Kiwi Biker forums - Blogs - TOTO https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blog.php/14016-TOTO Kiwi Biker - New Zealand motorcycle community en Thu, 21 May 2026 21:54:36 GMT vBulletin 20 https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/images/BP-Brown/misc/rss.jpg Kiwi Biker forums - Blogs - TOTO https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blog.php/14016-TOTO TOTO and Gremlin invade The South - Day 3 https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/2445-TOTO-and-Gremlin-invade-The-South-Day-3 Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:35:54 GMT Day 3 – Friday 24.02.12 – Preparing for the TT2000 It is an early morning wake up at 9am. The TT2000 official start is at 6pm and we have to get ready for the event. That includes get the bikes all packed, chains (ok my chain) lubricated, stock up on cereal bars and water etc. I had a slight... Day 3 – Friday 24.02.12 – Preparing for the TT2000

It is an early morning wake up at 9am. The TT2000 official start is at 6pm and we have to get ready for the event. That includes get the bikes all packed, chains (ok my chain) lubricated, stock up on cereal bars and water etc. I had a slight suspicion that I had forgotten to get WOF done on the bike and more importantly the old one had expired. Further check on my part reveals that it had in fact expired about 20 days ago. Oops. That's another thing on my plans today then. Gremlin is attempting the diamond award in the TT where I am only doing the basic route (only 2000km). This means that he needs to start riding at 6pm and I get to have a sleep in a bed till the next morning. :nya:

First thing is first, and we head for breakfast. On the way into the street where out 5 star motel is, there is a nice bakery which as it turned out is full of all sorts of yummy stuff. Doughnuts, cakes, sandwiches, fancy bread, drinks….you name it, they’ve got it. I settle on a dark bread sandwich and Alan goes for a roll of some sort. We both end up with the orange juice too.

While we are eating our sandwiches on the bikes outside the bakery I happen to find another part on Gremlins’ BMW that had broken. A dust cover of some sort has cracked. My friend starts to cry loudly – amusing. He is not very pleased as I make countless remarks on the (lack of) reliability of his giant steed. He better have a fat bank account as the said giant had just gone outside of warranty. A quick repair job with some duck tape and the BMW looks like brand new again.:crazy:

After breakfast we cruise into Hampton Honda where the TT is going to start from later that day. My first task is to find out if I can get WOF done by them. The reason to check with a motorcycle shop if this is the case is my “slightly” louder than standard exhaust. A bike shop might be more inclined to pass it as a safety feature rather than an annoyance-to-others feature. Unfortunately WOF is not one of the services that the bike shop offers, however they are very kind to recommend the local VTNZ just a few kilometres down the road. Problem this isn’t. Gremlin and I split up and I go for WOF while he is attending work matters for the next half an hour.

I rock up to VTNZ and am very kindly greeted by the lady on the desk. Proper forms filled, my money taken and bike is lined up waiting for its WOF. I return to the waiting room and start reading my book. My attention is drawn to the lady on the counter again. She tells me there is another more comfortable waiting room on the other side of the building where I can have a nice coffee. I like the sound of that. Get my gear, and move to the other side. As soon as enter I am greeted by a breeze that seems to have come from the south pole and possibly brought a few penguins with it. :cold: This caused me to completely forget my intention of having a coffee. Instead I put on bike jacket on to prevent hypothermia. There are another two guys in the waiting room who are shivering with their short sleeved shirts and are busy staring at the TV. The two blokes are obviously interested in perfecting their shortbread making skills.:killingme

Ten minutes pass and I am called by the WOF inspector. Bike has passed with the exception of my headlights. Apparently motorbikes are only allowed to have two lights for high beam and I have three – Illegal. The WOF officer is also a motorcyclist and he tells me that my bike will pass if the lights are disconnected. I follow instructions and promptly disconnect the illegal modifications. Approval of the officer is obtained and I get my WOF sticker, which he had kindly even laminated for me. What a champ. VTNZ gets 9/10 for the services with one mark being deducted due to the weather conditions in the waiting room.

I meet Gremlin at Mitre10 down the road from the VTNZ station. We had forgotten to purchase some NeedIt (spelling?) – all bonding/fixing paste that after applied becomes hard. Would be useful if one of us has a tumble in the off-roading adventure we have planned after the TT2000. As we get in I make myself useful and finding the product required from the first try – I'd purchased it before when I butchered the engine covers of my race bike, but that's a subject to another story. :whistle:

The next stop is the local countdown supermarket to obtain the needed supplies. We find the muesli bars, drinks but seem to have missed the sandwiches. Gremlin requests help from an assistant and even after he has been pointed the sandwich stand he still walks right past it. And he is giving me trouble for having bad sense of direction. :mad:

After the supermarket we return back to the motel and Alan starts his preparation for the TT while I chill out in my room undisturbed. At one point Gremlin comes over and hands me the liability/ terms and conditions form which I had naturally forgotten. Correction – which I had never remembered. Nice to have someone organized around to make up for my clumsiness. :2thumbsup

At 5pm we leave the motel and head over to the gas station. Alan rides to the gas station with no gloves. I made a remark about that but the daredevil likes life on the edge. As we arrive at the Shell (Z) petrol station there are heaps of bikes riding in and out taking on fuel etc. What catches my attention are the three Yamaha Super Tenere parked out front. Those guys are going to have a nice comfortable ride. This is the bike I am hoping to be riding in the hopefully not too distant future.

Having filled with gas we rock up to Hampton Honda and there already about 100 people already meandering around the place, looking at each others bike setup, gadgets, taking pictures etc. We park up close to the street. Having attended the TT2000 twice before I notice a pattern emerging. There seems to be a few different types of people attending – those being separated by how prepared they appear for the ride. There are the people like Gremlin and I – caring almost everything that might need, such as tools, spares, levers, foot pegs, cable ties, tape, cold clothes, warm clothes…you get the picture. The other extreme being people (typically on sports bikes) showing up with either just wearing jeans, leather jackets, thin summer gloves and no luggage whatsoever. Not even a backpack of any sort. Of course travelling light has its advantages but that appears to be a littler bit too hopeful for someone about to be riding a minimum of 2000kms in the next two days. Not too long after this Mike (the organiser) gathers up all filthy biker scum and gives the standard safety briefing. He outlines the fast that the media has been kicking up dust regarding the event and the standard warning are given to be good and play by the rules. Speeding, crashing or dying are discouraged as with will give negative publicity to the event, and the rider who causes it.

