Another great reason for being a member of Kiwi Biker

[Blackbird]

….is finally getting to meet other members in person.

For a long time (like almost since KB started), I’ve been contributing to threads where people like Bykey Cop, Vifferman, Zed and Ixion have been poking fun, making wise comment and everything in between. With the threads and a few PM’s and emails, you start to build a mental picture of what these people might be like and hope to meet them in person one day.

Anyway, the timing fitted perfectly so this weekend, with the unfortunate exception of Ixion; we were all able to get together for a weekend at our place in Coromandel. A total of three Blackbirds, a VFR 800 and a bonus BMW hired by Mac, the Scottish guy visiting NZ for 9 weeks whom Viff posted about a few days ago.

It’s absolutely typical of bikers everywhere that we all got on famously and every one of them was an absolutely top person and a top rider too (even the ones who were nursing sore heads from BBQ hangovers this morning, hehe). :argh:

Here’s a salute to you guys – really enjoyed your company both at home and on the road, even if Zed reckoned I was the oldest person he’d ever ridden with. Ever thought that God made you chunder as retribution mate? :whistle:

Hope you all got home safely, and we must all do it again some time!

Mac - enjoy your time in NZ. Hope you like the place and people.

See ya

Geoff

[Zed]

…Hope you all got home safely, and we must all do it again some time!Yes, home safe & sound thanks Geoff, was a great ride home, in fact the whole weekends riding was excellent! It was good to finally meet and ride with you all.

Thanks again for having me/us, and as a result I can now officially say that I have ridden the Coromandel Loop!! :niceone:

[Zed]

…Zed reckoned I was the oldest person he’d ever ridden with. Ever thought that God made you chunder as retribution mate? :whistle:Erm...umm...yeah...still not sure what happened there? :Oops: And saying you were the oldest person I'd ever ridden with was inline with complimenting your top riding remember!!

Hey Geoff did you get a scare when that biker passed us just after leaving Tairua today, he crept up on me unawares and gave me quite a fright...some of his passing maneuvers were dangerous! I was so glad the Kopu-Hikuai road was dry too.

[Blackbird]

Erm...umm...yeah...still not sure what happened there? :Oops: And saying you were the oldest person I'd ever ridden with was inline with complimenting your top riding remember!!

Hey Geoff did you get a scare when that biker passed us just after leaving Tairua today, he crept up on me unawares and gave me quite a fright...some of his passing maneuvers were dangerous! I was so glad the Kopu-Hikuai road was dry too.


Hahaha - only pulling your leg Matt and sincere thanks for the compliment - my wife would have other views :nono:

Yes, I actually heard him before I saw him and he certainlly wasn't riding to the conditions or letting us see him. He was even older than me and it was one of those 650 Kawasaki Bonneville look-alikes. I couldn't believe it when he tried to squeeze past that vehicle on the bridge - amazingly stupid bit of riding. Right, off to clean the bike!


PS - nice photos :niceone: My wife has our digital so couldn't take any

[Smorg]

nice assortment of pack racks

[Biff]

Woww - look at all those Blackbirds, just like Destiny's Child. Which ones Beyonce?

Whose is the Black - Bird?

Does BK still have the CBRXX registration plate?

Nice photos Zed. Wish I'd been there.

[Joni]

Whose is the Black - Bird? That would be Zeds....

and I agree they look good together :2thumbsup

Glad you guys had fun! Some nice pics Matt.

[hXc]

How come most Blackbirds are blue?

[Blackbird]

Because we really want to be VFR 800's :sunny:

[speights_bud]

How come most Blackbirds are blue?
Coz the Mr Honda Manufacturer Fulla is colourblind? either that or he didnt want people riding Honda Bluebird Potato Chips. :mellow: who knows?

[Jantar]

Great pics, and lovely scenery. Hope to experience it first hand in about 3 weeks. :sunny:

[Waylander]

I sometimes wonder if anyone on here has met Ixion in person yet. Don'tthink he does the group thing.

[Ixion]

I sometimes wonder if anyone on here has met Ixion in person yet. Don'tthink he does the group thing.

