47....you lucky lucky bastard. Fireball XL5. Hogans Heros The Prisoner " I am not a number" I liked Jeannie. I ride to work every day rain or shine as my wifes car got stolen..... then it crashed after hitting the road spikes..... The R90 is a delightful commuter and lanesplitter, even with panniers, the Ducati less so but it sounds better.
as in this? <iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/C55Zfeod8PI" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe> or this? <iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8EI7p2p1QJI" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>
Been to check & he is still wearing a high guard...Identity confusion much? Famous. Couldn't find the 'we're not worthy' smilely.
Yeah i'm kinda a guru, I can't help it all this knowledge & good looks - it's a curse I tell ya I have only recently put the high guard back on - & for reasons I'm not sure. Actually I think it was while the driveway was being done - I was getting a cementy spray over everything coming up it. have I shown you my new driveway yet? Oh it is magnificent - Some days I feel like smothering myself with golden syrup & rolling down it just to feel its' smoothness & lack of metre deep potholes. I have had the pleasure of working (electrical) in a guys home workshop the last couple of days. He drives all night, sleeps 3-4 hrs, gets up & fixes motorcycles all day then sleeps a couple more hours before going back driving again. It was like a dream in there - plasma, big welder, sand blaster cabinet, parts cleaner, lathe with top mill & more & more tools. Prob better equipped than most shop workshops. He does mostly dirt bikes but has a few Ducatis, including one he's putting an Aprilia swingarm on. An ex racer he has a real love of bikes & sitting round his deck on a Sunday avo with a few bourbons.
Wowsers I purchased a new rear E07 during the week & had it fitted. ($199.00 incl GST & freight). I had forgotten the difference in handling between 15mm & 2mm of tread. The cornering certainly seemed more predictable.I had to work hard to make it break traction (got there in the end tho) I celebrated the new purchase by taking a cruise thru the forest along the roadside tracks I usually punted the DRZ around. It was also a shakedown ride for my saddlebags brackets & shakedown was the appropriate term. Everything seemed to be still hanging on when I got home so I'm pretty ready for the Cape to cape. The MX boys were a bit taken back by this idiot on a touring BMW riding thru. I seem to run across a few charcters around here doing unusual mods to unlikely bikes. The last one was where I got my tyre fitted. Clive has had an old Z1000 in need of restoration sitting around since about 1991 & since he had a bit of time handy decided to give it a nudge. He had a slightly different take on the original version tho- he has transplanted a swingarm & front end off a newish GSXR onto the existing frame. Scratching your head? Yep he had to convert it to a monoshock with some nice engineering. Up front the original headtube was cut away & a new one off tube was welded in with a tighter angle to eliminate the dreaded speed wobbles these things got at 130mph. The engine is to be fully worked & should be a beast. I asked if he had any spare tanks & he indeed had- five in fact, however declined to pass any on. There always seems to be unusual & amazing projects tucked away in the dark corners of workshops around here. Maybe I should start up a youtube channel on them. The guys seem to come to life explaining what & why they are doing things differently. I've been doing a bit of cloud looking at 4wds lately. Clint & his bloody Dutch mate have been to blame. i figure if i won lotto i'd get a new FJ & make it look old or find something like this http://www.off-road.com/trucks-4x4/feature/so-whats-the-story-with-that-truck-13213.html Or this http://offroadaction.ca/2013/07/11/1979-toyota-fj55-land-cruiser/
Have you seen this? <iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/74372516" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/74372516">The Airheads</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/deuscustoms">Deus Customs</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> Just about got Gus finished for the CtC. Need to do a shake down run next weekend to make sure the new gearbox is good to go - decided to put it in after all. You need to see a friend of mine's work vehicle.