Briefing out of the way, everyone collects their TT2000 blue shirt that they will need to photograph at all checkpoints and gear up. Most of the people are starting the ride straight away and only a small part are going back to sleep – like me. I make sure Gremlin gets everything sorted, help him with attaching his shirt to the bike – a method he uses in order to save time while stopping. Him being all ready we wish good luck and good bye and Gremlin Sets off.:bye:

I return to the motel and wind down with some food while watching a documentary about sniper school. Early night to bed as I’m aiming to be up and going around the 5am mark starting my TT2000 run.

Click image for larger version.  Name: 417362_10150727180502265_581372264_11264937_1337316918_n.jpg  Views: 50  Size: 69.4 KB  ID: 258928Click image for larger version.  Name: 419879_10150725199812265_581372264_11258778_446614177_n.jpg  Views: 51  Size: 83.5 KB  ID: 258929Click image for larger version.  Name: 419992_10150727176542265_581372264_11264929_674328562_n.jpg  Views: 47  Size: 69.7 KB  ID: 258930 ]]> TOTO https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/2445-TOTO-and-Gremlin-invade-The-South-Day-3 TOTO and Gremlin invade The South - Day 2 https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/2440-TOTO-and-Gremlin-invade-The-South-Day-2 Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:52:58 GMT Picton to Christchurch – Thursday 23.02.12. Breakfast was being served from 8-9am and we wanted to catch that so a quick shower at 8am and to the food we went. Three scones and a tea later hunger is satisfied while th tall guy has had a scone and a bowl full of cereal. Today we had to decide... Picton to Christchurch – Thursday 23.02.12.

Breakfast was being served from 8-9am and we wanted to catch that so a quick shower at 8am and to the food we went. Three scones and a tea later hunger is satisfied while th tall guy has had a scone and a bowl full of cereal.

Today we had to decide on what route to use to get to Christchurch. Do we use the straight down boring route or do we get more adventurous, brave the rain and do something fun? Bugger the rain – we like a bit of fun. So the route goes like this – Picton > Queen Charlotte Drive > Nelson > Murchison > Springs Junction > Luis’ Pass > Chch. I really wanted to avoid doing SH63 which has the longest straight road in the world, or so it feels.

We pack and leave the motel and without chain lube covering their car port like last year. Quick stop for gas and chain lube on my bike. Alan is happy to help with the lubing action and kindly spin the wheel for me.
“You should move”– he says a minute later as I’m getting ready.
“This is a crown limousine” – pointing to the BMW car next to us.
“Why ?” says I.
“Well…it’s a Crown limousine!”
“SO?!”.
I get a blank look accompanied with high eye brows. Just because someone drives a car belonging to the government doesn't mean that I have to get on my knees for them. In reflection to that I think he was only trying to look after his fellow BMW driver. People with BMWs have to look after each other – and they better – because those BMW things brake all the time. Next thing I hear is “F@#k it ! Urrr? F#^K !”. I turn around to see Gremlin pounding into the GPS with index finger and cursing it. Apparently the little thing is not doing what it's supposed to. This guy better lay of the coffees or the work – way to nervous for someone on holiday. GPS problem fixed, normal service can resume.

Queen Charlotte Drive was the first gorgeous road we are riding that day. Beautiful scenic views and greenery everywhere. The road surface is in good condition, so plenty of fun is had by all. Left, right, left, right – the ride just flows. Passed a few cars and that's about it – traffic was minimal. Terrific ride all the way to Nelson where I took on some fuel. Alan had almost collected a few roundabouts getting to the gassy. A result of high roundabouts and low extremely low lean angles of the BMW. Maybe BMW can come up with pannier sliders of some sort?

We reach Murchison about 1pm. Lunch took the shape of a chicken burger for both of us. Tasty chicken burgers. While we were enjoying the food a whole bus of tourists rocks up full of scarcely clad women and guys. Must have been the naked bus company or something like that. I counted 37 girls and only 10 guys. I think Gremlin noted the name of the company – well worth it if you are a single male. We left Murchison before it got too crowded, plus we don’t particularly like too many women in bikini around us. We are both Honda riders after all.

I got volunteered to lead now as I was in charge of the picture taking. Later on I taught I had found a nice place for photos, but it resulted in two unnecessary U-turns, a BMW almost sinking into a foot of gravel and a not impressed Gremlin. Oh well – one can only try. We ended up taking some nice shots later on overlooking the river through Lewis’ pass. Gremlin not impressed again -
“we have to overtake all those cars again” …
”SO?!” – says I.

Lewis pass is worth the trip on a bike. A little damp if the weather is murky (which it was), but ridden with caution, still a hell of a nice ride. There are sections that overlook the whole valley and you can see for miles, as well as sections with trees completely enclosing the road, creating a green tunnel. Magic.

Arriving into Christchurch. I started finding more reasons why it scores high points on the TSL scale (my “Town Shit List”) . We see a sign that say “MOTORWAY BEGINS” ….when?! - The road stays single lane for more than a few kilometers after the sign. When it eventually became two lanes guess what – road works and the limit is down to 50km/h. On the motorway – wow that's one hell of a motorway. GRRRRRR.

We get to the accommodation for the next two nights and discover we are staying at a 5 star hotel. NOT. Credit where credit is due – Gremlin has done all the research for the trip and made the best decision based on the information he has. The place is close to the gas station, close to food, close to Hampton Honda (where the TT2000 Starts) and we don't pay crazy rates. And it also makes us laugh. Gremlins’ shed is made out of tin foil, the door locks with a pad lock, the inside walls of his room is constructed out of old wardrobe parts and the door is half the width of a normal door. There is a door on the ceiling that does not lead to anywhere, and the whole ceiling is crooked – probably from all the shakes. See the pictures. My room is not as bad, but similar. Every room is rationed with one toilet paper on the fridge – just in case you need to replace the one in the toilet. There is only two showers in the facility and one of them is broken. Its OK though as they have put up a sign asking people to take only 5 minute showers. That's much easier than fixing the shower. The place does have free wifi Internet which is a bonus.

