FLIGHT THERE
Talk about impulsive!
Was only on trade me checking out bikes that may be suitable for Heidi, when she comes off her learners in the next few months !
But i guess it was meant to be lol
2006 1050 speed triple, 2500 cliks, looking for a new home ! The fella had picked it up at an insurance auction 10 months ago, but had only replaced a headlight and new clutch lever (badly i might add after seeing it) but hey ! One or two paint chips and a scrape on the left hand side cover !
Whats a man to do when ya see sommit like that ? Check to see what 06 models are going for of course !!
So yeah i watched and watched and waited and yep paid more than i wanted to lol, but i beat the Bastards !
Next chore was to book a flight for friday (after explaining the situation to Heidi hehe, surprised she agreed to run me to wellington airport lol)
Ya have to love that rush on takeoff, makes a man want to slap a nitros kit on something and pilot it himself !
Seemed the grin had only just left the face after that rush and there was the unnatural feeling of dropping 10,000 feet at a time, which meant we were coming in to land (i hoped)
Had forgotten how much warmer it was in auckland than down here, so there was no wearing the gear i'd carried on to the plane ! A quick call to me mate Bill, whom i'd met at the Motott track day last week and he was on his way to get me (on ya Bill) !
Couple of coffee's later at Bills workshop (and several calls to try and contact the bikes owner) and i had finally convinced him that i needed to see it in the daylight, not at bloody 7 pm like he wanted ! He even rode it to where i was (even better), to save me trying to find his place in Manuwera ! Ok ok so Wiri aint far away, but hey ya have to think that i live in Te Horo and that might give ya an idea lol !
Anyway there it was, cooling fan going flat out (first thought was nana), scratches were pitifull (955 was worse when i first saw it, lol only getting worser), scrape was obvious, but only if ya look for it . It didn't look half bad, even had that new smell still burning off. Sat on it and thought who the hell set the bars up like this, was near looking down at the front guard to get my mits on the levers !~
No time for adjustments like it or lump it, so i was off for a blat with the bloody fuel light on too ! Was sounding a bit choked and chuffing black on start up, but a minute later it reved up on its own accord and cleared ! So I went for a short strop, lifted the front once and grinned, round the block to a good straight, give it a fistfull through the gears and threw the arms out like jesus !!! Perfect line !! No banking to the left like it might have, after being dropped on that side !!
Back to the yard and a couple more startups (was beginning to worry about the auto choke being on for a minute or two every time, when it was so warm ! He cleared that up for me when i ask how long the fuel light had been on, lol TEN MONTHS shit that fuel would be growing something by now ! Few more checks found a missing chain guard and a back brake line resting on top of said chain ! Out with the cable ties !!
Decision made !!! Time to run the bloke back to his place and do the deal. Haha he had asked if i can pillion, as he never had (wasn't expecting the arms to wrap around me like that though), promised id be gentle, as it dont have much of a pillion seat. Great for the ladies pressing against ya, but mmmm not that comfy with a couple of lard asses on the seat ! By the time we reached the gaso he had relaxed a little.
Deal done, it was back to Bills yard to do a few adjustments to the bars, run a spanner over it, even had a go at threading the clutch lever and controls through the forks where they belong. But a bit tight, so will dissasemble that lot at home i thought as it was getting close to 6 by then and things to do, beers to drink etc etc !!
With the bike safely stowed in Bills garage, with his two bikes and firebird (damb fine company for the triple i thought) we were off to the Bog for a meal and a beer ! Well that turned into a blinder lol, A young fella and his band turned up to play a gig ! Thought he looked famillia, wasnt till someone said he'd played at the stadium before the main acts at the Ozzy concert, that i remembered ! Shit can that guy play the guitar !!! Back there next week if any Auckland folk wanna see a legend in the making !
