Blog Comments

Hmmm. Black. That should hide the dirt really well! Avon Storm 2s front and rear?

Gorgeous looking bike... lets hope it serves you as well as Big Red... but it needs a name you know.

Looks good John. I understand now why I didn't see you on the road. I came home from the Naki via Opunake and then a little flit up to the end of the Otaki Gorge (to check out a trout pool) to be at home by 4pm. You were still some distance away!

Now ... about that YELLOW ST1300........

nice one KoroJ - great post to your blog - enjoy your new ride - long may you run - cheers Stephen aka Aslan

I love it when you get curmudgeonly John!! So MANY spelling mistakes!!!

Hahaha Yes, I had similar when I booked a flight on Jetstar (except it didn't keep going up). Suddenly the "cheap" flight had options, like priority boarding, seat selection, insurance etc. You can fly without checked baggage (which may explain the $10 difference) or with, and so on. When the BMW was being shipped, I rode down to Wellington overnight, then flew out the following evening (first time I slept on a plane too).

Jetstar is cheap alright, just don't screw up and arrive late or anything. You should be able to self check at the kiosks, using Air NZ, and they're really neat. As a general rule, the flights get more expensive as you get closer to the day. Looks like Wednesday next week is cheap cheap, and beyond the air nz site, I suggest Webjet (don't book jetstar there tho, the booking fee is less on jetstar's website).

Tell us what day and time you are coming through and I'll shout you a coffee in the Tron. I'm sure David would like a look at the beast also.
Cheers
Jim

I do have Roadside Assist via NAC insurance. It was a nice afternoon and I didn't anticipate the problems with the ramp. I used them last time and hope I don't have to use them again.

Report given via the agent that supplied and fitted. Didn’t ring and no direct contact.

Bike now has 023’s front & rear. Felt nice coming home…but that’s just scrubbed them.

Forgot to take camera but gash is huge. I’m positive it wasn’t caused by FOD, because one would see and feel anything big enough to do that damage. Interesting that there appears to be a patch of rust on some of the strands in the centre of the gash!!??

Amazing the destruction caused to an uninflated tyre over about 400metres.

Good read... bloody bastard getting to cavort around the island!

Thats a shame, I had a set of Avon Cobras on my Suzuki M109R for 23,000km, even on the last few k's they never gave me any grief, so I put some new ones back on. Having said that I do my tyre pressures before every time I ride and am not really fast rider and I like the twisty roads, so I did not get much squaring off.

Interesting, Iwas seriously going to have a go at putting Avons on My St (Sprint 1050), but may not now. I am running 023's and the seem to perform pretty wll, not that i am a expert but I have not had any trouble, actulally I have got some thing like 15000kms out of the front and it still seems to have life, I got about 13000 out of the rear before i changed it, even then it still had a bit of life in it. I will interested to see how your bike goes on the 023's it is a lot heverier than mine. Good luck with the new purchase....hope it happens for you. Roger

That looks really bad and I'm at a loss to explain it too! When the original Storm first came out, I was one of the first in NZ to receive it. They had a QA problem with the front hoop causing a steering shimmy and because a mate also experienced it, I went straight to Pete McNally, their Technical Manager in the UK and had a great response. Dold, the local importers were notified by Pete and the remedial action was excellent. In the intervening period, I've been asked by Dold to evaluate 2 sets of Avon tyres for them so have been pretty pleased with their interest and service. Was it them you wrote to? Have you tried ringing them?

Incidentally, I no longer use Avons either! Not for a lack of performance but price! When I wore out the last set of Ultras which cost me $550 this time last year, they were $550. This year, they'd gone up to $650. I was offered a pair of Michelin PR3 B Spec tyres for $600 fitted so I've gone with them.

Geoff

But no report about the nice ride... well, until H'ville.

S'truth, you get all the fun eh? I shouldn't say this, but I've had one puncture in the last 80,000km odd, although it was during traffic on the Auckland motorway, and I kept riding it to my off ramp while it deflated (cats eyes were real interesting, bike got a whole jiggy going).

Still, after a bit of help, you got home safe, which is the important part (and the hard feelings for Avon just a little understandable me thinks). Oh, also, give a thought to AA Plus membership. I joined when I figured after 2 years of 60,000km at all hours of the night throughout the country, luck was against me, and best I pay a little less than $150 a year for some piece of mind...

Interested to read your comments about tyres.
The Avon Storms I had on my bike were the absolute worst tyre you could imagine. The bike was impossible to keep in a straight line at low speeds. Crawling in rush hour traffic it was hard to keep it in one lane. Importers were no help when I raised the issue with them. Kerry from Motohaus was full of crap and no use either. Apart from being bemused by his atrocious manners.
The guy who previously owned my bike had very disparaging comments to make about the older Bridgestones so maybe they have upped their game as well. I have had the best performance out of Metzler Z6s. Look forward to see your future reports.

Yes it was a good day. Steve's first real outing on the XT600 I think and he really enjoyed the pootle over the Admiral Range Road. I had to work a bit harder on the GS but it was a good blast. Rick and I were going to ride together back to Karori but I hit a couple of traffic lights nicely and got well up ahead.
Not often that the weather forecast is proved wrong but this was a goodie.

ahh yes I seen you guys heading north on ya journey your rather easy to spot KoroJ great wee write up too

Originally Posted by Hitcher

I had to zoom that last photo to see what the second bike with the odd-shaped tank was.

Mmmm....CB650 got along alright. The Yammy Scooter was no slug either.

Originally Posted by Hitcher

The Claytons Bandit has a shit low beam. Exiting the roadworks into a smeary righthander, I had no idea where the road went or what was on it. I'm stumped if anything can be done about it. It's that bike's only real fault. Maybe I should write Mr Suzuki a letter?

In my experience of mates bikes, Suzuki headlights are generally outstanding. First option to upgrade is to find out what bulbs it uses, and use uprated ones (Hella +50/90% etc). Bear in mind they don't last as long and usually blow at really bad times (09 GC, 11.30pm lost low beam, another ride, blew both filaments around Kaitaia, with no spares, at night).

If that doesn't work out, then extra lights are probably your only other option, unless you go for the somewhat naughty HID retrofit.

I had to zoom that last photo to see what the second bike with the odd-shaped tank was.

Sounds disturbingly similar to a ride we did on Saturday. We stopped in Greytown so Mrs H could get her sunglasses off.

The hill was exciting, particularly the roadworks. The Claytons Bandit has a shit low beam. Exiting the roadworks into a smeary righthander, I had no idea where the road went or what was on it. I'm stumped if anything can be done about it. It's that bike's only real fault. Maybe I should write Mr Suzuki a letter?