Well it has been a long long weekend with plenty of riding in.
Friday morning there was excitement in the air as we packed the bike up and headed to Meanies for breakfast.
Meanie, Monie, Yod, 86gsxr, Banditrider, NZSarge and Mrs Cowboyz and myself sat over bacon and eggs contemplating the days ahead. Plan was to leave at 8.30am a in a stroke of miracle we were all on the bikes at 8.33am while Mrs Yod took some photos and we were off. Headed up through Vinegar hill with the sun already beaming down on us. Plenty of police on the main highways but they were all busy at the time so we made Waiouru in good time for the first stop. Had a chat to a friendly policeman there who was a bit of a hard case and carried on up national park to Taumaranui. Everything was going just fine following Meanie until Yod took the lead and a couple of slaps from the pillion seat started. Think of the children Yod!!
Refuel in Taumaranui and then headed up 8 mile. I planned to take a bypass road from 8 mile to SH30 but when we got there the road was missing! Oh well, onwards to TeKuiti for lunch. 86 must get around a bit cause he has his own label at the lunch bar and the waitress calls him by name. Shearing capital of the world? Probably not a surprise then!
Met a couple of guy on some classic bikes and they followed us up through to Ngaruawahia for some more fuel. Was having some batteries issues with the GPS so didn’t get the whole track but it didn’t work out so bad. Being on my home roads I got into the groove and it felt really ….. whats the word I am looking for….. errr. Fucking mint!.
Came across Tahuna Rd to find a M109 that looked a little worse for wear after trying its hand at off road riding. No surprise that it didn’t fair well. Gave a thumbs up/down and got waved on so with already too many people at that party we carried on through to Ngtea.
Got to Ngatea nice and early and settled down for some shittalking and relaxing for the evening.
Setup tents and 86 found a special friend to keep him company in the tent.
Sat morning and another breakfast suited for the army and we were off to meet Barbender and his mate at Kopu. Meanies mate who put us up for the night brought his bike out to follow us round coro while his daughter braved the Tiger.
I was looking forward to the coro loop with its reputation so headed off with a long line of bikes behind us. Didn’t enjoy the ride along the west coast at all. The road was wet, narrow and shaded with no runoff. Pootled in a pootle kind of way up the hill to some fantastic views. Was feeling a little ripped off about what kiwibikers are always raving about but we pressed on. As soon as we got off the hill the road turned into a fantastic web of twisties laced with traffic. From what I got from it I can see the attraction but can see why there are so many accidents up that way. Went into Coromandel where a we stopped at a café that didn’t know how to spell EMU but at least they tried.
Headed round the rest of the loop and managed to get through 100k in 4 hours. Seems Ashhurst rides are not limited to Ashhurst. Having to make hicks bay on the east cape for the night and not getting very far we stayed on the bikes for a while and got some ks under our belts.
Barbender and Patrick left us at Whitianga, good to meet you and will let you know when we are about your parts again.
38 degrees in Waihi and we were all cooking by now. Every time I took a breath of air I could feel my lungs cooking.
Made good time round to Opotiki where we decided to have dinner in case there was nothing to eat in hicks bay.
Found a nice little irish bar where the harden bikers had a awesome feed of steak , eggs and chips and the Honda rider had some dainty chicken meal.
Time pressing on we headed round east cape looking forward to the end of the day and sitting down having a drink. Everyone pretty much stayed in a line along the way at a comfortable steady pace.
Pulled over for a photo shoot as the sun was going down and as we were standing round talking shit I noticed a large screw in my rear tyre. Being about a million miles from civization I contemplated pushing it further in or pulling it out and seeing if it had gone right through. Decided to pull it out and the air that was surposed to be on the inside of the tyre ended up on the outside of the tyre. Thankfully NZSarge came to the rescue with a repair kit which took about 5 mins to fix the tyre and we were away. I lead out on the theory that I would be nice to the bike in case anything went wrong with the tyre. The light was failing now and was keen to get to hicks bay and still had 40k to cover. It became apparent that the tyre was fine and the bike was being the pinnacle of awesomeness that it is and pace got lifted somewhat in one of the most fun night rides I have had in years. Condolences to the family of the magpie that couldn’t hear a ZX9r at 9000prm coming round the corner.
Got to hicks bay where I had arranged a house for the night to find the owner had come up to spend the long weekend at the batch. Bit of a discussion and he apologized for the misunderstanding and moved out for the night so we could settle down to a couple of bourbons and more shittalking. He did give us some fresh fish he had caught that day for breakfast which was really nice.
Sun morning and we were heading for home. Checked my tyre and it was still good so we packed everything up, tidied up a bit and then got out the 1400 high power motor out which sucked. Sucked really well too.
Off to the beach for a photo shoot and then headed out southbound for home.
Got about 300m onto the journey and banditrider had a turn at getting a flat tyre. Quick repair there and borrowed a compressor from a friendly local to save using a couple of compressed air canisters and we were off.
Had a nice ride and even though it was earlyish in the morning the weather was already well above 20. The group separated a little with getting past some traffic and the heat having an effect on some of the riding but we all got there in the end with smiles on our faces. Went to reserve a lot earlier than I intended to and started sweating about the lack of fuel when a little servo showed up just in time. Discovered that I had 300mls of fuel left so feeling kinda lucky about that one we had a smoke and chat with Yod and 86 and headed off to meet the rest of the group in Tologa Bay.
We pootled down to gisborne and dropped further and further back with the toll of the weekend coming on us and the road melting under us we sat at a steady pace and let everyone disappear into the distance.
Caught up with NZSarge, Yod and 86 in Gissy again where there was a minor misunderstanding with Meanie, Monie and Banditrider who had all carried on.
Had some lunch in Gissy and stood under a sprinker that was watering the garden for a while.
Hit the road again and Cruised down to Wairoa. The heat was unbearable and splashing water over myself lasted for about 5 minutes and I was dry and hot again. Couldn’t breathe the air and was drinking a power of drinks every stop (which were getting more and more frequent). 86 was having a hard time too so we thought it better to take it easy and get home when we get home.
Got to Bayview and NZSarge had offered to swap bike to see if Mrs Cowboyz liked to pillion on the 14 so I thought I might just see if the offer was still open. It was so a quick change around of the gear and we were off. Video on my videos of NZSarge on the 9.
The 14 is effortless. Does everything really really well and is so easy to ride. I have a really strong feeling that there is one in the future for the cowboyz’z.
Got to the end of SH50 and Yod had disappeared. Thinking he had headed for home 86, NZSarge and us two stopped so 86 could say hello to his fan club.
Then it was off to Danniverke and I was surprised to see Yod waiting for us but he was so more coffee and quick chat before saying bye to NZSarge and heading for home.
I got 1692km on the bike but only 1542km on the gps (battery issues)
87km/hr average speed.
Pics in my pics in sig
Video in my videos in sig
Looking forward to the next one.
Cheers
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Originally Posted by Maha
ZX9r get a mention in there!!!!!!!!??????????
Btw, what's that wooden box on your bike Cowboyz?
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