Rattley Tappet Rally 2008

**Dodgyiti** · 29th October 2008, 11:22

Labour Weekend
Turangi
Did not get any really decent pictures, so if you were there- post some here will ya's?

Weather was pretty good, bloody freezing on the mountain.
Usual bunch of degenerates, and some new ones.
Westside was represented.

**Dodgyiti** · 29th October 2008, 11:27

What a legend- forgot to attach my crappie pics

**Paul in NZ** · 9th November 2008, 20:15

Well while I'm logged on for sadder reasons I will post a couple of piccies too...

Typical Labour weekend weather - erm - patchy...

Left home friday 4:45pm after dashing home from work early in the holiday traffic. Weather was gathering with intent on the rain radar so it was always going to be interesting! Lord knows why I cleaned the bike the weekend before, we all knew what was going to happen (sigh)

Anyway - dashed home and packed the bike, jumped into me ridin' threads and hit the starter and wrrrr wrrrr wrrrr wrrr pht pht wrrr wrr pht pht wwrrrr... Oh bugger... Vicki kindly mentioned that turning on the fuel tap is usually helpfull to the voroom varoom noises... (sigh)

So anyway - I wus orf... For a friday before a long weeknd the traffic was not particularly horrid but there was a fair amount of dashing past cars and avoiding the forces of the law (of which there were many). Once past the odious passionless pits of Otaki the traffic dried up and it was time to boogie... Levin, Foxton and the unending horror of the Himitangi straights passed as did Sanson and Bulls. Some kind of huge SUV laden with skis, yuppies, DVD players and equipped with a radar detector slipped in front at the passing lanes and seemed to take it as a personal challenge to to be some place before me. Sweet - with him to break my path - I was unlikely to be ticketed so I tucked in behind and the speedo wound along into the other half of the dial... The bad half where the bigger numbers live.

Sadly, after 30 mins or so we started picking up traffic the the silver behemouth couldn't get past on the narrow climb up onto the central plateau. With the Guzzi swapping cogs through the CR box we cut through the traffic like a mounted calvalier and slipped ahead into the gathering gloom leaving mr ski bunny looking at the tail lights. Hunterville (Huntaway capital of the world) had long gone and I refilled at Taihape (Gumboot capital of the world), with a fast coffee (tasted dreadful - possibly brewed IN a gumboot). Pushing on we wound in Waioru and I thought it was time to fill the bike and put on an extra layer. By now I was right up onto the high central plateau and even though its spring the ski fields are still open so that late in the evening you could feel snow in the air. Sadly - thats not all that was in the air - ahead the sky seemed to meet the ground and within 10km's I was riding in a grey malestrom so thick I could barely make out the instruments. I tucked in behind a sensibly driven car (oh the shame) and followed his lights - bleugh - despite 2 waterproof layers I was getting rather soggy and very very cold. Then it started sleeting and the wind started howling - it was almost too much fun... I was getting VERY cold.

After 25 very scary minutes I was through the worst of it and well into the dark of the night but by now I was dropping off the other side of the high country and as we dropped to the lake taupo basin (old super volcano) the temperatures got better, the rain got lesser and the wind fell to a mere gale - almost pleasant...

20 minutes later - beer, more beer and a hot shower followed by lotsa beer... (who would have thought you would still be thirsty after a whole shower) and some Ducati dude took exception to me and wanted a fight or something... (no I couldn't quite figure it out - whatever)

Anywho - got up 36 times that night (beer) and got little sleep. Foraged for breakkie - coffee, met up with various Guzzi muppets and oggled bikes!

Got bored oggling so a few of us went for a ride to Taupo - Genius me decided to go home the long way to take some arty snaps. While i was parked I wiped the bike down for the show n shine that arvo as it was still only pretty dirty from the night before. I got it semi sparkly and then basking in sunshine looked over my shoulder at this gianormous cloud sniggering and figured it REALLY wanted a fight too. I hightailed it outta there and 2 mins later - it rained 24 times as heavy as the night before followed by roadworks and mud from logging trucks - no sparkly guzzi prize for me... Everything from the middle down was road spluge grey.

Oh well - at least there was beer.... Lotsa beer, I was so busy at one stage I had two beer glasses on the go - now who says men can't multi task! (burp) Took some piccies of pretty bikes...