Yep. some have. Mr Bugjuice. Mesdames Crashe. Keystone19. Messrs Speedmedic. Tracyprier. Firefight. Some others I can't recall. Maybe though they realised not with whom they spoke. A few others I think have spotted me tootling from afar. And I've waved to quite a few KBers without knwoing who they were (including you, I think)

No, I don't really do the group thing. You're all much too fast for me, remember I ride like your Nana's nana. And KB group rides seem to devolve mainly into who overtook who, and who got their knee down on what corner. Which is not at all what interests me in riding.

I guess its mainly just that I haven't ridden with mortals for over 30 years now. One gets out of the habit.

Work most weekends too which doesn't help. Roll on next year, weekends free again (I hope)

[Waylander]

No, I don't really do the group thing. You're all much too fast for me, remember I ride like your Nana's nana. And KB group rides seem to devolve mainly into who overtook who, and who got their knee down on what corner. Which is not at all what interests me in riding.


Should join me for a ride sometime. I'm horribly slow, bet you would even pass me lol.

[Da Bird]

Does BK still have the CBRXX registration plate?

Nice photos Zed. Wish I'd been there.

Yes, Biff, still got the plate - sorry, its not for sale. But you will be the first to know if I do get rid of it!

Great weekend with you guys and special thanks to Geoff for being a top host.

BC.

[Zed]

Great weekend with you guys and special thanks to Geoff for being a top host.Thanks again for not giving us any tickets BC! :msn-wink:

Maraetai was packed btw.

[Da Bird]

Thanks again for not giving us any tickets BC! :msn-wink:



I see nuffing... :whistle:

[oldrider]

Lots of nice pics but we far away people still don't see any faces. Cheers John.

[Zapf]

Honda's seems to be popular in blue today...

[vifferman]

Yes, it certainly was a fantastic weekend (thanks again, Geoff :niceone: ), and even riding in the rain yesterday didn't really spoil it. I wasn't too sure about Mac's comment about the high-mount pipe making my bike look too skinny though...
I guess he saw an awful lot of the back of my bike.

How are your headstock bearings from all the wheelies, Zed? Very nicely done, they were, and it was entertaining following you. Talking about interesting, the BMW GollumSmeagol 1200 Mac had hired certainly was that! What a weird beastie!:weird:

Like the others said, it was great meeting Zed again, and meeting BykeyCop for the first time, and a real pleasure spending the weekend with such a great bunch of guys. And no, I didn't have a hangover, because I wasn't inebriated, although I guess the others didn't realise that, as all weekend I was babbling almost as incoherently (and more volubly) than those who did over-indulge on Saturday night. :Oops:

[The Stranger]

Yeah, they're not called Bluebirds are they, might have trouble selling even one of those.

[Zed]

How are your headstock bearings from all the wheelies, Zed?Next on the 'to do' list Viff.

I too enjoyed following you on Saturday on the way down there, thanks again for leading the way to Coro and Geoffs awesome pad. You ride at a good pace and have good cornering lines, and the *mighty vifferarri* looks & sounds good from behind! (she made a good choice :msn-wink: )

Attached is a pic I took at that ungodly hour on Sat morning whilst waiting for you at our appointed meeting place.

[vifferman]

Attached is a pic I took at that ungodly hour on Sat morning whilst waiting for you at our appointed meeting place.
What an awesome photo! May I borrow it?
By the way - why did we meet at such an ungodly hour? :spudwhat: A half-hour later would've mean not much more traffic, and less problems with sunstrike and visor-fogging. (Must fix that - I saw my visor had adjustable mounts, so I fiddled. Now the visor sits tight against the rubber doofer, but it fogs up much, much easier.)

[Zed]

What an awesome photo! May I borrow it?Go for it.


By the way - why did we meet at such an ungodly hour? :spudwhat: The answer lies in the feeling I got when we arrived at our destination just after 9am and knowing that we still had most of the day remaining to enjoy!

And apart from the incy wincy bit of fog you complain about and that twit who stopped in the middle of the road without indication and then came and tailgated us, it was a pretty saweet ride down I thought! :headbang:

[zadok]

Sounds like a great weekend fellas. Wish I could have been there. I must plan another trip home to Tauranga before too long and hire a bike or something. :yeah:

[Blackbird]

That is a seriously awesome pic Matthew - you have a great eye for composition - well done. :not: :not:

I only have one arty shot of my 'bird which I took at the other end of the day at Raumati South on the way to the Southern Cross - will post it when I get home. Nice sunset.

