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?
It's been as near as dammit to 58 years since I got my first motorcycle. I clearly remember cycling as a UK schoolboy to the nearby coffee bar to watch riders on their British twins sticking a record on the jukebox and trying to complete a lap of the town centre before the record finished! The freedom to do exciting stuff and explore new horizons had a massive impact on a hormonal teen. It wasn't just me who was smitten long term with bikes. My close friend Rick whom I grew up with is still riding at the same age (74) and was also a classic car owner long before me.
Regular readers of the blog will know that back in 2011 aged 63, I joined IAM RoadSmart NZ to learn Police Roadcraft advanced riding techniques. This was principally to safely extend my riding as I aged, following some lively correspondence with US motorcycle safety guru David Hough. In simple terms, he challenged me to actually do something formal to lift my game rather than just talk about it. The 11 years that followed were the most rewarding of my riding career. For the first time, I had tools to measure my own skills (or lack of) and once formal qualifications had been acquired, was able to pay it forward by helping other riders to upskill. I've made some wonderful friends as a result and so many people to thank for helping me along the way that it's not possible to name everyone. However, one person who I can never thank enough is Philip McDaid. At that time, Philip was IAM Chief Motorcycle Examiner and also my principal mentor. It goes without saying that Philip's riding skills are sublime but his teaching ability and complete lack of ego makes him very special indeed. That humility and a passion for excellence is something which every IAM mentor in our region has personally adopted and built into the culture of the organisation.
Mentor, rider extraordinaire and friend, Philip McDaid
The on-going correspondence with David Hough before joining IAM morphed into discussions about "the ageing motorcyclist" and when it's time to stop riding. Those discussions are HERE and HERE . We also strongly agreed that when someone has had a lifelong passion which is coming to a close, motorcycling or otherwise; a fallback interest is necessary to stay mentally and physically healthy. So to cut to the chase, that time has now arrived.
It would be very easy and enjoyable to continue to ride and the decision to stop is always going to be a personal one in terms of reasons. I think that it would be good for me to document those reasons and perhaps it might trigger some thinking among "other riders of a certain age".
My riding career has been lengthy, varied and massively enjoyable. To be forced to give it up at some indeterminate time because of future health issues or a decline in the standards which I set for myself would seem to be a completely inappropriate and sad way of ending a lifelong passion. Surely it would be better to celebrate on my own terms with no regrets whilst still somewhere near the top of my game? Having fallback interests to keep mentally and physically exercised was also a big contributor in the decision-making, otherwise it would have been far more difficult. Come to think of it, I pretty much used the same approach when stopping competitive sailing in the 80's!
Interestingly, I hadn't been out on the KTM since mid-December due to competing priorities but had an early morning ride the other day in perfect conditions. It took a few km to dial in but the grin factor was still there throughout the ride. However, despite the huge enjoyment; there was no second-guessing as to whether the decision to stop riding was the correct one. That sort of sealed it.
Early morning ride on the Coromandel Peninsula
So what now? Well, the bike is shortly coming up for its first fitness warrant after 3 years from new. We'll get that out of the way and then put it up for sale. Whether it sells quickly or takes a while doesn't really matter as there is no immediate urgency. Those discussions with David Hough back in 2011 have enabled a pretty seamless transition away from motorcycling with no regrets and a lot of fond memories. Here's to you David and enjoy your retirement from motorcycling too!
It's probably a sensible time to stop the blog too with classic cars, sea fishing and hopefully travel appearing on the horizon again but you never know. A decent e-bike is also on the shortlist as there's very little flat land where we live! The one thing I'll cherish is the interaction with other bloggers and people who left comments and actually meeting several of them in person. It's been a wonderful window into other's lives from around the world.
Just to finish off, I've had a sort through all my motorcycling photos and have selected a few of them to represent some of the milestones in a long motorcycling career.
This photo is me on the right aged 5 or 6, wearing Dad's helmet and goggles. Clearly influenced at an early age.
Motorcyclist in training, circa 1952/53
Taken at the Isle of Man TT in 1969. Just dressed in my "civvies" for cruising about in the town of Douglas on a non-race day. I was riding my Tiger 100 and the Trophy belongs to my great mate Rick. The young lady was on holiday from Scotland!
Quarter Bridge, Isle of Man TT 1969
Drag racing my supercharged short stroke Triumph at Santa Pod Raceway, UK. Details are in an early blog post. It was in the top 3 of its class nationally for the quarter mile and world standard over the only standing start mile that I took part in.
