Mom
16th March 2009, 08:58
After much thought and deliberation, not to mention coercion and bribery a decision was made to go to Napier for the weekend to help yungatart celebrate her birthday. This providing a perfect opportunity for a catch up with far away friends. Apparently a girly, bitchy ride was planned for Saturday so the blue lovely was prepared for the biggest trip she had done so far.
Chain lubed, oil level checked then off to the servo for gas and the all important tyre pressure adjustment. I usually use 28 front and 32 rear, but after taking some advice on tyre pressures I decided to test out a higher inflation rate so 32 front and 36 rear was duley dialled in. OMG! :gob: the difference this made was amazing, my blue lovely floats like a butterfly. Feeling pretty good with life, the universe and everything we hit the road south.
Swung in to Silverdale and picked up MadDuck then down to the BP Autobhan to wait for Sharry who was also travelling down with us. A quick bite to eat at the golden arches provided an opportunity for me to treat myself to a little pressie as a momento of my trip :msn-wink: Fed, watered and relieved we hit the road again. Of course the weather guru's were not quite right with the rain forecast and it was not long before we were riding in steady rain. About this time the blue lovely started intermittently running on 3 cyclinders :eek: The first time it happened I automatically thought it was gas related but as I had only travelled 100 kms on a proven 220 before reserve range, I soon discounted that. Oh well maybe I have a cracked plug cap or one of the leads is leaking, it is raining afterall. Then again it could also have been some kind of governing device kicking in as I was doing that dangerous 110kph type of speed :Police:
Turned off SH1 at Taupiri and headed for Cambridge. About 10 k's short of Cambridge the lovely was really struggling, we hit some roadworks and the slow speed stuff was proving a challenge for her. I am convinced it is fuel by now, and hope the hell I can reach Cambridge before it really turns to crap. No such luck :pinch: A sense of urgency appeared in my riding now, I zoom coughing, farting and surging past a 4x4 and have to stop at a T intersection, the engine stops. No amount of trying will re-start her so I get off and push her across and then up the road till I could find a shoulder wide enough to get my sidestand down safely. Did I mention I was holding up the 4x4 behind me? :o He stopped and offered assistance and offered to follow me to Cambridge. Hell nice bloke. Bike eventually started with the tap on prime and off I went. Still running as ragged as can be, with the tap on reserve I limped into Cambridge and puttered to a stop at the servo. Refuel and decide to press on.
Back out on the road and as if by magic the blue lovely is back to her usual self and we have a great and uneventful trip to Taupo. Refuel there and then head across to Napier. The weather was beautiful, but the ominous very big, black clouds on the mountains did not bode well for the final leg of the trip. Sure enough we are soon riding in torrential rain, the mist is down to the ground and it is freezing cold. Visibility was not wonderful (mind you the sunglasses did not help) and the roads are greasy, on the plus side the blue lovely was handling it like a pro! We stopped at Te Pohue to get out of the weather and attempt to warm up a bit, then made our way into Napier. Arrived at chez MSTRS/tarts dripping wet and in dire need of a hot shower. After a feed and a couple of drinks we called it a night.
Edit: every bloke deserves a hello kitty watch I reckon - my present
Chain lubed, oil level checked then off to the servo for gas and the all important tyre pressure adjustment. I usually use 28 front and 32 rear, but after taking some advice on tyre pressures I decided to test out a higher inflation rate so 32 front and 36 rear was duley dialled in. OMG! :gob: the difference this made was amazing, my blue lovely floats like a butterfly. Feeling pretty good with life, the universe and everything we hit the road south.
Swung in to Silverdale and picked up MadDuck then down to the BP Autobhan to wait for Sharry who was also travelling down with us. A quick bite to eat at the golden arches provided an opportunity for me to treat myself to a little pressie as a momento of my trip :msn-wink: Fed, watered and relieved we hit the road again. Of course the weather guru's were not quite right with the rain forecast and it was not long before we were riding in steady rain. About this time the blue lovely started intermittently running on 3 cyclinders :eek: The first time it happened I automatically thought it was gas related but as I had only travelled 100 kms on a proven 220 before reserve range, I soon discounted that. Oh well maybe I have a cracked plug cap or one of the leads is leaking, it is raining afterall. Then again it could also have been some kind of governing device kicking in as I was doing that dangerous 110kph type of speed :Police:
Turned off SH1 at Taupiri and headed for Cambridge. About 10 k's short of Cambridge the lovely was really struggling, we hit some roadworks and the slow speed stuff was proving a challenge for her. I am convinced it is fuel by now, and hope the hell I can reach Cambridge before it really turns to crap. No such luck :pinch: A sense of urgency appeared in my riding now, I zoom coughing, farting and surging past a 4x4 and have to stop at a T intersection, the engine stops. No amount of trying will re-start her so I get off and push her across and then up the road till I could find a shoulder wide enough to get my sidestand down safely. Did I mention I was holding up the 4x4 behind me? :o He stopped and offered assistance and offered to follow me to Cambridge. Hell nice bloke. Bike eventually started with the tap on prime and off I went. Still running as ragged as can be, with the tap on reserve I limped into Cambridge and puttered to a stop at the servo. Refuel and decide to press on.
Back out on the road and as if by magic the blue lovely is back to her usual self and we have a great and uneventful trip to Taupo. Refuel there and then head across to Napier. The weather was beautiful, but the ominous very big, black clouds on the mountains did not bode well for the final leg of the trip. Sure enough we are soon riding in torrential rain, the mist is down to the ground and it is freezing cold. Visibility was not wonderful (mind you the sunglasses did not help) and the roads are greasy, on the plus side the blue lovely was handling it like a pro! We stopped at Te Pohue to get out of the weather and attempt to warm up a bit, then made our way into Napier. Arrived at chez MSTRS/tarts dripping wet and in dire need of a hot shower. After a feed and a couple of drinks we called it a night.
Edit: every bloke deserves a hello kitty watch I reckon - my present