A day at the races

The 5 week layoff following eye surgery left me feeling a bit rusty and with a road trip coming up in a couple of weeks, a bit more riding wouldn't go amiss.  It just so happens that this weekend was the annual Classic Festival at Pukekohe, South Auckland.  That's a 280 km round trip from home, mainly on nice, twisty roads.  Skipped Day 1 but headed up on Sunday, leaving early as temperatures into the 30's C were forecast.

It may sound a bit odd but although I quite like the racing, I enjoy looking at the classic bikes even more from both an engineering viewpoint and as an art form.  There's no denying that the variety of design and colour really does make them an art form, at least to this motorcycle nut!  Then there's innovation and ingenuity in spades.  Something possibly lacking these days when bolt-on go-faster goodies are available from international sources.

The car park is always a great place to start as some spectators always ride interesting bikes to Pukekohe.

Spectator numbers building, even at an early hour

The photo below is of an early 80's almost original wire wheel Suzuki Katana, although according to an original owner standing next to me, it had a few small updates.  These were the Superbikes of that era and genuine wire wheel models are still highly prized.

 The ultimate superbike of its era - the wire wheel Katana 1100

A tiny part of the pits - a real festival atmosphere

The pits are open to the public at no extra cost, creating a great atmosphere and although the racing is ferocious , everyone is chilled and friendly in the pits.  The bike below is one of several Ken McIntosh Suzuki's ridden to great success in the southern hemisphere by astrophysicist Dr. Roger Freeth.  Ahead of its time in terms of handling and is still competitive today.  Sadly, Roger was killed in 1993, co-driving for Kiwi Rally Driver Possum Bourne.

McIntosh Suzuki - still sounds fabulous

No classic meeting is complete without the appearance of the Britten 1000 superbike, designed by Kiwi John Britten.  Built from scratch and revolutionary in design, it dominated the world-wide BEARS series, also winning at Daytona.  Surely, this bike is the epitome of art form .  The Guggenheim Museum in New York certainly thought so, showcasing it as the pinnacle of motorcycle design.  To have two of them at Pukekohe was very special.

The incomparably gorgeous Britten 1000

By way of contrast, I came across this ratty old rigid frame Triumph.  It would have been easy to overlook it but to me, it was also a piece of installation art because of its basic looks.  It could almost be called "Steampunk", but that would cheapen it.

 Ancient Triumph with minimalist brakes

As an antidote to the streamlined modern-looking bikes, there were several entries owing their pedigree to the US-style flat trackers.  This Bonneville was a particularly nice example.

Flat tracker-inspired Bonneville

Continuing the "arty" theme, the next two photos are close-ups of a Harris-framed Suzuki with rainbow-hued pipes and the rear end of a very special Ducati designed by Paolo Tesio of Tex Design

Interesting pipes on the Harris Suzuki

Magnificent detail on the Tesio Ducati

Here is the complete Ducati.  If you have to ask how much, you can't afford it!

The next bike is a beautiful Harley-engined race bike with a superb hand-beaten alloy tank.  I don't know the history of this bike although I think it's owned by someone from the US.  It has ex-Britten and Suzuki superbike rider Andrew Stroud's name on the fairing.  A great example of beautiful engineering.

The BTR Harley

From a beautiful Harley to a downright ugly one!  A Harley-engined sidecar.  What it lacked in looks, it more than made up for it with its wonderful booming note down the grandstand straight.

Only its mother could love it

Ken McIntosh has a world-wide reputation for building beautiful race bikes and in particular for Manx Nortons.  There were a bunch of them at Pukekohe, all looking like they had just come out of the showroom.

McIntosh Manx Norton - flawless

When it comes to design flair and colour, it's hard to beat the Italians.  This next set of photos shows a number of Italian racebikes, all in stunning condition and worth a king's ransom.

Three Aermacchi 350 singles - simple elegance

Bimota DB1 - a rare example

Colour and style - couldn't be anything but a Ducati

Another Italian name from the past - Laverda

Although there's no denying the beauty of Italian design, there's something about the brutal naked and sometimes faired Japanese Formula 1/Formula TT bikes of the 70's and 80's, raced by Graeme Crosby, Wes Cooley and co.  Real muscle bikes which took a lot of muscling round the race tracks of the world.

Moriwaki Kawasaki - big and brutal

I could keep on adding photos but the foregoing ones are sufficient proof as to what a great event the annual classic is.  A real case of something for everyone.  To add to the classic feel, there was a great lunchtime display of aerobatics from a Spitfire and P40 from the nearby Ardmore Warbirds collection.

Famous silhouettes

I left in the early afternoon with the temperature climbing well into the 30's C.   Too hot to contemplate wearing my leathers.  The armoured Rev'it mesh jacket which Jennie bought for my birthday worked an absolute treat.  However, even with the liners removed, my Gore-Tex pants were too hot, with sweat pooling in my boots.  Before next summer, time to look at mesh pants or kevlar armoured jeans methinks!

All in all, a fabulous day.  Rust duly knocked off my riding and a privilege to see some beautiful machinery from bygone years.  In many cases, the age of the riders matched their bikes although it certainly didn't show out on the track.  What a wonderful way of staying young!

For Nick and Angus MacPhail....

This post was written after I said I'd stopped blogging for an indeterminate period, BUT ..........