At 8pm EJK shows up with a huge grin on his face. We make it to the corner fish and chip shop, for some errr fish and chips which we take back to the motel. Nice to catch up with the old jafa who now calls Christchurch home. He admires Gremlins’ BMW and asks all the standard questions that people ask when first see the rhino (BMW) – what is it like, why do you have so many lights…..We also remember the good old days when EJK used to be a never ending traveler and in fact one of the first people that gave me the idea of long distance riding. Shame he is bike-less at the moment but time will come when we will be crossing the country together once again. A few hours EJ is off and we catch up on some e-mails and well deserved sleep.
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]]> TOTO https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/2440-TOTO-and-Gremlin-invade-The-South-Day-2 TOTO and Gremlin invade The South - Day 1 https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/2433-TOTO-and-Gremlin-invade-The-South-Day-1 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:35:09 GMT Auckland to Picton - Wednesday 22.02.12 The bike had been prepared the night before with all the necessities for the 10 day trip including tools, number 8 wire, and plenty of cable ties and duck tape. Somehow I had the feeling that I had forgotten something. We are going to the South Island for... Auckland to Picton - Wednesday 22.02.12

The bike had been prepared the night before with all the necessities for the 10 day trip including tools, number 8 wire, and plenty of cable ties and duck tape. Somehow I had the feeling that I had forgotten something. We are going to the South Island for the TT2000 motorcycle ride - 2000 kms in 48 hours and do some south island exploration after...

The day started early with a wake up alarm at 5.30am. Quick shower, battle gear on, a prayer to the biker gods to keep us safe and I’m off. The plant was to meet up with Gremlin at BP Authoban at 6am ish and leave at 6:30 at the latest. I was running slightly late so pulling into the gas station at 6:20am, I was thinking that I will have to endure the regular dose of mockery about making him wait. Instead there is no Gremlin and no bike to be seen anywhere. One energy drink later I see there is a TXT message in my phone saying he is on the way, just swinging through the petrol station. I knew he would be late – it does take a while to fill a petrol tanker. Close to 6:40am I see the blindingly bright headlight of Jessica (Gremlins’ BMW GS Adventure). He gets off the bike and is all grinning from ear to ear – excited about the trip me thinks. Quick catch up and we decide it is time to get some kilometres under our belts.:ride:

We have to swing via Rotorua as Gremlin, the workaholic he is, has to call in to a clients place to set something up. This and the need to catch the interisland ferry at 5:30pm in the afternoon means we need to keep mostly to the straight roads. The cages are behaving themselves with the odd nana doing 75km/h in a 90km/h “Safer Speed Zone”. Saw a few smurfs but no reason to concern as we are behaving. Honest officer. Also saw car parked on the side of SH2 going to Metameta that a guy and a girl who were having a naughty on the side of the road. No tinted windows or curtains lol.:nya:

As we are riding I keep wondering what will be the thing I have forgotten - there is always something. Finally it comes to me – tie downs for the ferry. DOH. Oh well, not a biggie, I will swing past a Repco and get some. I know that those things usually happen in threes so I wonder what the other two things that present themselves will be. Couldn’t think of anything so decided that since I usually use three tie downs on the ferry and I have not taken any then that must be my three things for the trip and everything else will be going according to plan. I’m soon proven wrong.:oi-grr:

About 70kms from Rotorua , Gremlin pull over and informs me that he has found something for me to do while I’m waiting for him in Rotorua. Apparently I have a blown light bulb (which was working fine in the morning). Of course I do, we do not call him Gremlin for nothing – those sort of things always happen when Gremlin is close by. He asks me if I have spare. Here is the second thing I have forgotten. I did not bring a spare bulb with me. “You should know better” he says. Oh well, I am going to Repco for tie downs anyway. We arrive in the city of the boiling mud. We split and the workaholic goes to sort out his client. Light bulb replaced, tie downs obtained, gas filled. The weather is mild and rainy so I head into the local Macaas to have a double shot of black coffee (no sugar) and more importantly use their free Wifi.
Perfect holiday so far, only one thing missing... Muah.

In McDonalds I got enriched on all affairs in Rotorua – who is shagging who, who got drunk and fell out of the balcony etc. I also attracted the interest of a maori fella who was sitting next to me with his wife and kid. He proceeded to tell me stories about Christchurch earthquakes, the weather and who know what until he got to the topic that really interest him – party drugs. The polite gentlemen then explained that if I happened to be a lover of the marihuana leaf. but did not fancy getting in trouble with the law there was new thing on the market called “Tai Mana”. “Same Buzz, but totally legal bro” was how it was explained to me. As it happened by coincidence he actually had some with him and showed me the pack, I even could score a hit or two if I felt like it - he’d do me a favour. Amused but not interested I politely declined and got back to my coffee and e-mails.

Could not get in touch with Grems and at 11:40 decision was made that regardless if we left Rotorua together or separately we still had to catch the same ferry. I had to get going. Quick TXT to my gadget loving friend and off I went. As it turned out we met in Turangi about an hour later and Gremlin is yapping something about how a dog ate his pants… :killingme At the same time we got a notification from The Interislander that the ferry we were originally booked on was cancelled. We had been rebooked from 6:30pm ferry to the 8pm ferry. Phew – that gives us a bit more margin. My theory is that Gremlin was running later with his client, so he hacked into the computers of the Interislander and broke them, hence giving us the extra time we needed to get in on time. That’s my Theory and I’m sticking to it. We were both kind of hungry so a mandatory food stop at the Turangi food stop was needed. I got the bacon and egg burger and Gremlin decided on the curry on rice plus a milk shake. I got my yummy burger but turned out there was no rice for the curry, so thee other hungry biker (sorry – motorcyclist) settled for mashed potatoes with his curry. Food scores 10 points. It almost had the feeling of a 5 star restaurant.

Back on the road, I had a quick fuel stop at Taihape and then it was 250 direct kilometres to Wellington. Did it all in one hit and arrived in Wellington at 6:40 pm. Checked in and went into the small bike rider shelter to hide from the rain. Two other riders arrive after us – one on a Hyosung GT250 and the other one on a CanAm Spider that he had purchased just 3 hours prior. Plenty of mockery regarding the three wheeled spider was started, but it was quote interesting to learn that the Spider is actually classified and registered as a car. That meant that there was no helmet requirement – interesting loophole. Anyhow, after enough chatter, we get on the ferry, tie the bikes down and head up on the “resting deck” to have erm some rest. Apparently the sun deck is closed – wonder if the wind, rain and the fact it was now almost 8:30 had anything to do with it. We used the time to catch up on stories, adventure planning, bike crash stories etc. I felt hungry so had a treat of curry chicken on rice with Indian (roti?) bread and Gremlin opted for the roast beef on veggies.

