Off to Tui to see some Jappa's

 

What a lovely change weather wise from a previous months end of month ride. It was a beautiful day for a ride with plenty of blue, little wind and a great temperature for an air cooled motor. It was good to see a very good line up of appropriately aged classic Japanese bikes for our July end of month ride. Just right as we were heading over to Tui Central for there Japanese Car and Motorcycle show. Gary was on his CX500, Dave turned up on his Honda GB500 and Bruce S brought his Yamaha TDR out for a play. It was also good to see Kim had sorted out the H2's sparking issue and Stuart on his Water Bus and Warren having a break from driving his milk tanker on his Yamaha XJ900. The rest of the gaggle were on moderns with Rich on his Vstrom, Ian and Lydia on there W650 and yours truly on the GSR750. We were soon on our way heading for the hills and then over the busy Pahiatua Track. We were soon through Pahiatua and onto Mangatainoka where we were greeted by a great lineup of classic and performance Japanese cars. It is always great to see fellow enthusiasts of Japanese machinery celebrating it and a big thank you to Tui Central for putting on these special events. A special favourite of mine was the Suzuki Cappuccino, a lovely little 2 door Kai car built around a 665cc turbo charged triple. There were a lot of  old school cars from back in the day that brought back many memories. There aren't that many around now as most suffered from poor to non existent corrosion treatment with most ending up in wreckers yards way too soon. 

We were soon on our way again heading for the metropolis of Woodville with our destination being the ever popular Windmill Cafe. Of course we had to take the back way with Gary in the lead promising us an extra special scenic route. It was going well for a while until our way was blocked by a tree across the road. Luckily no one was driving or riding by when the very large limb fell. The neighbouring farmer was soon on the scene with his tractor and we were soon on our way again. The Windmill cafe is a great destination with excellent food and beverages and plenty of parking out the back. After a good natter and putting the world right we headed home to more mundane things but happy to have been out and about on our bikes on a glorious sunny day with great company. 

Another Stroker Joins the Haze

 

With winter well under way it is a time of the year that one reflects on what has gone before and also plans are made for the future. This ride happened a couple of weeks ago and it was great to see these two things in operation. Looking back it was great to see Al bringing his H2 out for a spin and Warren bringing the latest addition to his collection along for us to have a look at. The Suzuki Cobra is the epitome of a sixties Japanese bike in all its blingy glory. It would be very easy for Al and Warren to keep these old bikes ensconced in the safety of there garages but nice to see them getting them out to ride and for others to enjoy. The sights and sounds of them being ridden are a wonderful reminder of the past. It was good to see Gary A all excited about a book he had discovered by Mike Hyde who has written up a whole lot of special rides around New Zealand. Gary has done some of them, but was looking forward to undertaking some new ones over the the rest of year. We are certainly lucky to live in a country with so many wonderful places to ride a motorcycle. 

Our ride for the morning was a fairly short one with a run around the Makino loop and a cuppa somewhere in that direction as well. Along for a spin was Ian and Lydia on the W650, Rich on the Strom, Stuart on his Bandit, Bruce the Painter on his BMW as was Gary A and yours truly on the GSR. Our stop at Stanway had us sorting out our cuppa tea destination with the Rusty Radiator getting the nod. We were disappointed to find it packed out. It is rather small actually so an early arrival is essential if you want a table or two. So it was decided that a run into Feilding and the Rose Bowl Cafe and Bakery would give us a better chance of a seat and a great selection of food. The mutton bun certainly hit the spot and our two vegetarians really enjoyed there vegetarian pies and thumbs up from the rest of the troops as well with there choice of food. Another pleasant ride around the countryside and hoping that winter will give us a few more opportunities to enjoy our riding with clement weather in the months ahead.

 

How Dare You!

 A party political broadcast on behalf of the Blue Haze sponsored by Paul Q

March End of Month Ride

 With the warmer months slowly receding into autumn, sunny Sunday mornings are finding people out making the most of the warmth out on motorcycles enjoying themselves. None more so than those who enjoy their bikes with a Vintage Japanese flavour and even some with an accompanying whiff of smoke. Whilst these bikes are regarded by some as an 'acquired taste' our March end of month ride saw a great turnout of said motorcycles with a crew of 14 lining up at Memorial Park for our March end of month ride. Our ride for the morning was to be the Makino Rd loop with a stop at Stanaway Hall and then onto our final destination at the Woolshed Cafe just south of Sanson. 

