Well, I advertised the KTM 790 on NZ's premier buy and sell website and the enquiries came thick and fast! Less than a day after advertising it, there had been nearly 1000 views and 150 bookmarks. I'd priced it to sell and others clearly thought so too. First call was from the owner of the dealership who has serviced my bikes for the last 25 years or so. Due to the international supply chain difficulties at present, they're having problems getting good bikes to sell. Greg was happy to pay the price I was asking so that sealed it but the calls and texts kept coming, despite marking it as provisionally sold on the website.
Two days later, I was delivering it to the Hamilton-based dealer, 160 km from home, with Jennie following in the car to pick me up.
Bye, bye Bad Girl Lola!
The last ride was perhaps surprisingly unsentimental. I guess that ownership had been so much fun and the past 58-odd years likewise that it didn't feel momentous at all. It might have been nicer in some respects if I'd sold it at the attractive price to an individual rather than Greg on-selling it with a markup to someone else. However Greg and his team have really looked after me over the decades with great service including discounts on the gear I've purchased so it was a fair arrangement.
Straight into part of the next phase of life, we headed off this week in the MGB GT with neighbours who are also MG owners, a 1955 TF and a 90's MGF. A most enjoyable run on twisty roads, ending up at a beachside cafe about 100 km away, then a photo op for the MG car club.
Cook's Landing, Coromandel Peninsula
Jennie pretending to be interested in the club magazine!
I've endured a bit of good-natured mickey-taking about buying a classic car by some of my riding partners which has been fun. A recent exchange on Facebook with fellow rider and motoblogger LEEwent like this:
Lee: Next it'll be the tartan rug, Thermos and a little sign with the car's history on it for displaying purposes when you're at MG OC Ralies.
Geoff: Eff off
. We already have a tartan rug and wicker picnic hamper. It's decades old and sits in a very dark part of the house. Sigh.....
Lee: So - Just the history summary to go then
Go on - You know it makes sense!
Smartarse!
Just before leaving the topic of classic cars, another friend sent the following ditty, which has a large element of truth in it:
Fairly close to the mark, I'd say!
The next step of getting hold of an e-mountain bike which was both road and off-road capable hasn't gone so well. After poring over specifications I thought that the Giant Talon E+1 would be the ideal entry into the world of e-bikes for me and that's where it started to come unstuck.
Giant Talon E+1
Fellow moto and cycle blogger Dave had already mentioned that bike supplies in Australia were a bit sketchy. As it turns out, deliveries to NZ are similarly affected and it looks like they won't be available until May or June - bugger! Never mind, it's now on order and plenty else to do until then, including riding my ratty 3 decades old Diamondback MTB. Oh, and I can assure you that you'll never see me in Lycra. The family would never let me live it down. Besides, mountain bikers are supposed to be a scruffy lot, aren't they?
There's been plenty going on in our neck of the woods over the last fortnight. With national school holidays, pretty nice weather and no lockdowns, families have been flocking into our area which is a popular tourist region. Good for the economy, even if the number of stupid people on the road also increases. There have been a couple of events too. One was the annual Illume festival where the village is lit up at night, as indeed are the locals together with a lovely firework display. Pretty darned good for a static population of around 1600. The photos are ones I took a couple of years ago as I didn't bother this year. The fireworks were taken from our deck, about 1km away from the action.
Family fun with an umbrella
Local H-D's festooned with LED's
Shane, the local butcher on his bike
Village shopfronts
Trees in the village
Awwww.... pretty!
It was also the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the visit of the Royal Navy ship HMS Coromandel, after which the village was named. Naval vessels visited Coromandel and other northern locations on a regular basis to harvest Kauri trees which were knot-free and made wonderful spars for their sailing vessels. You could call it rape and pillage of natural resources but we won't go there!
Kauri trees near our place
Anyway, to mark the occasion, there was an unveiling of a seriously cool commemorative sculpture. A young local artist made a representation of HMS Coromandel with a ceramic hull and stainless steel sails. It was housed in a glass case made to look like a ship in a bottle and the timber surround was made from floorboards from the 1800's local settlers hall when it was recently refurbished. Pretty darned nice!
HMS Coromandel representation
A really nice commemorative work of art
The climate in Coromandel is benign and the number of (slight) frosts we get in winter can easily be counted on one hand. It's a perfect climate for growing semi-tropical Bromeliads in the garden. Two large examples which we planted 5 years ago as just small plants have just developed flower spikes for the first time. They haven't opened yet but I'm worried that they might turn out to be killer Triffids as per John Wyndham's 1950's post-apocalyptic horror story! That aside, they're looking pretty cool.
Flower spike 1.5 metres tall
Flower spike 1 metre tall
Motorcycles haven't been forgotten though. Just over a week ago, I took out a serving Highway Patrol Officer for his Advanced Roadcraft Test. Trevor drives a patrol car in NZ but in the UK, he was a Class1 motorcycle cop - the best of the best and it showed! It was a near-flawless ride with a running commentary to match and boy, could he make his ST1300 shift down twisty, narrow country lanes. Made it look easy, which it wasn't of course. A really nice chap and a joy to spend the the day out with him - it's a tough life! He just rides in his spare time here and owns several modern "classic" cars and bikes.
Trevor and his ST1300
Saving the best until last, yesterday was supposed to be an IAM monthly meeting where we do some coaching or go for a spirited social ride in the back blocks. I should have smelt a rat when Jennie asked me a couple of times during the week whether I intended to go!
Rocked up at the meeting point cafe some 100 km away and not only were there members from our local group there but a bunch of them from Auckland too. The common thread was that over the past few years, I'd either coached them directly or had a hand in coaching them to pass their advanced qualifications. STILL DIDN'T CATCH ON! It wasn't until my good mate Tony stood up and said that we were all going to have a social ride together on the 200 km Coromandel Loop as recognition of our long association. Apparently, my face was a sight to behold! I felt pretty humbled and we had a wonderful time riding one of the great north island motorcycle routes together. We even stopped at the Coroglen Tavern for lunch. Not for a beer, but so that I could enjoy my all-time favourite scallop burger! The ride finished on Coromandel Town wharf, only a few hundred metres from home which was just perfect. What an incredible day and I'm really privileged to have mates who would do something like that. Must have a bit of dust in my eye or something.....
Memorial to Sir Keith Park, a Kiwi who played a major role in the WW2 Battle of Britain
Arriving at the Coroglen Tavern
Some of the team next to a mussel boat - Coromandel Town wharf
Great variety of machinery on Coromandel Town wharf
I bought the KTM in March last year, a replacement for the Suzuki GSX-S 1000 which I'd owned for the previous 3 years. Regular readers may remember that the last tyres I had on the Suzuki were Michelin Road 5's. I loved their wet and dry weather performance and "feel". What I didn't love was getting 3 punctures in 4 months, including one rear tyre which was beyond repair. I live a long way from tyre dealers and it's a good job that I carry enough repair options to not get stranded. The whole saga was listed in THIS POST . Naturally, I became a bit gun-shy of the Road 5, not knowing whether they were susceptible to punctures in the conditions I normally ride in or whether it was sheer bad luck.
The problem sort of solved itself with the sale of the Gixxer and the purchase of the KTM. The birds sang in the trees, the sun shone and all was well with the world - until winter came. The KTM came equipped with Maxxis pure sport tyres. They gripped well in the warmer weather but as soon as the cold and wet arrived, they became unpredictable, even with the benefit of lean-sensitive traction control. I guess the problem was exacerbated by the roads in our area. Some of the best technical twisty roads for bikes anywhere but challenging when it's cold and wet. Simply couldn't get enough heat into the tyres in those conditions and on one occasion, I lost the front end in a fairly big way but managed to stay on. It wasn't as if I was "pressing on" excessively either. I didn't trust the bloody things after that and within a few days and only 3500 km from new, they were ditched and a set of Bridgestone T31 sport touring tyres had been fitted.