We all had dinner together - can't remember what I had but there was more beer... Had some more beer for desert and eventually the bar ran out of proper beer (no really - we drank the place dry) but they did have a keg of old rusty that was left over from the war and they didn't seem to fussed on charging for it - hmm free beer? Oh go on, just the one then... I would live to regret that.

I got to the 6ft tall and bulletproof stage and became very boring but I was oddly happy (so I had a beer)

Next morning was - um - painfull and i didn't have a beer.

It was also clear as a bell but sadly by the time we got our act together it was on the ominous side of overcast. Two others decided to make a break for it with me, John on the Breva 1100 and Rex on the 1100 Sport. We had a spiffy sprint over the hill, past the Chateau and to the little town of National Park where we didn't park but kept riding cos it was freezing! (3 deg)

It rained a bit, then a lot so we stopped and put on some more layers and then the weather took that as a bit of a challange and it got really wet.

Down through the Paraparas there were slips right across our side of the road and it was very slippery under wheel so caution was exercised and hormones curtailed. Most of the hills there are grey clay from the Taupo eruption and it's as slippery as hell once it gets on the road.

We stopped at the Avoca pub (as you do) but it was broken so we had a toasted sarnie and a coffee at the cafe before heading to Marton to have a coffee with Rex, his missus and their 5 month old black lab.. (cute or what). Bladders full, John and I pushed on in moderate traffic and he turned off to Otaki Beach to visit a mate and I stopped off at Hoon and Tyks place for a visit and didn't have a beer (I was winding down).

Home at 5pm and drying out after lashing up my magic bean surprise (and a beer) Sweet... 1200km - bike ran like a good un....

**Paul in NZ** · 9th November 2008, 20:17

Some more piccies

**Paul in NZ** · 9th November 2008, 20:18

Last ones - going home

**Skyryder** · 9th November 2008, 21:14

Yep saw some on the WG a few days back. Good pics

Skyryder

**greenman** · 10th November 2008, 19:44

yeah, I was in Taupo that weekend, and there was a white ambo (I may be mistaken there) heading south on the Saturday, then later on the same day a Mk2 Le Mans was cruising the centre of town.
My Guzzi was tucked up at home under a blanket.

**Dodgyiti** · 14th November 2008, 13:53

Cheers so much for that Paul if your listening.

I was a little jaded when I posted this originally, possibly for reasons simmilar as you discussed i.e. :

In roughly that order.
Ok, so I'm fine now, had my memories revived via deep hypnosis, and can recall my trip.

My preperation began 5 weeks out from the rally date...

The aim was to make a bike to use, a Guzzi of course!
So I dragged the carcus of a Mk2 out of the lounge, where it had been residing for 8 months at my place, and 15 years at the guy's garage I bought it from.
Then I found a complete, but hungusly ugly Mk5 Lemon on TradeMe. I say Lemon because it was bright, (did I mention bright?) yellow. But it had a super hottie motor, light wheels and 4 spot brakes.

Because it looked such an eyesore there was no interest in the auction, but I knew better- it was local and to hear it running told the real story.

Stage 1/ week 1: The strip Down

Buy it, ride it home and wheel it straight on the stand.
2 evenings later I had the entire bike stripped, wiring labled, all parts seperated from the ones I was going to use in the project.
Then I sorted everything I was going to keep for my spare parts stash and what I was going to sell to recoup the project cost. I wanted the end result to owe me 3 grand no more!
Spare parts got bagged and labeled then stored, everything else was listed on TradeMe in a rush of about 40 auctions at once.
The frame went in the skip at work (they only made FA 1992 Mk5 LeMans, but I don't experience guilt

) and the workshop got a tidy up for stage 2

Stage 2/ week 2: The Other Strip Down

Pulled the crusty Mk2 out of the lounge, and wheeled it onto the stand.
Pulled the engine out, along with the gearbox, then remembered what Paul had said to me years ago about messing with his beloved roundbarrel LeMans bikes and ignored it. Sat the bike in position ready for the thransplant and listed everything I didn't need from the bike on auctions.

