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General Bike Ravings

Biker culture, politics and general issues.

  1. Learner Friendly Ride to Cape Reinga Part 1 (18/11/2011)

    The thread (here: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...20-November%29) had started ages ago, and the learners got more excited as the time drew nearer. Indeed… it seemed like it was akin to Christmas, with x number of sleeps to go.

    I’d asked the boss earlier in the week if I could skive off early, and provided we had everything done, he was fine with that. Things didn’t go according to plan however, as I got home around 3pm in the ...
  2. A star is born (05/11/2011)

    Some may have noticed Toto becoming a star in print, around August, in an issue of KiwiRider (thread here: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...o-in-KIWIRIDER), as one of those regular NZ riders, and featuring his profile. Of course, he’s far from normal, but I digress.

    Apparently people talk about me, and my name came up several times as a candidate for being profiled, due to the long distance riding I enjoy doing. Hanne makes contact with me back in September ...
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  3. The long awaited return of Jessica (21/10/2011)

    After countless days of waiting (Ok, about 53 days – it may as well have been an eternity) and a few phone calls, countless jibes from others saying the bike was on the Rena (yes, they all thought it was funny and they were the first to say it) I got the phone call from Ken mid Friday morning I had been waiting for.

    Documents were being sent to him by the shipper, he would forward them to me, and I would take them to Mainfreight in Otahuhu, pay some fees and collect the lovely Jessica. ...
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  4. Buying stuff you’ll hopefully never need (29/09/2011)

    Yeup, you read that right. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been on a bit of a bent about survival and rider training.

    Ages ago GiJoe had mentioned first aid kits and that sort of thing and I had shrugged it off. Since preparing for the GC last year I have been thinking of it more, especially when I had a few close shaves with cars on some runs, or helping people broken down in the middle of nowhere. Then Katiepie had her incident and it was a further reminder that I really should ...
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  5. First SASS Practice (28/09/2011)

    Standing for the South Auckland Street Skills (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...-Street-Skills), it’s about practising your skills safely in a car park. Nope, not wheelies and what not, it’s more slow speed handling and braking. Free to come along and enjoy the practising, it’s opposite the Manukau Central Police Station every Wednesday… check out the thread.

    I’d been to the one two weeks previous, but it was cold and rain threatening, so we headed ...
  6. Final Thoughts on the 2011 USA Trip (02/09/2011)

    Yeah, fine, OK, so I’m dragging out the trip by one more blog. Look out for the book and souvenirs coming to a store near you. We’re gonna commercialise the hell of out of this. I can see the headlines now… “Harleys survive a trip with a BMW”.

    Well, if you’re still reading my blogs, I’m impressed. By now you have read more than 98 pages of writing (I write the blogs in MS Word first), in excess of 64,500 words, and viewed more than 2,200 pictures. Originally, I wrote my blogs ...
  7. USA D45: Final Day in Los Angeles (29/08/2011)

    The alarm rang at 7am, but I was actually already awake, waking with a start at 6.55am, thinking I might have slept in. I wanted to sleep however, so I snoozed the alarm twice. Fortunately, I didn’t sleep any more, getting up, having a remaining apple from a previous breakfast, for breakfast. I chucked all my gear into my combination of bags, as I needed to re-pack at the warehouse anyway.

    I was down at the bike and ready to go by 8.15am and we left at 8.30am for the warehouse. ...
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  8. USA D44: Morro Bay to Los Angeles (28/08/2011)

    The alarm rings at 7.30am. What was a good idea last night, to perhaps follow the group into LA is now a real bad idea. I reset the alarm for 8.30am. When it rings the 2nd time, I get up and have the complimentary breakfast in the office. It’s cereal, pastries, juice, the usual stuff.

    Back to my room, I spend an hour and a half writing blogs. The extra effort is paying off, and I only have 2 days to write. I still need to post most of them however. I then pack, and taking advantage ...
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