Recovering from eye surgery and Covid-19 lockdown excepted, I cover a fair bit of ground annually and in all weathers so fitting sport touring tyres made sense. On the bikes I've owned over the last few years, a life of a bit better than 10,000 km was achieved from any of the main brands and this sort of life was acceptable. I chose the T31 based on a series of positive reviews in the motorcycling press and a fellow Institute of Advanced Motorists friend had recently fitted them to his Hayabusa and was impressed with them in all conditions. My experience was the same as his. Nice, progressive turn-in to corners although not quite as fast as the Road 5's. Grip in both wet and dry was excellent and on our North Island Green Badge Tour in late Feb/early March, they were great.
The only downside was that at 6000 km, the front hoop had started developing a slight wedge shape in section, i.e, flats on the soft compound out towards the edge of the tyre. The rear tyre was still in good shape. This wasn't anything particularly new as my previous 3 bikes had all shown similar traits. The twisty roads that I mainly inhabit coupled with fairly aggressive countersteering to maintain progress are the main contributors. Where the T31 differed however was that by 8500 km, the front tyre had reached the wear bars on the right hand side (the effect of road camber, driving on the left) and the left hand side wasn't far behind. The handling had become noticeably heavier on the turn-in too.
Front T31 @8500 km
Arrow showing the extent of "flattening" @ 8500 km
The same characteristics also manifested themselves on my mate's Hayabusa, junking it at 7000 km and at 6000 km, another friend with a Yamaha MT10 SP is showing the beginnings of the same problem. Time for a replacement set!
Apart from the punctures on the GSX-S 1000, the Road 5's were the best all-round tyres I've had for the type of riding I do so the decision was to go for them on the KTM and put the past experience with punctures down to sheer bad luck.
A quick trip to Drury in South Auckland yesterday and a new set were fitted in 3/4 hour. Service from Aida and Des is outstanding.
Des from the Drury Motorcycle Performance Centre fitting the Rear Road 5
New front Road 5 away being balanced
New tyres always feel "flighty" compared with worn ones and leaving Drury, only a light touch on the bars was required for directional changes compared with the worn T31's. Most of the 130 km trip home was at a cautious pace and angle of lean, not wanting to skate along on my arse due to new tyres. No anxious moments at all and the handling of the bike has been totally transformed. With the higher crown profile on the Road 5's, turn-in is really quick too and requires much less countersteering. Really looking forward to seeing how they go compared to the T31's in terms of performance and life.
NZ has moved to level 2 and although there are still many restrictions, going for a ride isn't one of them any more! The 11000 km service for my Duke 790 was originally scheduled for 2 days after lockdown started so that didn't happen. Now, on the first day of level 2, I could get it done. The dealer is a round trip of 350 km away so it was a good opportunity to bring my riding up to scratch again.
Awoke to wet roads and gusty winds which wasn't exactly ideal after a layoff but a good opportunity to take it super-easy. The first 50 km of the journey is comprised of tight twisties along the coast and I felt surprisingly out of sorts. The KTM 790 isn't nicknamed "The Scalpel" for nothing and my reactions seemed to lag behind its rapid response to steering inputs and throttle control. I thought about this later and reckon that my situational awareness wasn't as sharp as it should be and as a consequence, my inputs to the bike were a bit slow and clumsy. A quick stop in Thames to top up the tank actually paid dividends. In the past when I haven't been riding particularly well, a short break to do a mental reset has paid dividends. I think that the gas stop was one of those occasions as the rest of the journey was a delight. Drying roads helped too!
Front of house at Boyds - now Yamaha agents too
Parked the bike outside service reception and for Covid-19 contact tracing purposes, all visitors were required sign in by log book or QR Code. Strict 2 metre distancing was in play with sanitiser everywhere you looked. Really impressed that they were on their game, albeit low key.