1 am and we finally made it home half cut and i couldnt help myself, had to tinker ! 2 30 i was ready to crash, radar detector wired into the triples battery ! Wheels checked to make sure she aint gonna collapse on the way home ! 955 Nu.... pl... (... to protect the guilty lol) attached, complete with stickers. I was snoring in minutes !
FLIGHT HOME !
Woke at 6 ! Screw that ! Woke again at 7 30 Shit, damb all that bourbon !
Good on ya Bill for feeding me and thank god for panadol !
Finally hit (wrong word) climbed on the bike around 9 30 and wandered around Manurewa trying to find the motorway south, (it'd been hours and it was dark when we went there lol)
I was off ! Damb that 955 is sluggish in comparison, only word that comes to mind when i twisted the thottle is BAAAARP, the front seems to want to lift 1st, 2nd and 3rd ! Cant wait to get to some windies i thought hehehe !
Down through to huntly and hung a left, getting better woohoo, Detectors working, even sitting in the top clear part of the tank bag, had sussed that out on the southern M/W ! So i opened it up a bit, testing the rubber more on each corner, grinning more with each curve !
Closed in on Hamilton and was thinking James St, James st, damb it ! It was thomas first, then james haha ok a bit of double backing and i finally found the Quasi's place. Great day for a sausy sizzle guys ! There goes the budget hehe Gonna have to break out the grinder too, so it looks like i can get those sliders close to the ground !
Right enough sausages under the belt, i was off again ! Bugger Hamilton, it was a quick squirt back to the Cambridge turn off and far better roads than SH1 ! Next thing ya know, i'm comming in on Taupo, mmmmm to stop or not ?? Arse aint too bad, better seat than the 955, it just keeps gettin better !
Hell with it i thought, i need a beer ! Glad i stopped Too, within 5 min, 6 or 7 bay city riders stopped for a beer on their way to sulpha city ! Cheers for the invite guys, we will hold ya to it ! See ya's at the cold duck meantime ! Was my parting comment, as we headed off after a couplemmmmnnnmmmore, shit temp. was dropping too, lol sure made the desert road rather bracing haha
More clothes in the bag but hey im tough besides how many times do i want to overtake them cars and trucks ? Haha who cares !
Well i aint that tough and was pulled over for a smoke and a leather under my sidi jacket just south of taihape lol, one more smoke to let a few more of them buggers pass and i was off again !
Had gassed up in Turangi and set the trip to see where it took me !
Stopped to grab a kebarb in bulls, (just sat down to eat it, when i got a text from Hides that a lovely pork fillet and roast spuds etc, were gonna be waiting for me and what was my eta opps, see a bloat coming on here !) Just started on the run out of Sanson and the feul lights on, 180 k shit the 955 was good for 250, but then the warning light never worked. Mmmm smaller tank capacity or guzzling it, haha who cares just ride it ! No idea what the reserve gives ya, so was starting to think oh oh. But sweet as, made it to foxton no problem. (whats with them eftpos at pumps, they never bloody work and i hate prepay !!!!!!!!! )
Always that last leg that gets to ya, or is it the night prior ?/ Bit cooler down here too, but hey whats a shiver ? Just ride with it !!!
Otaki, yay home at last !! Felt like i could keep going though NICE ride !!
There is always sommit to blow ya fun though aye, haha and tonight it was the dogs bloody cannon bone !!
My bikes sleep inside, so i have a ramp up onto the back deck. Ride into the back yard, loop around the pear tree and a nice run up to the ramp !
The 1050 has a shit lock compared to the 955, so had to take a wider arc grrrrr bloody bone, long grass, dark !!! F..kin things been dropped twice now haha, shit talk about rip ya undies ! 500 odd hard out k's and ya fall on ya arse 20 ft from the door ! Nice little forward roll but haha, when the knee decided it aint built for holdin me and the bike up !
Great Ride, Great Bike, few things to sort on it, but a bargin ! No damage on its second tumble, other than to my Ego haha
Fun trip !!! Electronic speedo tells me i averaged a good pace ! Must have bypassed all the towns aye hehe
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