PegLeg

t was a little more difficult for me on the Harley, as every time I tried a little lane splitting, I could feel the tension rising in my pillion…. I have tried pushing her through this sort of thing before on the M109R I use to have…. only to have her avoiding the rides altogether till I got this new Softail.

On the northern side of the Brynderwyns we had a whole bunch of sportys (non Cruiser Styled Motorcycles) come up behind us, so I pulled over and let them go… their high revving engines filling the air like thousands of angry bees bussing about.

With JJ and Dave well and truly having had disappeared up a head playing with the sportys, I settled in behind a reasonably fast moving BMW 540i and followed it through the traffic, the Brynderwyns seem to develop their own little micro-climate usually resulting in some sort of rain, but not today, we had long since left the wee bit of the wet stuff behind up up north and the sun was out making for very pleasant riding…. (If it wasn't for all the bloody cars)

The now familiar corners being taken with ease on the Harley, the loaping engine not much over an idle, eagerly swallowing great gulps of fuel when ever a gap in the traffic presented itself, transforming instantly into a whirlwind of torque, with the exhaust shouting out the engines excitement.

Pulling on into Wellsford I saw JJ and Lo parked up on their Voyager with the Goldwing parked beside them, devoid of its owner…. pulling in beside JJ and Lo I switched the Harley off and waited quietly while Dave and Kirsty finished whatever it was they were doing.

The sporty bikes that had buzzed by us over the Brynderwyns were all gassing up at the local Petrol Station…. Geez I still had the best part of half a tank… admittedly I had been riding quietly …. but you got to love these new Harley's…. ;-)

It had taken the best part of 2 hours to work our way down from Kerikeri, and I was looking for a break off the bike, only about 15 minutes to Warkworth and the Bridgehouse for a late lunch….

Working our way out of Wellsford, the traffic had thinned out a little and we could make some good pace, we worked our way down into the bottom of the Wayby Valley and up out the other side, one of the sporty bikes had been pulled over by a Traffic Cop… this had the anticipated effect on our speed…. well till we were out of site of the police cruisers radar anyway.

We worked our way across the Waiwhiu Tops and then down into the Dome Valley…. Man I have childhood memories through here…. stories of Mystical Maori myths …. Flying Saucers and UFO abductions and just strange lights in the sky through out my youth in the 1960's and 1970's. These fueled many a conversation during slow laborious family excursions through the area in my Fathers old Vauxhall Wyvern.

It was around 2.30pm when we pulled up to the Bridge House Cafe in Warkworth I have been here a number of times now over the last few years, very pleasant old English Pub kind of feel, but the kind of place the locals would avoid in the weekends, because of all the Aucklanders desending on the place.

I ordered a beer a glass of wine for Marggy and a couple of steak sandwiches… this all arrived promptly at our table and was greedily consumed…. its surprising just how physical these road trips can be, keeping yourself feed and hydrated is especially important.

The conversation around the table settled on our trip over the last few days, and rides we intend to do in the future, with Spring just around the corner here in NZ, its time for me to get my credit cards paid off so I can ride the wheels off my Harley's over summer...

Well this was pretty much the end of our trip, hugs and hand shakes all around it was back on the bikes, we are heading for home… I lead the way out of town just to find my dam artificial leg had fallen off… bugga!!!, first time all weekend… trying to avoid cars and not crash I pull the bike over and hit the kill switch… holding the bike up on my good right leg I reach down and shift the bike into neutral….

Now for me I get pretty frustrated and embarrassed when my plastic leg comes adrift, most of the time I forget its there…. or not there if you know what I mean…

Anyway I maneuver the bike to where its safe to get off it, and get pretty short to my pillion who is trying to be helpful making lots of suggestions… I find myself snarling at her, when she dosn't deserve it…. (Sorry Babe)

So its a quick down trow in the middle of the main street of Warkworth while I sort out my artificial left legs wardrobe issue…. nothing the can't be fixed with a bit of No8 wire and some sticky tape… all while women screamed and mother shielded their children's eyes from my near nakedness…. (not really but it felt like it at the time ;-)

Leg all sorted It was back on with my trousers and riding pants…. then a quick ride around the block to ensure it was going to stay on, and to get some gas, last gas stop before home….

All hot and frustrated it was good to be moving again, from Warkworth its a short trip down to Puhoi and through the tunnels, its around 3.30pm and the heat has gone from the sun now…. it will only be an hour or so till it starts setting and we will be riding in the twilight.

As I said in the 1st part of this trip report once you hit the Tunnels at Puhoi, its pretty much Motorway or Expressway roads all the way down to Huntly, so we would make great time …. and it was all down hill (heading South)

This was the third trip for the weekend through the tunnels not too scary at $2.00 a time, but I had better remember to pay the toll.

By the time we had got down the Southern Motorway to Papakura (the Autobarn) I was really looking to have a break and get off the bike…. I suggested to my pillion we could stop if she needed a break, go to the toilet etc whatever…. hint hint… but bless her she was all good and happy to keep trucking for home…. Fudgebot!!!!

But in no time at all we had climbed up the Auckland side of the Bombay Ranges and the Mighty Waikato was spread out before me…. like some nomadic warrior of old, returning home for the 1st time in years, my spirits sore at sight of the gentle rolling hills and valleys, green green grass and clean fresh air an absolute pleasure to behold.

Even the slowly dropping temperature was welcome, like the cold caress of loving hands I no longer had a sense of weariness, more one of satisfaction and gratitude it has been a massive weekend with like minded riders covering the loop in goodtime and in awesome weather.

Rolling into Ngaruawahia almost home,…. I decide to take the back roads through to Te Kowhai then around the back of the Hamilton Zoo and into the back of Dinsdale, and get home in the twilight, the sun has set, literally , on a fantastic weekend… Marggy hopped of the back of the bike as fresh as you please … testimony to the Harley Signature Seat.

As usual I get a little melancholy at the end of a trip, sometimes even emotional…. (yeah yeah I know harden the fu(k up) but these trips are what I live for, being out on the road on a V-Twin is something special, it defines me and you really can, if you are open to it, find out who you are (inside in the places you don't normally look) and what you are made of.

And as I have said before, this trip has to end so another exciting trip can start… so its back to my other life tomorrow, the one that pays the bills and keeps the bike under me….

Facts and figures

Day 2

Traveled 502 kms
Put 23 litters of fuel in
which is 61 mpg
or 4.5 liters per 100 kms

At the end of the weekend we have traveled a total of 1215 ams (755 miles)
Put in a total of 61 liters of fuel
which is 56 mpg
or 5.0 liters per 100 kms over the whole weekend.