Touring & The Bikes You Use

So the previous two weekends had seen me pop up to Cape Reinga to visit the Northern Exposure Tour and then East Cape, to finally see the lighthouse I needed to visit on the Southern Cross in mid-March.

As the West Cape was also on the Southern Cross, it made sense to see that too, as a previous West Cape ride I had cut short, due to leaving a little late in the afternoon (and subsequently exploring the gravel around the Forgotten Highway as well).

Departing Auckland ...

After being told not to effectively not try to take the tank off, it kind of translates into saying, don’t touch the bike, please take to your local Motorrad dealer to fix the problem for you.

However… I am thicker than most. This means, see what else you can touch, without involving the dealer. If the tank is out of bounds (and holding 33L of fuel, it’s a massive tank I really don’t think I should try removing) what else can you get at?

Before I had even collected ...

Attached Thumbnails

   

I think the week of 10-14 January is one of the slowest on record. After two painful days, it felt like Thursday. I wanted the week over as fast as possible, yet there were not enough hours to get everything done at work, that needed doing.

If I wasn’t working, I was thinking about the new bike. If I wasn’t thinking about the bike I was finding cool pics on the internet or looking at parts (if anyone reads this… let it be a warning to you… its expensive and addictive, regardless of ...

Attached Thumbnails

           

Some people make New Year’s Resolutions. Some just promise to do better. Others make changes because it’s the New Year. For some, it’s the needed impetus to do something they have been waiting for the opportunity to do.

Normally for me… it’s normally just another day, and time to remember to change the dates on cheques, file names etc. A couple of weeks after that, clients come back from holidays, all hell breaks loose, and the break is a distant memory.

This year, ...

As Toto and I did last year in 2009, we decided to do a little tour again this year. After a fantastic experience at Wanganui, we knew it would be on the list again. The tour follows a basic format. Leave Christmas Day, in Wanganui for Boxing Day, and then spend a few days covering some of the country. Last year was 1 day to Mahia (just south of Gisborne) and then a 2nd day back to Auckland via the East Cape, so only 4 days in total.

This year, we would aim for a week, so within a ...

Saturday morning of the 13th of November rolls around. Up late as usual, I sort a few chores, once again not leaving at my planned time of about 10am. Midday and I’m finally cleaning visors and gearing up. 12.30pm and I’m fully fuelled and getting the hell out of Auckland.

The intention today is for approximately 1000km, starting with SH22 and going through New Plymouth, Wanganui and then the Paraparas north through Te Kuiti and back to SH1 at Ngaruwahia.

Exiting the ...

Attached Thumbnails

           

In mid November we attended a family wedding in Melbourne and decided to do a four day tour of Victoria with my sister Annie and her husband Trev on their cruisers. We hired a Harley through Eagle Rider. It was meant to be an Ultra Classic (repleat with comfy seats, passenger footboards - especially for Helen (the wife) and (for a change) a stereo) but the dickhead who hired before us failed to return it and we ended up having to "settle" with a Heritage Softail. Not a bad substitute ...

Attached Thumbnails

           

And on to Part 2... only problem with doing all these trips is trying to remember everything to write up afterwards, and the time it takes. Still, better than trying to remember the details 6 months down the track without a blog.

John had kindly offered me a bed for Saturday evening, and since I had been up since Friday morning I figured it was a better idea to stay in Wellington overnight, then return home on Sunday. Once all the riders had checked in, and everything was tallied, ...

Attached Thumbnails