Laxed out rides

[mikemike104]

I'M STILL UP ! and you guys havnt't replied, so that tells me it's bed time and that you'll all be at the spot in 7 hours fourty minutes...

looking forward to riding.. just add coffee.

[sil3nt]

Im gonna give this one a miss. Haven't ridden the bike for over a week now. Next week hopefully!

[BikerDazz]

I'M STILL UP ! and you guys havnt't replied, so that tells me it's bed time and that you'll all be at the spot in 7 hours fourty minutes...

looking forward to riding.. just add coffee.

I'm extra keen for a ride, but weather looks extra shitty - anyone else good to go, apart from madmike?

[mikemike104]

Great ride guys, thanks for the fun. pity about the weather but it was a good experience for me, see ya next week.

[rideon]

Sorry guys that we wussed out, don't mind getting caught in the rain, but leavin innit & known it aint gonna get much better doesn't inspire us a great deal. Willl re-work the route a bit for next weeknd so we don't end up at Okoirore (the place of hail today -lol ) . What about Kinloch as a destination ??

[JakeTehMuss]

Great ride guys, thanks for the fun. pity about the weather but it was a good experience for me, see ya next week.

Click for a link to my tag that you all missed this morning
Waikato: Tag o rama!

I guess you were all too keen to ride this morning?

Im currently looking for some wet weather riding gear so i can join you LOR. What do you recommend?

[NedKellley]

Well done you staunch "lLaxed out" crew!! Shamefully I just sat and polished it??!! (The bike!!...no really...no honest just the bike!!!??)...Safe, happy and hopefully a drier week all!!

[rideon]

Proposed route for Sunday if weather permits. Only 330 kms - Kinloch & back , with a very good range of riding conditions. Only a suggestion, if others have a route , come down to pub on wednesday and share .........

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&so...,0.617294&z=11

[sil3nt]

Proposed route for Sunday if weather permits. Only 330 kms - Kinloch & back , with a very good range of riding conditions. Only a suggestion, if others have a route , come down to pub on wednesday and share .........

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&so...,0.617294&z=11

Thats pretty much what we did when we went to mangakino the other week.

[slofox]

MAKING IT INTERESTING:


Sooooo..most wimped out today, did they? For shame..!

Now one of the most boring rides you can do is from The Tron to d'Auckland straight up SH1. Yes? Not always...

I had to do the trip today on my own. Most Sundays, Lilfox is with me so we travel together in the cage (being as how she won't get on the back of anything under my control...hmmph! ). Now never being one to pass up a chance to take the bike, I decided that a little bit of rain wouldn't hurt and would indeed add interest to the journey. Besides, the sun was out when I left and it all looked OK...

Gassed up at Gull and headed north. Got as far as Te Kowhai Road and the first squall hit. Hell's fucking bells, it fair blew the bike all over the road and the rain was so hard I could barely see through the visor. To the extent that I debated whether I was being insane biking in those conditions...

Fortunately I had taken a couple of HTFU pills before leaving and the little voice within said "get yr arse into ya pansy!". So I did.

That first squall lasted until the North end of Huntly. The next one started about Ohinewai. And so it went on, all the way up. The Bombay hill was fun with the wind accelerating over the top and causing even more grief.

Destination was at the end of the South Western motorway. Which crosses the Manukau at Mangere Bridge. Where the wind funnels across the water and picks up even more speed. Interesting - especially with those narrow lanes where all the roadworks are on the elevated bridge...

But I got there in one piece. Suffice to say that no new world land speed records for motorbikes were set. But I did get very good fuel economy from The Vixen - about 55mpg in the old money. Just shows, if ya stick it in 6th and sit around 6000rpm, the whirlpool in the tank is much smaller...

Course I had to come back as well. And this was made more interesting by the fact that some fuckwit had forgotten to swap out the tinted visor hadn't 'e? So it was dark visor, in super heavy rain, some hail, in a storm force gale, at night, on a crowded motorway populated by homicidal maniacs in huge steel projectiles...that DID make it interesting...

But not too bad in the end. I found that I got used to the dark visor fairly quickly. Put it this way, I could see more through the dark visor than I could through my glasses in the rain with the visor open...so it stayed shut.

Anyhoo, got home safe and sound without mishap - no real dramas at all really. No leaks in the gear, stayed warm, only about two loonies in cars - bit of a doddle really.

But definitely more interesting than usual.

TBH, I think the conditions are the worst I have EVER ridden in even back in the dark ages. Certainly the worst for several millennia...

[Spazm]

Proposed route for Sunday if weather permits. Only 330 kms - Kinloch & back , with a very good range of riding conditions. Only a suggestion, if others have a route , come down to pub on wednesday and share .........

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&so...,0.617294&z=11

Never done this piece.. could be interesting

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&so...,0.104628&z=14

[Murray]

I guess you were all too keen to ride this morning?

Im currently looking for some wet weather riding gear so i can join you LOR. What do you recommend?

Yep its been to long and the need was there. 5 bikes went and it ended up being a good ride apart from the visor fogging up all the way to Putaururu. Cleaned it there and it was fine after that. Wee tip - never think you may clear a fogged up visor by blowing on it, bit scarey riding blind for a wee while and locking up the back tyre. At least the worst of the weather was while we were inside at the okoroire hotel having a hot coffee or beer. The locals there thought we were pretty cool or mad being out in that weather but we did see about 5 other bikes on the whole trip. All good fun and looking forward to the next ride already!!

Trina and I wear Mobig which is pretty good in the wet and quite warm and not to expensive. Boyds have it on sale regularly and you can get it through motomail on the internet or visit their stores in Auckland.

[mikemike104]

[QUOTE=StudMuffin;Im currently looking for some wet weather riding gear so i can join you LOR. What do you recommend?[/QUOTE]

I wear dririder pants and jacket, I find the pants really good ($115 on sale) and the Jacket does a good job ($200 Retail).

If i needed to I would buy them again, but... I have not tried any other brands, so what do I know ?

[slofox]

Wet Weather Gear:

I wear Rainbird jacket and trou, over the top of the leathers. Para sells it - about $135 for the set. My last set lasted eighteen years before I ripped the trousers enough to make me replace the set.

These are lightweight and can compress down to a very small package that I carry in my seat bag at all times. If I didn't get wet in yesterday's weather, I can pretty well say "they don't leak"...

[Autech]

My Dri-rider pants are truely the Mutts Nutts. Never once got wet in them. And if they're on special atm then so much the better.

Everyone get down on your knees and pray with me for fine weather this weekend. I'm hankering for a Corro loop on Saturday