The roll call 

Paul D - Kawasaki H2

Sir Al - Kawasaki H2

Dave - Honda GB500

Bruce S - Suzuki RG500

Gary A - Honda CX500

Paul C - Kawasaki S3 400

Ross - Suzuki Cobra

Stuart - Suzuki GT750J

Murray - Yamaha XV 920

Warren - Benelli Tornado Tre 900

Richard - Suzuki 650 Vstrom

Ian - Kawasaki W650

Ray - Triumph 900 Tiger

Gary W - Suzuki GSR750

It was good to see Sir Al back out on his H2 that was playing up with clutch cable issues. Thanks to Paul D with his huge knowledge of these bikes he very quickly helped Al sort out a missing clip. You would have great difficulty sorting this sort of thing out if you were relying on manuals and parts books etc as they don't seem to show this. Another great example of being a part of of a group like ours where you can access such help and knowledge.  It was great seeing Paul out on his blue H2 and it performed as reliably as ever. Murray popped over from Whanganui on his latest ride around, an XV920. It is an American import but similar to the TR1s we got here. Its fully enclosed drive chain is a really interesting feature of these bikes. It's non standard Brembo front brakes certainly looked up to job of stopping the bike. 

Ross was back out on his Suzuki Cobra and his ongoing fettling is turning it into a really reliable classic that should provide many years of service. It was nice to see PC out on his S3. This is also a well sorted out bike with a trip down south a few years ago attesting to its reliability (and fuel consumption!). It was good to see Stuarts fettling has now got him a reliable push button classic that should also provide with years of service. It has been a little while since we saw Bruce S on his RG500 which was having a few issues for a while and it was interesting to see the attention it got at Manfield on or way home. Pauls H2 also garnered plenty of attention with the racing fraternity as many a grey haired person paused to view.

Dave and Gary A held up the Honda flag with Dave fettling his resurrected GB500. It certainly didn't miss a beat and it is interesting to see Honda applying the GB title to its latest 350 single road bike. Hopefully they will be making there way to New Zealand where it will make a great commuter. Gary's CX500 behaved itself as always and it is easy to forget that back in it's day how suspicious the punters were of its configuration only to now being almost a cult bike. Warren decided to take his latest purchase, a Benelli 900 out for a test spin and its unique sound and water cooling configuration got plenty of attention. Its brief lack of sparks during the run certainly had all the usual 'Italian electrics' phrase bandied around at the Woolshed Cafe.

There was a good range of modern bikes accompanying the classics with Ian on his trusty Kawasaki W650 that many consider a worthy contender for a modern Triumph Bonneville or Tiger. Ray was out enjoying his 2020 Triumph Tiger and having ridden it I can see why they are so popular. Wonderful handling with generous suspension and a stonking motor. Ideal for New Zealand roads. Rich was back out on his Suzuki Vstrom having spent a great summer on it clocking up the kays. He certainly swears by its wonderful motor and its midrange which belies its 650ccs. That leaves yours truly on the Suzuki GSR750 and after clocking up 9000 ks on it, it is a wonderfully crazy bike that commutes with ease but has plenty of bark for spirited riding in the weekends. It is commuter docile friendly up to 5000 rpm but lights up like two stroker from 8-12000 rpm. Its motor is very smooth for an inline four and the suspension is harsh but works well at speed. It will certainly be in the garage for a while yet.

The run through to Sanson via Ashhurst and Valley road was punctuated by as already mentioned Warrens Benelli having a zero sparks moment. Our one and only stop at Stanaway allowed us to regroup and our Road Captain, Ian soon had us on our way again to our destination. Sanson was its usual busy self and the Woolshed Cafe was also busy but there reputation for quick service and good food had us fed and watered in no time. Whilst some had to head off home a few of us decided a quick visit to Manfeild was in order to catch up with some other Blue Hazers who were racing at the Victoria Motorcycle Clubs TSS series.

