NZ Motorcycling Atlas Test (Part 1)

[Lias]

Ahh, a woman with her priorities in the right place. Of course colour is important...

I read this and the only thing that came to mind was "Once you go black, you never go back"

[vifferman]

I read this and the only thing that came to mind was "Once you go black, you never go back"

My last VFR was black.
Ish.
It was actually 'granite blue metallic' which was a black with nice sparkly blue and gold bits when it was in the sunlight. I really liked it, even though it was jinxed and/or lazy, but it took a while for the vifferbabe to grudgingly admit it was a handsome beast.

[vifferman]

I have a question, and I can't be bothered starting another shred (that's like 'thread' but slurred...).

What's a good type of tank bag, and where's a good place to buy one? (Cue Lou, touting AMPS wares. I'll have to come and see you anyway, Lou, to check out the Sprint, some new gear, and maybe the job as assistant deputy junior bike-detailing monkey).

[Warr]

..........On the way, we'd passed the Anchor Lodge, so we returned there to see if they had any rooms. As it happened, they had only one left, and the proprietoress showed us to the "front unit" which turned out to be a lovely, fully-equipped two-storey townhouse with beds for six, a proper kitchen, and two bathrooms. A bit of an overkill, but we weren't complaining, especially when we discovered the queen-sized be upstairs had a lovely view of the sea. The motelier offered to store the VifFerraRi in her gargre (although she called it a 'garage'), and I willingly accepted..............

Good place to stay.. Wife and myself have stayed there too, The 'Backpackers' prices are spot-on too. Especially is you can make use of the Spa Pool as well. Good Value !

[Blackbird]

Brilliant write-up Viff, makes me want to ride back up tonight! Actually, I did a night passage to Coro about a month ago and it was magnificent. The only problem was that being a typical bloke, I hate stopping and by the time I got to Thames in the cold night air, I really needed to "drain the lizard" too. (great phrase that ). Thought I could hold on to Coromandel and it was nearly my undoing with all the bumps in the road north of Thames. I will publicly admit to having a pee in the garden as soon as I got off the bike. Don't worry - you weren't standing near the spot

No wonder you've been married to Karen for so long. What a woman with the offer of another bike. Don't think I'll disappoint myself by going upstairs and asking....

Cheers

Geoff

[Hitcher]

I have a question, and I can't be bothered starting another shred (that's like 'thread' but slurred...).

What's a good type of tank bag, and where's a good place to buy one? (Cue Lou, touting AMPS wares. I'll have to come and see you anyway, Lou, to check out the Sprint, some new gear, and maybe the job as assistant deputy junior bike-detailing monkey).

Oxford. The Sport series would look good on a Viffer...

[Pixie]

Our inner creatures sated, we set off once again.[/i]

You have inner creatures too?I'm waiting for mine to burst,messyly,from my abdomen.

[vifferman]

You have inner creatures too?I'm waiting for mine to burst,messyly,from my abdomen.

I think mine lives in my head. I hear it muttering in there at times....

Lou must've missed the easy opportunity for touting of wares...
Actually, we've got some longish trips planned (well... the vifferbabe has, so I guess I'll have to go along to steer), and luggage capacity is a bit of a problem. I used to have the 45L "Bathurst" bag, but foolishly sold it when Slartifartblast was wrestled to the ground by the Audi. So now I have two zip-together bags, and that's it. They hold only enough for a couple of days' travel, and I can't use throw-over panniers due to the sexy high-mount Satantune. So either I have to get hard bags (ooog), or ... I dunno. Problematic.
Don't really want to buy a packhorse, but we may have no option. A Sprint ST with hard bags? Maybe the All New! Improved! Bazillion Horsies! 2006 VFR/BlackbirdReplacement. That might be the go, depending on what it turns out to be....

[zadok]

More superlatives required, Peter! It is a 5-smilie road after all!
Shortly after leaving Tairua, while climbing higher through the hills, you pass through some stunning examples of New Zealand native bush. The sun feels gloriously warm on your back, and because you have eschewed earplugs in favour of an intercom headset, you can hear the growling of the Staintune as the bike climbs up the hill in sixth gear, and the buzz of the well-scuffed Bridgestones as they kiss the tarmac in the magnificently sweeping curves. A snick of the gearlever, and the car ahead is quickly dispatched before realising you're even there. Ahh... life is so good.

Loved the write up. What poetry!

[vifferman]

Loved the write up. What poetry!

You are too kind, Sir. Three kind even.
I myself thought it was a rather lazy write-up: needed pix (too lazy to take some); more interesting anecdotes {yawn}; some human-interest type stuff; and a smattering of hyperbole if not outright bullshit.

[Blackbird]

Don't really want to buy a packhorse, but we may have no option

Methinks you need a nice little car or a Goldwing

Alternatively, you could take 2 changes of clothes each and make extensive use of laundromats

[Blackbird]

Or tow a trailer

[vifferman]

Methinks you need a nice little car or a Goldwing

We've got one or three of those already. And isn't a Goldwing a nice little car anyway?

Speaking of that - [WARNING! Sacrilege Alert!!] - I said to the vifferbabe, when we got home, and I was rather...umm.. tired (that's a euphemism for "rather knackered!"), "Do you realise, if we'd taken your car, it would've been much more comfortable, we could've taken more stuff, and we wouldn't be tired now?"
It's a measure of her dedication to her new-found pastime that she said summat like, "And what would have been the point of that?!? We went to have a ride!"
"And was that OK, then? Did you enjoy it? Didn't you find it tiring and/or boring sitting on the back?"
"Yes, of course I enjoyed it! It was lots of fun!"

Alternatively, you could take 2 changes of clothes each and make extensive use of laundromats

That's what I said to wifey. I also told her about my friends in the US who do things like mail their dirty laundry home to themselves, and buy new stuff. I

If most of the time is spent riding, there's probably not much need for other clothes.

[Ixion]

..
Don't really want to buy a packhorse, but we may have no option. A Sprint ST with hard bags? Maybe the All New! Improved! Bazillion Horsies! 2006 VFR/BlackbirdReplacement. That might be the go, depending on what it turns out to be....

Trailer. or a sidecar.

[vifferman]

Trailer. or a sidecar.

Ha ha! Beat you to that, too! The vifferbabe said to our youngest, "Should we have taken you too?"
Me: "We should get some old packhorse, fit a sidecar, and Michael could be the gunner! I'm sure we could get some army surplus machine gun or rocket launcher, and he could blow shit up, like that moron in the Commodore who held us up through the twisties!"