The ferry arrived in Picton at 11pm. A short 1km ride in the heavy rain to Tumbstone Backpackers and we were home for the night. Gremlin proceeded to try and smash the place up almost knocking some of the light fixtures off the ceiling – that’s a tradition by now. I had forgotten to say the compulsory “DON’T BRAKE ANYTHING”. :brick: Lucky for us the light fixture is still there. I proceeded to dry all my wet clothes, shower and sleep. What a cracker of a day *yawn* :yawn:


pic 1 - Gremlin Turns up late
Pic 2 - Having food in Turangi - Bacon and egg burger and Curry on Mashed potatoes for Gremlin
Pic3 - Gremlin on The Interislandfer, not happy to be on camera

Click image for larger version.  Name: IMG_5384.jpg  Views: 68  Size: 788.1 KB  ID: 258311Click image for larger version.  Name: IMG_5385.jpg  Views: 64  Size: 705.9 KB  ID: 258310Click image for larger version.  Name: IMG_5388.jpg  Views: 86  Size: 765.6 KB  ID: 258308 ]]> TOTO https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/2433-TOTO-and-Gremlin-invade-The-South-Day-1 TT2000 on a GN250 - Sunday - Day 2 of TT2000 https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/2002-TT2000-on-a-GN250-Sunday-Day-2-of-TT2000 Sat, 19 Mar 2011 08:13:11 GMT Sunday – Day 2 of TT2000 Day two started at 5:30am. My phone alarm was piercing the silence like an ice pick. It was getting louder and louder and the whole bed was vibrating due to the silent vibration alert being on as well. Looked at the phone screen and wondered why the hell the alarm went... Sunday – Day 2 of TT2000

Day two started at 5:30am. My phone alarm was piercing the silence like an ice pick. It was getting louder and louder and the whole bed was vibrating due to the silent vibration alert being on as well. Looked at the phone screen and wondered why the hell the alarm went off so damn early, then the pain from my tail bone reminded me. Day 1 already behind me with 1100kms on the GN combined with some rough south island had resulted a super painful backside. Never mind the pain, time to set the record for the small bike. I turn the alarm off and force the top half of the body to get vertical, trying to force the eyes to open. This is when I hear another tone from my phone – beep beep. Damn it – I taught I turned the stupid alarm off already. Then the slow brain recognizes that the tone that just bleeped is not alarm, but rather my TXT message. Who can be txting me at that early morning time ? – its GiJoe surely , to wish me good travels for the rest of the day. Oh hang on message is from Gremlin – maybe he has stopped for a rest and TXTing to let me know how he is going. Stopped he was – outside the police station in Oamaru - two km away from me. TXT sais: “FYO I'm out, crashed off road north of Oamaru, in Oamaru, outside police station”. FUCK. Quick phone call to make sure he is ok and I’m in the shower and out of my motel, fully loaded the bike and on my way to said police station. I arrive to see our hero the Gremlin floating around like a free atom and talking on the phone to insurance company. Quick inspection of his person, his gear, helmet and pannier luggage reveal that he has suffered quite the tumble, but he is ok. No physical damage, except he is a bit tired, but that is to be expected. Sigh of relief. He gets off the phone I establish that he is quite chilled out about the whole thinking, even though his misadventure has taken place less than a couple of hours away.

Given that looks like Oamaru will enjoy our presence at least a few more hours and seeing that my motel was not far away I decided to help carry some of the ripped panniers back there. A quick trip to motel to dump my luggage and back for a strap on job and the GN turns from grand tourer to a mule carrying broken BMW parts. Did one trip on which I dropped off the two ripped and well reshaped panniers. Come back to get more staff, and see that the tow truck has arrived. We decide that going over to bring the dead BMW back should be the thing we do next so we can start sorting transport to Auckland etc.

We get to the crash site and I spot a BMW lying on its side behind a fence - I expected it to look way worse than it did. Judging by what I have seen the panniers looked like I taught that the bike is probably a pile of bits, or at least broken in two like the Titanic. When gremlin does something he doesn't do it half way and that's why I taught the bike would be dead. We get over the fence, pick bike up, and put it center stand. Quick look over – man that bike is though. A few bent rails where the panniers used to be, missing tail light, brake lever, and a broken screen/instrument panel bracket, and a few missing indicators, mirror etc... Quick push of the starter button, a few rumbles and coughs and the bike starts fine. Doesn't make any weird noises - might even be able to ride it.

A quick search for a gate and the bike is out on the street, and Gremlin decides he can ride it back to Oamaru. We get there and decide to base ourselves at the motel I had stayed in last night and decide what to do. I wanted Gremlin to get some sleep first as it was his 27th hour with no sleep but he insisted on sorting out transport for bike etc and seeing if we can get the bike in ridable condition. So be it. Hour and a half later after some bashing on boxes, a number of cable ties and tie downs and that bike has panniers and top box attached as well as liver amounts of tape to hold the screen in place. It looks almost like new – almost. It was decided that the bike will be limped back to Auckland and in order to do this Gremlin needed to get some sleep. I was point of no return in terms of time and that meant that I could do the next 900kms of the TT2000 within the allowable time limit. Sent a quick TXT to Mike the organizer advising that I was pulling out.

We couldn't stay at the motel I had been the night before as it was already booked so we found another motel 2 kms down the road and moved there. Parked the bikes, got our luggage to the room, and Gremlin proceeded to fall into a nice deep sleep. He needs it. Seeing that I had gone to bed at about 12:30 last night and got up at 5:30am, I needed it too so I also hugged the pillow.

A few hours later we get up, shower etc and go out in search of food. Lucky food is just 5 meters from the motel. Don’t remember what we had, but I remember we ate it quick. We needed the energy. Quick walk around to see what going on, a few phone calls etc and it was time for dinner. Gotta find a tasty place. Got to a Pizza place where the lady in charge of the pizza distribution was quite happy to share our laugh in all sorts of gay Honda jokes, What was that place called Gremlin ? The pizza names were funny – Clinton, Lewinsky, Obama and many others which cracked us up. I settled for an Obama and Gremlin had the Meatlovers, milk shakes and desert, good combo. After dinner we headed back to out motel, then I started noticing hoq quiet the town was...

Where the hell is everyone?

Was this a ghost town?

We are not going to see zombies are we?

