onearmedbandit
16th February 2005, 19:09
I was at work yesterday, when a student mate of mine drops past on his ZX6R and suggests we fuck off to Nelson for the night, being a great day and all. So with the ok from the owner, and from the g/f, we left town about 5pm. It was a fucking blast, the speeds kept creeping up, but the roads were begging for it. The Lewis Pass was intense, along with the roads out of Murchison to Nelson. We arrived in Nelson and checked in to the Rutherford Hotel, quite nice and all but the 'executive' room they gave us only had one bed, so after a quick call to reception we got changed to a massive suit, all for the same (not-so-cheap) price.
We took the SH1 back down this morning, once again the roads were perfect. From just out of Nelson to the roads just out of Blenheim we were making a pretty good pace, I felt in perfect sync with my bike, quite often having to wait up for my ZX6R mounted friend. Stopped for lunch in Kaikoura, where it started to rain for about 30mins. I've never really enjoyed riding in the wet, but today it just felt so right. Moving myself around on the bike gave me the confidence to up the ante in the wet, quite enjoyed it actually.
All in all a farkin grouse ride, doing a stint like that just slams home how much I love riding. I learnt more about my bike, and about myself. I started to ball up the front tyre nicely (Michelin Pilot Race) and only have about 6-8mm of 'chicken strip' left on it, probably far enough on the road for me. (the profile on the edge is almost vert!!). I can't wait to get out for a track day, see if I can scrub the rest of it off. The back tyre (190 section Metzler Sportec) is worn to the edge on either side, so I'm pretty happy with my lean angles. I'll wait until I get to the track to put my knee down though, strange feeling hanging my knee out with only one arm holding on!
Otherwise no tickets, no bins, and no other motorcyclists waved. :spudwhat:
We took the SH1 back down this morning, once again the roads were perfect. From just out of Nelson to the roads just out of Blenheim we were making a pretty good pace, I felt in perfect sync with my bike, quite often having to wait up for my ZX6R mounted friend. Stopped for lunch in Kaikoura, where it started to rain for about 30mins. I've never really enjoyed riding in the wet, but today it just felt so right. Moving myself around on the bike gave me the confidence to up the ante in the wet, quite enjoyed it actually.
All in all a farkin grouse ride, doing a stint like that just slams home how much I love riding. I learnt more about my bike, and about myself. I started to ball up the front tyre nicely (Michelin Pilot Race) and only have about 6-8mm of 'chicken strip' left on it, probably far enough on the road for me. (the profile on the edge is almost vert!!). I can't wait to get out for a track day, see if I can scrub the rest of it off. The back tyre (190 section Metzler Sportec) is worn to the edge on either side, so I'm pretty happy with my lean angles. I'll wait until I get to the track to put my knee down though, strange feeling hanging my knee out with only one arm holding on!
Otherwise no tickets, no bins, and no other motorcyclists waved. :spudwhat: