Howdy from Texas (Tex)

[Tex]

Well, my first post..... .

My computer has indigestion, so no telling how long I can access this site tonight.

I ride a HD 2004 FLHRCI with an engine I built a couple of years ago (114 cubic inch motor) with all the good stuff like Nikasil cylinders, SnS cases, heads and valve train as well as my latest addition which is a 2" exhaust system by RB Racing in California which is a 2 into 1. The bike is a road bike and not a racing bike. I am quite proficient on the Daytona Twin Tech TCFI II and IId fuel injection system with a Kuryakyn 57mm throttle body since I have been working on that system for about 3 years or so. I am an enthusiast and not a mechanic ..... but I tinker which often turns into a larger project than expected. The bike is on the rack at present getting a bit of TLC.

I ride about 15k miles a year (kilometers ya got me, still using that old English/American stuff). I don't tour much but I get out and about as often as possible. A nice weekend ride is about 240 miles or so.

Today was a beautiful day, lots of sunshine and fairly warm at mid-day about 75 degrees Farenheit. It was a perfect day for the annual Texas State HD rally in Galveston, Texas. Lots and lots of bikes on the roads today. Maybe 100 thousand or more showed up today and thousands of bikes in town for the rally. Galveston is about 30 miles from my home.

I live about 2 miles for the Johnson Space Center near Houston, Texas. So, traffic is a concern until you get out to the boonies where you can ride. A couple of years ago, I toured all of New Mexico, USA. Northern New Mexico is quite beautiful, mountains everywhere, elevations to 10k feet and lots of trees as far as you can see. At the end of the trip, I rode from Taos, New Mexico to Pecos, Texas which is about 840 miles taking the scenic route. I did that in one day from sun up to sun down and I have no desire to do that again!

I am an attorney at law but that doesn't have much to do with why I am here. I am here to learn more about New Zealand. I guess you guys are headed towards mid-summer. Hopefully, I will be able to get my "points" transferred to an airline so I can head to New Zealand around February. I have a trial in February, so I hope I can make it there before it gets cold, after the trial. I guess I will have a lot of questions about weather in New Zealand as well as other matters concering roads, riding and location since I might rent a HD while I am there and tour a bit ....... if I can get used to turning left to go right or whatever I need to do to keep from being on the wrong side of the road.

I am quite pleased that this communication is in writing since I called New Zealand the other day and I understood about every 5th word the fellow in New Zealand spoke! He had a bit of a different rythm to his speech pattern than the Texas drawl we speak "in these parts."

FWIW, it is 8:30 P.M. here.

Lookin' forward to visiting with you guys.

Tex

[Winston001]

Welcome to the madhouse Tex and there are lots of helpful people here. 'Course only the mad ones actually post....:D

New Zealand in February is a good time, the weather is warm and generally settled that month. Probably not as hot and dry as Texas in summer but still very nice.

NZ is a motorcyclists mecca. Lots of twisting roads and great scenery. The North Island is a bit like Oregon - volcanoes and hills plus beaches. It holds 3 million of our 4 million population.

The South Island is more like Colorado - beautiful mountains and lakes plus more beaches. Long highspeed roads plus plenty of curves and twisties. We don't have a lot of motorways (freeways) so you might be a bit shocked to find much of our main highway is a two-lane blacktop. Doesn't matter, gets you there and lots of fun.

We have a maritime climate which means rain is possible any time of the year. It might be worth having some waterproof clothing.

[Bren]

Gidday Tex, yup as Winston said it is a good place to ride...most roads here actually have corners (maybe something you are not familiar with). It does not take too long to get used to riding on the wrong side of the road, although its easier to come to grips with it in a car or "ve-HIC-le" as you folks call em. I was up your way a few years ago, and found Houston way too hot and humid, but loved Austin and San Antonio...

In Febuary the weather is not too bad, maybe a bit on the cold side compared to your dog days of 100+. anything over 25degC (77F) is good here.

Anyway ride safe and look forward to havin ya around here where it can be our turn to say "yer not from around here are ya boy!"

[Maha]

Gutta be tillin' ya Tex Bore, it aint na bug thang....:rockon:
We just sound like a Texan of speed, or a very fast horse, y'all choose...

Welcome to KB, the fast biker site in the west...yeeeeeeeeehoooooaa!!!!!!

[sugilite]

Welcome. Hope you manage to get out and about on a bike here in NZ, I'm sure you will enjoy it. :scooter:

[scumdog]

Welcome Tex, keep posting on here and yer mental state will go downhill!

[MSTRS]

Welcome Tex, keep posting on here and yer mental state will go downhill!

Sure about that? We might be able to educate the poor wee lamb. There's a whole world outside Texas...
Little known factoid. Texas is the second biggest state. If you cut Alaska in half, Texas would be the third.
I'm told that Texans hate that...
Still - love to have you here. Lots of places have arrows painted on the road to tell you what side you should be on. Some of the residents treat them as a loose suggestion.

