Mike Pero Southern Classic Levels Raceway Timaru 30th November - 2nd December 2018

After attending the two previous Pero Classic meetings a group made up of VJMC/Blue Haze members hatched a plan to make the trip south again in 2018. The group was made up of a race team and supporters. Dion Tornquist riding his Honda NSR250R  and Kim Delatour as mechanic made up the race team .

Bruce Currie  Suzuki GT750K,Barry Drummond  Kawasaki Z1,Paul Clemos Honda 400 Bros , Ken Fraser Kawasaki 500 and Gary Wright  Kawasaki GPZ100RX made up the supporters.

The group headed south on the Interislander Kaiatki 0900 sailing on Thursday 29th Nov. Once in Picton Kim and Dion with the race bike headed straight down SH1 to Timaru. The supporters headed down the Wairau Valley to Murchison and then onto Greymouth for the night. The weather was kind and the ride to Greymouth was done in fine wind free conditions.

The Friday morning dawned another fine day and the boys headed for Timaru via Arthurs Pass. A detour was made around the shores of Lake Brunner. A great ride but much of the road was unsealed . Gary found the  GPZ unsuitable for the marbly surface and headed back to the safety of the sealed road. The rest carried on, the bikes looking like they had been in the Paris to Dakkar by the time the sealed Arthurs Pass road was re-joined.

Brunch was taken at the Arthurs Pass Café then it was onto Christchurch for a visit to the Mike Pero bike display. Well worth a look for those have not been there. It was then onto Timaru. The decision to go down SH1 was not a good one. The road between Christchurch and Ashburton was infested with road works and long stretches of road were limited to 60 or 30 km/h. Once clear of Ashburton the  open road speed limit prevailed.

Digs in Timaru was at the Ashley Park Motel . The previous yeasr accommodation was at the Railways Welfare House . Unfortunately this has been sold which was a shame as it was ideal for a group like this.

Dion has a good practice day on the Friday and was looking forward to the commencement of racing on Saturday.

Saturday dawned cloudy with the forecast of 10% chance of rain. The rain did not eventuate. Dions bike was running well and each time out he reduced his lap times. He enjoyed the tussles with the riders in his section of the field.

The race classes had bigger fields than the year before so this boads well for the future of the meeting. The McIntosh Suzuki  ridden by Denis Charlett was again the bike to beat and would have won the day if not for Denis mistaking the white flag for the chequered flag in race two and pulling into pit lane a lap to early. Dave Freeman picked up the silverware on his Suzuki GSX1100.

Kevin MacGee from Australia road his YZR500 GP bike in the Field of Champions parade. This was a seriously quick bike. There was also two nicely prepared TZ750s in the parade. The bike that was really setting the racing alive was a Honda RC125 ridden by Daniel Jenkins. This was an extremely well prepared and ridden bike.

Race day on Sunday again dawned overcast with a 20% chance of rain. There had been some showers overnight and the track was damp in places first up. The Race committee continued the meeting as a dry track, the correct decision as the weather stayed dry. Dions times continued to improve and the grin got bigger.

On the Saturday night we had a few drinks with Mike Howard one of the Blue Haze / VJMC members who had moved south to Timaru. Mike had three bikes in the display tent. A Suzuki GSX750, Suzuki GT750L and a lovely little TS50. Mike has been asked by several people to name his price for the TS50.

The group was all packed up and on the road for Woodend stop over by 4:00. The scenic inland route via Geraldine was taken for this leg of the trip. Another good ride.

Kim made a detour to Rangiora to visit Mike Stein and collect his new acquisition. A Yamaha TZR250 3MA.

Monday dawned grey and misty so the wet weather gear was put on for the ride to Picton .As it turned out apart from a couple of light showers before and after Kaikoura it was dry weather riding. The sun was blazing once we had cleared Seddon

Apart from Bruces GT having the main power wire separate from the ignition switch, luckily not when the bike was on the road, no mechanical dramas were experienced.

Everybody had a great weekend and plans will be made for another trip south in 2019.

Anyone interested email Bruce at currie.bandl@xtra.co.nz.

PS we may be taking more track bike in 2019.