Geoff

[vifferman]

Go for it.

The answer lies in the feeling I got when we arrived at our destination just after 9am and knowing that we still had most of the day remaining to enjoy!
Yeah, that was good. What a pity BykeyCop slept in! :Pokey:
Mind you, he probably really deserved it, given the job he does.


And apart from the incy wincy bit of fog you complain about and that twit who stopped in the middle of the road without indication and then came and tailgated us, it was a pretty saweet ride down I thought! :headbang:Yes, it was - very good indeed. I wasn't actually complaining as such - the fog was on the inside of the helmet, and the external fog was, as you say, negligible. It was just a few times when we were riding directly into the sun I thought we'd kinda made things more difficult/tricky than they needed to be. However, there's summat special about the early morning that those whose habit it is to sleep till late morning/early afternoon really don't appreciate.

[NodMan]

Next on the 'to do' list Viff.

Attached is a pic I took at that ungodly hour on Sat morning whilst waiting for you at our appointed meeting place.

Awesome pic Zed...(other cameras were watching you at THAT meeting place but the Nitrous bottle seems to have gone missing so theres no way I could catch up and present the $150 invitation to the Policemans ball for stopping there!...Next time the coffee is on in the two storey building across the other side..(and if you look the camera is mounted just above my window on front of that building hahaha)

[vifferman]

Awesome pic Zed...(other cameras were watching you at THAT meeting place but the Nitrous bottle seems to have gone missing so theres no way I could catch up and present the $150 invitation to the Policemans ball for stopping there!...Next time the coffee is on in the two storey building across the other side..(and if you look the camera is mounted just above my window on front of that building hahaha)
Is that right, Nod? :Oops:
Just send the ticket to me - it was my idea. I should've taken a pic myself (and would've, if I hadn't been late due to the silly servos up the road), because the last time I stopped there the photo I took was blurry. Must've been the ray beams from your fancy camera. :whistle:

Do I PM you my address for the ticket, or will you look it up from my rego plate? :spudwhat:

[Zed]

Awesome pic Zed...(other cameras were watching you at THAT meeting place but the Nitrous bottle seems to have gone missing so theres no way I could catch up and present the $150 invitation to the Policemans ball for stopping there!...Next time the coffee is on in the two storey building across the other side..(and if you look the camera is mounted just above my window on front of that building hahaha)LOL...I blame Viff cos he said it was okay to park there!! :cool:

[vifferman]

LOL...I blame Viff cos he said it was okay to park there!! :cool:
True. As in 'true confessions' (see my previous post).
If we'd known Nod had the coffee on, we could've stopped in to see him.
Mind you, if he was more neighbourly, he would've brought it over, and saved us the trip.

[Blackbird]

Just send the ticket to me - it was my idea. Do I PM you my address for the ticket, or will you look it up from my rego plate? :spudwhat:

What is it with you and public confessions Ian??? Look mate, resign from the IT industry this very minute. I think you have a calling as a Jesuit priest. The self-flaggelation will be particularly appealing and NodMan will be satisfied that you have truly repented for parking in a BAD PLACE.

[vifferman]

What is it with you and public confessions Ian???
Hang on a minute - I think I was confused.

Ummmm...
Well, on Saturday, I was out for a ride, earlyish, before the traffic got too heavy and all the morons got up. Riding past the coffee place to the north end of the bridge, I saw what looked like a bike broken down, and some poor biker looking very sorrowful because he hadn't bought a VFR. So, being a most kindly and helpful sort of bloke, I stopped, lent him my hanky to cry into, while I fixed his bike. While doing this, I noticed the people at the coffee shop across the road were watching us via their CCTV, but seemed to be most reluctant to help us or bring us a heart-warming coffee to ward off the bone-numbing chill of the early-morning hours.

