and still get time to take in the country atmosphere. Just before Pahiatua Don went onto reserve and after filling up the calculations worked out at 25mpg! The run through to Ballance was far more interesting than State Highway 2 and then it was on to the Saddle. The run up was a bit of a struggle for those of us on 250s, but the run down the other side to Ashhurst was a ball. We had decided on the Ashhurst Inn for our morning tea but it was closed so off down the road to the Ashhurst Domain Cafe for some good coffee, food and conversation.
Another great ride.
Roll on Summer!!!

Fathers Day Run and Dions Special News!

From Fathers Day Run

From Fathers Day Run

A hardy bunch of lads gathered outside Manawatu Motorcycles for a morning run into grey skies of the Manawatu. It was great to see Geoff on his very well looked after Kawasaki KR150s. A great little machine that Geoff has had from nearly new and with 32K on the clock and no engine work it ran like clockwork. Also along for the ride was Sir Al on his recently reconditioned Suzuki TS250, Don on the his GT500 fill in, the Bonneville, Dion on his KH400, Kim on Dions KR250 and myself on the KH250. After some discussion about the diection we should take we headed off for the west and after a tank topup for my KH250 at the Rangitikei St BP we headed off into a steady drizzle. Upon reaching Feilding we were about to make our cafe stop but decided to continue on towards Sanson via the Kakariki turnoff. Geoff had to leave us at this point, but the dry road ensured we had a good run through to Sanson. These backroads are a lot of fun on these smaller bikes and as we started to make our way through the coffee and pies Dion very casualy announced that he was adding another bike to his fleet. A 1984 Suzuki GSXR 400W. After some of us just about choked on our food and coffees he was asked to repeat the model of his latest acquisition.
It was true. He had finally been seduced by the dark side. Dion has been a staunch advocate for two strokes and has often given his opinion on others in the group who have chosen to purchase bikes from the dark side. (For most of us it isn't the Dark Side but the Other Side and provides a nice balance to our motorcycling lives) Dion received the necessary amount of stick about his choice of bike in light of his previous position on such matters.

From Fathers Day Run

Dions "I now own a four stroke" face.

From Fathers Day Run

The very bike that seduced Dion to the "Dark Side".

This also explained his unusual behaviour that day. His KR250 must have heard the conversation and decided to throw a real tantrum in the carpark as realised it was about to share the shed with a four stroke and refused to start. All joking aside, a great bike to restore, and as time goes by these bikes from the eighties are going to become more desireable. As a bonus, they are very rideable and provide performance not to distant from todays machines.
P.S. The main bearings on Dions KR are shot! He may have to sell the house to fix it! Maybe his KR is hoping he will have to sell the GSXR.

From Fathers Day Run

"Dont try and trick us Don. That bike is not your GT500. Its the wrong colour. Your GT is red!"