On behalf of 86gsxr.....

[Lissa]

yup he is doing the loop .. here are the pics from what looks like the summit of the taka's .. but sent when he got to carterton .. just looking a wee bit wet there ... so not suprised that he held off sending them ..

the lil boy blue is now on his way home & should be posting up his ride report at some stage ... when he comes off cloud nine that is

heehee a running commentry....

Yep its been really wet and cold in the rapa, he sure is going to be all blue when he gets home

[chanceyy]

heehee a running commentry....

Yep its been really wet and cold in the rapa, he sure is going to be all blue when he gets home

lol yup just leaving Ekatahuna... no pics this time .. & I was going to email the pics back to him but he asked to post on the thread .. so like I said Al will put all the words to match the pics in his ride report .. once he thaws out.. but still apparently dry .. so am guessing the gear has had a good try out today ..

[u4ea]

geese my son has seen the new bike before me as he bumped into the boy in blue at the cafe in Shannon!!!!said it sure is a beautiful bike!!!HEHEEHE no secrets here aye!!!!

[chanceyy]

geese my son has seen the new bike before me as he bumped into the boy in blue at the cafe in Shannon!!!!said it sure is a beautiful bike!!!HEHEEHE no secrets here aye!!!!

laffing .. I got a text saying he was having coffee in shannon, so figured that someone would see it ...

latest news was just in woodville having a pie ...will leave the numbers as in ks & rpm to the ride report ..

[86GSXR]

Hello

I'm home now and drying out lol. Bloody great ride with the exception of hitting a f....g rockfall as I was going through the Gorge! Luckily I was taking it really easy due to the conditions and I now have my first piece of bling in the form of a very small chunk taken out of the underside of the fairing! It's fair to say I'm a litttle disappointed about this, but it could have been far, far worse.

So, I'm just happy to be home and will post up full report when I have my act together

[dogsnbikes]

has anyone herd from blue boy

[chanceyy]

has anyone herd from blue boy

you just did .. read above your post

[chanceyy]

Hello

I'm home now and drying out lol. Bloody great ride with the exception of hitting a f....g rockfall as I was going through the Gorge! Luckily I was taking it really easy due to the conditions and I now have my first piece of bling in the form of a very small chunk taken out of the underside of the fairing! It's fair to say I'm a litttle disappointed about this, but it could have been far, far worse.

So, I'm just happy to be home and will post up full report when I have my act together

good to hear you made it home all in one piece .. bugger bout rock though ..

thanks for the pics & updates during your ride, weather sure looked crap but since you was smiling so much guess you didn't take much notice of it ...

look forward to your full ride report there mate

[dogsnbikes]

Hello

I'm home now and drying out lol. Bloody great ride with the exception of hitting a f....g rockfall as I was going through the Gorge! Luckily I was taking it really easy due to the conditions and I now have my first piece of bling in the form of a very small chunk taken out of the underside of the fairing! It's fair to say I'm a litttle disappointed about this, but it could have been far, far worse.

So, I'm just happy to be home and will post up full report when I have my act together

cool your back bummer about the bling mate look forward to the report

[86GSXR]

Rightiho, I have my self sorted and will now attempt to recall the day - standby - I'm not the fastest of typists

[chanceyy]

Rightiho, I have my self sorted and will now attempt to recall the day - standby - I'm not the fastest of typists

thats ok .. we know you like slow speeds

[86GSXR]

Whew, finished at last. Major cut and paste job below.

Right! Well the day started off nasty and wet, windy and cold - curses! I had planned to do a major trip today and although expecting the bad weather, it was still not a pleasant thought being wet ALL day lol.

So after checking the forecast, it looked as though Palmy would start to behave around midday, and after I'd finished having fun on KB it was getting onto about that time. I like being on leave, so much more relaxing.

The forecast had said there was a front approaching from the north, which was unusual, but explained the easterlies. But it looked promising, well, more promising than it had earlier anyway

So I kitted up in just about every piece of warm clothing I had and got on the road with no particular destination in mind - old age lol.