Due to Gremlins’ premature evacuation, we were going to find the answers of those questions on the very next day… ]]> TOTO https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/2002-TT2000-on-a-GN250-Sunday-Day-2-of-TT2000 TT2000 on a GN250 - Saturday - Day 1 of TT2000 https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1990-TT2000-on-a-GN250-Saturday-Day-1-of-TT2000 Sun, 06 Mar 2011 11:54:53 GMT Saturday – Day 1 of TT2000

Beep, beep, beep – 4:30 and the alarm was going. It didn't take long for the Gremlin and I to get packed up and jump on the bike this time. We were both excited about the two days ahead. Went to the Gas station and Mr. Gremlin proceeded to fill up his fuel tanker while I was busy lubricating the chain on the GN. There were already a bunch of TT riders at the gassy and I could see that the GN had already sparked interest amongst some of them and was seeing some wondering looks coming our way. It is also not a picture you see every day – two guys riding together and one being on one of the biggest and tallest bikes on the market and the other one on one of the oldest, smallest and most underpowered ones. The reason for this is not so strange however - Gremlin and I both like a challenge and adventure. He was aiming to achieve the diamond award which includes the basic route of the TT2000 plus also doing all the extra fliers giving him a grand total of about 3300km over the two days – hence the BMW. I on the other had seeing that my travel time is consistently about two or three hours over what the GPS software estimated was aiming for just completing the basic route. It was to be an adventure for both of us. :)

We arrive at McIver and Veich (starting point of the TT) to find a good bunch of about 100 people meandering around. See plenty of familiar faces from the TT in 2010. Plenty of bike brands and styles of bikes represented, but with all my looking around I could not see another GN250 – GREAT. Meant that the flag was mine - first one to complete the TT on a GN that is.

6am rolled around and we all got our shirts, I helped the Gremlin attach his shirt to his bike, said our good luck wishes and farewells and off we went into the dark cold morning riding our “two wheeled motorbikes”*. Having been stuck behind slow bikes with reasonably competent rider in the past I was well aware how frustrating it can be being stuck behind someone who doesn't allow you to pass. For this reason wherever possible in the straights I was trying to let other bikes get passed on the straights as the GN just does not have the capability of cruising on the open road at 100-110km/h due to the not so small rider with all the luggage, but it’s mostly the wind that makes the difference to the cruising speed of the GN.

Made it to the first photo checkpoint at Niagara falls and was surprised to see plenty of riders there as I taught I’m miles behind. Most of them had their gear off, taking photos from different angles etc. My plan was different – In and out quick. That how ended up overtaking many people, and there was a couple on a Triumph Rocket 3 that was most pleasurable to ride with thorough the whole day. About 15kms past Niagara Falls I had used up all my 10:3L of gas and was now parked at a small towns gas station which was not even open at 8am. Good thing I have 10L gas can strapped to the passenger seat exactly for this reason. Feeding up the GN and eating a muesli bar myself, I hadn't noticed that a blond girl in her late twenties had come out of her house around the corner and was looking by at all the bikes passing. She wandering why was her small peaceful town was invaded by helmet wearing strangers on metal horses. I was doing my thing, adding balaclavas and neck warmers to my kit when she decided to come around and ask what was going on. A few minutes of explaining of what we were doing, why we were doing it etc and she was quite envious of our adventures. I’m guessing that If I was on my big bike, and if I had a spare helmet, she would have come for a ride if invited, but since I was on a small bike, had no passenger seat free and had no spare helmet I didn’t offer her a ride. Mental note taken though - carry a helmet in the future for strangers that might want join the ride. Just out of the little town I encountered what seemed like a river of sheep. The farmers were transferring sheep from one land block to the other and the two sections were a few kms away so they used the road to get the sheep to the right place. Seems very interesting to me that the sheep know exactly where to go and did not get lost within a few km’s distance. I was kindly instructed by the farmer keep as much to the right as possible and I was ok to move through the sheep river. Did not need a second invitation, after all I had a tight schedule to keep to. It is funny how the first reaction of sheep encountering a motorcycle coming directly ahead of them, was to stop, pee on the road and then run. I must have encountered at least 50 or 60 sheep that did exactly the same thing. This procedure was most amusing to myself as I'm a man of simple pleasures. With humans the procedure is usually something like – get out of way, swear and curse and then urinate (on road or in pants). :shutup:

The next section consisted of about 50 – 60 kms of reasonably straight road which say my odometer increase, but I had not seen any gas stations present. Being already almost half way through my gas tank and had no more spare fuel left I was quite keen to get to a gas station. Arrived in Riverton to the second checkpoint. It was not hard to find due to the accurate coordinates in the GPS, I snapped my picture and was away to a gas station down the road to fill up my almost empty bike.

It has to be said that I owe a big Thanks to Gremlin for letting me use the GPS coordinates for the TT2000 as they were accurate to the meter. He had spent about 30 human hours plotting the route while sitting on 3 computers at the same time, having the TT2000 instructions file open on one, Google maps open on the other and Mapsource (GPS software) open on the third which had enabled to plot the route with pin point accuracy. I am a little bit on the optimistic side when it comes down to route planning and generally when going for a ride I choose a direction instead of destination and had not done much route planning prep. A week before the TT, talking to Gremlin he kindly offered he let me use his GPS coordinates due to my shocking lack of route preparation. Thanks Gremlin. :not:

Filling up in Riverton, my bike and my spare can I was ready to tackle the road and move on to the next checkpoint which was a café/museum in Tuatapere. I arrived in the small town after a few more sections (100kms) of reasonably straight road and a pee stop. There were plenty of bikes everywhere, and could see plenty of bikes going back and forth trying to find the photo checkpoint. It almost seemed like the bee dance – figure eights, U turns etc just so they can get to the right spot. I on the other hand was absolutely fine getting to the photo checkpoint – by “fine” I mean it took me only two U turns – LOL. Photo snapped and I was away.

The next checkpoint was to be a photo of the bike and Millford Sound in the background. In the almost 10 years I’ve called NZ home, I have never had a chance to go and see Milford sound even though I've always been told it is one of the most amazing places to go and see. I was really looking forward to this as my expectations were set high. Had to go through Te Anau in order to get to Milford Sound and the scenery on the way to Te Anau was spectacular. That is one of the good things about being on a slow bike, you get to see what around you. Made it to Te Anau, filled with gas (essential if going to Millford Sound) and was off.