It was good to see Dion and Tim out doing the business with Tim on his Honda CBR 600 and Dion on the Aprilia 150 two stroke. Dion had all the 150ccs on song with the Aprilias lonely expansion chamber out on the track amongst the hordes of four strokes. Tim and his CBR were reliably circulating amongst a gaggle of younger bikes and riders but seemed to be enjoying his Sunday 'outing'. Nice to see Kim in support and apparently the search for H2 sparks is well underway with many cunning plans being explored. Hopefully we shall see it out again shortly. 

All in all a well supported EoMR. These end of month rides are there to encourage the restoration and use of our classic bikes and because of this a reminder that these runs are going to be shorter in distance compared to our Classics Crew Sunday rides. Hopefully this will encourage a few more people to restore and bring out there Vintage Japanese bikes. This is not to say these bikes aren't up to doing longer distances. They certainly are with some of our crew heading down south last November to the Southern Classic racing at Levels on a range of strokers. All performed reliably although a degree of private finger crossing is needed with anything electrical or mechanical that is over forty years old and when it all goes to plan, one has more cause to celebrate than if you were on a modern bike. 

As Daylight Saving makes the switch to Autumn and Winter it is a timely reminder that we have had really good summer riding season. This time last year the response to Covid 19 was in full swing and many unknowns were hanging in the air. Thank goodness we got through to the point where we were able to once again, indulge in our passion for motorcycles and in particular heritage motorcycles. It is a great community of like minded people. Long may it continue.

Thanks to Graeme White for the Manfeild photos.

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Eight Two Strokes, 10 fours and a Shed Raid. EoMR February 2021

  Our February end of month ride has been and gone, but in its wake are some great inspirational memories of why we have a passion for these old bikes. Warren had generously offered to host an end of ride shed raid and share some of his wonderful heritage vehicles he has been collecting alongside others his father has passed down to him. The message went out and they came on the day with eighteen bikes lined up for the ride. The weather cooperated with a fine morning and with our ride a little shorter than usual a bit more time was spent with pre ride chatter. And there was plenty to see and talk about with some interesting machinery appearing.

It was great to see Roger from Levin bring along his recently rebuilt little Benelli 2C. They have a great reputation for sweet handling in a lightweight package and Roger has done a great job with the restoration. It was also nice to see another air cooled two stroke Yamaha out for a play with Mike from Feilding on his RD400. Mikes next door neighbour Dave was also out for a spin on his only running bike at the moment A 1949 Norton International. The Guzzi is waiting for electronic parts and the Honda 750 in need of a cam chain to get it back on the road. John, also another Feilding resident was out on his Aprilia RS250 and wonderful to see Ross out on his 1968 Suzuki Cobra in all its chrome and metallic paint glory. Kim had his Kawasaki H2a out for a run and good to see Dion on his Honda NS400R. Warren brought out his 'other' Walter Wulf, a Suzuki RG250 and Stuart was out on his sweet running Waterbus. Another VJMC Suzuki was Bruce on his GS 750. A really sweet running bike. 

Kerryn was on his Triumph Bonny and Ian was out on his Vmax and Rich on his Veestrom. Max had his Bandit out for a spin and Alan was on his Harley Sportster. Bruce A popped in to say hi and bye whilst on his way to trade in his BMW GS650 on his new adventure bike in Tauranga. We were soon on our way with a shorter ride called for to give some extended time at Warrens. Our one and only stop at the Raumai Bridge turn off proved to be a no go for Kim on his H2a. It proved to be a very reluctant starter with a total lack of sparks. Its last outing was to the South Island so definitely some sort of luck/fate involved.

 Our cafe stop was at the Fusion Cafe in Ashhurst with a pleasant time spent yarning in the sun, but we were soon on our way again to Warrens back in town. Warren certainly has a great space to indulge his passion for his heritage vehicles. Definitely a chip off the old block and bringing back memories of when Warren and his father came out together on one of our earlier runs some years ago. A big thank you to Warren for his hospitality and long may he continue restoring and sharing his wonderful heritage vehicle  collection.