One of the disadvantages in living in a flat place is that there are no vantage points to see the weather, except for the Rangitiki St bridge, well nearby anyway. So I took advantage of the very small elevation to check out the weather in all directions. North and East looked bad, really socked in and dark, but the coast and down to the South looked pretty good, with blue (ish) skies towards the Strait.

So South it was then, and along Tremaine Ave I headed, looking forward to getting onto some open road. At this point I'd only done 130 miles and was restricted to 5000 rpm until I'd passed the 300 mile mark. This was ok as 5000 equated to 79 mph, which was more than enough for the job in hand at this point.

Hit the turnoff to highway 57 and just cruised along according to the road and traffic conditions. Passed a couple of cars quite easily and once again was stuck by just how light and responsive this bike is. It takes only a tiny amount of input to make it move a long way, which I'd imagine is the case for all modern sportsbikes - which of course it is.

Anyway, I couldn't help comparing it to the gixxers, and I must say that tho the early gixxers wrote the book (quiet in the critics section please lol), evolution has certainly done it's job very well these days!

Where the moderate corners on this road would take a reasonable amount of input to sweep around, all it took the Daytona to get around a fair bit quicker was to just look at them - great, but I'll have to be careful or I could quite easily overdo it. Meaning that the sensation of speed is really minimal, which is fine until it catches you out. Anyway, I will get used to that as I grow more accustomed to it.

For example, at 60 mph (100kph) along the straight I felt as if I could literally just step off the bike and everything would be fine. It wouldn't of course, but that's how it felt because of the smoothness and lack of engine and wind noise.

Anyhow got to Shannon (sorry for not calling in Jodi, I was starving and desperately needed a coffee lol). I almost pressed on to Levin, but thought bugger it, I'm hungry now.

Now, the interesting thing was that as I approached the big left hand 90* corner several people on the other side of the street all turned around as the bike decelerated. Yep, that old boom huh - great!

Had a quick bite and as I was leaving bumped into Kane for a quick chat and hello

Onwards past Levin and onto SH1. Took it very easy and just went with the flow, being mindful to change speed regulary in accordance with the running in procedure. Just north of Otaki the fuel light illuminated and I pulled into the BP with a total of 170 miles (272 km) completed. Hmm, thats not bad, and according to the manual I have approx 4 litres left. That's just under an imperial gallon, or just over a US gallon. The tank capacity is 21 litres and it took 14.5 litres to fill. So, it appears the fuel warning light is quite optimistic - good.

So that's about 45 mpg or 18.7 km per litre at a very moderate power setting. Not bloody bad! Checked the oil as well - sweet!

So, back on the road and feeling very comfortable with the bike. It's a joy to ride and although slightly hard on the wrists, very easy on the knees.

By this time I was starting to notice a change in the engine note as well. It was settling down nicely and starting to want more feeding hehe.

But gently does it, she wasn't getting any more than 5000 rpm until 300 miles.

Glided effortlessly up the Piecoc hill, well, the bike did, I couldn't quite keep up with her and had to remind myself that this machine is capable of much more than I am. Still, I was the rider.

Got to the top took some pics (thanks Sandra) and even though it was blowing at least 25 kts, it was a great feeling being up there with this bike. It was then that I discovered that no, you cannot put her into gear with the sidestand down, the engine just stops - twice. Doh!

Anyway, glad I hadn't had my first breakdown, it was down the hill towards Pahautanui, and I really got a slightly better grip on that nimbleness this time, and I do mean only more slightly. It was a bloody good little ride down there, marred only by a boy racer not keeping up with his side of the road!

Onto the Haywards and as I'd decided to take the scenic route via the Rapa I had a quick look up at the hill at the Haywards summit. As expected with the easterly, it was shit.

Well, thats OK, I don't mind getting wet, and it will be a good chance to see how these Bridgestone Battlax 010R's hold up. I haven't done much tyre research I'm sorry to say, so I don't know much about them, but they seemed quite good in the dry. Better than I was anyway.

Onto the Hutt Rd and everyone was doing 120 (kms) so I just kept up with that until the traffic thinned out at the bottom of the hill. It was very wet by this time and in solid cloud and mindful of the recent offs, I mosied on up at a sedate pace. The tyres's seemed pretty confident and I had no frights.

