Epic Adventure Part 3: Brown Fury heads to the BIKOI

[motorbyclist]

As you all know there is an ACC protest at parliament this Tuesday; an opportunity to ride down to the beehive to stand up for our right to do exactly that!

My last exam is on Saturday and Brown Fury is back on the road, so naturally I'll be headed down on what for me represents some of the true spirit of riding on an awesome little machine (see Epic Adventure (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=1129212905#post1129212905)) that alas, I cannot keep if the new levies go through as planned.

The current route is via Cycletreads for a new chain first thing in the morning, then south SH22 to raglan for lunch. From there we take SH39 to SH3 down to New Plymouth, staying at any backpackers that will take us.
Monday morning we will ride down the coast to Wellington (or as far as we can) to stay the night, leaving the whole of Tuesday for mechanical repair and the BIKOI!

The route north again is totally up for decision, buut I have to back in Auckland on Friday morning. SH4 sounds good :D



The pace is maximum approximately 80kph; Brown Fury doesn't (yet) have a pillion so could go quicker but it takes effort, and wing(wo)man Danae still has her L plate so we'll be going easy on her FXR150 also. Then again neither of us have accurate speedometers so whatever speed we do is the speed we do.

You're all welcome to ride along also :scooter:

Offers for workshops/sheds/couches/beds/tows all welcome:innocent:

Daily Write Up starts at post #45

[Squiggles]

You're all welcome to ride along also :scooter:

See you monday/tuesday then :rockon:

[Danae]

:woohoo:

Excitement

[Real_Wolf]

sorely tempted now that i no longer have uni, but money + bike needing a tune makes me think maybe no

[R6_kid]

you has pink tassles?

[Ixion]

Do you have spare spark plugs and spare pistons?

And plenty of two stroke oil, those are wild and uncivilised parts, the amenities of life may not be obtainable

[ital916]

As you all know there is an ACC protest at parliament this Tuesday; an opportunity to ride down to the beehive to stand up for our right to do exactly that!

My last exam is on Saturday and Brown Fury is back on the road, so naturally I'll be headed down on what for me represents some of the true spirit of riding on an awesome little machine (see Epic Adventure (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=1129212905#post1129212905)) that alas, I cannot keep if the new levies go through as planned.

The current route is via Cycletreads for a new chain first thing in the morning, then south SH22 to raglan for lunch. From there we take SH39 to SH3 down to New Plymouth, arriving around dark at Seaspray House (http://www.seasprayhouse.co.nz/index.htm) or whoever else will take us.
Monday morning we will ride down the coast to Wellington (or as far as we can) to stay the night, leaving the whole of Tuesday for mechanical repair and the BIKOI!

The route north again is totally up for decision, buut I have to back in Auckland on Friday morning. SH4 sounds good :D



The pace is maximum approximately 80kph; Brown Fury doesn't (yet) have a pillion so could go quicker but it takes effort, and wing(wo)man Danae still has her L plate so we'll be going easy on her FXR150 also. Then again neither of us have accurate speedometers so whatever speed we do is the speed we do.

You're all welcome to ride along also :scooter:

Offers for workshops/sheds/couches/beds/tows all welcome:innocent:


My mobile: 027 4054213

I can ride with you back up. If need be, you can load the bird up with some stuff to reduce weight on the fury. Will see after the protest. Looks like it will be heavy rain on the way back up.

[Danae]

you has pink tassles?

I have pink ribbons!

[StoneY]

Looking forward to seeing yas in my city guys

Contact WuZards_Eugene about the 'tent city' at Rimutaka Park, suits furry browns perfectly

:niceone:

[EJK]

Got the AA Plus membership renewed?

[Ixion]

When you call them out, don't forget to tell them that they're cunts :devil2:

[Squiggles]

sorely tempted now that i no longer have uni, but money + bike needing a tune makes me think maybe no

Is that a copout?

Ross & Me heading off midday Mon :rockon: :scooter:

[Real_Wolf]

my bikes running on 3 cylinders for most of its rev range. I've been pushing it lately to keep going when it should have been having some love showed to it a while ago, simply to try to get through exams, and now their over I'd like to do the work on it that I've been neglecting, at least the stuff I can do myself

[motorbyclist]

Do you have spare spark plugs and spare pistons?

And plenty of two stroke oil, those are wild and uncivilised parts, the amenities of life may not be obtainable

yep; stocking up on oil, plugs and even fitting a new chain! (which is so bad now it's getting a headshake at 50kph)

even the toolkit is sussed now I know the bike has one :D

filling the tank and the jerry can with 98 at the bombays, which should get us atleast through the first day.

where are you guys staying monday night? It might be an idea to head there on monday rather than doing the long stretch along SH1 from wanganui to wellington unescorted and probably at night... or maybe stay in levin monday night to break it up a bit....



my bikes running on 3 cylinders for most of its rev range. I've been pushing it lately to keep going when it should have been having some love showed to it a while ago, simply to try to get through exams, and now their over I'd like to do the work on it that I've been neglecting, at least the stuff I can do myself

so time to do that oil change then? :p

[Real_Wolf]

more than that, really should clean and balance carbs, but :P.

[paulmac]

free accomadation and meal in Hawera if you need it guys !