Icarus at Santa Pod Raceway, 1969 (courtesy: Pete Miller)
Getting married then moving to New Zealand in 1975, starting a family and taking up competitive sailing put a stop to riding for a while but I started again in 1987. I was in Auckland to buy a new sail but also ended up putting a deposit on a new bike from the motorcycle shop next door to the sailmaker. Jennie wasn't best pleased and bought a piano at twice the price of the bike!
The Honda GB 400TT
Although I'd already bought the GB400, I found that my UK bike licence had expired and had to sit the NZ test. The only small capacity bike I could borrow was a step-through Yamaha 50 belonging to a mate's wife. I'm sure that the tester smelt a rat with me turning up in full riding gear and a full face helmet but he didn't say anything!
Heading off for my test - oh the shame!!
In the 90's, our eldest son was keen to ride a bike, much to his mother's disapproval so we bought an old Yamaha TS100 trail bike to ride on the local forest roads and fire breaks. Naturally, I had to get one too, a second hand Yamaha IT 175 Enduro. It had an exceedingly narrow power band and used to regularly spit me off on slow, tricky stuff in the forest. I was regularly covered in bruises but it was good fun for a few years until our son went to university.
Off-roading fun in the 90's
1996 saw the start of taking part in the Grand Challenge 1000 miles (1600 km) in under 24 hours organised endurance rides by the Rusty Nuts motorcycle club. The first of 5 was with a bunch of workmates in what turned out to be appalling weather. We made it with nearly an hour to spare but were physically wrecked at the end of it! The bikes I did the events on were a BMW K100RS, a Honda Blackbird and a Triumph Street Triple. The Triple was the most comfortable of the lot when doing my last 1000 miler in 2010!
1996 - middle of the night and about 500 miles to the finish!
I owned the Blackbird for about 8 years. Unbelievably fast and in 2005, I completed the Southern Cross round NZ endurance challenge on it, covering around 4000 km in 5 days. In 2007, 4 of us on Blackbirds toured the south island and had a ball over all the mountain passes. Jennie was also a regular pillion on the 'bird and we had some real fun trips on it. However, I do remember a rather public dressing-down when out for a ride with some friends and their wives with respect to us going a little quicker than the pillions were happy with. That invoked applause and cheers from the onlookers where we stopped for a drink. It would have been fatal to smile so we just looked at our feet and shuffled about a bit.
Blackbirds galore
Retirement aged 60 in 2008 and a move to the twisty roads of Coromandel saw a lighter bike purchased in 2009 - a 675 Triumph Street Triple. It was huge fun and proof that you didn't need a large capacity bike to make good progress. The Triple saw me through all my IAM training and the photo below represents one of my proudest motorcycling moments - passing my Observer (mentor) Test. This was something that I thought was completely out of my reach when first joining IAM but 3 years later, I was appointed as an Examiner. Shows what's possible with a bit of determination and a fantastic mentor. I might add that the 2 1/2 hour each way trips to Auckland, plus the training itself was "character forming", especially in the winter!
Philip McDaid and yours truly at the conclusion of the Observer Test
After having owned the Street Triple for a few years, I made an uncharacteristic impulse purchase of a Suzuki GSX-S 1000 in 2015. Amazing performance but I never connected with it. It just goes to show how important an emotional connection is when buying a bike, not just the specifications or looks. Having said that, I really enjoyed trackdays on the Suzuki where it was in its element.
Hampton Downs international race track, 2016 (courtesy: Barry Holland)
2019 saw me looking for a replacement bike. I thought that it would be the 765 Street Triple but a test ride on a demo KTM 790 saw me laughing out loud inside the helmet. Emotional connection well and truly established! Three years later and I still laugh every time I ride it, It can be ridden sensibly but it's one of those bikes that wants to misbehave. Barring the Suzuki which didn't do much for me (how do you call a bike like that bland?), all the bikes I've owned have been enjoyable but the KTM has been so much fun. An excellent way to end up.
Bad girl Lola - the KTM 790
So there we are, decision made, 5+ decades of fun and a lot to be thankful for. A new chapter opens with more sea fishing, a classic car, an e-bike before too long and hopefully a bit of travel thrown in too!