Got to the top and stopped for more pics (thanks again Sandra ) and a decision to backtrack or continue. Easy, I really want to get wet, where's the fun in being in sunshine all day? (I've forgotton I said that already, ok)

Down the other side waiting for my gloves to soak through and actually got to Carterton without this happening. Strange. Still it WILL happen lol.

Great latte in Carterton, more pics, night had fallen and as my hands were pretty cold I got out these little poly inners that I bought last week. They made a huge difference until Masterton when the inevitable happened and that first horrible drop of water started running down my sleeves into my gloves - yuck. Tried to deal with it roadside, but ha. Although, I did get to see the temp gauge go from 179 F up to 212 while I idled. So that was good. No warning displays and according to the manual it will flash at 266 F/129 C.

I decided to go through Masterton (hi guys, yes I like to think of it as gold too ) instead of taking the bypass, just in case I hit something or missed a corner. The rain made oncoming traffic pretty hazardous, so it was a nice easy cruise through town and out the other side.

Luckily it wasn't really cold or the ride could have got unpleasant, but the headlights on the Daytona are pretty darn good and it was no problem cruising up towards Eketahuna for the next stop and text

I literally had to wring out my gloves, but this was allayed by the favourable bike comments from passer bys

By now I'd covered 280 miles and soon it would be time to go to 6000 rpm. As it happened I clocked 300 miles almost right outside the Tui brewery at Mangatainoka! Very ironic I thought lol.

Ok, so here we go, and as the road was pretty deserted and straight, and the rain had stopped, up I went to 6000. The bike had been waiting for this all day (so had I) and once again I was rewarded by a lovely growl burbling out of that huge piece of stainless steel hanging off the right side. Marvelous it was and the wind noise grew stronger but no buffeting. Great! So at 6000 I had a quick look and was indicating 97 mph.

I would like to emphasise that by this time the rain had completely stopped and the visibility was good. And besides, it was only a for a few seconds I am NOT advocating exceeding the posted speed restrictions.

Woodville - pie and text lol. More glove wringing.

On into the Gorge and all was going well, nice sedate pace, good following distance but dark.

Then suddenly I see a black outline in the middle of the road. Shit, it was a rockfall. I had no time to avoid it and just kept straight. A big bang and the bike jumped sideways but stayed upright. Fuck!

The middle of the Gorge is not a good place to stop without a torch, and I could feel no major damage or strange noises so I kept going to Ashust Mobil and had a quick inspection.

Thank god there were no major pieces ripped out from anywhere, just a couple of small scrapes and one very small hole in the belly pan. No exhaust pipe damage either. I was pissed off but relieved that it hadn't taken me out.

Well, I guess I can't take it back now, and I just have to think of it as bling.

So, after all that, it really was a supurb ride on a beautiful bike. I'm glad I'm closer to the 1000 mile mark, and also vey glad of the wakeup call of the dangers of night riding through unforgiving roads. And of the often very unforgiving nature of riding in general.

So please people, ride carefully and expect the unexpected.

Got home and now have 323 miles logged.

Sorry this took so long, I really am a very slow typist

[cowboyz]

good days riding. one third of the way there so that is good. You want to go get me a pie from a little shop on the corner of great south road today?

[86GSXR]

good days riding. one third of the way there so that is good. You want to go get me a pie from a little shop on the corner of great south road today?

I would love to, and it wouldn't be hard on this bike lol. Unfortunately, I have a 500 mile service and according to the manual "the first service MUST be carried out at 500 miles/800 kilometers/1 month, whichever comes first".

So I'd probably miss that one, how about a pie from the Waiouru Caltex instead?

P.S. I believe that the reason I didn't see the rocks was that the headlights, which are supurb, are designed in such a way as to not throw the light directly in front of the bike. Which is exactly what you want, as your gaze should be directed into the middle and far distance. And this is what the headlight design achieves very well. However, there is a distinct 'dark spot' immediately in front of the bike, and I did not pick up on the fact that the rocks were in the middle distance until too late.

[chanceyy]

awesome ride report there Al .. so since the weather seems better down your way today, and I am sticking around home today to recieve more texts (reads pics) to post

have an awesome one ... only two more days til I see the beast ..... then i can decide if she is yellow or gold