[Real_Wolf]

lovely, now my bike is ditched at the bottom of my road, by my gf's house, because when switching to reserve tank the fuel pump stops working

[BMWST?]

all the people in this document (http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Am1jIU8w14g_dEg5YWVTOENLUm9ZTDhQbUJSV3lSb Xc&hl=en) have offered accomodation

[motorbyclist]

free accomadation and meal in Hawera if you need it guys !

cheers, but I don't think we'll be making it that far in a day

[motorbyclist]

cheers, but I don't think we'll be making it that far in a day

however, we may be coming back that way... txt me your number!

[Squiggles]

lovely, now my bike is ditched at the bottom of my road, by my gf's house, because when switching to reserve tank the fuel pump stops working

Pooned, are you sure the two are related? :scooter: How do you even switch to reserve???

[Danae]

Packity pack pack

[Real_Wolf]

its a combination of the reserve tank and the fuel pump. After leaving it on 'normal' tank after filling up for a while (like overnight), the fuel pump lets itself start.

[Danae]

Right now me and motorbyclist are in Hawera enjoying bacon and eggs! Hopefully we will be back in auckland tonight, haha

[Squiggles]

Right now me and motorbyclist are in Hawera enjoying bacon and eggs! Hopefully we will be back in auckland tonight, haha

Hope you've stocked up on some more ding for your ring :scooter:

[Squiggles]

Whose going to rescue him if it breaks?

[Ixion]

If ? If ?

[Squiggles]

They're on the fxr in Te Kuiti at the mo, Andrew fails and refuses to ride the half working bike back to Auck :bash:

[Ixion]

Epic fail!

I dunno, young people nowadays. In my day we'd have pushed the bike home.

[StoneY]

Sqiggles and company

Thank you

Represented by Brown Fury, you guys pwn!

[motorbyclist]

home!

yep - brown fury isn't feeling too good at the moment; Big thanks to all those that helped (especially paul at Action Suzuki) and the rescue mission preparations are already underway!

Danae and/or myself will probably retrospectively do the 5 day write up shortly, including what went wrong and the plan from here (it involves a .5mm bore out and a little honda that just wouldn't give up!)

[Danae]

+ photos! :niceone:

[Slyer]

More like a Honda rider who won't give up!
You can never ever accuse me of wasting money again. :bleh:

[PirateJafa]

Fuck me, we're getting good at this.

[motorbyclist]

More like a Honda rider who won't give up!
You can never ever accuse me of wasting money again. :bleh:

what? This isn't a waste of money any more than petrol or an oil change is - I consider a $200 top end rebuild every 2000km part of the running costs:niceone:


(seriously; this was actually budgeted for and is all part of the fun)

[Slyer]

Exactly. ;) All part of the fun.

[retro asian]

Looking forward to your write up.

Toto and I did Auckland-Napier via the East Cape (opposite side to you fullas). 900kms, 16 hours of riding on day one, too many twisties to count, weather was perfect, tired grins from ear to ear...

[PirateJafa]

Exactly. ;) All part of the fun.

Oh snap. Motorbyclist KO'd. Slyer wins this round!

[motorbyclist]

Looking forward to your write up.

Toto and I did Auckland-Napier via the East Cape (opposite side to you fullas). 900kms, 16 hours of riding on day one, too many twisties to count, weather was perfect, tired grins from ear to ear...

psssh me and jafa did that mid winter (epic adventure part1) - Christchurch-Neslon-east cape-Auckland sticking to the coast the whole way.

over 2000km and ten days :2thumbsup


Oh snap. Motorbyclist KO'd. Slyer wins this round!

hey, I never bought brown fury with the stated plan of "spending a bit of money to make a $300 bike as good as a $3k"

I bought a $1k bike with the stated goal of keeping her value and touring until selling, and then being lucky to break even on the cost of getting her to auckland ;)

[Slyer]

psssh me and jafa did that mid winter (epic adventure part1) - Christchurch-Neslon-east cape-Auckland sticking to the coast the whole way.

over 2000km and ten days :2thumbsup



hey, I never bought brown fury with the stated plan of "spending a bit of money to make a $300 bike as good as a $3k"

I bought a $1k bike with the stated goal of keeping her value and touring until selling, and then being lucky to break even on the cost of getting her to auckland ;)
You paid a grand for that! Ha!

[motorbyclist]

You paid a grand for that! Ha!

and how much have you spent on yours, considering they're both worth about $1k?

[Slyer]

and how much have you spent on yours, considering they're both worth about $1k?
Yet again you greatly underestimate the GPX. ;)

[Ixion]

Stop arguing. Won't someone think of the poor little two smoker, so cruelly abused.

What do you people DO to them

And how we going to get the poor little fellow home, to be lovingly nursed back to health by Dr Block and Nurse Mallet.

[motorbyclist]

write-up is still underway!

[motorbyclist]

Write-up is good to go!

[Ixion]

But is the poar little abused two smoker good to go ? Where is it now anyway?

[Danae]

Like all good adventures, pretty much everything is planned the night before or not at all, and it was no different on the third instance of the Epic Adventure. This time, Brown Fury was headed towards Wellington for the National Bikoi at parliament. Motorbyclist and I decided to leave on the Sunday to ensure we actually got there in time - and considering the route we had planned I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

Saturday night found me and motorbyclist at our respective houses hurriedly finding backpackers near New Plymouth and packing our things. My laptop had a basic Auckland to Wellington via Raglan map planned out on Google, a couple of backpackers' websites and Kiwibiker opened by the time I crawled into bed at 2am.