[T.I.E]

Gidday, how ya be? Im in california right now... been here for a bit, orginally from NZ, and there's a Kb person in Texas too. So dont think you that far from Kiwiland.
Yes you Kb lot.
There are Kber's all over the globe. so if ya ever wanna go land hopping drop me a line ya bloody buggers. ill get ya at LAX.
But NZ is a place of dreams for riding. if ya ned any help with the top of the north island let me know. i know who ya need to talk to.

TIE

Andrew

[McJim]

Hey Tex. Just want to let you know how much smaller everything is here (that way you will resist the Texan temptation to tell us how much bigger everything is back home!).

Welcome to KB and don't let the Trolls give you any shit.

[MSTRS]

...don't let the Trolls give you any shit.

Here you....gerroff my bridge!!

[McJim]

Here you....gerroff my bridge!!

With your beard you're more of the billy goat gruff than the troll!

[MSTRS]

Close enough. I've given up the virgins for breakfast thing tho. Getting hard to find now...bloody Weegies coming over here, snapping up the young lovelies.

[McJim]

Close enough. I've given up the virgins for breakfast thing tho. Getting hard to find now...bloody Weegies coming over here, snapping up the young lovelies.

Ach - ye're half weegie yersel! No maidens in Hawkes Bay any more then? :rofl:

[MSTRS]

Ach - ye're half weegie yersel! No maidens in Hawkes Bay any more then? :rofl:

Tha'll explain it then. The Scots must breathe a sigh o' rrrelief everytime anither Weegie leaves their misty shores....

Don't mind us, Tex. We're a canny lot. We canny help oorsel's

[marigami]

Hello here although I am not kiwi but KB yes I am or try...
And mind you since I am here I still have difficulties to cope with writing NZ messages..;as english is not my mother tongue it's even more difficcult for me but I do enjoy being there,lotta friendly guys here (you see I learnt that nw word lotta for lot of:gob:).
I am sure I will improve myself very soon.
And lucky you to come over and ride.
Enjoy your time.
And yes I think KB's are little crazy but that's so good!!

[Tex]

Thanks for the welcome one and all. By the way, WAKE UP! It is 8:30 A.M. ............. here anyway.

BTW, as far as Alaska is concerned, the people there are like we used to be: frontiersmen. So, my hat is off to them. As far as twisty roads are concerned, the Texas Hill Country supplies plenty of Alpine like roads, but on a smaller and tighter scale. If those roads don't suit your fancy, then northwest Arkansas certainly will, as well as the Talimena Trail in Oklahoma, and Colorado ........ and that is just considering the southwest. I hear Oregon and northern California will fill the need for twisties, but I have not ridden there. Maybe one day I will. Darn, almost forgot: Dragon's Tail in Tennessee and the Carolinas. If you want to see a neat website, check out the Dragon's Tail website. I have not ridden it and don't know if I want to since bikers have a habit of getting run over on that road. Here is a link for ya to look at: http://www.tailofthedragon.com/

And here is another link for you: http://www.dealsgap.com/

If you guys have some similar links for NZ, let me know.

Enjoy and thanks again for the welcome.

Tex

[scumdog]

Thanks for the welcome one and all. By the way, WAKE UP! It is 8:30 A.M. ............. here anyway.

BTW, as far as Alaska is concerned, the people there are like we used to be: frontiersmen. So, my hat is off to them. As far as twisty roads are concerned, the Texas Hill Country supplies plenty of Alpine like roads, but on a smaller and tighter scale. If those roads don't suit your fancy, then northwest Arkansas certainly will, as well as the Talimena Trail in Oklahoma, and Colorado ........ and that is just considering the southwest. I hear Oregon and northern California will fill the need for twisties, but I have not ridden there. Maybe one day I will. Darn, almost forgot: Dragon's Tail in Tennessee and the Carolinas. If you want to see a neat website, check out the Dragon's Tail website. I have not ridden it and don't know if I want to since bikers have a habit of getting run over on that road. Here is a link for ya to look at: http://www.tailofthedragon.com/

And here is another link for you: http://www.dealsgap.com/

If you guys have some similar links for NZ, let me know.

Enjoy and thanks again for the welcome.

Tex

Google: Crown Range road in New Zealand to see a nice little twisty bit.

Anywhere in the lower South Island has some great roads, great scenery and not too much traffic, ideal for motorbikes.:woohoo:

[MSTRS]

Google: Crown Range road in New Zealand to see a nice little twisty bit.

Anywhere in the lower South Island has some great roads, great scenery and not too much traffic, ideal for motorbikes.:woohoo:

Come on SD, ya one-eyed Southlander. The whole country is covered in bike heaven...
And Tex? If you do end up waaaay down south, beware of dodgy cops. Just ask the people that ride with the above poster.
:innocent:

[Bren]

Come on SD, ya one-eyed Southlander. The whole country is covered in bike heaven...
And Tex? If you do end up waaaay down south, beware of dodgy cops. Just ask the people that ride with the above poster.
:innocent:

Hey Tex, Scummy cant be any worse than those in the backwaters of Louisiana....

[Tex]

Well, I guess I will dive into the waters of NZ biker heaven. See ya in the pits of the forum.

BTW, I might share some perspectives on your apparent motorcycle tax issue only because I suspect it might be a different perspective than you guys have. But, I really don't know, so I will take a shot at it now.