In comparison with a lot of countries, NZ has so far escaped the ravages of Covid fairly lightly with occasional lockdowns and other restrictions in various regions for varying periods. Whilst there were no outbreaks where we live, travel was difficult on occasions which curtailed going all that far. It was hellish tough on some sectors of the community and small businesses in particular really struggled. Our hearts went out to friends in that position. It's been an uncomfortable feeling that being retired helped us to lead a relatively normal but restricted lifestyle. Motorcycling and other leisure activities such as sea fishing took a hit but we still had plenty to keep us productively occupied. Looking back on the year, there was plenty going on and I've attached a bunch of photos which haven't been posted before. I suppose that it's a good means of raising the middle finger to the effects of Covid by celebrating some of the nice memories.
January
This was dawn from our deck on Jan 1st 2021. NZ was pretty much Covid-free at that stage and the summer weather held a lot of promise.
Coromandel dawn, January 2021
In a past life, I used to sail competitively. Even for people with little interest in sailing, NZ were defending the Americas Cup in Auckland in a new class of foiling yacht and the design captured the public imagination. They are capable of a little over 50 knots and very difficult to sail. Three months of racing and NZ went on to retain the Cup in March. The video below shows the NZ yacht Te Rehutai sailing from their base out to the race area. The buildings and traffic in the background serve to show how awesomely impressive these beasts are.
February
Out conducting potential new member assessments with the Institute of Advanced Motorists. It's always a real pleasure meeting riders who are keen to lift their game but every so often, you get to meet someone a bit special. In this instance, it was Barbara on her Yamaha MT-09. Barbara's partner David had been riding for many years so when Barbara decided to ride, it was a full-on commitment to excellence. Her early training to get a full license was with a riding school run by a former Chief Examiner of IAM. She then worked her way through the NZ-wide Ride Forever coaching programme and the California Superbike School track programme. Not satisfied with that, she has embarked on advanced police roadcraft training with IAM. Now that's dedication for you and boy, does it show in the standard of her riding!
Some old geezer and Barbara
My Shoei GT Air helmet has an internal smoked visor which is quite effective in most sunny environments. Where it falls short is on the coast road home where the reflection off the sea is horrendous and made even worse by diving into shaded areas of road thanks to overhanging waterside trees. From past experience, iridium-coated visors work pretty well, the downside being price. A genuine Shoei is about NZ$200, an expensive mistake if my memory was rose-tinted. Contrast this with an iridium visor ex-AliExpress for about NZ$60, shipping included so the risk was worth taking. Expectations weren't particularly high with respect to quality but what a bargain it turned out to be! Already set up for a Pinlock anti-fog insert, it was a perfect fit and 12 months later, the iridium coating is still in superb condition. Best of all, its reflective qualities work an absolute treat and it works better in low light than a solid tint. The gold coating looks pretty cool too.
Looks cool and works a treat
March
Nothing particularly noteworthy in March, some enjoyable local riding and a bit of sea fishing with Jennie. However, a chance photo taken from our garden turned out to be a particularly pleasing one. It was a hot day and storm clouds were boiling up over the nearby Coromandel Range. The noise of a piston engine from the sky attracted attention and there was an old Tiger Moth biplane flying towards the storm clouds. The pilot must have had second thoughts soon afterwards and changed course but the photo was quite dramatic.
Not where I'd choose to be!
April
The Coromandel Peninsula (The so-called Coro Loop road) is considered to be one of the great motorcycling roads in NZ. It's also a tourist mecca and at peak times, traffic volumes and poor driving standards seriously detract from the enjoyment of riding on two wheels. Weekdays are somewhat different and one of my IAM riding partners, Tony; had taken the day off to celebrate his birthday with a ride round the Loop on his Yamaha MT10 SP. It would be rude not to join him and we had an absolute ball. It was one of those effortless rides where everything clicked and it was like we were on rails. Not going particularly fast but maintaining good corner speeds with an almost complete absence of traffic - motorcycling heaven!
Birthday Boy Tony and me at Whitianga Harbour
We also spent a few days in the Rotorua area doing a few touristy things. With the absence of overseas tourists, the lack of crowds was really pleasant. My personal favourite activity was walking on the suspended walkways in the redwood forest. We did it during daylight hours and at night. The lighting and special effects at night were absolutely world class.
Part of the suspended tree walk, Rotorua
May
Plenty of rain in our district but it allowed me to take an arty photo of raindrops beading on a yucca plant in our garden.