790 waiting to be whisked away, along with an 1190 Adventure R
The team at Boyds know that it takes me a tad over 2 hours to get to their place from home so they started work on the bike within a few minutes of me arriving whilst I wandered around their showroom, keeping an appropriate distance of course. Even had to do another contact trace in their separate parts, accessories and clothing department when I picked up another can of chain wax. Thought I'd take the opportunity to share a few photos I took whilst wandering about.....
The photo below is the dealer's beautifully restored Yamaha TT 500 . A real classic manufactured from 1976 to 1981 and good ones fetch serious bucks. I'd happily have one in the shed.
Elegantly simple and bloody gorgeous!
Boyds picked up the Yamaha franchise late last year. I was just wandering about looking at the various models and happened to notice the plumbing on the MT-09. Thought it looked quite arty!
Sexy pipework
This is the first time I'd seen the adventure version of my 790 in the flesh. Undoubtely a really competent machine but with all the plastic, it looked too bulky and unwieldy for my taste. I'd sooner have the smaller 390.
The 790 Adventure
Now the bike below is a beast of a machine - the 1290 SuperDuke. Doesn't really need 2 wheels on the move as pointing at the sky on the back one in any gear is its normal modus operandi. A seriously frightening machine. If the 790 Duke is the Scalpel, this must be the Sledgehammer! Love it.
A real beast of a bike
I guess everyone on the planet must know how popular Royal Enfields have become through the world with both singles and twins being really popular in NZ. The 650 below offers good performance at a very modest price. Can't go wrong really.
Uncomplicated, attractive and well-priced
The last bike that attracted my attention was tucked away in the area which used to be for customers to chill and enjoy a coffee. It's a Sur Ron electric bike powered by a 6 kw electric motor. I reckon it would be huge fun in the gnarly back country. In fact, anywhere near us, come to think if it.....
The Sur Ron electric motorcycle
Coming back to the KTM, the 11000 km service cost NZ$314 (US$189, AU$293, GBP 154). Not only did it include all the items listed in the handbook for that distance, it also had a computer software update and new frame bolts replaced under warranty! I have no idea what the latter replacement was all about as under the circumstances, it wasn't possible to chat with the technician at any length.
And finally, yet more expenditure coming up. My front Bridgestone T31 tyre is toast at 8500 km which is a lot less than sport touring tyres on other bikes I've owned. I have some theories about this but will do a proper review of the T31 in due course. Wear on the right hand side of the tyre is particularly noticeable as can be seen in the photo below. There's a reasonable amount of life left in the rear T31 and could just replace the front but being ever inquisitive, there are a couple of other brands I'd like to experiment with so need to replace both hoops. More on this in due course.
A well-knackered Bridgestone T31 front tyre (big flats on the outer faces)
This year, the annual conference/AGM of IAM NZ (http://iam.org.nz/) was due to be held in Porirua, just north of Wellington. Several of us from the central north island were keen to attend and fellow observing team member Tony suggested that we should turn it into a "long way down, even longer way back" tour. Great plan and 4 of us gradually hatched a route covering some of the north island's iconic twisty bike roads. The Green Badge Tour gets its name from the badge that's awarded when a rider passes the Advanced Police Roadcraft Test. All 4 of us had passed that long ago and had also passed the Observer (mentor) test too.
This is a map of the route, covering some 2100 km of fabulous riding roads. With the exception of the Wellington area, it was expected that traffic would be pretty light in late summer, especially keeping away from major arterial routes where possible and so it turned out to be.
A route made in heaven
My 790 Duke isn't really set up for touring so travelling fairly light was the order of the day. The regular small tailpack containing a few basic tools and puncture repair kit, with a 10 litre yachting dry bag strapped to it with a cargo net over the two. I don't like wearing a back pack when riding but in this instance, I figured that I could put up with it.