Is the road from Te Anau to Milford Sound something or is it something. That must have been one of the most enjoyable roads I have ever ridden. Nice corners, great road surface and unparalleled beauty every second of the ride. The mountains of made me feel like a tiny spec of dust passing through, and when you think of it in the grand scheme of things that's what we all are. I was keeping good pace – GN really does not have a problem with twisties, and I even caught up to a few bikes which promptly got away from me on the straights. Good for me as wasn’t being held up in the twisty tight sections. Came across a few buses that were taking their time to get through the tight sections, but that was understandable as the road was very technical and the tourist operators have to give time to the tourists in the bus to get that “OOoooooh, AAaaaaah” feeling. All good. Got to the tunnel going under the mountain where a few TT bikes were waiting for the tunnel to open as it is open each direction for 15 minutes at a time. Having a few minutes stopped and being able to look around was fantastic. All of a sudden you realize that you are sitting in front of about 500-600 vertical stone wall, and I don’t care how many big cathedrals or buildings you have been dwarfed by, it can never compare to the monumental scale of the buildings mother nature can create. :gob:

Light turns green, through the tunnel and the rumble of high capacity motorcycles filles the air – music to my ears, the only thing missing was some two stroke smoke for flavor. Out come on the other side and the bike comes into its own again as we hit the 15 km/h and 25 km/h corners. What a thrill, especially knowing that there is a good 300m drop if you mess it up. Bearing that in mind we were all riding on the side of caution and there were no Valentine Rossies there. Arriving at Milford Sound saw us once again in the middle of plenty of bikes buzzing about and tourists going “Was is das?”. Good Fun. Took my checkpoint photo and proceeded to take some gear off, have a sandwich and relax. Got talking to a few other TT participants and everyone had something to say about a GN doing the TT. It was fun, and especially talking to a few people that years ago used to own a GN and knew the challenges of riding that kind of bike long distance were. Got talking to a guy who not only couldn't believe I was actually doing the run on the Ginny but also looked very surprised that I had specially ridden it from the city of traffic jams to do it. I was more than happy to ruin his view of Auckland riders being only posers on litre bikes riding them to the coffee shop in one piece racing suits, even though we have too many of those. Also got talking to a chap on a cruiser who was traveling with his three mates but they were a bit too fast for him and he wasn’t enjoying so much trying to keep up. I commented that it was a ride and not a race, so everyone has to do what they enjoy and if that meant taking things at a bit slower pace there was no shame in that. I told him I’ll be off soon and wished him happy travel and he did the same. He got ready faster than me, got on his bike , started it and proceeded to wait for me to get on my bike and leave in front of him. I believe he was aiming to stay and cruise behind the little GN. The little GN is very deceiving in that way, being a small underpowered bike with 19 horse power (7 of which are epileptic) gives the impression that it is a very tame bike, the good ground clearance and the skinny tyres though mean that with a reasonably competent rider it is not a slug through the twisties. After five corners I no longer saw the guy with the cruiser in my mirrors and I then saw him at the Te Anau petrol station. His words were “No I can say that I have been burned off by a 250”. I tried to make it easier on him by telling him that I got burned off on my 900 Hornet at last years TT by a scooter. An Italian racing scooter, but a scooter none the less, and that the weight of the bike had a lot to do with the ability to throw it into corners, so he shouldn’t feel that bad.
Filled up and off I went again towards the next photo stop which was the pub in Poolburn.

To get to Poolburn had to pass through the roads going between lake Wakatipu and the other gorgeous lakes. Oh my god, I could so spend a good month or so camping at those lakes. With an adventure bike there were so many trails that could be explored while having a camp on the side of a fresh water lake, far away from any civilization. It is definitely on my list of things to do soon. About half way through Poolburn the GPS started to play up and give me a little bit roundabout roots to the destination I wanted to get to. I usually have no problem exploring new uncharted territory, but on a GN you only have so much fuel, and I had not planned on camping under the stars that night. Fixed the GPS issue by reloading the route a few times and using a bit of common sence on what roads to take and all was sweet. At this point I also ran out of gas and had to stop and refuel – looking on to zero my trip meter and what do I notice – my odometer is sitting at 49 999 km. Oh well how is that for a sign – took a photo, rolls the bike another 100m took another photo at 50 000 km and full with gas the GN fired up again. Good point at this time I had enough gas for about 150 kms, bad point was that I had mo more spare gas and if the gas station at Palmerston was closed, I'd be cutting it very fine. :innocent:
Took my photo at Poolburn, nothing fancy – just a pub in the fields, saw a few drunk farmers and most of them did not have problem getting into their cars and driving off pissed. It seems that the drink drive campaign does not get quite the enforcement here as it does in the bigger NZ cities. I for one am always happy to go through a breathalyzer check point – it means it keeps the drunk far away from me.

I got to Palmerston, stopped at a car park and pulled out my laptop to check again where was the photo that I was supposed to take. What do you know, I was sitting in the car park exactly where the photo checkpoint was. Oh well that was easy. Picture – snap. That is when two boys rocked up – one on a Hayabusa, and one on a ST1300. I had met them before, and the Hayabusa guy had already established himself as a prick in my books (Mr. Prick). His friend I had also met and he was quite a nice chap. He had been unfortunate enough to come off his bike near Poolburn and was not so happy. He was all good and the bike seemed to have only cosmetic damage so no problems there – just a little pride lost. Mr. Prick proceeded to stomp around, asking me where the bloody photo was where we were supposed to take. I wouldn't have told him but I decided to give him a chance once again to show he was not such a wanker and pointed out exactly where the photo was supposed to be and where he should take it from. After all we are both bike riders, both doing the same long distance rally, and riders help each other in a time of need. Mr. Prick proceeds to have an argument with me how it is supposed to have a train station next to it of some sort – no comment from my part. Mr. Prick snaps his photo evidence and leaves revving his bike followed by his friend. Some people are so shallow. You are welcome Mr. Prick. :finger:

Once left alone and remember that I am probably not far away from reserve. Reserve means that I have about 35kms of petrol. I am about 51kms from Oamaru – my place of rest for the night. A quick ride 50 meters up he road reveals that the gas station in Palmerston is closed for the day. It is after all 10:30 at night. Well I have no spare petrol, so the wisest thing to do is to ride the bike in the most economic way possible to Oamary and hope that I can make it. The most economical pace of the GN250 is at about 55-60 km/h on 5th gear. That means that the fuel economy is at its best at around 27 km/s per litre. That means that I should make it to Oamaru, be it on vapors. Oh well only one way to find out – pootle along. I start my 55km/h pootle and get ready for an hours journey to my destination 51 kms away. Pootle pootle and pull over to let cars get passed, after all I’m doing 55km/h where cars and trucks are doing about 100-110 and it is probably good idea to give way if I don’t want to become a hood ornament. 10 kms down and its getting boring, 15 kms and I see lights of a small town in the distance. I come closer and what do you know there is a 24h petrol station operated by cards only. Ok that is a good sign. I am a bit careful not to celebrate until the actual petrol is being pumped into my tank as am aware of premature celebrations and disappointment. Like Gremlin says – “Myrphy and I are good friends” and it does apply to me too. Card accepted, and petrol pouring into the gas tank at great speed. That must have been the happiest petrol I have ever pumped. Could have been the fact that I was into my 17th hour on the bike, but having full tank of gas as well as a gas can full to the top with gas was so liberating. Petrol full, and I left the gas station with the biggest grin on my face and a healthy Vrooooom Vroom coming from the GN. Happy Days. 20 minutes later and I'm at my accommodation. Having a well deserved hot shower, and off to bed. :sleep:

It has been quite a great day. Sleep and then off to more adventures for the second day of the TT2000…. ]]> TOTO https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1990-TT2000-on-a-GN250-Saturday-Day-1-of-TT2000 TT2000 on a GN250 - Friday - Picton to Dunedin https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1986-TT2000-on-a-GN250-Friday-Picton-to-Dunedin Sat, 05 Mar 2011 06:12:46 GMT Friday – Picton to Dunedin: 6:30am I wake up, luggage on the bike, filling the bike and I’m off. Riding south, the feeling was much similar to the one I had the previous day – anxious to get to my destination. I get quite happy travelling through new places and as boring as SH1 is it was still... Friday – Picton to Dunedin:

6:30am I wake up, luggage on the bike, filling the bike and I’m off. Riding south, the feeling was much similar to the one I had the previous day – anxious to get to my destination. I get quite happy travelling through new places and as boring as SH1 is it was still interesting to trough some parts I hadn’t done before. The GN was slow but a huge problem as I was staying on a healthy 95km/h most of the time. The thing with the GN250 is that you almost never need to worry about the Smurfs as 95% of the time you cant even reach the speed limit if you are on the motorway or out of town. In that not I had completely got used to not worrying about my speed on the GN because it was not likely I was going to get to the speed limit let alone much higher over it.

The other thing you get when riding the GN long distances is that you are cruising – whether you want to or not. Cruising is all good when you want to look at the scenery or you need to tie up your shoe laces, read a book or play with the GPS unit. Playing with the GPS was what I was doing when I entered into some small town. I hadn’t seen exactly what the speed limit signs said but given that most of the places I had passed through earlier were 80km/h and I was on 75km/h I didn’t bother to slow down more and continued playing with my GPS (while paying full attention to the road ahead of course). All of a sudden the disco lights come on and I’m being promptly pulled over for killing human babies. :Police:

It is funny how sometimes when people just hear you say the word “Hello” with an accent they immediately assume that the person from another country has poor communication skills and you need to talk to him like he or she is retarded so you can get your message across.

“YOU. ARE. TOO. FAST. DO. YOU. HAVE. YOUR. MOTORBIKE. LICENSE ?” .

“Sure - I have my full motorcycle license officer” - says I – “ I'll give it to you right away.”

“OH” is what I hear from Mr. Smurf in a disappointed tone, as if to say “Oh, damn, I so wanted to deal with a retarded tourist”

After a small chit chat to assure Mr. Smurf that I’m not a baby killer, I am let go on my way with an $80 fine and 20 demerit points to add to the other 20 I obtained in November last year from a gorgeous Smurfiette who invited me to go skiing (I should have gone) :brick:

At about the same time I send a TXT to Gremlin that I have been issued a speeding ticketwho laughs and also informs me that I have angrid the Picton backpacker owners by lubricating my chain in their driveway and therefore we have again managed to damage something not belonging to us. Well its a tradition after all, what can you do. :first:

Went though Christchurch SH1 and found that there was quite the traffic. As it turned out - because of the closed part of the city, people were having go right around which created the traffic. Traffic doesn't stop us – GNs are allowed to use bicycle lanes – surely. Five minute scoot in the bicycle lanes and the GN and I were safely out of Christchurch.

It has to be said that while the GN is not the slowest thing in s straight line – ok, a fat jogger will probably pass it in a straight line – in the twisties it comes into its own league, and because of the short wheelbase and the skinny tyres it can actually turn on a dime. Uphill twisties are not the fastest thing the GN has done, but give if twisties in the flat or downhill twisties and someone who is somewhat competent in riding a rime and that thing can move.

About 50km north of Dunedin, I was tootling along behind a truck, when all of a sudden I see the sun god picking his way through the line of vehicles of which I was part of. I knew that sun beam – it belongs to Gremlin. Xenon light plus another seven forward facing lights with an additional illuminated strips. If you didn’t see that bike coming, it is because you have been permanently blinded by having your pupils burned out due to the brightness. Quick biker sigh language asking if I had enough petrol and me responding that I did, a little wave by the Gremlin and he was gone. Need a helicopter to keep up with that guy :rolleyes:

Within a few kms of entering Dunedin I knew that that was a town with a soul that I wouldn't mind spending some time in – streets lined with great architecture as well as countless university girls scarcely dressed. Dunedin has just made my top 5 list of places in NZ to live in the future.

A quick fuel stop and I make it to the motel where Gremlin has just landed and is busy unloading his luggage. If there is a maximum capacity load that this BMW is rated to carry, I'm sure he is within 1 kilogram of it, mind you I was probably doing the same with the GN. A few Honda jokes, eyeing up our motel girls and we decide to head out to dinner. We were aiming for a sushi bar, but it was closed. The Gremlin noticed a small Thai place and a pizzeria in a side street which were both full of people – a good sign when you are looking for a tasty food. Between the two venues there was a gay bar but despite both Gremlin and myself riding Hondas on daily bases we did not brave it to go in. maybe next time when GiJoe is with us . We had some tasty oriental dishes while enjoying the view of Dunedin’s fines examples of females, then back to the motel where were to have some sleep and get ready for the TT2000 the next two days…:scooter: ]]> TOTO https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1986-TT2000-on-a-GN250-Friday-Picton-to-Dunedin TT2000 on a GN250 - Thursday - Auckland to Picton https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1985-TT2000-on-a-GN250-Thursday-Auckland-to-Picton Sat, 05 Mar 2011 06:05:54 GMT Thursday – Auckland to Wellington Day 1 of our trip was the Auckland to Picton stretch. Gremlin and I were originally planning to leave at about 8-9am in order to catch the ferry at 6:25. Given the change in circumstances and equipment I decided that it is going to be a wise idea if I left a... Thursday – Auckland to Wellington

Day 1 of our trip was the Auckland to Picton stretch. Gremlin and I were originally planning to leave at about 8-9am in order to catch the ferry at 6:25. Given the change in circumstances and equipment I decided that it is going to be a wise idea if I left a little bit earlier to give myself and the GN some time in case we weren't able to move the same speed at Gremlins brand new BMW. How right was I.