A wet yucca "Sapphire Skies"
June
The start of winter, such as it is. The deciduous trees in the garden look a picture but will soon turn into a soggy mess. Unusually mild which why leaf fall is only just starting.
Early winter colours in the garden
A great day out delivering the first part of practical training for new IAM mentors, including two police officers. It started off in dry, overcast conditions and ended in heavy rain for the 160 km journey home. At least we got a variety of weather to practice our skills!
Some of the IAM team getting ready
July
We celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary at an upmarket lodge and out of the blue, Jennie suggested that we buy a classic car so that we could explore NZ's back roads and scenic spots in some style. Finding something we both liked was a major stumbling block until we found a 49 year old MGB GT in stunningly restored condition. However, taking ownership took 3 months thanks to the monumental incompetence of a government department which deals with transport matters. A complaint was jointly lodged by the vendor and ourselves which finally led to a formal written apology from the department. It's doubtful whether their processes will have changed as a result though.
Puka Park luxury cabins among the trees - bliss!
NZ native songbird, the Tui drinking nectar from our winter flowering cherry tree
August
The Covid Delta variant appeared in NZ for the first time and all sorts of restrictions were imposed as a result. Fortunately, our area wasn't affected and we were still able to travel to some extent. The lack of people from other regions made motorcycling a real pleasure and on one ride round the Coromandel Loop, we passed just 4 other vehicles over a distance of 200 km! I was also able to observe and test one of our IAM Trainee Observers (mentors) who conducted a coaching ride for one of our trainees. Delighted to say that he passed with flying colours. It was also my last official duty within IAM before retiring in December.
Trainee Josh (KTM 390) and a relieved but proud Chris (GSX-S 1000) on passing his Observer Test
September
Sometimes, unplanned events turn out to be the most memorable of occasions. I was browsing through an online NZ buy and sell website and happened to see a rocking chair for sale. It was made from a beautiful native timber called rimu in the 1980's by a craftsman in Northland for a couple who were downsizing and were reluctantly selling it. Showed it to Jennie and as we both loved the craftsmanship, we put in a bid and won it for the ridiculously low price of NZ$175! It was in flawless condition and clearly cherished. We met the vendors at a halfway point between where we all lived and took them to lunch - really enjoyed their company. It now graces our upstairs living area as an art object although it's supremely comfortable as well. Our daughter thought it was hilarious that "the oldies" had bought a rocking chair. Sigh....
Rimu custom rocking chair
October
All the bureaucratic bungling regarding the MGB was addressed (almost) and we finally took ownership - it was worth waiting for! It was also my 74th birthday and my present from Jennie was a robust trolley jack for doing routine maintenance on the car. Hardly romantic but just what I wanted! A fair bit of time since then has been spent on setting up a routine maintenance regime which is now almost complete (we hope). One little postscript about the bungling. When the new ownership papers arrived, the car had been mis-identified as an MGB Roadster, not an MGB GT. Keeping my temper, it took several protracted phone calls to the authorities to get the correct papers issued and they only arrived in the last week of December. Lord protect us from pen-pushers!
The MGB GT at the Firth of Thames, Coromandel Peninsula
November
With neighbouring regions locked down, it was a great time for social riding in our area with virtually no weekend traffic and perfect weather. Getting together with some of the IAM team from our region and riding on uncluttered roads was an absolute dream.
Meeting up with the team in the town of Paeroa
December
Whenever I'm in the nearby town of Whitianga, a quick trip to the grass airfield is often worthwhile as a range of unusual aircraft can often be seen there. A recent example is the De Havilland Chipmunk. Designed in Canada in the 40's and entering RAF service in 1950, it was a popular flight trainer. It was delightful to see the flight instructor swinging the prop to start it, then hopping in and taking off in no time at all. Wonderful to still see old aircraft in regular use.
Going through the starting routine
....and away we go
As of today, I've retired as an IAM Examiner and mentor after 10 years of lifting my riding to a level that I'm quite proud of, having never dreamed of getting this far. Also proud to have coached many others to attain their advanced roadcraft qualification and continue on to become mentors themselves. That's what you call a win-win. Just social riding from now on but also spending more time with Jennie sea fishing and enjoying the MGB GT. As mentioned in the previous post about keeping occupied during retirement, I've got plenty of fallback interests so boredom is unlikely to be an issue.