I wake up early (8am) to the sound of my generic alarm tone, quickly pack the rest of my things and eagerly await motorbyclist's arrival via two stroke. He announces his 10am arrival by ring-a-ding-dinging by my garage and tooting Brown Fury's hilarious horn. I jump in my gear and fire up my mighty FXR (all 150cc of it) and we are off to Cycletreads to find a new chain.

After a few tales of Brown Fury's past adventures, the mechanic takes Brown Fury out back and replaces the chain. Not wanting to watch, we head outside and see someone arrive on a Ninja - PirateJafa no less! After poking fun at him a bit and half accepting his reasoning ("A pirate riding a ninja...isn't that the ultimate insult?") the mechanic finishes and we head off to buy spark plugs. The first Repco we come to doesn't have them, so we ride all the way over to Sylvia Park to get one. Jafa then heads off to Kaiaua for a blat and at around 12pm we finally get on SH1 and head south.

Stopping at the BP in the Bombays allows the rain to start so we top up the oil, have some coffee and hide from the rain. We eventually concede defeat and head out at 1pm, gradually getting colder and wetter. We head down SH22 to Raglan for a late lunch of delicious seafood chowder and a couple more coffees.

By 4pm we realised we were going to have to take a shortcut or two, and from memory there was a road that cut the corner to get to the main highway south. After follwing a caravan through Raglan (we could see a person standing in the rear trying to pack things while they crawled over speed bumps) we stopped at a Mobil map library to find our route. There were two ways immediately south to a place called Kawhia, and one was a dead end. With Brown Fury's keychain being a compass, what could possibly go wrong?!

[Danae]

We fight the wind south and blat down an awesome twisty road. Shortly we see a sign that reads "Gravel Road". A few meters later the road does just that. Confused, we stop and head back up the road thinking we missed a turnoff somewhere and come across a local on his farmbike. He assures us we are going the right way: "There's about a half an hour of gravel and a few detours." Motorbyclist and Brown Fury had handled plenty of dodgy gravel roads on the original Epic Adventure, but I still have my L plate and the most gravel I had ridden on was when I first bought my bike from a guy with a gravel driveway. But this mysterious back road cried adventure (and going back around would take too long) so off we went; slowly at first but I became more confident as we pressed on. The road twisted and turned down to a harbour where motorbyclist needed to pee. Whilst doing so in the middle of the beach the only car on the entire road wandered past. :slap: We passed the Otorohanga/Waikato boundary and really felt like we accomplished something. Several detour signs later and we finally reach sealed roads again. We pop out somewhere on SH31 and use Brown Fury's compass to (successfully) lead us to the nearest town, Oparau (which is essentially a gas station and a few houses). We wander in and ask to use a map; the friendly locals help us out and assure us that if we continue along SH31 it is a much nicer, straighter ride. They blatantly tell us NOT to follow the road that leads to Te Anga and on towards Waikawau. Now I'm fairly sure that adventuring on motorbikes does not involve the words "safe" or "straight roads", so we politely ignore the locals' advice and pootle off towards the Te Anga road.

There are times when not taking sound advice leads you to trouble...and there are times where you are better off for not listening at all. This was one of those times. The road through Te Anga was stunning to say the least. Since we were travelling slowly, we could both crane our necks around and drink in the scenery. The road wound around hills and through valleys; each turn brought amazing views of unique geological formations, hills stretching off into the distance, native forest and hardly another car in sight. The roads were damp but not much could bother us at that point.

At around 7:30pm we reach the coastal holiday town of Waikawau, tired but undoubtedly satisfied. The road to Awakino has a sign declaring it's open, and motorbyclist ws concerned if we went into Waikawau we'd be doing the road in the dark if the backpackers was closed. After some deliberation we go into the town to find the backpackers and it looks well and truly shut; the doors and windows are closed and the curtains are drawn. Just before we give up and start to leave, motorbyclist notices the TV is on in one of the rooms. Victory! We knock on the window until a elderly lady comes out and tells us that Awakino (and a pub) is only half an hour's ride away. We stand around debating while daylight slowly fades, and decide to take the road - seeing as Awakino is so close. Oh how misinformed we were.

[Danae]

The road starts off with gravel which we (thankfully) manage to get through before nightfall. I'm coming up to around 220km on my trip meter and my FXR usually gets 160km before hitting reserve. Daylight fades and we are travelling through near blackness, following only the reflections Brown Fury's headlight makes with the road markings. We almost run over several types of animals (including a couple of frogs, hedgehogs and a sheep) and the road is fairly twisty. During daylight this would have been an absolute pleasure to ride, but this wasn't daylight. We get a little lighting assistance from a local for a number of kilometres, but they turn of before we reach the end. My bike jutters and loses power; I switch to reserve as the trip meter reads 250km. And still we are not at the end.

Nearly 2 hours after leaving Waikawau we bump into SH3. It is now about 9:15pm and there isn't much hope that the pub is open. Nevertheless, we soldier on past the closed petrol station. A few minutes later we round a corner and are suddenly blinded by a beacon - the Tui sign from the pub! Brown Fury's headlight is drowned out by the light, the road markings disappear and we nearly run into a barrier turning into the pub carpark. The hours on the door state that it's open until 8pm on a sunday; Bugger! But hearing our dissapointment the owner of the establishment comes over and lets us in.

The bartender listens to our story so far and tells us with regret that all the rooms are booked out; apparently a bowlers' club filled the entire place up. Further disheartened at the news that the local motel rates are well over our budget and that the backpackers closed down, we sit down to eat our dinner (packet of chips) and wonder what we are going to do for sleeping arrangements.

