Its been a busy month one way or another, though we have managed to get in at least  three to four rides in each month, (apart from daily commuting ofcourse) Quite a number just me and Lo, we find we enjoy it just being the two of us every now and again so we have made a habit of doing at least a couple of rides   a month by ourselves, then do two  and more  rides with mates. works really well, its the best of both worlds.
Needless to say its just soooo relaxing when the only one you need to plan for is your own wants an needs, so stop , go head nth/sth/east/west, stop for a minute or a couple hours, real easy choices
Cruising with a group, particularly a small group of say 5-10 bikes is also brilliant, just for the companionship, and to catch up with mates, so a mixture of rides is just brilliant.
Im past the days of riding in large groups, where you have 30 or more other bikes to worry about, and trying to accommodate every ones wishes. Whilst we still like to go and support the large fundraising charity rides of hundreds of bikes, they aint a lot of fun, just too many noddies to look out for weaving in and out, who should’nt be allowed to own a bike let alone ride it, most especially the middle aged born again rider, who rode a moped at age 15 for a year, and as a mid life crisis hits they purchase a large bike and think they can ride.

I have met a few “born again biker” that did it right, actually took lessons again, started on a smaller bike and after a few years upgraded, you can see the skills shine through, and they are a pleasure to ride with. but they are in the minority it seems.

As you can tell, the summer season was coming on and I have noticed a lot of these riders, who only seem to ride in sunny fine days so have no handling skills or road sense when the weather or road surface turns a little nasty in the middle of their weekend summer ride, I wouldnt want to ride within a kilometer of them .

We went for a ride with some cobbers a few weeks ago and it was a joy to watch their ridng skills when the roads turned a bit nasty / slippery, certainly enables us to ride worry free when we know the calibre of the guys n gals riding with us

I know, I know, not everyone is able to ride 20-30 thousand kliks a year, (as we have for the last 40 odd years) but at least they should practice riding on all roads. all weathers. all surfaces, sooner or later even with the best planning you are going to get caught when the weather or road turns nasty.

Ok, my yearly rant re “poser bikers” is over LOL

Decided to take the beast for a run around my favorite track and was joined by Brett on his mighty Yamaha. We headed up SH17 and then crossed to SH16 for a blast up the western route, brilliant weather and the vistas looked stunning as we headed higher up the landscape, beautiful views of the Tasman sea on the left and rolling countryside always takes your breath away, well that is if you take the time to enjoy them, A few sporties shot past us like we were stopped, hanging on to their grips like their life depended on it (probably did actually, the lines they were taking).

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What a great run south, we left Friday morning and headed out acrooss the harbour bridge, through the morning traffic jams and out down the bombay hills, finally with some open roads and lighter skies. The weather from the North shore was very dark rain clouds and they were going to bucket down any minute, but as we motored south the clouds lightened up and the roads were mostly dry. Read the rest of this entry »

Well its been a busy 4-6 weeks, what with a few family birthdays and too many things to do.
We have been out riding of course, out south-west down the Bay Of Plenty, and a few rides north for lazy days out. There is nothing more relaxing than being out on the back roads, little or no traffic and scenery that you just never tire of. Unfortunately after so many years of travelling there are very few roads we have’nt traveled, though it is a buzz re discovering some we have’nt visited for decades. Read the rest of this entry »

Have I told you lately that I hate computers well from time to time I do.
Whilst i have spent many years in computing & IT, i find as I get older that Ive forgotton half of what ive learnt over the decades, which makes me dangerous and from time to time very grumpy . The website has been having performance problems and so I switched Site software to a more updated version but still the hardware (server ) was having trouble so Ive spent the last few months trying to improve the system without spending too much money.’
Needless to say it didnt improve much so Ive had to bite the bullet and invest a bit more moolah in a VPS . Touch wood…. it solved the problem and it now responds a little more quickly .
Now im going to forget about websites and think more about riding yeeehah

DUVROC (Down Under Vulcan Rider & Owners Club) Vulcan Owners in New Zealand.
Wednesday morning and its saddle up and ride from Auckland to Palmerston North, its a little overcast but clearing as we ride south, warming and brightening every minute. We manage with the cruise locked in at 102kph to maintain a very good average, only releasing the cruise for the odd tight corner or township, but mostly we can just sweep through the twisties and blip past any slow traffic without hardly a thought. Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, what a brilliant day, too good to waste tinkering in the garage so its off on the voyager, brand new tyres and all.

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Damn its another hot dry day and I just cant pass up a short run, Lo, (my better half) has her nose deep in her Kindle, the book must bbe too good to put down so Im off for a solo flight .

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Well the year has started off well, the weather has generally been excellent and we have had many runs down the north island, starting with a Christmas eve run to Palmerston North to join the family celebrating the new year over three days.
Once back Lo had to go to work so it only left weekends for riding and we made the best of them, more trips to Palmy & Masterton , with a return trip in thunderstorm conditions all the way back up the country, torrential rain and hail to boot, but we had a ball all the same.

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Well its certainly a sad day, my great mate of over 45 years has finally ridden his last ride and passed away today. I first met Wayne (Aucky) in 1965 at the Tawian Coffee Bar (near Wellington) he was there on his bike and we got to chatting, well we never really stopped from there on, we hung out, Tried the TON down the main drag, Tinkered with our bikes, partied, oh how we partied, and rode many miles over the following years until we both slowly moved into married status and started families of our own,

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