Someone accused me of posting purely for getting the post count higher. Well that may or may not be true but I like to share some memories <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/q_GkjymuQ9U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
During Labour weekend I participated in the Cape to cape ride travelling from Cape Egmont on the Left side of New Zealand to The East cape on the Right hand side of the North Island. I, of course, live in the South Island so to get to the proposed starting point required a trip across the Cook Strait in gale force winds & a memorial trip up the centre of the north island with my travelling companions from the country's capital city Boxabits (Nutso to me) Steve & Aslan- Stephen. It was to be the 1st multi day ride for me since completing the Dusty Butt in 2011 so I had to get together some of the required gear on my usual tight-fisted budget. The saddlebags from nordie proved to be a great asset as did my 15yr old Air New Zealand bag. The number of plastic bags inside them was embarrassing. The ride to the ferry was uneventful though I was apprehensive about the sailing due to the extremely high winds & weather warnings in pplace for the Thursday & Friday. Upon embarking the Santa Rosina I happened to park up next to a cafe racer also from Nelson. I mentioned the winds above. Well funnily enough as I settled into the bar & chatted mountainbikes with a nice couple from Adelaide I had forgotten all about the weather. it wasn't until I stepped outside to have a looksie did the the gusts hit me with all their force. Unbelievably the boat was riding along smoothly with minimal rocking. Getting off the boat I loaded in Nutsos address in the GPS & shortly was seated eating scrummy roast veges with his lovely wife Mandy & delightful daughter. Unfortunately the wind kept me up mst of the night as it howled around the guest house I was camped in. A couple of times the whole building shuddered with the ferocity of the squalls & I was worried I was going to be carried off with it. The following day we caught up with Aslan & proceeded up the centre of the island to Whanganui for lunch. We were fairly vulnerable to the conditions along he last stretch along the top of the ridges. It took a fair amount of concentration to keep the bikes from wandering - & these were heavy bikes. Whanganui, What a cool looking town -one of the many to come. Victoria St had been done up beautifully & it was nice to see the strip shop frontages still original rather than ripped out & replaced with modern Ali & glass.
From Whanganui we followed the river which sheltered us from the wind however we did get a bit of rain. It was times like this when things get pretty uncomfortable that the mind has to start concentrating on the little good things such as thinking about the part of your body that isn't wet or cold & enjoying the feeling from that area while ignoring the rest. I was really grateful for the $20 warehouse rainjacket I purchased to cover my riding jacket as it worked phenomenally well. I can't recal the exact route we took however the scenery was fantastic. The Forgotten highway was formidable with a large number of waterfalls cascading from the sides of the gorge. The dark skies & heavy foiliage created a intimidating landscape. Unfortunately it was not worth getting the camera out in this weather. The guys led me thru some outstanding roads & tunnels eventually heading out to the first glimpses of the coast. Yehaaa we were nearly there. Rocking up at Young1's stunning new house I felt a bit embarrassed wheeling my motley beast into the garage where various modern BMWs & KTMs stood proudly gleaming obviously enjoying their owners lavish attention. Oh well as long as Schmidt keeps me tootling along I'll be happy. Dinner was laid on by our hosts & introductions, re-acquaintances & the general adv conversations followed. The bed soon called as an early start was forecast for the morning.
For the 3rd morning in a row I was awake at 5am. Peaking out of the curtains at the surroundings, a smile lit my face as a blue sky stared back at me. It was the first time I had seen a sky with no clouds for a while. Aslan, like myself was conscious of not holding anyone up packing the bikes for the upcoming days ride so we set to it feverishly. With everything zipped, strapped & velcroed up we eventually made our way to the start of the ride 30 mins away. I had completely forgotten there was a mountain in Taranaki. From Young1's driveway I witnessed the upper flanks being touched pink by the first flush of the morning sun. A mad dash to the start at Cape Egmont ensued with a quick photo opp. Damn I've never surfed there but have often read about its' great waves. No time for surf pics tho, the rest of the crew were waiting. The bikes were lined up along the coastline. Behind them the waves rolled in in true Taranaki style. In the foreground Mt Taranaki stood as a sentinal watching the riders fussing over GPS' & rubbing their hands. The lighthouse drew a long shadow on the ground. Nutso (Boxabits Steve) Aslan (Stephen)
The convoy of bikes rumbled & roared off. We followed the coast for a short time then we tail enders lost the rest of them. No worry trust the GPS route. Well everything was good till Al the local veered off the chosen route & my GPS had a conniption advising me to DO A U_TURN NOW MOTHERF#$%R OR YOU WILL DIE!!! Luckily Al knew the way to the first petrol stop & we arrived ahead of the others. From there we travelled back down the Forgotten Highway - defintitely one of the best roads in New Zealand. I was so impressed with it on the previous days journey to find it got even better - it turned to gravel We had a brief stop (I'm not going into the whole coffee drama thing but suffice to say I wasn't allowed to get one here) I would like to come back & spend a little time in here as it oozes character & I wouldn't be able to justify wearing one of their Tshirts simply cos I stopped to use their loo. From here I can't truthfully remember where we went but we did ride a lot of cool gravel roads thru stunning terrain.