The bartender clearly takes pity on us and calls his wife; they have a half-finished house we can stay at. Our luck turned from good to bad to good again!

The ride there is a wild sprint keeping up with a car along the open highway, but sure enough we get there safe and sound.

Once we get there we cover the bikes with a tarpoulin and hope the wind doesn't blow them over in the night. The loft isn't insulated so the wind noise increases tenfold, and a family of birds inside the ceiling made their presence known throughout the night, but we manage to get to sleep nonetheless.

[Danae]

1. Brown Fury receives a well-needed chain replacement at Cycletreads
2. The ninja gets a scrutinizing once-over by motorbyclist; "It's gunna blow up"
3. The second Repco. Parks are for wimps, Brown Fury goes half and half!
4. Ready to hit the road!
5. SH22. The views only got better
6. Raglan. Honestly there's not much there, but damn that was some good seafood chowder!

[Danae]

1. The start of the gravel road. Little did we know it would continue like this for 50km
2. The Otorohanga/Waikato boundary
3. Using the compass to tell us where to go...but the compass seems to only point towards Brown Fury
4. Night begins to descend...
5. The Pub of Hope!
6. Our blingin crib for the night

[Danae]

ATGATT!!

All the gear, all the time! You never know when danger will strike...in BEE form!

[Slyer]

Wait haven't I read all of this before?

[Ixion]

That was a different this. Same players , same script, same fail, different universe.

[The Pastor]

Yawn .

[motorbyclist]

That was a different this. Same players , same script, same fail, different universe.

Jafa has been replaced by Danae due to the fact he was too lazy to go to the BIKOI, let alone fix The Beast

[Ixion]

Oh dear. hell hath no fury like a jafa scorned. But he's bin and gone and bought a Kawasaki, goodbye to the Honda. Does that mean you've both gone back into the closet?

[motorbyclist]

We were woken up early on our second day by what sounded like a family of birds having some sort of bird party in the loft. We got up and had coffee by the window admiring the view until it started raining, aat which point we decided to gear up and leave. We were glad to see that the bikes survived the night outdoors, and after thanking our gracuous hosts and emptying the jerry can into the FXR we were off!

The Mount Messenger twisties that immediately followed were awesome. Since our top speed going up a hill was about 30km/hr the road lasted for a lot longer than it should have, the shoddy surface was not a concern and we got to enjoy the awesome scenery. At the peak of the road there was a lookout so we decided to have a look out - there was an access track going off into the bush so in the spirit of adventure we ring-a-ding-dinged off into it. Within 15m it reduced to mud, and another 15m had an epic washout that brown fury thought would be a good place to slip out at the front a bit while I was looking down what was almost a 100m fall. We decided to turn back and head on down the mountain.

The road straightened out and continued to meander through the valleys before reaching the flat plains to New Plymouth. The road stretched of forever and it wasn't until passing a tractor we stopped by a camping ground hoping to find some breakfast/lunch. The road took us all the way down to a well hidden and pretty densly packed holiday spot with few people around. We enjoyed some cellphone reception then headed back to the dairy situated by the camping ground office. A small kid there clearly though Brown Fury was the coolest sounding thing around, and the dairy owner kindly informed us that there was a vilalge with fuel and food just down the road, so we moved on. Brown fury popped a sick wheelie/jump on the double speedbumps on the way out.

We reached Waitara and soon realised that New Plymouth was just down the road, we gassed up, shared an up&go and on we rode. We passed the tractor again and the road continued to stretch on forever. After passing the token "Welcome to New Plymouth" sign, there were still around 14km until we reached the city proper. Incredibly we managed to find a BP (that even sold 98!) and the FXR ticked over 26,000ks. Navigating New Plymouth wasn't particularly hard, but it still took us fifteen minutes to find a Subway. We marvelled at the efficiency and common sense the employees displayed, as opposed to the absolute retardedness of the Subway workers back in Auckland. The only thing that spoiled it was a sign reading, "Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to toast sandwiches."

A delicious (but un-toasted) meatball sub each later we are back on the road, but something lures us away from our intended course: what seems to be a large rock protuding out of the ground. Brown Fury seems to know the route and sure enough takes us straight to the base. Like all good bikers we are vigilant in the ATGATT mentality and decide to tackle the mountain in full gear and surely the rain will keep us cool. We feel reassured in our decision as we are assualted by several warning signs noting the dangers of the climb. The track is less of a track and more a series of stairs and large rocks you had to climb over. Suffice to say we got sick fo this walking thing even faster than when jafa and myself climbed up the east cape. A quarter of the way (if even that) we stop and the first thing we see as we look out over New Plymouth is a hill of similar altitude to where we were currently standing - with road access. The next thing we see is a marvelous view of cloud cover. Apparently on a clear day you can see Mt Taranaki; we could barely see the base of the first in the series of three mountains. A facepalm later we descend the track. From the base we look back up to see a couple of brave people climbing back down from the summit; the track was more a ladder than a track. Swearing to do it again another day, we jump back on the bikes. Time was a wastin'!