I got home yesterday to find a wonderful link to the past in the Comments section of my previous post from Nick MacPhail who lives in the Channel Islands between the UK and France.  We've never met but may well have been within a few metres of each other in the days when I drag raced at the same time as his brother Angus - what a small world it is these days!  Angus' bike, Ag's Barra, was featured in a photo I took and put in an earlier post about innovative engineering HERE .  I won't repeat what Nick said as you can read it for yourself in the comments section of the previous post.  It's well worth reading and also, the YouTube link to Angus' fantastic drag bike "Jade Warrior" HERE  is a rare treat.

Yesterday, I accompanied my mate and riding partner Davey Uprichard who lives near Wellington up to Auckland for his IAM advanced riding first assessment ride under the eagle eye of Philip McDaid, Chief Examiner.  It was a real win-win day as in the morning, we were able to spend a few hours at the annual classic race meeting at Pukekohe, just south of Auckland in the company of another great mate and riding partner, Dave Easey from Auckland.  For a country of around 4.5M population, some amazing bikes come out of sheds at this time of the year, many of them startlingly innovative.  So Nick and Angus, this post is for you guys in recognition of your appreciation of both smart and rare engineering! (This is only a very small sample of the bikes that were present, both in the spectator park and in the pits).

Dave, Davey and yours truly at the track

Rare Morini 350 V twin from the early 70's

Laverda Jota 3 cylinder in what looks like a Spondon frame

Flawless vintage Morgan 3-wheeler with Matchless V twin motor

Weston race bike - looks like a speedway engine is fitted into a Norton frame

Beautiful Triumph Trident late 60's factory race replica

Weslake-engined race bike

XR Harley replicas - superb engineering

The photo below is of a Brough Superior lining up on the dummy grid for a vintage race.  All these bikes are raced hard with no concession for age or scarcity.  Given that the price of a Brough at a classic bike auction would probably be greater than the cost of a modern factory-supported superbike, the owner has exceedingly large balls!  He's also to be congratulated for not wrapping it in cotton wool and for sharing it with the rest of the population.

Beautiful Brough Superior

The bike below is one of the rarest bikes you'll find - a desmodromic-valved Manx Norton.  It was built by a Kiwi called Brian Thomas to a design by Doug Hele, who was a legendary designer at both Norton and Triumph.  It was their correspondence and friendship which led to Doug's bike being re-created.  A stunning piece of workmanship.

Desmodromic Manx Norton

The next bike was my personal favourite - a Kreidler 50cc racer from the 70's.  Winner of numerous world championships, the bike produced in the order of 11-15 horsepower at close to 17,000 rpm!  The engineering is simply exquisite and when you realise just how small it is, finding a talented rider with the weight of a 10 year old child must have been a nightmare!

One of the best examples of engineering perfection anywhere

Kreidler front view - mountain bikes have wider wheels!

Flawless Benelli Sei 6 cylinder from the 70's

Another exceptionally rare motorcycle is the bike below.  The Hesketh V twin was produced in the UK by Lord Hesketh who used to be involved with F1 car racing.  Manufactured in the 1980's, it was overpriced, unreliable and soon went out of production.  Nonetheless, still a good example of someone trying to innovate.

A Hesketh V 1000 in perfect condition

My mate Paul zoning in

Those photos end the relatively short stay at the Pukekohe race track.  We said our goodbyes to Dave Easey part-way up the Auckland motorway whilst Davey and I headed north west for a date with the Chief Examiner of the IAM.  Those who have previously read of the stress I went though to pass my tests will remember that the examination criteria are based on UK police rider standards - a daunting task for anyone!  I was enjoying Davey's discomfort and deliberately hadn't filled him in with the details.  If I had to suffer the pangs of apprehension, he bloody well could too - that's mates for you! It's interesting that one of Davey's first actions on arriving at Philip's premises was a rapid visit to the toilet.  You may well think it was a nervous one, but I couldn't possibly comment, hehe!

However, Davey and Philip are both Irishmen from not too far apart and within seconds, had lapsed into accents which took more than a bit to follow - probably to keep me totally in the dark!  After explaining what was going to happen and equipping Davey with a radio, we set off on an assessment ride of well over 100km covering a mixture of motorway, urban, and all forms of countryside riding.  It was my intention to sit out back, sniggering and chilling out but Philip put a stop to that by saying that it would be good observer training for me!

Philip and Davey about to set off

Half-way through the ride, we stopped for the first de-brief.  Philip told a delighted Davey that he was already riding at an advanced level and that the improvement areas were only small, rather than any major errors in technique.  Hardly surprising to me, given that Davey and I have ridden together so much and that I'd trust him with my life.

For the second part of the ride, Philip put me directly behind Davey to take the main observing role, but cunningly being able to watch me at the same time - no pressure then!!!  Because Davey is such a darned good rider, there (regrettably, haha!) wasn't an opportunity to "ping" him for anything major and it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride in a relaxed atmosphere.  Returning to base, there was a full debrief and Philip asked me to complete the formal report with 3 improvement opportunities for Davey to work on.  He was congratulated again on such a great performance, particularly for first time up and invited to join IAM as an Associate.   All that remains is for me to allocate him a mentor in the Wellington area and enjoy hearing about his rapid progress through the forthcoming check rides.

All in all, one of those sublime days - away from home riding bikes for 12 hours in great company, covering almost exactly 500 km and seeing some fabulously rare motorcycles to boot.  Oh, and returning home to local smoked fish and marinated mussels as an entrée and baked sticky ribs as a main course, washed down with good beer.  Real man-food courtesy of Jennie, bless her!!

Sincere thanks too to Philip for giving up his time on a voluntary basis to spread the message about high level safe riding, it's hugely appreciated.