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!

A Ride in the Country

One of the joys of getting out and about on our bikes is you get to experience our wonderful country in all its glory. When you are in your tintop your senses are somewhat limited. But not on a bike. You feel the wind, the rain, you smell those lovely country smells and because you stop more often on a bike your senses get another workout. And so it was today. A small band of us set off from Manawatu Motorcycles just after 10 and made our way up to the top of the Pahiatua Track. Kim on his RZ250, Shorty on his SV1000, Richard on the mighty Titan, Dion on his RG400 and myself on the XJ. After a brief stop we headed off through Mangamaire to our next stop at the Rongomai turnoff. We were greeted with some of the most colourful country sounds any of us had heard in a long time. The farming couple mustn't have heard us arrive because the language they were using was of a 'colour' none of us had heard for a very long time; maybe never. It took them a while to realise that we were within earshot and after we expressed our commiserations to the poor sheep crammed into a stock trailer on there way to the works we headed off for our run through to Rongomai. It is a great run and one of our favourites and there is nothing quite like bend swinging to the sound of an RG 400, SV1000, RZ, or Titan in front of you. Great to see some other bikes out enjoying the run as well. We had to take a bit of care as the roads had quite a few sections of 'farm debris' on the road along with some damp sections that don't see much sun at this time of the year. All to soon its over and you arrive into the back of Pahiatua and then back towards home over the track. This is a good road with a good mix of bends but with a lot more traffic. The run back over the track had some of us bouncing our way around some of the bends. The closure of the Manawatu Gorge road is really taking its toll on these 'alternative' routes. After crawling along behind lines of traffic we eventually made our way to the Mao bar and had a great coffee and muffin. Another great wander around the countryside!

Lowflying and Retrofest

The balmy autumn continues on with yet more opportunities to get out and about on the bikes. Sprinkled in with this was the retro festival at Easter in Palmerston North with a small line up of bikes contributing to    a show at The Arena. The mighty Titan had the pre 70s specification along with Paul De Lautours Honda 125, Bruces Yamaha RT1and Alan Clarks A7. We were set up alongside a number of Vespas and Lambretta scooters and surrounded by hoards of British, American, Japanese and Australian cars. It was a good show, but we were wondering where all Classic British and American bikes were?  We would be keen to support it again as the marketing and most of the organisation of the event was very good. It could become one of the big events for the area as more heritage groups could organise their National Rallies around it. That same weekend we organised a ride around the Apiti loop on a magnificent 'chocolate box' morning. It was great to have a 'first timer' along for the ride with Luke Hiscock riding pillion with Shorty (Alan Rowell) on his SV1000, Paul De Lautour on his Suzuki GT750, Alan on his Kawasaki H2A, Kim on his H2a, Paul W on his Kawasaki GPz750R, Alan De Lautour on his brothers Kawasaki H2 and myself on my Yamaha XJ 750. A coffee stop at Hansens in Kimbolton had us watching the proprietors rushing around getting food ready for a visiting group who turned out to be the Rolls Royce and Bently Club out for a run during their national rally. Definetly not an everyday sight in Kimbolton! For the ride home we split up with my brother and I making the return trip back down the valley with a stop at Taonui. Whilst we were enjoying the sun and soaking up the aviation ambiance, Ross Anderson and his lady turned up on his Kawasaki 750 turbo. What a lovely machine and an excellent way to go to the Waterford for a drink and meal!

This past weekend saw Terry on his Suzuki GT550, Kim on his recently restored H2, Paul De Lautour on his H1, Paul Whiting on his 'Top Gun' and myself on the XJ meet up at Manawatu Motorcycles for a ride out. We decided on a round about route towards Rongotea and back through Mount Stewart, Stanway and a stop at Manfeild to watch some racing. It was yet another great day and the the roads provided a nice mixture of open country riding mixed in with some nice twistys through the many gullies as streams made ther way towards the Rangitikei River. It was good to park up outside the hall at Stanway and listen to the country sounds and sites as the magpies ooudle wardle woodled and a not so young boy rode his Yamaha Pee Wee up and down in front of us. Magic. The racing at Manfeild was great with many of the spectators talking about the fun they had at the $60 track day on Saturday. Not to many people fell off with one Aprilia rider doing 1:23s on his road bike. We finished our ride at the Mao Bar for a coffee and luckily we were able to park up outside. Unluckily (or luckily?) for all the patrons on the sidewalk our departure meant those downwind got a puff of two stroke smoke in their lattes. A unique taste experience I hear that could become all the rage! As the month of April comes to a close lets hope the wonderful weather continues (at least in the weekends) and we have some more opportunities to get out there.

Hunterville loop via Mangamako road

Waitangi weekend. What to do? Why not celebrate the day by enjoying this wonderful country of ours by getting out in it. Those who were of a similar mind and had the time and inclination turned up at Manawatu Motorcycles at 9:00am and a quick (for us!) decision was made to head towards Hunterville via Apiti and Ohingaiti and a return around the back roads that parallel SH1, through Halcombe and homeward via Mt Stewart.  The run through to Hunterville was going to be interesting as it was certainly testing the fuel range of the Kawasakis. A small container of petrol was carried along ; just in case! The roll call was:
Alan Rowell and Richard - Suzuki SV1000
Alan Clark - Kawasaki A7
Paul De Lautour - Kawasaki H1b500
Gary Whiting - Yamaha XJ750
Dion Tornquest - Honda NSR400
The run up through Pohangina Valley was its usual curvey and visual feast with the usual caution around unsigned gravel on bends being needed. A brief stop at Umutoi had us heading for Rangiwahia and 15 km of some of the nicest motorcycling road around. With a quick stop at Pembroke corner we then headed west towards Ohingaiti via Mangomaku road. Yet more curves with a great suspension bridge near the end to complete the picture. Definetly a recommened ride! The lads on the Kawasakis were now cautiously optimistic that they would make it to Hunterville on a tank, and with some cautious use of the throttle they did. I know that if I had been on my KH250 I would have probabaly used up all the fumes in my tank by this stage! Our arrival was greeted by a large number of bikes parked around the cafe. Others had obviously had a similar idea to get out and about and we had some great chats with a variety of motorcyclists. I must say that we are a little concerned about Dion as he spent a lot of time looking at the Boulevard Cruisers. He has always liked his bling and he would probabaly enjoy polishing up the acres of chrome and paint on one. Better keep a close eye on his garage!
Another great ride around this great countryside of ours on some old Japanese road bikes. Come on, get out there and make the most of the rest of summer!