Motorcyclin'
-
Warming up weather-wise here. Prepped the Honda for a run this week after the winter months.
Soon find out how much this old bugger's legs and general motorcycle handling skills have atrophied since December..
-
@antipodean that's a pretty damn sweet landing from that.
-
@machpants said in Motorcyclin':
Supply chain is fucked in NZ ATM
@antipodean said in Motorcyclin':
Hope you get it sorted quickly and without additional heartache.
Got the phone call on Friday - a new ignition barrel has apparently arrived. So - under 4 weeks... pretty good compared to the estimated 12-15.
But, it meant... spent yesterday on a bus - a fucking bus - getting back to Napier, so I can arrange the bike to be taken in and fixed up.
The bus-driver recognised my luggage... "isn't that a motorcycle bag?", so I shared my tale of woe.
Is there anything more depressing than a motorcyclist on a bus? I used to feel depressed when catching the tube back from dropping the bike off somewhere, carrying my helmet.
But catching a goddamn InterCity bus from New Plymouth to Napier, or the reverse (with a break in Palmerston fucking North) - when I could instead be doing SH43 and Gentle-Annie... just... sad-face.
Still... as long as they got the right part in, I should be on two wheels again soon... just in time for Winter. -
@antipodean said in Motorcyclin':
?
-
Dropped one of my bikes yesterday. 😡 Low side thankfully - Rear overtook the front. Now hobbling around the house nursing a bruised ego. 🤕
-
@antipodean said in Motorcyclin':
Dropped one of my bikes yesterday. 😡 Low side thankfully - Rear overtook the front. Now hobbling around the house nursing a bruised ego. 🤕
Upvote only because there's no Sympathy Vote option. Assume your getting back on as quickly as you can?
Magic ride this week thru the backroads of Cornwall and an old airbase. Stopped for a pub coffee and ended up chatting to a couple of horse-riders who'd stopped & come over to thank me for passing them really slowly a few miles back.
-
@Victor-Meldrew oh I'll definitely be back on the bikes as soon as I can bend my knee.
-
@antipodean said in Motorcyclin':
Dropped one of my bikes yesterday. 😡 Low side thankfully - Rear overtook the front. Now hobbling around the house nursing a bruised ego. 🤕
Bugger your ego and your knee, - how is the bike? That's what's important.
-
@Crazy-Horse minor damage, mainly cosmetic. Track bikes and dirt bikes, while you'd rather not drip them, it's not as bad as a road bike rumage sale. 😂
-
@antipodean said in Motorcyclin':
@Crazy-Horse minor damage, mainly cosmetic. Track bikes and dirt bikes, while you'd rather not drip them, it's not as bad as a road bike rumage sale. 😂
From my limited experience on dirt/track bikes... there's no such thing as cosmetic damage. It's just... "wear", or best-case - a reminder of a good anecdote.
But yeah - good to hear you had a bit of fun, with nothing more than a sore knee out of it.Trapped in the Shield Snorters for a couple of weels... I've done a few of the back roads this weekend, and come around a few bends at decent knots, to find gaping potholes. But still - outside of the boring-as-shit main roads and roundabouts that have developed here... a trip to Patangata or Puketapu, or even Tikokino - is a decent half-day's ridin'.
-
Oh - fuck, BTW... did I mention I tried the Napier-Taupo with its new 80km/h speed limit for the first time last weekend?
That's a fluffybunny.
Long-story short... in the process of passing a 40-vehicle long convoy, one of the vehicles I passed was a cop. Initially - quite hostile "it's 80k, didn't you know it was 80k, why are you passing everybody doing 80k, ... ?" - until I get off the bike, helmet off, become a human being, etc, etc... eventually - just a warning. Probably what they're doing with everybody with the new limit.
I'll probably be going via Gisborne to travel back to Rotorua next weekend. -
@antipodean said in Motorcyclin':
@Crazy-Horse minor damage, mainly cosmetic. Track bikes and dirt bikes, while you'd rather not drip them, it's not as bad as a road bike rumage sale. 😂
There's always stickers for "personalisation". This one hid a number of incident evidence on the Honda Rally....
-
@antipodean said in Motorcyclin':
@Victor-Meldrew oh I'll definitely be back on the bikes as soon as I can bend my knee.
Here's some inspiration...
-
Tempting....
-
@Victor-Meldrew That is beautiful! See quite a few running around here in Japan. About 3 three years ago, I got my training wheels, (Honda CB 250 R) and with some friends have been discovering the areas around Honshu. Need to upgrade once the kids education is done. Yamaha XSR 700 or one of these.
-
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in Motorcyclin':
@Victor-Meldrew That is beautiful! See quite a few running around here in Japan. About 3 three years ago, I got my training wheels, (Honda CB 250 R) and with some friends have been discovering the areas around Honshu.
Probably a bit too heavy for me. But I just love the way the Japanese companies are honouring their heritage.
This was my first bike (not the actual bike):
And this is the "heritage" version - there's alo a gloss paint job.Need to upgrade once the kids education is done. Yamaha XSR 700 or one of these.
I have a CB500X - brilliant all-rounder which I absolutely love - probably the best bike I've ever owned. Recommend it highly.
-
@Victor-Meldrew said in Motorcyclin':
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in Motorcyclin':
@Victor-Meldrew That is beautiful! See quite a few running around here in Japan. About 3 three years ago, I got my training wheels, (Honda CB 250 R) and with some friends have been discovering the areas around Honshu.
Probably a bit too heavy for me. But I just love the way the Japanese companies are honouring their heritage.
This was my first bike (not the actual bike):
A CB750 K2 just went at auction for $42.5k dollarydoos (GB£24,000).
-
BTW - I did one of the "Ride Forever" courses that NZ ACC is pushing at the moment...
I've been meaning to do one for a while, just to figure out what bad habits I've got - but really struggled to find a booking over summer. I figured out - it's because ACC had restarted their campaign to PAY attendees - rather than just subsidising it. If I can be arsed figuring out how to go about it - I think I get $100 off my rego this year, and another $100 off it next year.
Anyway....- Turns out all the bad habits I was worried I had... are actually good technique. Or at least - not bad.
- I'd looked up "trail braking" before the course, therefore had already realised... "oh... I'm allowed to do that... it's not actually a bad thing, it's an "advanced technique".
- And yeah - increasing brakes while cornering - probably not something I want to do too often, if I've judged the corner correctly in the first place... but not the end of the world if it does become necessary
- Sacrificing road position/view-through-the-corner - vs "I'm taking the line with the safest looking footing" (I'm thinking SH43/Forgotten-Highway - where typically my choice of line is based solely on how the gravel lies) - actually valid/correct "according to the book".
- My choosing a line dependent on oncoming-traffic vs cliffside vs ditch vs how-big-is-the-oncoming-traffic... not explicitly stated, but valid. There was some bullshit about a "bubble" - and I'm choosing to interpret my bubble as being more scared by some shit than others.
- Learnt one small trick - tracking the telephone poles... as a clue to where the road might go, beyond that ridge ahead where you can't actually see the road any more, but CAN see the telephone poles curve off to one side. Maybe not particularly useful 99% of the time, but...
- I'm still shit at u-turns. Just... really shit.
And as a bonus, at the end-of-day review at a petrol station picnic table - observed some gang violence. Involved, in chronological order: a fucking large machete, attempted vehicular murder/grievous bodily harm, successful vehicle-on-vehicle action, and a heap of chaps with red bandannas covering their faces coming to rescue their mate who seemed to have instigated it all.