Leaving at 6am with the bike fully loaded. Two full panniers, pack rack bag filled to the top and a 10L gas can strapped to the back seat meant that the GN had just enough room for a person my size to fit in it, and that’s it. Ho problem though, this hasn't stopped me riding even smaller bikes in the past. Getting out of Auckland was not a big problem as traffic was light. I don't really remember the leaving too much also as I was on a high, and was already thinking of wellington and the ferry in a few hours time.

Turned out that the bike fully loaded and me on top was not able to climb hills at a high rate of speed. Come to think of it, even going down the steep hills was limited to pretty much 75-80km/h if there was oncoming wind. Cruising speed on the flat was about 96km/h and if there was a severe head wind it could drop down to 40km/h. With the small tank on the GN (10.3L) I was able to do anywhere between 130 – 190kms distance depending on the head wind, but I usually had to fill up about the 140km mark. That meant that I was going to get plenty of stops and a chance to change position from the crammed environment of the GN. The first three fuel stops were a really short stopping time of about 2-3 minutes each – enough to fill the tank, pay for the gas, have some water and back on the bike. :ride:

Throughout the entire ride Gremlin and I were in constant contact with GiJoe1313 as he was a sort of mission control and was also to coordinate search and rescue plans should we got in danger of being eaten, shark attack or if we were unlucky enough to be involved in earthquake (given that the TT was only a week or so after the Christchurch earthquake). So we kept in touch and made sure GiJoe knew roughly where Gremlin and I are.

On the way down I stumbled upon a group of 3 riders that were going down to the TT as well. It is funny though how even riding the GN long distance, our pace was about the same. It appears that being a lone rider you know how much stop you need and how fast you can move off the bike, where in a group it seemed those folks were always so slow off the bikes, despite consistently overtaking the GN.

I made it to “66 on 1” - American style diner with fantastic burgers around 99km away from Wellington. There was a reason why I hadn't eaten anything since 6am in the morning in Auckland, and it was so I can take full advantage of the “66 on 1” delicious menu. Seeing that I didn't have breakfast that day and I have always been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so I ordered the all day breakfast – regardless it was already 3:30pm - with extra hash brown, plus a giant American style burger. I very much enjoy the simple pleasures in life –and you can tell :bleh:

5pm and I had my ferry ticket, passed checking in and was waiting patiently in the hot heat for the doors of the ferry to open. After about 15 minutes quietly boiling in my cordura gear, I braved myself and stripped for the people around in order to get into my Draggin jeans. Man was it worth it. 5:30 pm and the gremlin appears on his shiny Apache helicopter with a pet name Jessica. I told him that Helga suits the BMW more as it was more German, but he still wouldn't have it. :killingme

1 hour waiting to get on the ferry was nicely filled with plenty of motorcycle trash talk, expectations from the trip and plenty of Honda jokes. Gremlin was very proud of his new toy being able to do from Auckland to wellington with no fill ups and also that he left Auckland later than expected and still made it on time – bastard :angry:

Made to Picton all good, disembarked the ferry and thankfully to Gremlins good planning we were in our motel 3 minutes later. Received a TXT from GiJoe to not brake anything, as both gremlin and I seem to have a habit of braking or damaging stuff that does not belong to us. It was to be no different this time…
:devil2: ]]> TOTO https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1985-TT2000-on-a-GN250-Thursday-Auckland-to-Picton TT2000 on a GN250 - Preperation https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1984-TT2000-on-a-GN250-Preperation Sat, 05 Mar 2011 06:01:07 GMT We are all crazy in our own way… Having done the TT2000 with Gremlin in 2010 I was definitely hooked to long distance rallies and also ended up doing the Rusty Nuts’ Grand Challenge. There as no question I was going to go down to the TT2000 in 2011 as well. Some people go through... We are all crazy in our own way…

Having done the TT2000 with Gremlin in 2010 I was definitely hooked to long distance rallies and also ended up doing the Rusty Nuts’ Grand Challenge. There as no question I was going to go down to the TT2000 in 2011 as well.

Some people go through extraordinary lengths of preparation for the TT. This sometimes includes obtaining a whole new motorcycle, with extended fuel range, accessories setup, and clocking thousands and thousands of kms in a super short period of time to get ready for the challenge. Others do almost no preparation as they see it as just a normal ride except with just a few more km/s added – and I even saw a person turn up with no gloves, just a pair of jeans and a short leather jacket and a t-shirt under that. That either super hardcore or super stupid. I stand somewhere in the middle of those two extremes (or so I taught). My preparation for the TT included regular riding after work, maybe 3-4 times a week and on average clocking up about 2000 – 2500kms a week. Had my beloved Honda Hornet 900 checked from head to toe a few weeks before the TT, put some new shoes on, scrubbed said shoes and was counting the days till our leaving time. But it was not to be…:angry:

Three days before our departure from the city of snails to the mainland, my bike developed a small electrical problem which sometimes did not allow the bike to start. I really do not hold it against the bike. After all this bike has done 115 000 faultless kms in the past 2 years and something minor like this is entirely normal over such a distance travelled. The problem was that it was 3 bloody days before we leave. Inconvenient to say the least. As it turned out there was no way I can have the bike looked at let alone fixed due to every motorcycle mechanic I trust was fully booked. I was kindly offered a BMW GS or a SUZUKI V-strom from the rental fleet at work in order to be able to complete the TT, but I had already lined up something even more adventurous – The other bike I own – 1986 SUZUKI GN250.

Oh well, I taught, I’m not going to be fast, but its going to be an adventure for sure, plus I get to set up the record for the smallest and most underpowered bike to complete the TT yet. A few e-mails with the TT2000 organizer and It was official, I was going down to the TT on my GN. The idea was both admired and laughed at from my friends but most of them were keen to see if I will have the balls to do it. I on the other hand wanted to see if I have the ass to do it :weird: ]]> TOTO https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1984-TT2000-on-a-GN250-Preperation