Who knows what 2022 and future years will bring but at least we can make the best possible use of our time whatever things outside of our control bring us. Every good wish for the future!
Nearly 11 years ago back in 2011, I wrote a blog post HERE which attracted comment from well known US motorcycle author David Hough which lead to further posts and even a chapter in one of his motorcycle books. The topic? The impact of increasing age on motorcycling. We discussed things we could do to safely extend one's riding career and whether we could recognise that it was perhaps time to do something else. There are links to the wider discussion in that 2011 post.
Just before the time of the original post, I was 63 and not really planning to do anything massively different, just to keep riding pretty much the way I'd always done and keep fingers crossed. The only nod towards getting older was to sell my heavy Honda Blackbird and buy a Street Triple. However, the conversations with David prompted me to join the NZ branch of the UK Institute of Advanced Motorists to learn Police Roadcraft. That lead to what was genuinely the most enjoyable 10 years of a 58 year riding career, passing the Advanced Roadcraft Test, Observer (mentor) Test and ultimately becoming an Examiner. It was a genuine shock to discover how little I knew about safe riding whilst making good progress before joining IAM. Made lots of lifelong friends too.
IAM Observer duties on the Street Triple, circa 2014
The other thing which David Hough and I discussed was the need for a fallback interest for when we actually stop riding. That need applies to anything which has been a lifelong passion and even to retirement with little idea of how to spend your free time. Making properly considered decisions about that can have a massive impact on one's mental and physical health. I'm pleased to say that talking with family, close friends and even strangers plus lots of reading has given Jennie and I solid fallback interests in terms of voluntary work, travel, sea fishing and more recently, the purchase of a classic car. With Covid limiting international travel in any meaningful sense for an extended period, the classic car was a locally-based fallback. For the time being at least, I think we've got that side of the ageing equation reasonably well covered and David Hough deserves enormous credit for provoking some serious thought. David and I still correspond and recently, he's also followed the same process by building a beautiful wooden rowing boat (a traditional wherry).
The KTM in 2021 - me at 74 and loving it!
So that's the medium term future reasonably well mapped with a few contingencies but what about now? This month, I retire from IAM. A combination of age and the relatively remote area where we live means that I don't want to spend 500km days in all weathers putting advanced riders through formal testing. Totally comfortable with that. Having been honoured with life membership of IAM means that I can ride with the membership on social occasions and also with other treasured friends which will help to keep standards up. Although there are no immediate plans to stop riding, going through the future planning process has made me comfortable about making that decision with no regrets. Another year will probably do it. No single fallback will replace riding but a combination of things should do the trick. Ceasing the blog sort of falls into the same category. Great fun but it's just about served its purpose.
After 6 weeks or so of owning the MGB GT, Jennie and I have been having a lot of fun exploring the Coromandel Peninsula backroads on short(ish) runs. At present, I've been spending a fair bit of time underneath the thing greasing a myriad of grease nipples, lubricating the steering rack and having smelly old diff oil run down my arm to set up a proper maintenance schedule for the future. The previous owner did a wonderful job of restoring the MG but he mainly used a local garage to do routine maintenance. I use both words advisedly as to be honest, it looks like a lot of things were overlooked; hence the preventive work being done at present. To give another more succinct viewpoint, Jennie calls my diligence "pissing about in the garage".
Waitete Bay, Coromandel Peninsula. Miles of nothing but sand and water
To end on an irreverent note, yesterday saw us make a 320km round trip to join fellow MG owners for the regional MG Owners Club Christmas lunch. We're not big on large gatherings of people but being new to the club, it would be great to meet fellow members. Crikey, except for another couple of people, we were the youngest there by some margin! It was a weird feeling as among my motorcycling mates, I'm totally used to being the Old Fart. A motorcycling friend (and ex-MG Roadster owner) remarked that it was lucky we were in the open air for much of the time as the smell of cabbage water and pee may have been overpowering indoors. Irreverent indeed! Mind you, the local organiser drily commented that he had to organise club events with pee stops for both sexes in mind. I think we'll pass on taking part in those for a few more years!
Alongside a 1952 MG TD and a late 50's MG Magnette
All that remains is to wish everyone all that you would wish for yourselves over the festive season and may 2022 be better for all of us than the last couple of years!
Daytime temperatures of the mid-20's C and minimal rain makes time to enjoy outdoor activities. Sadly, motorcycling isn't one of them at present as my tyres are down to the wear bars and need replacing. I could probably order them online and fit them myself but that involves a hassle and there's plenty of work on the task list already. With lockdown restrictions shortly being lifted where my favourite dealer is located, that problem can be sorted fairly quickly provided that there aren't any supply chain problems for my favourite tyres, the Michelin Road 5's. The KTM also needs a service. Since writing up the end of life review HERE , I've been for a couple more rides and Road 5 effective life is better than 11,000 km. That will do just fine, considering that they haven't had an easy time.
Road 5 front hoop - in dire need of replacement
Owning the MG is still providing a steep learning path. Even with eyes wide open before purchase, routine maintenance is substantially greater than with modern cars; particularly lubrication of engine and drivetrain plus suspension and steering. I'm finding that many automotive workshops excepting specialists aren't keen to work on classic vehicles. There aren't any specialists within a 2.5 hour drive so the routine stuff is down to me. A fair bit of the lubrication schedule involves access to the underside of the car and I haven't got a pit or proper hoist. Fortunately, the car doesn't need lifting very high and jacking it onto axle stands is fine for routine work. Hoisting it with a scissor jack is tedious and time-consuming so a trolley jack was an obvious solution.
Perusing ones for sale at NZ's major automotive parts outlets didn't fill me with confidence. By and large, they looked cheap and nasty. On-line reviews weren't confidence-inspiring either with a surprising number of purchasers mentioning hydraulic failures and other breakages in an unacceptably short time. Purely by chance when looking at a classic car parts website, I found one which was made from substantial steel plate that was CE/ANSI/ASME certified. With a 3 tonne capacity which I didn't really need, it wasn't vastly more expensive than the crappy ones at the main automotive outlets. The only downside was that it weighed 35kg and was too heavy for NZ Post, so had to be couriered to us from Auckland. Service from Hawkswood Classic Car Parts was outstanding with it arriving the day after purchase. As an amusing aside, it was delivered by large truck and the driver wasn't keen to tackle our steep drive. Instead, he left it in a safe place near the bottom. Just about had a hernia loading it into our 4x4 for the trip up the drive as it was in a slippery box with an absence of handholds! In summary, it's an absolute cracker - a quality build. Makes life so much easier and can lift to 495mm. Great to deal with Hawkswood too, exceptional hassle-free service.
A seriously good trolley jack
In a previous post, I mentioned the need fit a USB plug for smartphone charging. The first attempt failed as I'd incorrectly identified an earth return wire. This was easily fixed by earthing it to the body behind the instrument cluster . The blue LED inside the inside the USB plug looks quite pleasing too!
Awww...... pretty!
AliExpress have been good at supplying various peripherals I need at very sharp prices and considering the current world-wide supply chain problems, delivery is consistently good too. One of my most useful purchases has been an extremely bright rechargable inspection lamp. Equipped with a swivelling base, clamp and additional magnets, it can be positioned virtually anywhere. Delivered price to NZ? Around NZ$20 which is great value for money.
LED inspection lamp using a magnet to affix to the bonnet
Currently awaiting a timing gun as I gave mine away at least 2 decades ago, a 500 ml syringe for doing an oil change on the diff and an LED replacement for the standard internal car lightbulb which at 5W, is nigh on useless for seeing anything. All the extras when owning an old vehicle sure do add up. Still, as getting one was Jennie's idea, she can hardly complain!
We've covered around 800km so far and fuel consumption has been about 11.5 lt/100 km or 25 imperial miles to the gallon. This is in line with expectations at moderate speeds and should give a range over 500 km which is quite reasonable. Adding the anti-valve recession additive at the same time as refilling the tank is no big deal.
Pohutukawa tree coming into flower near our house
We also managed to get out fishing in the boat for the first time in months and for once, I caught more than Jennie. It's not so much being able to catch your own dinner as fishing in spectacular surroundings - good for the soul.
Jennie waiting for the first strike
With the summer weather upon us, gardening is the other activity which soaks up time. Most of our property is in trees, shrubs and other plants which require minimal maintenance as we love gardens but not gardening if that makes sense. Here are a few of the items in the garden at present.
Pink Bottlebrush - quite hard to find compared with the red ones
Bougainvillea Scarlett O'Hara - training it up a pergola
Subtropical Bromeliad
Bird of Paradise
One thing is for sure, at 74; finding stuff to keep active isn't a problem!
. 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!
