For those people who enjoy motorcycles from the past, and in particular the 60s, 70s and 80s. This saw the rise and demise of the large 2 strokes that many of us enjoyed in our youth. This blog celebrates this time in particular but also motorcycling in general .
Our last ride for 2019 was a quiet affair that saw seven bikes and eight people pull up outside Manawatu Motorcycles for a spin around the countryside. It was good to see Steve bring his Yamaha 650 twin along and Ians W650 certainly looked very comfortable parked next it. Ian brought along Lydia as his pillion to sample the delights of riding with the Blue Haze and Ray was on his Triumph Tiger out for a 'prowl' around the countryside. Sir Al brought the Transalp out for run and good to see Paul giving his Guzzi Le Mans a run. Rounding out the crew was Rich on his Vstrom. We decided on the well worn Stanway route with our usual stop at the hall. After a brief stop we headed for Halcombe and then onto our cafe destination for the morning, Rosebowl Bakery and Cafe in Feilding. It is a great stop with a wide variety of food and good coffee. Anyone for a Double Cheeseburger pie? It has been another busy year for the crew and it certainly doesn't seem like ten years since the Blue Haze VJMC first hit the internet. Lets see what the new year and next decade brings.
Palmerston North is experiencing one of those windy summers we get from time to time, and this Sunday offered a blustery westerly to challenge our skills. 6 of us ventured out for our weekly sanity ride and decided to tack our way to Foxton via various back roads. An eclectic collection of machines representing 70’s, 80’s, and more modern bikes from Japan, Italy and Germany took part. We headed out of town on KB Road going through Hoihere Road to Bainesse. Then down Himatangi Block Road to the Foxton-Shannon road with our destination being Millside café next to the Foxton De Molen Windmill. A short ride but very relaxing just cruising along. Good coffee and food was enjoyed at the Millside and we chatted about bikes and other things for the best part of an hour. Great to spend Sunday morning catching up with your mates. When it was time to go we headed back across the Foxton-Shannon road to Shannon and then home to Palmerston North. Sir Al
The weather was fine and not to hot so it was ideal for spending some time in Whanganui watching the final round of the Suzuki Tri Series. Whanganui is one of the few street circuits still operating as health, safety and liability insurance make the running of these events more difficult as time goes by. A group of us gathered at Manawatu Motorcycles for the ride over with a stop over at The Church Cafe where some got a breakfast and others a coffee. It was quite a gathering at the cafe with some wonderful bikes amongst our group and even more parading past us. Great to see Stuarts Waterbus in the flesh and he has certainly done a great restoration on it with Bruce's help. Brent brought his Trident out for a play (for a while anyway) and John M had his Titan out for a run as well. PC brought his GT550 out for a spin and great to see Janet out on her Kawasaki ER6. Warren M brought out his immaculate XJ900 which certainly puts yours truly's XJ750 to shame! Bruce C brought his Bandit out for a play and good to see Barry's H2 back on the road. Jamie was on his jewel like Honda NC30, Rich on his Vstrom and Bruce S on his Ducati 748. We then headed off to Whanganui kerb hugging our way through a long line of cars at Bulls. They were heading off either to the races or off on there Christmas Holidays and once through Bulls the traffic thinned out nicely. After parking up we were greeted with that wonderful sound of motorcycle engines using the upper part of there rev range.
We were soon at the track and enjoying the close proximity to racing only street tracks offer and health and safety people cringe about. It was great to see many of the usual riders out on the track alongside a few internationals who come down to the antipodes in the off season for a 'holiday'. Great to see the likes of the Rees lads and others holding their own with Richard Cooper the current British Superbike champion. Also great to see some of our local lads out there doing the business with Tim on his ever reliable CBR600 and Chris Sales showing everyone how far you can push a Honda XL500 if you have the engineering and riding talent. Also excellent seeing the Suzuki Gixxer 150 series with its mixture of newbies and oldies. Certainly good for the future of road racing in New Zealand.
Wandering around the pits is also an important part of the experience as you get to see and hear a very different part of the spectacle. A couple of gems were a siamesed RD400/800 side car and also a another rig with drum brake/disc front end. All to soon the day came to end and it was time to pack up and head home. A few popped around to Kims for a sausage and coffee and Barry managed to find a friend of the furry kind. Long may we have such events that provide some of the colour to our motorcycling interests and passions!