[motorbyclist]

We leave New Plymouth behind in a cloud of blue smoke and head onto SH45: The Surf highway. We figured it would be pretty awesome; the coast on our right, Mt Taranaki on our left... SH45, although it somehow curves around the mountain, would have to be one of the straightest roads I have ever ridden. It was so straight you forget when the last corner was, and the furthest thing you can see is the rain in the distance, falling on the same road directly in front of you. We couldn't even see the sea, let alone the mountain. at one point we caould almost see the middle peak but then that was quickly obscured. To make things worse we were assaulted by a headwind just about all the way west so our max speed was reduced further to 60-70km/hr, but as we turned to head east again the wind gave us a push to almost 90kph! At this speed we found we had to keep stopping to let Brown Fury cool off for lack of air flow and mroe importantly, let the rain get ahead of us again!

An eternity later we finally made it to Hawera. We stopped outside the first bike dealer and tried to get a hold of Paul (Paulmac). No luck, so into town we went, armed only with "turn left at the MacDondalds". Left quickly got boring and school traffic was abound so we headed for the large grey "control spire" in the centre of town. Consfused at the sight of what was apparently a water tower we txted Paul and went to the McDonalds for cake and coffee. We plonked down at the McCafe and met Paulmac who apparently works at the local Suzuki dealer. We couldn't hang around for very long, however, and after a quick chat about the BIKOI and Brown Fury we were soon back on SH3, headed towards Wanganui.

It was 4:30, and felt we may make actually it as far as Levin. The two hours travelling at night the previous day saved us quite a bit of travel time. Thanks to what must have been a gale force tailwind we were through Wanganui much sooner than expectedand heading towards Bulls. I was concerned that doing 90kph with my visor open didn't even feel like 40kph and Brown Fury was revving high to maintain speed, but the sign for Bulls came and went, and we didn't stop until Sason, vaugely remembering something about a pre-BIKOI meeting at a pub which we couldn't find.

Since Hawera we had been seeing more and more bikes on the road, and when we were about to leave Sanson we bumped into two of the BRONZ blokes on a large scooter and an small car/scooter hybrid (DN01). Apparently people were staying in Palmerston North and we considered staying with the rest of the riders in the Bikoi but figured we needed a headstart. The two BRONZ riders wished us luck and we were on our way again.

[motorbyclist]

We had been through tight twisties, steep hills, gravel, potholes and roadworks, yet nothing was quite like the stretch to Levin. As soon as we made the right turn to wellington that terrific tailwind we had been enjoying was suddenly coming in from the side; speed immediately plummeted to 40kph as Brown Fury veered for the ditch and after that anything more than 50kph was borderline dangerous. Brown Fury couldn't keep left as in one gust we'd go from centreline to grass verge, and I had to basically ride towards the paddock ont he other side of the road to go stright. Everytime a truck passed us, we were sucked in beside, givena speed boost to over 70kph and dragged along behind before being dropped and left ot the mercy of the wind and then buffeted like crazy as they continued on. Trucks coming from the other way were even more fun, tearing us from our bikes with the initial air blast, leaving a dead zone for a moment and then leaving us back in the wind. We were passed by two bikers on a bright blue trike; they waved as they breezed by and overtook the car infront. A white Burgman passed us, tailgating a 4WD for cover from the wind and still travelling with an impressive lean.

After what seemed like the whole trip over again we finally made it to Levin. We stopped by the welcome sign, physically exhausted, and said to each other, "Holy. Shit." Welcome to Levin (http://www.zombo.com/).We took a moment to recuperate then headed into town to find some fush and chups. It was only around 7:30pm and most of the takeaway stores were shut. A cold wind was still blowing, and we were aching for somewhere to just sit down and eat. Sitting outside the only open fush and chups shop we figured that we were close enough to Wellington that we may as well try to make it there; after all, we were guaranteed a place to sleep at Danae's mum's apartment and there would definitely be food in the captial.

Not two minutes out of Levin and an oncoming, grumpy looking cop sees Brown Fury's lack of headlight and slams on his brakes. He pulls a u-turn and the disco lights come on. I flick the lights on seeing as it was getting dark enough to justify anyway and check my speed before pulling over. The policeman sternly asks for licences and checks Brown Fury's rego/wof which proves amusing as there's quite a few on there and I've no idea which one it the latest one. "I hope you didn't turn your headlight on just because you saw me, but the law has changed!" I didn't even bother to explain that if I had the headlight on during the day the battery would drain and then there would be no usable headlight nor indicators during the night (the charging system isn't too flash). The cop then turns Danae the L plate rider and asks how fast a Learner is allowed to go. "70k, about as fast as we can go anyway". The cop is unimpressed, but leaves it at that. Out of curiosity I ask him If he pinged us, and how fast we were actually going, as both our speedos are hardly reliable; Brown Fury's needle was bouncing somewhere between 90 and 110, and the FXR (with 20% error) was reading about 80. The cop hesitates. "Uh...85k." We both hide our disbelief. The cop leaves and we empty the jerry can into the FXR (having just hit reserve) and head down SH1.

We stopped in Otaki for a coffee and caught up to the trike. Another biker or two came over for a chat; everyone it seemed was heading for parliament. At this point the sun was ready to set. We quickly filled up and prepared for the final leg.

SH1 along the coast was dodgy to say the least. Some idiot had put cheesecutters down the median line and concrete on our left, and now it was dark we were relying on our pathetic lights completely drowned out by the glare of oncomnig vehicles. Traffic queing behind us was mounting so when we hit roadworks the stop-go men let us through and we soon reach the end of the coastal section. After that is a bit of a 50kph section and then back onto open highway - no, roadworks ahead. Riding at night, hard left in the emergency/Brown Fury lane, traffic was pretty unrelenting, and despite indicating I had to make a dangerous swerve back into careless traffic to avoid a pile of gravel left in the lane. a few hundred metres later the lane has a small jump for a driveway and then narrows. At this point I decide the cagers clearly don't appreciate my keeping left enough and pull back into the middle of the lane; they're all going to slow down for impending roadworks anyway.