Loaded and ready for action
Setting off from Coromandel early in the morning, I stopped 70 km further south to pick up Tony (Yamaha MT10 SP) and we then met up with Lloyd (Yamaha TDM 900) and Rex (BMW 1200 GS) in Hamilton. The end point of Day 1 was the Whangamomona Hotel on the famous Forgotten World Highway, some 380 km from home. The general arrangement was that we'd swap the lead at gas or coffee stops and all 4 of us were linked with SENA comms. It was quite amusing that on the open sections of road with fast sweepers, there was a fair bit of comms traffic, mickey-taking and so on. However, when we got to the technical tight stuff, it went pretty quiet over the air waves - just warnings from the lead bike about potential hazards. Between Te Kuiti and the turn-off to Ohura, we came on fresh road works - wet tar overlaid with fresh gravel. We picked the tar-coated stones out of the various nooks and crannies later on but a 1% er on a noisy H-D had to stop by the roadside and pick them out of his drive belt before it got shredded.
First stop after lunch was Ohura. A small settlement with a massive main street which was once a coal mining centre. Current population is less than 150 and the settlement is in a state of genteel decline. No-one was about and a wry comment was made that the locals must still be in their coffins during daylight hours.
Rex, Geoff and Lloyd at Ohura. A hot day and needing shade
The busy metropolis of Ohura - locals still in their coffins
A fully functional mailbox
The Forgotten World Highway is something of a rite of passage for riders. A twisty, narrow road with an indifferent surface at the bottom of a valley and over saddles with a section of gravel 15 km or so long. The scenery is spectacular but it's wise to either stop and look or keep your eyes on the road if moving. There's minimal cell phone reception and if you make a mistake, you're a long way from help. It pays to hold a fair bit in reserve. Tony shot a bit of video on the more open part of the Forgotten Highway which I'm leading on. His MT10-SP with crossplane engine and uneven firing order sounds fantastic with the speaker volume turned up and on full screen:
Courtesy of Tony
Stopping at the Tahora Saddle, the active volcanoes of Ngaruhoe and Ruapehu were visible on the skyline.
Wild country
Tahora Saddle with active volcanoes in the background (photo: Lloyd)
Yours truly at the Tahora Saddle (photo: Lloyd)
A quick photo stop at the Tangarakau river bridge. The logs in the river show the power of nature when it rains!
Tangarakau river bridge - spectacular scenery
Logs in the river
A happy rider on tour grin (photo: Tony)
Before arriving at our destination for the night, a further stop at the entrance to the Moki Tunnel was warranted. It was constructed in 1935/36 and is some 180 metres long - one direction at a time for traffic over a rutted surface. We didn't see any wildlife on this occasion although on a previous trip, there was an extremely large feral billy goat with an impressive set of horns standing at the tunnel mouth.
Tony, Lloyd and Rex at the Moki tunnel mouth
Arriving at the small settlement of Whangamomona late afternoon, we settled into the hotel and enjoyed a cold one as temperatures were in the early 30's C. The place was fair jumping with locals and some South African contractors who were laying more reliable power lines to the settlement. A most excellent feed was had later that evening. We asked the owner about leaving the bikes behind the hotel as per past practice but he hadn't got room this time and said they'd be perfectly safe outside. Robyn, the lovely lady who lived next door agreed, apart from the possible risk from a local driver who had too many under his belt running into them . She offered space at her place which we gratefully accepted. Rural NZ'ers are awesome!
The iconic Whangamomona Hotel - Lloyd and Tony
Chilling on the upper deck of the hotel - Tony, Rex and Lloyd
Hotel owner having a wash during a quiet spell
A walk to help dinner to go down was taken to get a few photos before it got dark. Here's a selection.
Colourful shed in the main street
Chilling at the hitching rail - Tony, Rex and Geoff (photo: Lloyd)
Yep, it's rustic all right! (photo: Tony)
A wonderful day of riding, knowing exactly how your riding partners are going to react in any given situation. Completely takes the stress out of group riding. Another hot day forecast tomorrow for the ride down to Porirua.
. We already have a tartan rug and wicker picnic hamper. It's decades old and sits in a very dark part of the house. Sigh.....
Go on - You know it makes sense!