This is just in from Judy re the VJMC National Rally
The Pahiatua rally will be held 14th – 16th February 2002. There are a variety of rooms from double beds, 2 single beds in a room, 4 single beds in a room and bunkrooms. It will be on a first paid basis so if you stipulate what kind of room you want and it is available it will be yours. All bedding and towels are supplied so you don’t have to bring any. Anyone wanting a single room will need to pay extra for the privilege!. The premises have a commercial kitchen and all plates and utensils are supplied so all you have to bring are yourself and personal items. We will organise liquor sales so that you can get it on site We will email a map and directions to the site as people enrol for the rally. There are some really good Roads in the area so will get on to the experts and get something good organised for a ride on the Saturday. We will have the usual judging for the Japanese bikes and organise something for any British, European or American bikes or any other Country bikes. Any questions either phone or email me and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
The end of last month saw the Manawatu Classic Motorcycle Club run its 40th Rally at Camp Rangi Woods. What a great weekend it was for those who participated. With the weather firmly in the sunshine quadrant all weekend it meant the ninety participants were able to make most of the outdoor activities.
It was a busy time on Friday for the club members as they prepared for the weekend and the afternoon saw a steady stream of rally goers arrive and claim there bunk beds and then make there way down to the communal kitchen and dining room. Camp Rangi Woods is a wonderful facility for such events and its location up the Pohangina Valley in the Totara Reserve provides a unique scenic backdrop and a great stepping off point for ride the following day. After a welcome dinner the social evening began with many people catching up with others they probably last saw at previous rallys it was soon time to catch some shut eye ready for the big day on Saturday.
With the sun doing its best to make its way above the huge totara trees surrounding the camp the troops got out the polishing cloths and no time at all had there pride and joys gleaming ready for the judging. The bikes were organised into decades and it certainly was a great lineup with a lot of head scratching and contemplation as people voted on there favourite bikes. Of note was the large number of Norton Commandos on show (I think it was thirteen). It was then onto the ride which which was going to be following much of the Manawatu Scenic Route. With the numbers also swelled by locals turning up for the day it was going to be a very large ride and after the riders brief the ride got underway.
The ride headed out of the camp just after 10 with Dave leading the way on his 1974 Honda. He was soon burbling up the road with quite a train of bikes following him. In the meantime my son Clifford and I had gone ahead to a couple of spots to get some photos and it was quite something hearing the rumble of bikes gradually approach and then a frantic clicking as the bikes went by. The stop at Rangiwahia was impressive. I doubt the place has seen such a line up in years with bikes lining both sides of the main street. With the last of bikes arriving into town the 'gang' was soon back on the road heading to Kimbolton.
This is a nice section of road with mile after mile of twisties that ended all too soon with the 50 kmh sign into Kimbolton. A short ride through to Feilding soon had the bikes parked up outside the Rush Family Museum where the pre packed lunches were waiting. Terry Rush gave a talk about the museum which has one of the most interesting collections of significant motorsports cars in New Zealand. Fascinating. People then made there way back to Rangi Woods for either a beer or a siesta; or both!
The evening program got underway with the arrival of Tim Gibbs who was down to give a talk about a life time devoted to motorcycling as a competitor, stunt rider, product developer, dealer and motorcycling events organiser. It is extraordinary what some people fit into their lives. His friend also brought along a restored 1925 New Imperial that had been Tims first bike back in the forties and it was beautifully restored. The prize giving was also memorable because Tim had donated all his old cups to be the club to be used as pass on cups for the different prize categories. As he handed them out to the recipients he gave the background for each of the cups. It definitely created a very special prizegiving.
With that done it was on to the dinner courtesy of KR catering which was a fine meal that managed to fill a hole after such a full on day. The rest of the evening was devoted to more socialising with with the bar doing a great trade. The following morning saw a great breakfast that ensured the rally participants headed home with a full tummy to go along with with some great memories. A big thank you to the committee, friends and members of the Manawatu Classic Motorcycle Club for a wonderful rally. We are all looking forward to the National Rally next year, 20th to 22nd November, Pahiatua, which I am sure will be very successful as it is being run by the club. Put it in your diary.
PS If you want to see more photos go here