[motorbyclist]

Closer to wellington the highway widened and we had our own lane, and then the highway got wider still and we began the decent into wellington. Sure enough, Brown Fury gained speed down that speed hill. So much speed, that a ticket was a real possibility (80kph zone too, it turns out) and I was concerned as to how much brake ability I'd have at the bottom with overheating drums, an overrevving two-stroke and chassis shaking at it's safe mechanical limit. We got to the bottom ok, and continued along the motorway all the way and even through a tunnel!

For once the SMC makes it somewhere when they say they will! But we were far from finished. We decided to head for parliament before bed, if only to save us finding it in the morning. This, it turns out, is no easy feat. We ended up lost, until somehow getting onto a road that took us right out of wellington. We headed back in and at last we manage to find parliament and enjoy a bit of well-deserved smugness for being a day early to the protest.

Next on the agenda is Dinner! In the search for anything at all we somehow find ourselves on the motorway out of the city, and it appears that there there are no offramps for 8k. This means we have to climb that infernal hill we had jsut decended! Some time later, we replay the whole "entering Wellington, oh look how pretty the lights are, blah blah blah" all over again except this time the tunnel is closed. Luckily there wasn't much traffic now it was well past 10pm, as we were riding like a combination of Auckland drivers and lost tourists through the city. Finally we come across a Burger King, but the lit sign is hardly a beacon of hope. The lack of diners should have set off alarm bells, as should the shrill indian music coming from behind the counter. The food was absolute crap (uncooked chips, failed onion rings, off tasting drink etc) and let's just say I've seen bathrooms at student bars in better condition than this place. This was the first time Danae didn't finish a meal from BK and I was none to impressed myself.

Already well out of learner restrictions, we decide to find Danae's mum's place, which was a challenge in itself. We nearly end up on the motorway out of the city again but we managed to bail out before it happened. We managed find the apartment out of pure luck - we happened upon streets rather than consciously finding them, and just so happened to stop outside her apartment when we were ready to give up. Now, where do we park? I've heard Wellington was beginning to take an Auckland approach to motorcycles and after debating for a while we spot a cycle rack across the road - the spaces between the two bars were huge. "Good enough," we both said; if cyclists can aprk there then why can't we? We lock up the the bikes head into the apartment for a much needed sleep.

[Danae]

1. The view from the loft
2. Mt Messenger - epic views and awesome roads
3. What is this strange thing?
4. Caution: Track Hazards!
5. ATGATT!
6. Hawera...it would seem there is a very large tower here

[Danae]

1. Welcome to Levin....Levin welcomes you
2. The beehive!
3. We seem to be having an abundance of strange towers today...
4. Finding a proper park is for wimps!

[motorbyclist]

sorry for stopping guys (if anyone was actually reading it) - will resume shortly!

[Ixion]

Where is the poor little innocent abused two smoker ?

[motorbyclist]

haha atleast we have one remaining reader! Danae is preparing the coverage of the BIKOI before memories fade any further and when the light starts to fade I'll put up the rest

[Danae]

We left at a semi-reasonable hour on the day of the bikoi. Finding our way to parliament wasn't nearly as hard as navigating the night before; we simply found the queues of traffic and followed passing bikers. Bikes, bikes everywhere! The entire stretch of road along parliament glistened with bikes as though it itself were made of chrome. Hondas, yamahas, suzukis, harleys, beemers and many obscure makes and models. All were here to protest the ACC levy hikes for motorcyclists. If these bikes were all cars, there was no way they would fit in the entirety of Wellington.

motorbyclist and I found a park down a sidestreet between a Goldwing and a driveway. Our synchronised parallel parking needs work; one day we aspire to be like the motorcycle gang in Mad Max, whose parking skills are almost too perfect.

The brilliant sunlight was a stark contrast to the damp and miserable weather we had on the way down. Although I would have almost preferred a bit of rain - we found ourselves cooking in our leathers within a minute or so.

We heard an indistinct burble on a loudspeaker of some sort - taking this to mean the rally was about to start, we followed the steady trickle of bikers onto the parliament grounds. The main gate had been locked, a heavy-duty chain wrapped around it with a butty padlock holding it all together. You would almost think they didn't want us there! Nevertheless, the bikers pressed on, climbing over the wall either side of the main gate. It made me feel like we were in some old movie - storming the gates of parliament to protest! All we needed were pitchforks and torches.

Hundreds of motorcyclists were already assembled by the steps of parliament. A sound system had been set up; it all looked very professional. Film crews and cameramen dodged through the crowd. 3 News, 1 News, radio NZ, national radio...all were there to capture this occasion. Several Kiwibikers were spotted - gijoe in very appropriate Spartan attire (ATGATT!), Squiggles acting as BRONZ' bitch, Spankme and many others. Banners and loud signs were waved throughout the crowd. We found a spot with a good view of the stairs, slightly apprehensive yet quite excited. With this many angry people, a huge number of things could go wrong.

