Wellington it is a glorious day to get out there

[release_the_bees]

I have a hearing loss from noise and always wear earplugs now. But it's almost too quiet with the new helmet (Shoei NXR2) and I may look at having some earplugs made which let certain frequencies through so I can hear the exhaust.

There are some great rides in the central North Island, but you really need to stay the night somewhere if coming from Auckland. It's been a while since I've done 550 km in a day on the R1 and I'm still recovering!

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I use the Alpine MotoSafe ear plugs. They do a great job of blocking out the wind noise but still letting a certain level of the other sounds through. It's better than an aftermarket can in terms of the audio effect, as without the wind noise the bike sound is easier to hear, even though it is quieter overall.

After a few years of using them, if I'm without the ear plugs even the wind noise at 50 km/h seems unbearably loud these days.

I second your point about the central North Island. I have family in Masterton, so I get to take the bike down a couple of times per year. I've got the route pretty nailed down now, so that I can mostly stay on the back roads, ride around towns rather than through them, and spend as much time on motorcycle friendly roads as possible. It is nice to stay midway to allow for a slightly longer time riding I'm well overdue a trip through the Forgotten World Highway.

I miss the days when I trained for distance riding and would think nothing of doing a 1000km ride. It made it easy to get to some out of the way places and ride roads that I'd never ridden before. With sufficient training, trips like that didn't even feel high effort.

Hopefully, those days will return soon now that I've finished studying for a degree which ate up most of my free time over the past six years.

I have the day off work tomorrow, so plan to get up early and go for a decent length ride. I still need to decide where to go and which bike to take though.

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[SaferRides]

Thanks, I will check out the earplugs. The NXR2 is quiet enough to ride without earplugs up to about 100, unless you open the top vents.

My last trip on the FWH was over a year ago while they were finishing the sealing. Fortunately, I was on a V-strom and not the R1 as it was a bit sketchy in places, but it should be all finished now.

I'd recommend going through Ohura if you're coming down from Auckland. That's a fun road!

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[F5 Dave]

Wellington. What a Glorious day.
To clean up the garage.

I mean really. This has gotten silly.

Finally reached Ground Zero with the bench.

Projects keep getting piled up on it. Get a box and tidy projects into it then clean.

After this picture I then extended a frame i was using as a shelf then sorted circlips, orings, fittings not in filling. Then my top drawer.

Not quite as good as a ride but satisfying.

Ok now for BBQ. Really. Sitting here in TShirt and Boxers (quite private) .

Yum

[husaberg]

Wellington. What a Glorious day.
To clean up the garage.

I mean really. This has gotten silly.

Finally reached Ground Zero with the bench.

I remember you mentioning the bench not sure if you had posted a picture was it from somewhere that made industrial sinks like mercers?
Looks really good, reminds me of a pic i seen of Tony Scotts. (The stainless not the tidiness)

[F5 Dave]

Yeah chap from work said there was some dodgy kitchen place in industrial area. All Asian workers making stainless so got a folded cover to fit homebuilt bench. Even has a raised step so jets don't roll off the edge. Cost, like $150 or something ridiculous.