Rusty Nuts Southern Cross

[Holy Roller]

What a ride way to go. Sorry to hear about your little off hope that the damage is not too bad and can be fixed easy. Did every one make the trip?
May consider it next time by then I should be familiar with the new bike, You going to do the 1000 mile this year?

[Silage]

Well done those men. Looking forward to some detail.

[Blackbird]

Delighted that you got the Yammy while I was away - I doubt that you'll be disappointed, it's lovely

Nope, the 'bird has a few scratches on one panel which I'll send up to Reflections in Glenfield for a respray but nothing else - thanks for your concern. I don't know whether I'll do the 1000 miler this year - don't even want to think about bikes for a day or so after all that riding

Will start writing the ride report tomorrow and then get Mangell6 and Jantar to add their stuff to make it a joint effort and see things from 3 different perspectives.

Geoff

[sarg]

u must be well satisfied by what u all acheived in completing such a challenging ride

[Jantar]

Already complaints from the public about (allegedly) riders on this rally crossing yellow lines while overtaking...... not a good look people, regardless of how safe it looks from the riders point of view.

I've found a computer at the backpackers I'm staying at tonight so thought I'd add a few more comments.

I saw lots of passing on double yellow lines, and even did some myself. But in every case the overtaking manouver was completed between the the vehicle being passed and the yellow lines, which I believe is a legal overtaking option. I saw only one example of a biker actually crossing the yellow line (no it wasn't me) and I believe that was because the vehicle he was passing sped up, and he ran out of room before the yellow line became solid.

Overall I was impressed by the courtesy shown to us motorcyclists by other road users and certainly our group tended to acknowledge it. There were some idiots on the road as always (like the driver who decided to do a U-turn in front of Blackbird), but in general I felt that most drivers were considerate and driving at a reasonable standard.

I'll file a full report with Blackbird when I get home in a bout a week.

[RiderInBlack]

Well done to The Three Cabalerros Glad you all made it. Glad I made the time to join you for a short bit (blood nice day it was too).
Roxanne is in bits in my garage at the moment. Need to do the cam chain and tensioner, plus cure the coolant leak between the head and block. So I'll be out of action for a while. Would love to try the SC in 2007 (that's when the next one is right?). Bit of luck Roxanne will be rearing to go for the next GC in October.

[Legolas]

Glad you guys all made it safely.
I am really proud of you all.

Sorry to hear about your little mishap Geoff. Glad the damage isn't too severe. I suppose that if the Bird is off the road for a few days, that’ll at least give you a chance to start on the job list, that Jennie will have written for you. Lol.

Really looking forward to reading the full account of the trip.

Steve.

[LB]

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Great piccies BB.

Well done guys, I know lots of people think this ride is a breeze - I've not done it myself but I know that it takes some serious riding/planning/money/time.

Looking forward to hearing the full story in due course.
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[Kickaha]

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Well done guys, I know lots of people think this ride is a breeze - I've not done it myself but I know that it takes some serious riding/planning/money/time.
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You're meant to plan for this ride?

When I did it way back in the middle ages on my Darmah,we only finished putting the motor back in the bike the day before after a crank rebuild,my only plan was making the ferry on time

[Blackbird]

Some of us are a bit nerdy Being an engineer, planning is second nature - we feel naked without it

Just done some nerdy numbers as a matter of fact. According to my odometer, total distance travelled from home to getting home again was 5527km, I used 332 litres of fuel at a cost of $429.71. Consumption averaged a respectable 16.64 km/lt or 47 mpg in old units. I tended to short shift most of the time to extend range and the more constant throttle settings on long runs undoubtedly helped as well.

Geoff

[scumdog]

Good to see somebody 'crunched' the numbers, always interested in that kind of stuff

[Blackbird]

More "crunching" to come in the full ride report which got started today. Jantar says you were off shift when we came past - sorry we didn't meet. We weren't the ones crossing double yellow lines, honest!

Geoff

[Zed]

Back in Tokoroa 5.15 pm. All bloody sore! Laid my 'bird down in the gravel at East Cape but only scratched one panel - just dented pride. Sunstrike was wicked most of the way home - scary. (Geoff)

I'm glad you guys got back home safe & sound - what a mission of a ride!! Sorry to hear you laid down your 'Bird Geoff, hope it's not too painful to look at?

[Blackbird]

No gouges, just a few scratches. Under other circumstances, I might have been really upset but the pride in successfully finishing our first Southern Cross completely over-rides any worries about a few scratches. The panel will be on its way to Reflections in Glenfield shortly though - as soon as I've had time to remove to 50 kg of dirt from the bike

Cheers

Geoff

[scumdog]

More "crunching" to come in the full ride report which got started today. Jantar says you were off shift when we came past - sorry we didn't meet. We weren't the ones crossing double yellow lines, honest!

Geoff

Yeah, I was leaping up from the 'puter everytime I heard a string of bikes coming and looking outside to see who was going past!!!

No worries about the yellow line thing (Jantar explained it to me), I was just regurgitating what was reported to me when I started work that night... "Next time ya see ya mates ya might want to tell them not to upset people by passing them on yellow lines" was the kind of message I got, - good old public - no rego numbers, no description, gotta love them at times like that eh? .