The speeches started, and throughout it the crowd let out their battle cry: "WHO'S NEXT? WHO'S NEXT? WHO'S NEXT?" Members of parliament hung out of the top windows - some even joined in the chanting. The sounds of Harleys spluttering off into the distance echoed around the grounds every now and then. You had to wonder why they were leaving in the middle of the whole thing.

At one point Nick Smith himself walked down the stairs. The boos and hisses from the crowd were deafening. He attempted a speech but the angry rabble rabbled angrily, drowning him out. From what we did hear, it was just the same old bullshit we had heard a thousand times already, and that a decision had not been made.

The media were loving every second of it. That very evening it was all over the news. We hoped that the rest of new zealand would see, and would wonder, "Who's next?"

[Squiggles]

:corn: </10chars>

[motorbyclist]

OK, sorry about teh lateness, but I've been busy.....

[motorbyclist]

So it's the day after the BIKOI, and the weather isn't looking great. After another horrible wellington coffee we decided we had better tension our chains and adjsut brakes before setting off again. Unfortunately we didn't have anywhere to do this, so we blocked half the footpath and set to work. It was mid morning by the time we were good to go, so we set off with plans to hit up a repco for moar oil whenever we found one.

It was cloudy and began to drizzle, but once we had made the hillclimb out of the capital we were all good. We stopped for oil somewhere around paraparamu and continued north. We stopped in Levin and met up with Rach and Pussy (KBer's all over the place!) and had some fush and chups before heading north. We gsoon got to Foxton where we had our first decent coffee in days, and reinvigourated we set off!

It was a loooong ride to Sanson, there wasnt much wind and the rain had all stopped. We cruised along around 80kph for what seemed like forever before finally arriving in Sanson. It was here that I was hoping to stop and Let Brown Fury cool off for a second but we pulled in right behind a milk truck, and feeling a surge of acceleration as it broke the air for us, I couldn't help but open up the throttle and follow it out onto the road headed for bulls. The truck was actually sucking me along behind it at what must've been 100kph or more, and left me nicely sitting in a warm pocket of air while Danae was falling behind in the wake. This went well with Brown Fury singing along util half way along the passing lane by the aerodrome, half way to Bulls.

Then, disaster stikes :shit:

Brown fury suddenly starts losing revs, and the speed drops. I fall out of the air pocket and then I know I'm in trouble as Brown fury is producing zero power. In goes the clutch and I can get the motor to rev up a bit and it sounds ok but then I let off the throttle and the motor cuts out. shit. Shit. SHIT.

On the side of the road I'm worried - I know I may have siezed her, but the motor turns over fine, if a little easily. The plug looks good, but she won't start! A ute stops and out hops a guy asking if we're ok - he (Mike) lives just out of bulls and knocks off work soon if we need a hand, so he leaves his card and carries on. Then we hear the Blip-Bluuuurp of a white car with police colours - shit is that a cop? No, it's not, but wtf? The car does a U turn and comes back up. There's ACC SUX across the front and it's full of some fairly large guys.... Turns out they're bikers (we later find out it's the ACCSUX guy here on KB) and might know a thing or two about motors, and how to get them going, because with a bit of fiddling we're running again!:Punk:

[motorbyclist]

I'm concerned, however, because she idles quite high for a while before settling down to idle - have we sprung an air leak? So we head off to Mike's at a snails pace, checking a few times for a change in the plug colour but it's still mint...

At mikes home we're greeted by his wife and little girls - they're bikers too and mike's got an awesome 10acre block with a few sheep (including a newborn lamb) and a boat he built himself floating in a puddle. It's a great family setup and they do offer to let us stay but first I want to open up Brown Fury.

The carbs are clean, the plug is good everything is as it should be.... A few runs up and down the driveway on a new plug give the same results. Heck, it's even revving right out and producing good power, just it doesn't return to idle properly.... :scratch: After much deliberation and a few phone calls we decide to keep heading north to Hawera to meet up with Paul again and look at the bike the next day at the bike shop Paul works at.

We take extra caution the whole way up, and manage to get lost in wanganui where we stop for dinner at a pub. It's getting dark and we're still half an hour away from Hawera when we meet paul coming the other way in the Action Suzuki ute and we load the bikes up into that and head for his place. The rest of the night is a great time talking with Paul and his wife over a few (many) beers until it's past midnight and Paul realises he has to be headed for work in 6 hours!

Hopefully the next day will tell us Brown Fury is all good to go.....

[motorbyclist]

the next and final day WILL be up tomorrow morning, before we embark on epic adventure Part 4!

[Danae]

Photos out of order?!

1. The ACCSUX car!
2. Bikes on the back of a ute ):
3. Delicious food at a delicious cafe
4. Moar petrol!
5. Lost in Wanganui
6. Maintenance on footpaths of Wellington

[motorbyclist]

So after breakfast we pootled on into Action Suzuki to have a look at the damage; the mechanic reckons that if I partially siezed the motor then the rings might be bound or buggered and the high idle problem would be a result of the rings not working at all....

We decided to remove the Race pipe to have alooksee at the piston. A few minutes later it's very apparent that I've seized it as the piston and cylinder wall are both heavily scuffed/scratched. mystery solve- no wait, what's that on teh top of the piston? There's a bit of metal stuck in it at the top edge by the exhaust port, and worringly a screwdriver can't dislodge it.... Things go downhill from here. We pop off the head (5 bolts)and look at that the top of the piston and the head are both cratered by something rattling around inside - and tehre's a few bits of metal lodged in the piston crown... Now we have to find where that came from, so off come the cylinder and oh dear look at that...