So, I helped my fellow traveller, who by chance I happened to actually know, to fix his stealthy black machine. It seemed that the hydrocillator had become dislodged from the jarring of the front wheel repeatedly dropping onto the road from a height of a metre or so, and had misaligned the muffler bearing and caused a leak in the blinker fluid reservoir.That done, we were soon on our way, being very careful to obserrve all the road rules, especially those regarding committing murder by exceeding the posted speed limits.

Is that betterer?

[Ixion]

LOL...I blame Viff cos he said it was okay to park there!! :cool:

Hm. Depending on where exactly you was, and if they ever updated the boundaries, it may actually have been. Little known fact is that the extreme edgey bit of that edgy bit is not actually part of the harbour bridge roady thing.

Years ago when the bridge and its roady bits was being built, someone objected cos there used to be a little beach down there. And cos the public wanted still to have access to the foreshore. Mum and Dad used to take me down there to paddle before the bridge was built. My grandmother lived across the road.

As a result the bridge roady bit did not include a little bit of land at the extreme edge, and there used to be (may be still, dunno , must go look) an underpass tunnel , which , although mainly used by the toll booth thingies, was legally a public right of way so that said public could get to the little edgy bit, and thus the foreshore . EDIT: It was possible to ride a trailbike through the tunnel, provided you could cope with the steps at the far end. We did too.

The little edgy bit seems now to have been sealed over, but I think it would be the bit behind the shed thingy.


When it was the Harbour Bridge Authority, they used to have a very good workshop there, and if you broke down on the bridge, you could coast all the way down and pull into it and they were very good about letting people use the workshop to fix their bikes!. Availed m'self of it several times.

I spent half an hour behind the shed fixing Li'l Ratty's electrics a few months back when he fizzeled his wotchmacallits. If I'd known Mr Nodman hung out there I'd have rousted him out to lend a hand. Public assistance and all that, good PR, dontcha know.

[Blackbird]

Is that betterer?

You're a star - well done. With all those porkies, you'd make a good politician, although you might still make it as a Catholic priest.

Now watch all those negative rep points start flying. :devil2:

[Zed]

You're a star - well done. With all those porkies, you'd make a good politician, although you might still make it as a Catholic priest.

Now watch all those negative rep points start flying. :devil2:Hey guys, while we are on the subject of places not to park, did anyone notice that "N.P - For vehicles with trailers" sign erected right in front of our bike lineup in that pic I posted from Whitianga?

Here's the pic (http://www.b4time.net/rtw/16/8.html) that Mac took from a similar angle, except there's an extra vehicle in the shot! :banana:

[Blackbird]

Hey guys, while we are on the subject of places not to park, did anyone notice that "N.P - For vehicles with trailers" sign erected right in front of our bike lineup in that pic I posted from Whitianga?

Here's the pic (http://www.b4time.net/rtw/16/8.html) that Mac took from a similar angle, except there's an extra vehicle in the shot! :banana:

I chose to interpret it as vehicles with trailers were banned. It was a bit skinny unless you wanted the trailer sticking out in the road, and not big enough for more than a couple edge-on. Who cares anyway, Blackbird riders can do ANYTHING :niceone:

[vifferman]

I think we'd best ask Mr NodMan what he thinks, and did he have a camera in the coffee place acrosss the road? We had several. Plus a member of the constabulary making sure we were well behaved and that sort of thing.

Come to think of it - I reckon it was BykeyCop's idea to park there... :whistle:

[Blackbird]

Come to think of it - I reckon it was BykeyCop's idea to park there... :whistle:

Way to go Viff - no sign of Mea Culpa and blaming the wrong person - love it! :nono:

Umm, you can blame it on that ignorant hick from Tokoroa if you really like, we don't even have traffic lights :bleh:

[marty]

Yeah, they're not called Bluebirds are they, might have trouble selling even one of those.

imagaine how much fun it would be, riding a bluebird in tuxedo coloured leathers!!

[Blackbird]

Here you go Matthew - a dusk shot to complement your dawn one. I took this on the Kapiti Coast on the way to the Southern Cross (at a guess, only a few hundred metres from Mangell6's new house :not: )

Geoff

[Zed]

Here you go Matthew - a dusk shot to complement your dawn one. I took this on the Kapiti Coast on the way to the Southern Cross...Nice! No digital imagery or computer graphics can ever surpass the beauty of the natural sunrise or sunset!