Love the Annie

Saturday 19th Ian Brayshaw, myself, John Byrnes, and Gary Whiting (all club members), and Bruce Andrews made the most of the calm and sunny weather and undertook a Gentle Annie ride. A great day ride when you live in the Manawatu, the Gentle Annie circuit is about 400 km taking in Taihape, and Hawkes Bay.
We left just after 8.30 heading up through Kimbolton and Rangiwahia on the way to Taihape. We were three old bikes; John’s Suzuki RE5 and my Kawasaki H2 from the 70’s, and Gazza’s Yamaha XJ750 from the 80’s, and two modern machines being Ian’s Kawasaki W650 and Bruce’s GS BMW.
Fuel and coffee were added at the Taihape BP station before the assent began. From Taihape up to the plateau is a great hill climb road going from tight twisties to open flowing corners. Once over the top the downhill through Kaweka forest (The Gentle Annie) to Hawkes Bay is tight and marks the half way point. The road then slowly opens up and after Willowford becomes faster with flowing sweepers and bends. A great downhill track which is often frequented by the boys in blue waiting for the unwary.
After a fuel top up on the outskirts of Hastings it was off down SH50 to Tikokino and The Sawyers Arms for a cold beer and late lunch at around 2.30. The temperature must have been up around 30 degrees. As always the food was good and we were entertained over lunch by a stag party group already worse for wear. The Groom to be was dressed up as a fairy. Fortunately the star turn, a rotund pale hairy naked bloke didn’t appear until the eating was over. The sights you see when you haven’t got a gun!
From here it was out to the main road and a cruise home with a stop at Dannevirke to top up the Rotary. An excellent day’s riding.

Sir Al

Classics 2019 BBQ Run

Ross with his Trophy

You don't see many of these around these days

JBs Rotary in all its 70s bling splendour

Stanway is always a good stopping off place

Karen seems to like the XR Brett!

John enjoying grahams BSA

It was a good turnout

Great venue

Great food!

It was a great day for a spin out in the country and arriving at Memorial Park at eleven saw a similar group of like minded individuals who were going to make the most of a great summers day or maybe it was the promise of a great BBQ meal at the conclusion of the ride? A few Blue Hazers were out for the ride as well. It was neat to see JB on his Suzuki Rotary after an 'extended' amount of time in the workshop and Ross C out on his Triumph Trophy. Road Captain Clive outlined the route plan with a run out around the back blocks of the Rangitikei with a final destination being Mikes in Feilding. We made our way out to Bunnythorpe and through to Colyton, Cheltnham and  to our first stop at Stanway Hall. After a natter we then carried on into Halcombe and made our way to mikes place in Feilding. He and his wife Brenda put on a great feed with ample supplies of food and beverages. We all enjoyed his spacious shed/s with a diverse range of cars and motorcycles to look at and enjoy.

Warrens Lucky Strike RGV makes it to the track

It has been a while since Warren has been on the track on an RGV. Back in the day the Production 250 class was fiercely fought and one year he won the New Zealand Grand Prix. It must be really interesting getting back on the track after all those years to find out where you now stand. The track day was an opportunity to become reacquainted with an RGV and watching Warren from the stands it was interesting to ponder how times have changed with the RGV being the only two stroke amongst all the 'rest'. It must be doubly satisfying for Warren as he has been fettling his RGV for many months for this occasion and watching him circulating, the bike sounded nice and crisp as he accelerated through the esses and powered down the grandstand straight. Dion and Kim popped in with there stopwatch to see how things were going and Dion especially interested with his NSR 250 having spent the previous weekend circulating around Manfeild. Nothing like a bit of healthy competition between the lads. The R6 also got some time on the track and Warren was concerned that he had better stop before he got to carried away with it and damaged something! Revisiting old activities can be a fraught thing at times. It was great to see Warren leave the track with everything intact and already adding to his 'fettling' list for the next time the RGV makes it to some tarmac.

December 2018 EoMR to Pongaroa

 Pongaroa was the chosen destination for our final ride of the year. It is always a popular run as there are some great roads with a nice mixture of curvey bits and tighter curvey bits with a great feed half way through the ride. You certainly get a good work out and as Gary A said "I could have been just as quick on my Scorpio". His VFR would certainly look more comfortable on an autobahn rather than Route 52!  Caution is required as some sections are still suffering from four year old earthquake damage with some impressive slumps. It was interesting following Graham on his modern Bonnie as it sidestepped on a particularly nasty one. Nice having Ross along for a ride on his Bandit after the big shift from Paekakariki and Ian giving his recently acquired Kawasaki 650 a good workout. A great road for it. Also good to have John and Graham from the Classic club. Johns BMW 600s long legged suspension handled the slumps with ease with Graham giving his Bonnie a good workout. Bruce A and Sir Als adventure bikes certainly seemed ideal for the conditions with there lovely long suspension.
With Sir Al leading the way, we certainly didn't dally around at our usual stops at Mangamaire and Tiraumea. The timing of our arrival at Pongaroa coincided with the opening of the kitchen for lunch. In short order we all had a drink and plate of food in front of us with talk finally around the return route home. By this stage the wind had increased markedly, and the more direct route through Makiri and over the Puketoi  Ranges was deemed to be a bit to blustery. Our next stop then was going to be Dannevirke and then back through Woodville to home. By this stage the temperature was getting up, so caution was required on the shinny tarry bits of road. After a petrol stop in Dannyvegas, a visit to the Windfarm Cafe rounded out a great day on the bikes. We covered well over 200kms and were back in plenty of time to mow the lawn. We are certainly lucky to have such a range of great rides in our area and with summer warming up nicely, it looks like we should be able to fit a few more in before the seasons change.