One of the circlips holding the wrist pin in the piston, the same clip that got lost in my shed and found on the floor, had broken into several pieces. These pieces ahd then gotten wedged between cylinder wall and piston, and not only left huge grooves in the cylinder wall, but actually cut channels in the side of the piston! Some bits had made their way up through the rings, breaking them, gotten smashed around in the combustion chamber a bit and then either buried themselves in the soft piston crown or made their way out the exhaust port (one had been chopped in half doing this and that's the bit of metal we first saw). The other circlip was loose in its groove from the wrist pin wandering around and smashing into it and was about to come out.

Considering that Brown Fury had limped along with good power for 150km in this state, I decided now would be a good time to give it a break and simply come down tor rescue it.

Pulling the piston out required the use of a hammer and drift, ass it had deformed slightly and was not only holding only a few ring fragments, but the wrist pin also! We wander across the road with the top end to an engine recon place and they're keen to fix up the cylinder and head (0.5mm bore out!) for about $90 (actually came to $80 in the end), and I already know where I can get parts (comes to $150 for piston and gasket kits), so rebuild-ride-rescue mission is go! Brown fury is put quietly to rest at the back of the shop for recovery in a few weeks.

So, how do we get home? Step up the FXAARgh! (more to come shortly)

[Danae]

Our plan for the rest of the day was to head straight up past Mt Taranaki, cut past New Plymouth via SH3A and follow SH3 the rest of the way home. Oh how plans can go horribly wrong.

We waved a tearful goodbye to Brown Fury, promising we would be back soon for the rescue mission. Jumping on the back of my fixxer was not an unfamiliar concept; Squiggles and I have gone on many the beer run (me carrying a teetering pile of 24 packs, with a couple more on the tank). But this time...IT. WAS. A. ROCKET. On the way down we were confined to a maximum speed of 80km/hr...and that was at rare opportunities (downhills, tailwinds etc). With an incredible +50cc, we were almost hitting 100km/hr!

We find a Honda shop and take a rest from our blistering pace. The kind mechanic offers to adjust and lube the FXR's chain, all for free! We thank him and speed off into the distance towards Inglewood.

Disappointingly, the only thing we ever see of Mt Taranaki is the base. Nonetheless it is a marker letting us know we are getting closer to New Plymouth. We reach Inglewood and Mt Taranaki is well and truly behind us. But just as we hit 3A, we become stuck behind a huge sixteen wheeler. The speed we were very much enjoying is cut down to 70km/hr. We groan as we go through beautifully twisting roads, and I know we are thinking the same thing; Imagine if we weren't stuck behind this guy! After an eternity the truck driver lets off his indicator on a short piece of straight road; motorbyclist jumps at the chance and we use up all the gears as we pass the truck. Freedom! The road twists and turns through hills, paddocks and sections of forest. Pumped up on adrenalin we blast through - well and truly enjoying ourselves. The centerline disappears. We blat past old, abandoned houses, in the process of being reclaimed by climbers and weeds. The road narrows. I hear a river nearby. Motorbyclist brings the FXR to a halt. Directly to the west is Mt Taranaki.

"Uh...this doesn't look like SH3A."
"I think we took a wrong turn somewhere..." I say uncertainly.
"How can we take a wrong turn on a state highway?"

[Danae]

Befuddled, we press on. We pass an intersection and soon after come across the first signs of life we had seen in a while. We spot two men on the deck of a rickety house sporting excellent examples of mullets. Their fence is the kind you see at construction sites. Ba-da-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding....Motorbyclist calls out to them, "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know where SH3A is, would you?" Their laughter wasn't the most assuring response. They point us back the way we came, instructing us to follow the signs to Waitui (wherever that is...) and from there we would find signs back the the highway.

The road to Waitui was certainly more interesting than SH3. The road still has no centerline. We come across a one way tunnel; we weren't exactly worried about oncoming traffic...the only car we see is from the 80's and is on it's side up against a couple of trees, covered in weeds and rust. The FXR presses on. We come around a corner and nearly collide with a horse, who promptly rears up on it's rear legs and neighs. "Neeeiiighh!" we politely reply.

Eventually the centerline reappears. We come across an intersection, with traffic! In the distance we see the coast, and decide to carry on. A few minutes later, a miracle! We come across SH3! The one hour trip only took us a few hours.

We pay the tubes factory a visit: clearly this is where the internets are made, as well as lolcats. But somehow the visitor center made the internets boring and we decide to finish our adventure.

Our next stop is Mokau, and we visit the Tui tavern. Unfortunately the bartender isn't there so we head out again. SH3 is boring and repetitive compared to our misadventures from earlier. We come to a stop in Te Kuiti for a well needed coffee and rest, and manage to waste an hour. The sun is going down and we spot a truck with the slogan "Momentary Lapse of Reason" emblazoned on the side. A more perfect description of our trip could not be found.

By the time we were past Ngaruawahia night had truly fallen, which meant bugs of all kinds were on the roads. The headlights of the FXR aren't exactly impressive, but the light was enough to attract enough mosquitoes that motorbyclist ended up covered in them. SH1 brought us cheesecutters on either side and the worst road surface we had experienced the entire journey. The sign for the Southern Motorway whizzes by...at last we were back in auckland! Desperately needing a break we pull off early and pay a visit to Squiggles, who duly informs us we are late. Our argument? We took no more than 5 days; exactly how long we planned for.