Stage 3/ week 3&4: The amalgamation

Shoehorned the 1000cc hottie motor into the 8fiddy frame, used the Mk5 gearbox. I was going to retain the Mk2 swingarm and diff, but the bearing was seized solid in the driveshaft and the cost $120. So I adapted the Mk5 complete rear end into the frame, bearings and all, using the matching threaded pivot bolts. So now the rear wheel was off set too much and further work had to go into alignment- getting it to about 4.5mm offset eventually with some swingarm modifications. Now it had a 35mm extention in wheelbase, ah well.
Made the rear brake set up, to clamp on the floating disc that came with the light wheel, underslung the caliper and removedd the splitter because the grunty front brakes I was going to use would have upset the balance ratio.
Then the front wheel and brake job was next now I could roll it off the stand and check out ride height etc.
The front end fought me every step of the way, the Mk5 forks and trees were no way going to work so I had to recondition the Mk2 front end, lucky I had the bits in stock. Then I used a whole heap of 10mm ali that I scored from an old machine in the back of the yard at work, it was a Berretti, so keeping it Italian I cut all the brake and exhaust and every other bracket I could from that. Had to use the Mk5 master cyl because the crusty one on the bike was solid. Fit the carbs and head bent the exhaust system in several places to fit the bike, whilst retaing the general shape as it was dyno tuned to the engine.
The wheel and brake set up was challenging but got it all done, bleed and rolling with a week to spare...

Stage 4/ week 5: The final week shakedown

So it stopped, ran and stuff, time to get it out on the road.
And it was great, did a whole 40kms before the return spring in the gearbox broke!!!

So back on the stand, swing arm out, gearbox out, Mk2 box back in.
Decided while it was on the stand that some flamed Mk2 fairings would look cool, got the Dremmel and ground off enough meat to sneak them past the bigger pots, and Bob's ye uncle, a runner completed the night before the rally!

So I had a bike, and every tool, lubricant and spare part I thought may be needed as this was absolutely untested.

Got on the blower, called up the Norfland crew and arranged to meet at Wesgate on their way through Auckland.
It's always good to ride with a bunch of pepole if you suspect you are going to break down, so they can make useful suggestions like "Do you belong to the AA?"
They had a bugger with the weather and roadworks. One bike on it's pretty much maiden distance ride looked like an entire scout troop had sneezed on it while brushing their teeth. But Auckland shined for us, that's whay we pay the big bucks, and the trip was smooth and traffic free all Friday arvo.

Taking a few back roads had us at a nice pub that had opend up the food part due to a few other rally goers already stopped there. was a great filler and gave the sustanance needed to really enjoy the 8 mlie junction to Taumaranui road, then over the hill to Turangi.
Already at least 50 bikes were at the campground by late afternoon Friday.
Had a good catchup and drinkies till late.
This year there was a good number of newly restored or modified bikes
See Paul's pictures, truly exceptional machines for sure.
There was a large component of south islanders missing this year through one thing or another, especially Rocky and Silvia's absence made it fairly quiet.
The hard core was there though and some new one's to the '
tappet. It is also cool seeing some of the bikes recently for sale being used as intended, and kicking one's self for not snapping them up...
Some realy low volume newer bikes were there too, good to see them being used.
Saturday was a slow start for me, relaxed and in full holiday mode. Went for a blast int Taupo for lunch, a motley crew we were too, except the leading bike. Nice but expensive lunch later, and then some fool suggested the long way back, I suspect the tinting in his glasses was playing up and he could not see the blanket of rain on the other side of the lake.
I took the short cut and arrived back in time to slip my hideous beast into the bike show- down the back under the tree full of crapping birds!

It was a great selection of Italian machinery (and a Triumph), so much in fact an Italian tourist or whatever, came over and injected rocket fuel into a few of the assembled Guzzinuts, I think he called it Grappa. Anyways I was in bed before the prize giving so I will never know if I won best paint or not, probably not.

There was a group ride up the mountain the next day, stopping off for a feed. Then a brave bunch went to the top for an engines off race to the bottom. Madness.

Rode out from the rally Monday morning and popped over to Taumaranui to stay with friends and avoid holiday traffic. Boy did I stuff that up, there was a trafic jam in Auckland that made the papers with me in the middle of it.