General Bike Ravings

Just had the black and the helmet pinstriped for a bit more presence and vis. I used a reflective tape (in Wellington Colours) and had some scuff stuff added to reduce the damage from stone chips and scuffing where the red is showing wear.

Just need to swap the GPS mount over now and she's ready to go.

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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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Charity Ride
When ...................This Sunday @2:30pm 6th of November
Where...................Meet @ DPC 1:45PM 257 Gt south Rd Drury
or head straight to Albany The Warehouse carpark @2:30pm
WHY.....................Awareness for the Burmese refugees in Thailand
Whats in it 4 me....Spot Prizes, also 2 x Track day at Pukekohe circuit will be given away

How much............Donations welcome but not necessary ...

The GC and Getting Home

The decent ride on Friday helped to get a good nights sleep and I was up by 0600 again, scrub-up, breakfast, then prep the gear and go over the fuel stops again. We were surprised how dead it seemed at the Turangi Cabins as usually, the place is littered with bikes and there are heaps of people about, tinkering and chewing the fat, but this year it was very quiet and it turned out, there were only 67 starters for the main event. We had been pre-warned a month ...

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Getting There and The Extension

Being the 25th GC (Grand Challenge – 1,000miles in 24 hours), the anniversary event was marked with a 900Km extension on the Friday, to make the event up to a 2,500Km Long Weekend. As soon as the event was promoted I registered my interest and must have got in pretty quick as I was surprised a couple of months ago, when I got my registration pack in the mail, to see that I was #1. Also, as per the 20th GC, a video was being made of this event.
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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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It's been over a year now that i threw my leg over my ZZR and went off happily into the inner city traffic that Auckland has to offer. I look back with a smile, admiring how far I have come and what I have learnt along the way. I remember when nearly everyday i would be bitching about some car driver cutting me off or doing something stupid and nearly killing me etc.. and it's dawned on me that it hasn't happened in a long, long time, I have learnt to be aware of the situations around me and anticipate ...

I picked up the new bike yesterday. It’s a pre-loved 2011 Honda ST1300 with (2700Km) ….3,300Km on it now as I picked it up in Auckland and rode it home. Cam was a champ, delivering the bike to the airport so all I had to do was fly in at 1400, swap the cheques for the keys and change of ownership papers, walk to the carpark and there it was.

Pristine! It’s funny how a new-beaut-black-beauty, even with a bit of road grime from getting to the airport, looks pristine and new-beaut…and ...

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