A time to reflect

[MadDuck]

Yep its Xmas and Santa will soon be passing his way around the country.

So what have you done this year? Are you happy or do you have have regrets?

I have helped a mate through medical studies with some cash injection ... with little or no thanks....actually NO thanks. I have pit crewed for a team off here with lots of thanks and enjoyed the time beyond belief and hope it continues.

I have donated to a race team off KB and feel good about it. And that will continue until....well I am sure the bank will come after me.

I have been accused of being racist on the site for no good reason oh and a bitch and yet last weekend at Taupo that kinda made me remember the good ole KB.

To those been around a while and know me ...Merry Xmas guys and look forward to seeing you out there in 2006.

Ducky out

[Karma]

Merry Christmas Duck... this year my family and I applied for, and were granted residency here, we moved half way around the world, I got my bike licence and am now a member of this community.

God bless us every one!

[skelstar]

This year I have done what many have done at some stage: thats chucking the cage and have bought my FIRST bike. I have been fortunate to associate myself with heaps of like minded (or nearly) motorcyclists through this forum. Whats more I LOOK FORWARD to meeting people that I dont really know. I have increased my circle of friends 10 fold...and I reckon thats fantastic!

Is that what youre after MD? :)

[MadDuck]

Welcome to NZ and KB Weasel. And yes Skelsatr you hit the nail....so as to speak

And how remiss of me ..thanks to PaulNZ for helping me through a bit of a tough time.

[skelstar]

Ive heard/read a couple of stories about KBers helping fellow KBers out of a 'tough time'...from completely different regions! Makes you feel good about the whole community. Not looking for the story or explain...just mentioning it.

[yungatart]

Bought a bike, which is now praked up, waiting for my foot to heal, watched the gargre and the wood shed accumulate lots more bikes (I'm sure they breed when your back is turned), met some cool new people, had my first trip overseas, worked and studied. Yeah, roll on 2006. Merry Christmas everyone and a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year to you all

[froggyfrenchman]

(I'm sure they breed when your back is turned)

So you have that problem too?

[yungatart]

So you have that problem too?
It appears to be a phenomenon associated only with the buckets tho. I have NO idea why??

[Indiana_Jones]

I smell a music video!

-Indy

[Motu]

This time last year we had our offer on a house accepted,so that was pretty damn good.Then several months of hard work doing it up,the shift....the first part of 05 was pretty stressful.But we are now freehold and enjoying the quiet life in Huntly.I sold some bikes near and dear to me in dec 04 to fund another bike....and saw my hard won funds disapearing into the house....but I was able to pick up a DT230 that I had set my eye apon.I can now ride it with some of the best roads in the country right on my doorstep.

To balance that....there is always balance,right? This has been my worst year after 10 yrs in business,and going into this Xmas break is touch and go....hard to believe I'm deep in the poo from an overload in work....we have a backlog and can't clear the work to bring in the money.I want to sell up next year,but if I can't turn it around I'll have nothing to sell...next years project.

[Riff Raff]

Well here I am at work, and I started reflecting on the year that has gone. Christmas day last year I was injured and spending Christmas day on my own. I spent the day on KB increasing my post count with a multitude of mindless drivel.

This Christmas will be quite different. I finish my shift at 6am, head home for a sleep and then get to spend time with the man I love and some really good friends. And there will be pressies involved this year too! Woohoo!

It's been an interesting year with lots of ups and downs, but the ups have become more frequent and life is feeling pretty good at the moment.

I found love on KB and have made some amazing friendships. I feel truly lucky.

Here's hoping you all have a great Christmas and new year, and 2006 is a fabulous year for you.

[scumdog]

Met a swag more friends through KB, got a 'thank you' from a KBer who I gave advice to quite some time ago, very touching and humbling.

Rode my H-D a few km

Went to the USA and achieved another 'dream' in my life - bought a Yank-tank cage.

Got even more broke

Stayed married to CB

Stayed alive

Stayed happy.

Next year is going to be even better.....

[Badcat]

our second child was born, little scarlett is 4 months old now.
i got my dream job and am loving it
i'm more tired than i've ever been (2 kids under 2)
sampson started talking (he's eyeing the christmas presents saying "wow!" as i type this)
doesn't sound like much - but that's my world right now.
merry xmas all - KB has kept me sane at times over the year.

k

[Firefight]

To those been around a while and know me ...Merry Xmas guys and look forward to seeing you out there in 2006.

Ducky out


Happy to say

that I know you Crazy Duck person, have ridden with you

and respect you,

enjoy your contributions to KB

wish you well for 2006

Merry Christmas and a great new Year to you and yours


Firefight.

[NotaGoth]

Two of the worst years in my life, just one problem after another. But hey. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right? Came close but not quite. Still don't feel stronger for it. But heres hoping santa snuck me a "good year" gift for next year. We shall see.

Merry Christmas all and all the best for the year to come.

*kittie*

[LXS]

Got out of my shit job, got into a not-so-shit job, sold my car, bought my first bike.
Moved house, went to Canada for a few months.



A good year, can't wait for 2006!!

[Keystone19]

Well, reflections on 2005. The main thing in my life this year was buying my first bike, finding KB, meeting some fantastic people that I have been riding with, joking with and hanging out with, and buying my second bike!

My thanks to the support and friendship that everyone I have met through KB have offered through the varying times this year (and there have been a few)!

Hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and New Year and that 2006 is the best year yet!

Jill

[ManDownUnder]

Mad Duck - you are personally responsible for getting me out of the house and meeting a bunch of KBVers face to face... and finding out first hand what a great bunch of charitible and good people they really are.

To all - you've given me challenges, time to laugh and cry, and more than anything, reason to think - and for that I'm always grateful.

Good luck to all for 2006

[Antallica]

Got married and found a good stable job to support new family.

Next year will be my son being born :)

[DMNTD]

Had acute spinal surgery which was for the most part a success,off most of my med's(pain) after a decade:wacko: ,got loved up,moved to the opposite side of the country,bought my first ever NEW bike,my son moved in with me/us,have met/riden with a few from this cool forum-looking forward to meeting a LOT more,the list goes on.!! One of my better years after a decade of twisted kaka:moon:
And ya know what? Next year will be even better...I'll make sure of it:niceone:
Take care y'all,life ain't a rehersal so grab it by the bits and twist HARD!

[Beemer]

2005 has also been a year of ups and downs for me. Spent New Year in Australia with my other half's relatives, that was a lot of fun. Got married in March, had a great day and things have been going smoothly ever since.

I've been self-employed (and struggling, I don't mind admitting it) since 2002 but from about July this year things have been picking up and I was looking forward to the future. Until last weekend when I discovered a couple had formed a company and applied to trademark the business name I've been using since August 2002. I decided to fight their use of the name and this week I've managed to run up more than $2000 of legal bills. Although confident of the outcome, nothing is guaranteed, so in the New Year I could be forced to walk away from the name I've built up a solid reputation under, leaving me owing thousands in legal fees.

Until December 18 I had actually been really looking forward to Christmas and New Year! We did manage to have a great day yesterday and we are going ahead with plans for a bbq in the New Year, but I'll feel a lot happier once this case is decided one way or the other. It won't be the end of the world if I lose, I just have to find a new name for my business, but I will be very disappointed as I researched the name before I started using it and everyone comments on how appropriate it is to my trade. I just wish someone had suggested I trade mark it then, even though under the Fair Trading Act I have the right to the mark as I have been using it consistently for many years. Wish me luck, I sure as hell need it!

[Swoop]

I've been self-employed (and struggling, I don't mind admitting it) since 2002 but from about July this year things have been picking up and I was looking forward to the future. Until last weekend when I discovered a couple had formed a company and applied to trademark the business name I've been using since August 2002. I decided to fight their use of the name and this week I've managed to run up more than $2000 of legal bills. Although confident of the outcome, nothing is guaranteed, so in the New Year I could be forced to walk away from the name I've built up a solid reputation under, leaving me owing thousands in legal fees.

Until December 18 I had actually been really looking forward to Christmas and New Year! We did manage to have a great day yesterday and we are going ahead with plans for a bbq in the New Year, but I'll feel a lot happier once this case is decided one way or the other. It won't be the end of the world if I lose, I just have to find a new name for my business, but I will be very disappointed as I researched the name before I started using it and everyone comments on how appropriate it is to my trade. I just wish someone had suggested I trade mark it then, even though under the Fair Trading Act I have the right to the mark as I have been using it consistently for many years. Wish me luck, I sure as hell need it!

So long as you have a verifyable history of the use of your "brand" for sometime before another entity used it, you should be on solid ground Beemer!
All the best for 2006!!

[sunhuntin]

hmmm, 2005 eh?

well, my 04/05 new years was spent somewhere between new zealand and canada returning from a 6 month stint over there. one of my closest friends was murdered days later, another good friend overseas hung himself and my mothers aunt passed away of old age.
on the upside, i got my license, a job, then another job that got me out from underneath winz. our kitten tippy was dumped over our front fence, and was a balm to soothe my hurt soul. had an accident that served to teach me i am mortal and to ride within my limits. im sure the 4 people that have died in the last year and are now butterflies tattooed on my shoulder were responsible for my survival of that.

its been over a year since heather, a woman i stayed with while overseas, passed away from lupus, and nearly a year since tania was killed. i only hope the next year doesnt bring cause to get more butterflys inked onto me. 4 is enough for now.

[TonyB]

Geeze Motu- too much of a good thing? All the best for the new year. I'm sure you'll pull though. For the others for whom 05 has been a year to forget- MrsB and I have had a few years like that- major ilness, family members dropping like flies... What can I say- it never seems to end does it? It eventually came right for us, so here's to hoping 06 will be a good year for you. 05 for us has been a year where a HEAP of very small, seemingly random and unrelated events have added up to a major change in direction and a pretty big year...

Major problems at work had me tearing my hair out. Financially we were going backwards, and basically MrsB and I were starting to wonder what the point of it all was. Definitely mid life crisis material LOL

Since then a few things have happened which seemed random at the time, but they've all added up to a major change in direction. For starters I went to a trackday where I realised I needed to do something about my leathers- they wanted one piece or two piece zip together only. I also met this dodgy prick called Dangerous there... and reaquainted myself with people who I had met before, who I now realised were SuzyQ and 30UTD
The next thing was riding with D and his buddies and realising that I'm not as bad a rider as I thought.
At some point Wildcat-LGF popped up on the scene with the seemingly-too-good-to-be-true offer of leathers direct from the manufacturer. MrsB and I offered as much help as we could, and as it turned out it wasn't to good to be true, and I got a great 2 piece which as it turned out could be raced in- though that wasn't the intention at the time.
A bit later in the year I popped down to Ruapuna to watch Dangerous race, where Kickaha, Dangerous and K14 started the process of convincing me to give it a go. Incredibly, MrsB OK'd it, and despite some well founded financial concerns I went and gave it a go... and luved it!
I came up with the plan of leasing a bike for the price of a set of rings. Then I realised that it might be possible to get them a bit cheaper offshore. Sure enough it was, so I ordered a piston kit. About that time a business deal that I had been clinging to as a way out of my job fell through. I was absolutely gutted. Funnily enough that very day the piston kit turned up- the quality was awesome, so on the spot I decided that I was going to have a go at importing them. The idea quickly evolved and within a few weeks we formed a company. MotoEquip was born. We are now doing engine parts and apparel. It's definitely not easy- trying to work a full time job and then start a business at night while raising a two and three year old is pretty bloody hard! It may well fail miserably, but at least we’ll have given it a go.

On the full time job front, more randomness! I was in a truly shitty situation at work, which I did a major rant about somewhere on here and received tons of great advice- thanks guys. An old freind sent me a random email, I replied and we began chatting. Eventually I revealed how bad things were at work. She mentioned it to her husband who is also a good mate and BINGO, the company he works for offered me a job, so I got away from the ridiculous situation I had been in. I enjoy my new job- so far so good.

So there you go. It’s been a good year. For the first time in ages there’s been no major illness or death amongst our friends and family. We’ve made some great new friends. We have two awesome little kids. We have our health. We have no money. Oh well,
4 outa 5 isn’t too bad eh!

[Biff]

2006 - Arguably one of the best years of my life.

My first full year here in NZ. My family and I are all settled, healthy and happy.

I've just received a promotion in work. Start my new job on 16th Jan, so we can all stay here in NZ. Woohoooo!!

We've met some good people here and made some great friends, some of which are thanks to KB. Special thanks to Dangerous for 'picking me up' off here and introducing me to a great bunch of KBers from in and around ChCh.

Life's good. Shame the salary is shite.

[Pathos]

Nailed my Waikato Uni papers : A+ * 4, A * 2

bought a bike
loved my bike
crashed my bike
fixed my bike
met some cool bikers

got a dream holiday job.

Was never broke sick or injured....

2006 rocked.

[HDTboy]

January: Started the year in style by lining the sink in my little brothers washhouse with a very thick layer of chunder :niceone: Bought a nice radio for the house.

February: Got my Learners bike licence. Bought my first bike. Crashed my first bike. Got my bike roadworthy again, bought a minimum of gear and started riding. Killed the motor in my car. Started building a new motor for my car.

March: Joined KB :woohoo: and started meeting people from the site. Got my trade cert in the post :woohoo:

April:Went to the Auckland KB bowling and pizza night, fun night had by all. Met dveus, Speedmedic, loosebruce, and others. Popped my SH22 cherry.

May: The West Auckland KB dinner, Joni organised a good night at some Thai resteraunt in Te Atatu; I met Surfchick, MDU, Stifarms and GG, and lots of others who i can't remember off the top of my head

June: Got my A-grade signed off (still haven't recieved the certificate)

July: Went to the Auckland International Film Festival to watch Chapter and Verse, Directed by Surfchick. Not a movie I'd normally watch, but interesting all the same. Finally met Bugjuice after lots of online flirting :blip: saw MR for two minutes, and xXkittieXx too.
Went on a gigantic ride to the Kaiaua fish shop organised by Bugjuice, met a tonne of people, Standouts including Placid & sam, Sixpackback, Afro man, and who could forget the lovely Keystone19

August: Attended the KB spanner evening at Motohaus to try and learn some stuff. Rode to Rotorua to check out some secret stuff.

September: Organised a big Pub night in Takapuna, spent the rest of the night hugging Bugjuices toilet bowl (bloody BK). Moved to Rotorua after 3 years in Auckland. Had a birthday. Met R4Q2, Jackie, Amy, Postie and others. Popped my coro loop cherry with a wicked hangover and about 40 other bikes.

October: Failed in my bid to get onto the puke track, so went to the pub instead, spent the evening talking shit with MDU, checked out Gareth_Ds new bike. Went to my step-mums 40th and brought a car back to fix. Returned said car, managed Kaukap to Wellsford in half an hour, at night in the rain, tired as, in the automatic car. Met Cibby, Pinkhoggirl and the rest of the opononi riders.

November: Finally got to see the Worlds Fastest Indian, it's bloody good, you guys should watch it. Finally got onto a racetrack (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=411243#post411243), that was the most fun I'd ever had on a motorbike. Met MotoRacer, TwoSmoker, Quasievil, and those people from hawkes bay (you know who you are).

December: Went for a ride round to Te-Kaha, that's a good road, I'll have to go further next time. Trackday 18th, need I say more... Met lots of peeps at the trackday, caught up with some old mates too. Went for a ride up to see cripplepackback on Friday, down 22 to mums for Christmas, spent a couple of days relaxing, then home to my own little place with my lovely flattys (one's lovely anyway).

[Marmoot]

what's this year......?

Jan: got new suspension kit for my car

Feb: traded Blade to SP1

Feb: got married

Feb: car kissed car......someone sued me for $1000 for just a feckin VW Indicator lens.

Apr: bus kissed car......$2500 insurance damage and loss of no claim

Jul: mental breakdown at work....lasted 2 months

Oct: changed job position but within same company....now im doing something I dont really like

Dec: house got burglared......lost around $6000

Dec: Police came for the burglary inspection

not a bad year........oh, and I got accused for inverse-racism too. Something new, I guess.

Two things that kept me going for this year are (1) my wonderful wife's support on everything, and (2) the 2005 EFC series.

Hope 2006 will be better. :kick: