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James Deuce
12th August 2006, 21:18
I hadn't been for a ride with Mooch since he got back from the UK, and thanks to the weather changing from, "Death to Old People and Lambs" to "It might be a bit windy" we uncancelled our cancelled planned ride for Saturday.

We had an "interesting" ride over the hill,neither of us really getting our heads around "riding in the wild" so to speak. I've been commuting ceaselessly since December last year and it really does your head in when you want to go "sport" riding. The dreadful weather really has kept me confined to scribing a groove between work and home.

At least I had someone witness my hamfisted rear end slides on the way up the hill. The worst bit though, was a long downhill left hander. The wind was mildly gusty, but not really a concern until I opened the taps a little early, had the rear step out a little - not dirt track styles but enough to require some thought, when I got slammed by a huge gust. And the front let go. Now I'm not Mick Doohan, and I have no pretensions about my abilities. I'm just thankful it didn't go wrong, but it is kind of hard to keep on the gas in a left hand bend with both ends struggling for traction (third "end" too) with a blind right coming up just....about....now.

So I rode the rest of the way down the hill in that characteristic panicked pogo style that seems to go with the after effects of a Force 13 Adrenalin flood.

We made it to Martinborough. There we bumped into half of the KB Welly crew. Skelstar (of course), Uncle B (Has anyone noticed just how much he looks like Tommy Chong with short hair? See below), Velox, LBTW, Darkman, Vasaline (sic) Warrior, Bugsplat tuned up too (doesn't he always though? And in the oddest places sometimes). There's some missing from the list - I think a couple of people went home after my bad taste joke about taking the car to work on Fridays so I can drive home drunk - I never feel that happy riding drunk. It's a vertigo thing.

Anyhoo, a chance comment to LBTW got me my first excellent suprise of the day - a ride on the new Gixxer 750. It's quite gratifying to be given that level of trust, just like that. I had a blast too. The engine in that thing is a gem. I think I know what Suzuki got from the Kawasaki partnership - Induction noise and midrange, two traditional Kawasaki features. Phwoooar, what a noise. Oops stop that. You'll run into LBTW riding your own bike. Idiot.

The water tower road was magic. The loonies hooned off first and I followed Skel, his bodacious looking Hornet is just what the Hornet should have been in the first place, I reckon. Just as I was marvelling at Skel's tidy turn of speed he slowed and waved me past. That was a shame. We never seem to get out on rides much and it was a real thrill to see the old hunched and tension wracked Skelstar of the past firmly consigned to history. Nice lines and good body language.

Now I had to try and chase the lead group down. Never easy with that crowd of squids. I managed to get VW in sight in time to see some monster twitches from his GSXR. LBTW's 750 never flinched. Kinda makes you wonder just where the limit actually is these days. In a hedge or fence most likely.

We swapped bikes back at the intersection that leads to Masterton. I couldn't believe how high my bars were, and how low the pegs were. Blimey, I've turned into Mangell! I now ride an outrageous armchair! The blast back to Masterton was a hoot, as always. LBTW had the excuse book out today, his glasses got sucked off his nose so he couldn't see. Yeah that's why the old bloke on the Orange Armchair smoked ya. Yup ,that's it. ;)

After another Cafe stop in Masterton, we split up as we left. The Mentor's mentor, Uncle B, had run his rear down to the carcass. His tyre was pretty damn dodgy as well. See photo below - would you like some tyre with that canvas Sir?

Then Mooch let me ride the 748.

It was more of a rack than I expected. It was also better than I expected. In the course of a couple of hours I'd now been lucky enough to try the epitomy of both Japanese and Italian 750cc design. The Suzuki is the the latest and greatest, encapsulating all the chassis technology updates gleaned from a whole bunch of racing disciplines, where the 748 manages to work well despite being so damn beautiful (Has anyone killed James Blunt yet? No really, I'd like to know. If he's still with us, I think I'd like to join the queue.) and based on a design that first saw the light of day 12 years ago.

Mooch's 748 is not like other 748s. His previous bike was a KR-1(250cc parallel twin two stroke race rep) and he's dropped cams in this thing that make the engine behave like a KR-1's. Lumpy bottom end, nothing, nothing, aaaaargh, f__k 10.5k rpm redline you dork, aaargh make it stop. All to a glorious V-Twin soundtrack sponsored by Arrow exhausts - the loudener experts of the after market exhaust industry. Just as we got to the hillclimb road (again, but via a different loop) what should I see but a Bayliss replica 998 and a black 636. - Fatjim and MD! I quickly pulled up to say hi - and watched Mooch ride past on my bike, with my cellphone in my tank bag on my bike.

Oh.

Dear.

LBTW and I blatted down the road, couldn't find him, and none of the cyclists we asked had seen an Orange Armchair pretending to be a motorbike. Bugger. So we did what all good blokes do when lost. We went to the pub. Bumped into a character on a Yamaha SRX600, painted in TRX Red with white frame and wheels. Had beer. Managed to get hold of Mooch on my cellphone by calling him from LBTW's cellphone. We met up in Featherston and cruised back over a slightly damper, slightly windier Rimutaka HIll Road than the one we'd come over.

Bloody good day though. Thanks VERY much for trusting me with your pride and joy (s), LBTW and Mooch. Made an already excellent day very special.

mikey
12th August 2006, 21:42
i look forward to getting older. people might will let me ride there bikes,

jimbo's opld bike? growen some mighty big chicken strips there carl hahahahha

James Deuce
12th August 2006, 21:43
Carl! That's it. Sorry man. I was tripping on riding other people's bikes.

cowpoos
12th August 2006, 21:47
i look forward to getting older. people might will let me ride there bikes,

jimbo's opld bike? growen some mighty big chicken strips there carl hahahahha
he bent his rims hitting a pot hole today aswell.....and yer.....the chicken strips are bigger than they look.....but the bike is in retirment now!!

cowpoos
12th August 2006, 21:47
Carl! That's it. Sorry man. I was tripping on riding other people's bikes.

he ain't a site member....the poor lad works for me....lmao

Deano
12th August 2006, 21:48
Great write up Jim.

I think I caught sight of Velox as she was leaving Karori this am.

Mikey was saying that LBTW offered him a go on the 750 on Thursday night :gob:

Is that man feeling ok or what ? How many beers did you have Thurs night Simon ?

I would have loved to tag along but had pressing matters with a certain CBR400RR race bike. Prepping for next Fri/Sat test/race days and the news is all good. Even Fizzerman is a tad worried and he is on a 750. He hasn't come across a 400 before that lifts the front back up in 2nd gear, from a 1st gear wheelie.

We had an interesting "Team Piston Broke Racing" test ride too ......:shutup:

Red and blue flashing lights heading toward us on the way back home.

Must have been a coincidence cause 'she' didn't turn back (not that we hung around:innocent: ).

I looked back a couple of times to see Fizzerman waving me frantically on - thing was, I had a 'minor' oil overflow problem which coated the rear tyre with oil and F/man in a cloud of smoke - Fizzerman was actually waving me down, not 'on'.

Never mind - made it home safe and all was good. Might have to leave the test rides until the 'track' test days in future.

Anyone going out tomorrow ?

Deano
12th August 2006, 21:50
jimbo's opld bike? growen some mighty big chicken strips there carl hahahahha

What a cunt.:nono:

Wasp
12th August 2006, 22:27
i'll be out practicing tommorow - constructive comments welcome

mikey
12th August 2006, 22:33
team piston broke bla bla blka bla bla bla, do da bla. a. la .bla

go team!

Deano
12th August 2006, 22:34
i'll be out practicing tommorow - constructive comments welcome

Take your time and have fun !!

Wasp
12th August 2006, 22:40
Don't worry Deano, Unc B took me out last weekend - the number of times ive done the takas went up by alot that day :yes:

and i see darkman and sugilite are reading this :wavey:

sugilite
12th August 2006, 22:43
Great write up Jim2. Poos, let me ride his bike on manfield, it rocked, so can relate to what your saying there...


The Mentor's mentor, Uncle B, had run his rear down to the carcass.
Gawd Uncle B, you have turned me into a mentors, mentors mentor lol
I'll be exploring some local roads tomorrow, getting ready for our ride, so you better get a new tyre soon eh! :yes:

Deano
12th August 2006, 22:55
I was tripping

Flashbacks ?

VasalineWarrior
12th August 2006, 23:23
Nice report Jim! Thanks for once again relegating me into the 'looney' category.

Tyres were a bit shreded and there was a lot of crap on the road so the back end wobbles prob looked worse than they were!
Was that you I shot past on the way back towards carterton? Everybody seemed to have differnt ideas as to how to get home (sh-2 sucks and bruce had enough escorts); end result was that I lost the group :bye:

limbimtimwim
13th August 2006, 00:54
Now I had to try and chase the lead group down. Never easy with that crowd of squids. I managed to get VW in sight in time to see some monster twitches from his GSXR. LBTW's 750 never flinched. Kinda makes you wonder just where the limit actually is these days. In a hedge or fence most likely.The gixxer has never, EVER warned me, saying 'fuck off, slow the fuck down'. If this is because I have not got close to the limit, cool, if this is because it won't, holy shit. I pray it is the former. My RVF screams at you in various ways (back wheel lock up, twitching/slapping bars, back wheel off the ground, something other than footpeg or tyre touching the ground (Fairing I guess..)) that you have are edging against the limit, push harder and it takes no responsility for what bone shattering event happens next. Makes it great to ride, all alive, twitching and tingly.
LBTW had the excuse book out today, his glasses got sucked off his nose so he couldn't see. Yeah that's why the old bloke on the Orange Armchair smoked ya. Yup ,that's it. ;)Quiet mister I can afford contact lenses. :)
Bloody good day though. Thanks VERY much for trusting me with your pride and joy (s), LBTW and Mooch. Made an already excellent day very special.Thanks for letting me ride your Z750, it was a peach.

I mean, burnt orange sofa.

yungatart
13th August 2006, 13:35
So I rode the rest of the way down the hill in that characteristic panicked pogo style that seems to go with the after effects of a Force 13 Adrenalin flood.

Isn't that where you are supposed to pull over and refocus the senses, take some deep breaths and regain control.... well, that is what some venerable old fart once told me, anyway.:Pokey:
Great write up though,.Jim

James Deuce
13th August 2006, 14:42
Definitely. Though the last time I stopped in a parking bay on the Rimutakas in a windy day I only just managed to catch my bike when it got blown over.

mangell6
13th August 2006, 14:46
Isn't that where you are supposed to pull over and refocus the senses, take some deep breaths and regain control.... well, that is what some venerable old fart once told me, anyway.:Pokey:
Great write up though,.Jim

You forget that he is riding an ArmChair and should be relaxing in it anyway.

Seems that the armchairs ride rather well. Must try mine again.

Mike

skelstar
13th August 2006, 16:51
Good write up dude. I was having a minor 'mare going up the water-tower road. I hope to aquit myself a bit better next time.

Was good to ride with you again.

Have to say that I was looking at the takas the whole way down SH2 packing myself about how bad it was up there. Funniest moment of the day was when Velox and I were challenging each other to race as well as you can following Nana_B on his steel-belted banzai machine.

Cheers for organising ride VasMan.

Kendog
13th August 2006, 17:09
Great write up there Jim!! :2thumbsup

LBTW, are you trying to get as many people as you can to ride your new baby so they can see just how cool Suzukis are so we all trade in our Hondas?:nono:
Mrs KD.

skelstar
13th August 2006, 17:11
I even got to ride the wunder-zuki. LBTW was giggling a bit too much when he got off my bike :). Im worried.

Kendog
13th August 2006, 17:15
I even got to ride the wunder-zuki. LBTW was giggling a bit too much when he got off my bike :). Im worried.

:laugh: Cool!! We saw him last week and he offered the other half a ride (I was standing there too and wondered if the offer extended to nanna), but he was too scared. I sat on it and decided I probably couldn't sit for more than about 5 minutes in that kind of position anyway!

VasalineWarrior
13th August 2006, 21:52
[QUOTE=skelstar;

Cheers for organising ride VasMan.[/QUOTE]

No worries dude-I didnt even know it was 'my' ride, let alone that so many people were going to show up. Il take praise wherever I can get it though, even if it isnt deserved.

Might have to get there earlier at the start and make sure everyone knows where we're all stopping. After masterton I didnt know where anyone else got to

skelstar
13th August 2006, 22:00
Well I was escorting NanaB, Velox thought we were leading the way and wondered why we never turned off, and Karl was tagging along because he didnt trust Jim2's leadership I believe. Maybe he was up for a tyre-blowout show.

Velox
13th August 2006, 23:49
That was a bit of a deja-vu of the old days (well, pre-winter anyway). It felt like I hadn't done a good old ride to Martinborough, had a kai in the sun and hooned round the back roads for ages! Cause I haven't I guess. Good to hang out w some of the usuals again too.

Yep - nice write up Jim. That stretch between Gladstone and Masterton was covered in quite a bit of crap cause of the slips, but still beaut corners out there. Was a bit of a poo going down SH2, forgot UB and Skelstar weren't turning off until we got through Carterton.:bye:

Just saw today that I can see bits of metal through my tires too! Whoops. Better sort that. Real stink about Carl's wheels as well!

Summer, summer, summer - pull finger.

James Deuce
13th August 2006, 23:52
I'll second the bugger about Carl's wheels too! I can understand how it happened though. There were some wheel eating mofos on the stretch from the bottom of the water tower road through to Wainuioru.

Really nice to meet the CBR at last Velox. Very nice, understated colour scheme too. Excellent to see you go as quick up hill as down. ;)

sAsLEX
14th August 2006, 10:42
is it possible to sue the council for unmarked hazards if you hit a pot hoel causing that damage? Or the fact the road is so poorly maintained it is in that state, that is unless they have marked the fact.

I know motu blah blah sill sprot bike riders , but if it can save a $$ or two.

VasalineWarrior
14th August 2006, 11:31
Guess Carl could try but with all the recent flood damage he might be pushing s*** uphill. But then again, there wasnt a single damn road cone on any of them?
If the impact was enough to bend the wheel that must have generated a mean tankslapper. Plenty of crashed gsxr's abouth though so wouldnt think it's too hard to track down a spare wheel for it

cowpoos
14th August 2006, 11:39
is it possible to sue the council for unmarked hazards if you hit a pot hoel causing that damage? Or the fact the road is so poorly maintained it is in that state, that is unless they have marked the fact.

I know motu blah blah sill sprot bike riders , but if it can save a $$ or two.
he has takin photo's of the pot hole yesterday and the fact there were no sign's present.... be interesting to see what the south wairarapa councils repliy to this....

skelstar
14th August 2006, 12:01
Reckon the Rapa councils have their hands up at the mo. Probably have used up all the cones elsewhere. Not saying it is right though.

Mooch
14th August 2006, 14:56
Thanks for the ride Jim2 , Had a great ride on your bike via gladstone / martinborough / featherstone trying to catch up :blip:
I stopped in Martinborough and gave your tank bag a ring.
Your bike needs a softer seat .... with that ohlins rear you can feel every pebble . Smooth engine too.

Trip down the Taka's wasn't much fun in the rain and wet ... Can someone explain to me why Italian leather manufactures stick lycria in the crotch region in sports leathers ?.:shit:

I take it the "steel belted" GSXR made it home OK ?

Nice to meet some others from KB for the first time , Hope all you Jappa owners didn't mind a Italian to tag along.

Uncle B
14th August 2006, 15:28
At the start of the ride I swore there was plenty of rubber on the rear.
That explains the lack of traction I was able to put down and why I spent half the time wondering why Velox was still in my mirrors :nya:

Bloody good ride with bloody good people....cheers you lot.

Yes Sugi, new tyre has been organised.

MikeyG
14th August 2006, 20:10
[LEFT]IAnyhoo, a chance comment to LBTW got me my first excellent suprise of the day - a ride on the new Gixxer 750.

Where do I sugn up LBTW?

limbimtimwim
14th August 2006, 20:22
When you let me have a go on your RVF400, silly :)

Mooch
14th August 2006, 20:38
he bent his rims hitting a pot hole today aswell.....and yer.....the chicken strips are bigger than they look.....but the bike is in retirment now!!

The pot holes where twins big enough to turn around an interisland ferry. Just as well they were full of water otherwise we'd still be digging Carl out. They were easier to see once Carl had emptied most of the water out of them.
Sorry about your rims ....

Carl , don't take any shit from this lot , Your riding fine with good lines.

Motoracer
14th August 2006, 20:45
You must have read a few books in your life huh?

That's exactly what the writing style is like. It was like reading an interesting short story. 1 that was an enjoyable read.

Good to see you having fun Jim. :)

cowpoos
14th August 2006, 22:53
Carl , don't take any shit from this lot , Your riding fine with good lines.

He's not a membor of KB...but I'll pass ya message on

Velox
15th August 2006, 22:38
That explains the lack of traction I was able to put down and why I spent half the time wondering why Velox was still in my mirrors :nya:


:shit: Hey - I could see metal through my tyres by the end of it too! Admittedly not nearly as much, but still...:eyepoke:

merv
16th August 2006, 08:09
:shit: Hey - I could see metal through my tyres by the end of it too! Admittedly not nearly as much, but still...:eyepoke:

You got a new tyre now then -type? How many kms you get out of the old one?

VasalineWarrior
16th August 2006, 15:28
Hope all you Jappa owners didn't mind a Italian to tag along.

Nah its fine. Only if you stay at the back though :bleh:

Mooch
16th August 2006, 19:16
Yeah , it pays for the person with the puncture repair kit to stay at the back with this lot. Was half expecting to use it on the journey home.:shit:

Velox
23rd August 2006, 19:04
You got a new tyre now then -type? How many kms you get out of the old one?
Just got a "new" rear tyre - Racetech. It's been raced though so isn't actually new - same with the old ones so would've def got quite a few less ks than I would've out of new ones.