Excuse any wrong assumptions ......... Ok, if the government taxes you for a registered bike, then you pay the tax if your bike is registered whether you ride or not. And you pay the tax on each bike even though you may only use one at a time. That seems to be the way it works from what I have read. Don't know for sure. The alternative perspective is that if the money is raised from the insurance company premiums you pay in order to legally ride, then you have a choice: ride, buy the insurance or don't ride and don't by the insurance regardless of whether you have one or more registered bikes. The problem with a tax is that you don't have a choice: you pay whether you ride or not. The elimination of choice, i.e., freedom, seem to me to be the issue. Is this spot on or off target? Just trying to figure out the political landscape.

FWIW, we cover our similar "expenses" for medical care with insurance premiums for the most part: not totally, but largely that is the case. There are some taxes here, e.g. Medicare, Medicaid, which do not target bikers but target nearly everyone to help the "poor" and "aged" and "disadvantaged" with medical costs. So, if you don't ride you don't buy the insurance. Insurance will pay the "expenses" of what seems to me to be the concern of the NZ government vis a vis costs of healthcare due to the number and severity of injured parties obviously attributable to bikers (lest the tax would not target bikers).

So, the way I see it, the imposition of a tax is always loathsome as the power to tax is the power to destroy, on the negative side of a point of view.

You might have to appreciate, in your toleration of my some of my postings, that the USA is undergoing a political revolution at this time in that the masses of citizens (voters) have risen to the forefront of political activity. That is a first in my life time. So, everyone here is a bit "politically active" and reviving historic prinicipals and maxims of our founders which is nothing more than the age old stuggle of "freedom versus government imposed equality" also known as the "rights of the individual versus the rights of the collective." It kind of ties into to riding, it seems to me, since most riding is an individual activity where freedom is more than an idea which I experience every time I twist the wick. Needless to say, if my position on this subject was relevant, I would likewise oppose the imposition of a targeted tax on bikers. Give me, no...... don't give me ......... let me keep, no ........ don't take away my choice to pay if, as and when I choose to ride instead of taxing me whether I ride or not.

Just sayin........

Off to the pits I go.

Tex

[MSTRS]

You are basically right....but.
ACC stands for Accident Compensation Corporation. It is a unique institution in the world in that it is not insurance. It exists to compensate (pay the expenses of, medically and loss of income) for those hurt in an accident of any kind.
It was set up in 1974, and part of it's purpose was to replace the necessity of taking someone to court if they caused you injury. So, it replaced the right to sue. Every earner pays a set % out of their income to cover work/home/sport injuries, and every motorist pays a set amount as part of their yearly vehicle registration. The whole idea is that the whole community pays into these funds and is entitled to equal recompense.
The trouble is, at times over the years, ACC (usually at the behest of the govt of the day) tries to screw more out of one section of the community. Usually bikers. And usually with statistics which 'prove' the need, but that are debunked as bullshit. And they are trying it on again.
It's complex, but the thing to remember is it's not insurance. And they have forgotten that.

[vifferman]

Darn, almost forgot: Dragon's Tail in Tennessee and the Carolinas. If you want to see a neat website, check out the Dragon's Tail website.

Some of us know about it.

[Winston001]

Yeah Tex, the Dragon's Tail is famous. :D

As for Accident Compensation (ACC), this will be a difficult and socialist concept for you but its interesting and not adopted by any other country yet that I know of. The Scandanavian countries are considering it and there are partial schemes in Europe.

Essentially in 1972 we gave up the right to sue each other for personal injury. Instead we each (through taxation) pay money to ACC which then pays for medical care and rehabilitation - and loss of earnings. In serious cases this can be for the rest of a persons life.

ACC is a government owned organisation whose sole function is to remedy personal injury.

Originally there were lump sum payments for permanent injury - loss of a limb etc of up to $10,000. However that was changed in 1992(?) because it was believed the lump sums were squandered and instead a small weekly payment was made.

So.....in New Zealand you cannot sue the guy who knocks you off your bike, and neither can you sue the doctor who negligently overlooks an injury or makes a medical error. The driver can be prosecuted by the police and the doctor can be disciplined but thats all.

Its a long long way from normal litigation as you know it.

The current fuss is because one method of gathering ACC levies is through motorvehicle registration - tax. Its proposed that motorcyclists pay an extra $500 per year which you can imagine is not welcomed. :mad:

[Winston001]

Incidentally you'll come across feverish and frothing comments that our ACC scheme is not insurance. Personally I don't think this argument is helpful.

However for clarity, an insurance scheme would require a strong capital base to pay costs running 40 years or more into the future.

By comparison, a social contract backed up by government only requires enough money each year to meet current costs. For example, the Unemployment Benefit in New Zealand is obtainable as of right and there is no fund established to pay it. The money comes from general taxation.

You have a different system where you have Unemployment Insurance, and when that runs out, Welfare. Your Welfare comes from taxation too - 6%?

[Tex]

Thanks for the explanations.

Tex

[naphazoline]

Welcome to KB Tex.:sunny: