2023 NI800 Part 2

Ok, it's been a while since the first NI800 Post and there's a reason for this.

Following our burgers we climbed back into our wet gear and headed back out into the night.to carry on South.  Glen got away on us as apparently his fire needed some company so Colin, Brett and I let him clear the path for us 🚓.

As we pottered through Taihape, I noticed that Glen had only just beaten us as I spotted him getting off his Tenere to open up his garage.  We pulled into the BP for some gas and to say see ya to Brett as he was heading all the way down SH1 while Colin and I made a beeline for my place so I could swap bikes and grab some more gear before carrying onto Colin's place - early ferry in the morning.

Here's where things go a bit wonky...

Colin and I had a good trip down but when we got to the SH1 turn-off South of Levin we were confronted with lots of flashing lights and a cop stopping us to warn of a bike accident and to take it easy.  As we turned the corner I even spotted a bike parked off the side of the road.

Fast forward to the next day and Colin had learned some bad news.  Yes, the rider was Brett.

He had been cruising quietly home at the 80km/h speed limit when a car turned in front of him.  His only memory is something green and then waking up in the ambulance so whether he even saw the car is unknown.

What is known is that the driver was tired (it was probably around 10:30pm) and she was driving to Hawkes Bay.  And of course, she didn't see Brett...

She is now facing a dangerous driving causing serious injury charge but she's lucky.

Thankfully, Brett had some luck on his side and is still with us (and is acting pretty positive giving his circumstances) but he is now facing month's of rehabilitation due to some fairly serious injuries.  But still, it sucks to be him and he shouldn't be where he is right now - a moment's lack of concentration from the driver is all it took.

Obviously this was not the way we wanted the 800 to finish for us and while Brett was in hospital we were heading South again for more fun on two wheels.  ☹️

10/12/2023

I started the above post a few weeks back but have been hesitant to post it as it isn't nice subject matter and I might still have been fuming over the drivers actions.

I'm still fuming over the drivers actions but have had some messages and a chat with Brett.  He is still in very good spirits considering and went home about a week ago.  But, he's still got months of healing and rehab to go.  At least he's looking at bikes on Trademe...

Look for bikes!

Saturday

Went for a ride today.  No photos, no video, no blog.

A lot on our minds here today.

Blog Comments V2

All righty then, I seem to have worked out my problem and can now comment from my new laptop...

It appears to be a Chrome extension called Ghostery (an ad blocker) and I think that an update (or perhaps fresh install in this case).  Selecting "Trust Site" or disabling the "Enhanced Anti-tracking" seems to do the trick.  Uninstalling also works...

Blog Comments

Hi all

Yet again I seem to be having issues with Google/Blogger and blog comments.  I've yet to check on my other computer but on my new laptop I cannot comment on any blogs - including my own!

So, I'm not ignoring you - just smashing my head against a brick wall!

Now for some detail:

I'm permanently logged into my Google account and Gmail, Google Drive, Photos and Blogger (when blogging) all work sweet as - it's just when on a blog and trying to comment!

If there's a genius out there with the solution then I'd love to here it.  If it works I'll even be able to reply to your comment!

Here's my post in the Blogger help forum: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/blogger/INwaecCzAbU

Look forward to those comments...

2018 Ride for Kids

Today I'd decided to support a local charity ride benefiting kids with Down Syndrome - a nice idea and I was happy to give them my $20.  But things could have gone better...

I arrived fairly early and signed on and spoke to a few riders while I waited in the hot sun.  With a lot of agricultural equipment surrounding me I felt a little like the odd one out but hey, it was great that the ride was getting a good turn out.  The photos below are pretty much before "everyone" arrived, I'd say that before we left there would easily have been 4-5 times as many bikes.

Early days yet...

Beauty amongst the beasts...

After a desperate SOS text to James (Ok, so he was just running a little late) there was finally another quality machine in the line-up.  There was actually a fairly decent smattering of bikes: a gold-wing or 2 (one with a hound as co-pilot), some proper V-twins, learner bikes, a Vespa, a brace of 'busas and yeah, plenty of compressors.

Eventually, we had a short ride briefing where the we were told that the main thing for us to do was to ride safe and be careful...nice idea...

The lest said about the ride itself the better really - James and I pulled out when we hit Tiritea. The videos can speak for themselves - although I did not have the camera going when some of the worst of the riding was going on.

Check out this hairy-chested, bad-ass...probably someones accountant...

And then we came to Valley Road.  This ones a little tricky as there are a couple of moderate bends in places...

As I said before, I didn't manage to capture all the antics so you'll just have to believe me - there were some total morons on this ride and James and I gave up and went to find a coffee...

A real shame as the ride was supporting a great charity but they will have done well out of it so that's good.  It's also great that so many riders turned out for it - regardless of what they were riding.  I just hope that everyone got home safe and sound...

2017 Coast to Coast

Saturday was the annual Coast to Coast ride which is run by the Woodville Lions to raise funds for our local rescue helicopter.  It's a run that I usually do as it's a charity I like to support - I have been on 3 different rides over the years where the chopper has helped someone out.  Not a good statistic (and I don't think it's my fault) but it is nice to know that there is fast help available when you're riding out in the wops.

I had quite a busy weekend planned so this time around I decided that I was only going to go as far as Woodville and miss out the usual trip to the beach at Akitio.

After dog walking and a few other early morning jobs I fuelled up and made my way out to Himatangi.  I was pretty early and managed to find a park next to another silver Connie.  It turned out to not be Brian but I soon ran into him just up the road a bit...

While we were waiting we got to be showered in dirt by the helicopter landing nearby and I managed to catch up with quite a few NZ Distance and even BRR riders including one (and I hope this cheers you up Chillertek) who is currently hunting for his 4th rear tyre in 6,000km...

Supercharged tyre eater and friend

By the time they gave the ride briefing there were plenty of bikes lined up and the day was getting hotter.  I had all the vents open on my gear - Adv gear rocks in hot weather!

The ride tagged onto the Himatangi Beach Xmas Parade (yes, there is such a thing) and puttered on out of the small settlement.  We then got a little more pace on and made our way across to Foxton and then Shannon.

Then we turned North and made our way towards the Pahiatua Track.  Getting nearer to the track myself and a lot of others started getting passed by all sorts of idiots intent on a fast run over the track - not sure how that went for them, what with a cop leading us an' all...

One of the more disturbing things I saw was a blue Gold Wing go past on the wrong side of the road entering a blind right hander.  You'd think the rider might care more about their kid who was riding pillion than play around like that.  Luckily they made it and had maybe 2 seconds to spare between when they pulled back in and the next car came around the corner - moron of the highest order!

I managed to keep control of my inner squid and took it pretty quietly without passing anyone.  And so did Rob on his 200hp weapon - I spotted him behind me for a while before being astounded to see him replaced in my mirrors by a Harley.  Somewhere there is a Harley riding telling a slightly unbelievable story - I wonder how fast he was going in his story?  My guess, 80-90km/h...

Anyway, we made it up over the track, dodged trucks that can't quite fit in their lane, cruised on through Balance and then puttered into Woodville where we became a part of their Xmas Parade too - great to see all the kids loving the bikes!

And after demolishing the BBQ lunch I scarpered and enjoyed a fantastic ride over a pretty deserted Saddle and down into Ashhurst and home.  Next year I'll need to check out the beach again...

I've lost a badge somewhere...

Silly Season

So apparently the silly season is upon us and everyone is supposedly under pressure, tired out and in need of a break.  Meanwhile our road toll has already exceeded last year's tally and the remedy is speeding fines for 5km/h over the limit - the same solution as every holiday period for the last few years (thanks Australia). 

Anyway, there must have been something weird happening in Palmy yesterday as I witnessed 1 near miss, got myself wrapped up in another and came across two separate accidents...Our populations is supposedly around 84,000 (when the scarfies are in town I 'spose).  Not a bad effort for one day's work, but these are only the ones I saw...

Near miss number 1.  4WD fails to give way to a motorcycle (not me) on the big roundabout just up the road to me.  I got a good view of this and the poor rider must have messed his jacks when a dirty great SUV appeared next to him.  But then, the 4WD must have been in a hurry to just nip around to the left and go blasting up a short dead-end street.  Dramatic re-creation below...

Next up, it was my turn to enter the chaos of the roundabout.  Mine was nowhere near as serious as I was never going to ride the poor old Tenere into the side of a truck that decided to not give way to me.  I did however come to a complete stop in the middle of the roundabout.

Two near misses in less than a minute so now it was time to see what happens when a near miss turns into an event - and this one looked pretty nasty, I hope nobody was injured.

I was held up majorly (along with hundreds of others) by an accident on Fitz Ave which is a major road coming into town.  At an (intersection controlled by lights), two cars had come together with quite a whack - the front wheel, axle and suspension had been torn from one of the cars and neither will probably ever turn a wheel again.  This is a 50km/h zone.

At work, a number of my team were held up by the accident and it was a good topic for our safety moment.  I was able to add in my other earlier adventures...Lots of head shaking all around...

Just after 5pm I was in my car (swapped vehicles, dog in the back) and making my way to the old's when I got held up by the next accident.  This time around a bus had taken on a car.  To me it looked like the bus had decided to turn out into the traffic (busy road, 2 lanes each way) and managed to tag some poor unfortunate.  People everywhere, chaos etc etc.

Well, I'm not an expert but I don't see speed as being a factor in any of these near misses/accidents.  Maybe one of the cars in accident #1 was getting along but far more likely was that someone was running an orange/red. 

What I reckon was the cause of all of them was silliness and I don't think you can use the time of year as an excuse.  In each case someone decided to ignore road rules or to make a risky decision.

ACC have taken a lot of stick about the ridiculous cost of bike registrations (plenty from me for sure - it costs me over a grand a year for 2 bikes) but they have been putting some money into subsidised rider training and then there's Geoff and his mates also offering good training to bike riders.  Advanced driver training courses are available but they are never even mentioned when the police are talking about road safety and I don't think there's any such thing as subsidised driver training...

But, unfortunately driver/rider training is probably only taken up by sensible people - the idiots out there are far too good to need it.  If only the cops could get silliness detectors for their cars...

Anyway, not the most eloquent rant and I certainly don't have all the ideas to fix stupid but please be careful out there, no silly behaviour, watch out the other loonies, have fun and take care over this silly season!

Might be safer sticking to the gravel...

Rubber

So today I had to finally had to splash out on some new tyres for my car.  It was painful enough but when you compare it to what I've spent on tyres for bikes in the time I've owned the car (7 years or so) and mileage covered it perhaps wasn't too bad.

• K6 Bandit - probably 1 pair (can't quite remember when I got the car in relation to owning my Bandits).
• VTR1000F - 1 pair.
• V-Strom - 3 tyres
• Concours - 9 pairs
• So 25 tyres and around 150,000km travelled on two wheels
• Subaru - about 40,000km and this is the first set of tyres I've bought for it.  (Notice how few kms I do in the car).

Oh, and I put the tyres on, had them balanced and got a wheel alignment for less than a set of tyres (and fitting) for either the Connie or the V-Strom...

Best not add the cost of those 25 tyres...

Rain

So, in my Sunday Blog I kind of hinted that I enjoy riding in the rain - am I weird or what?

The Milford Road - fabulous wet or dry

I'm not that keen on setting out in the rain but once I'm rolling I do tend to enjoy myself a lot.  As long as I'm dry and not too cold then I just get amongst it and enjoy the ride.  But why?

Ok, I love riding full stop but there seems to be a lot of people that love riding but aren't that keen on the wet stuff.  I wondering if it's the same sick mentality that makes me enjoy riding the DL on gravel or take part in endurance rides.  It's not that it's a fascination with dangerous activity - I've never parachuted or bungee jumped and don't feel the need to.  I have a feeling that I enjoy the focus and concentration that is demanded by riding under more trying conditions.

Riding in the rain is really not that much different from riding in the dry - in reality the same hazards exist: road surfaces can be dangerous and grip variable whether wet or dry and other vehicles, pedestrians and animals are still a danger but obviously water on the road does decrease grip.

All it takes is a good bike with good tyres and a sensible rider (wearing good gear) who understands how to ride to the conditions.  Visibility is probably one of the biggest hazards that is more of an issue in foul weather and while you can treat your visor for fogging and to repel water you're still not going to have the same visibility on a clear, dry day.

My riding technique in the wet is also pretty similar to that in the dry.  I try to be as smooth as possible, stay off the brakes and pick my line and corner speeds well before the corner.  The only thing is that I probably focus on this a lot more than in the dry - I'm really interested in what the road surface looks like up ahead and I'm getting my braking and gear selection done a bit earlier and I don't push things with high corner speeds or huge lean angles.  I'm not slow but I'm slower and more cautious, making sure that I'm keeping plenty of time and distance up my sleeve in case I have to react to a new hazard or changing circumstances.

So yes, I think it is the increased focus and concentrating on "better" riding techniques which I enjoy.  After all, all riders like nailing a corner just right at the right speed, in the right gear in the dry and it sure is nice to do the same in the wet and not end up getting yourself in trouble.  Does riding in the rain help you become a better rider?  Who else like riding in the rain or am I truly nutso?

Oh BTW, I forgot to mention the other day but when the GoPro snapped the picture of the rainbow below I had Lou Reed singing in my ears - something about a Perfect Day...not sure he was 100% right but he wasn't far off.

That rainbow

I hope you've enjoyed the ravings of a mad as a snake, rain seeking (well, maybe not quite), lunatic biker!

Love my Stebel(s)!

Yesterday as I was driving in the car to work a womble in a POS Commodore pulled out of a business's driveway and attempted to steal my particular piece of the road.  I ended up actually having to swerve - something I don't like to do as who knows where you're heading when you do that - if I had simply braked I would still have worn a Commodore.

Fast forward to today and I rode to work on the DL.  Riding down the same road I spotted a small red shopping trolley getting ready to pull out of another business.  After the previous day's adventure I buttoned off and prepared to have to get out of the way.  Sure enough, the driver just kept on coming.  I easily avoided her and was able to give the Stebel a good ole workout!  The driver immediately pulled off to the left and as I rode off I could see her cringing in her seat - I think she thought a Kenworth was about to park on her!  Love my Stebel - hate morons in cars!

Audioswap Issues

Frustrated with the crappy sound on my last video?  Well I was...

I seem to have issues with the sound on my videos after I upload them to YouTube.  I generally strip all the audio off before uploading and then use Audioswap to add some music.  This takes a little while to "process" but lately it has been taking days and in the meantime the audio is just static and annoying.

Anyway the "Vanquish Vikings" video has finally finished processing and is a little easier to watch with a bit of music (another issue is the lack of choice of music for long videos - meh).  So here it is again...

Extravagance

Yes, I spent more money on bikes today. In this case a WOF and (cringe) registration for the Connie. 540 odd dollars later I had two small pieces of paper that will last 12 months before needing to be replaced again...

Then it was off to a service station for $36 worth of gas which never seems to go as far as you'd like - although it is a lot of fun burning it...

But, I didn't stop there! In response to a warning on the dash I replaced the battery in the fob about $5. At least this should last about 3 years or 55,000km...

Next up will be the TPS sensors/transmitters in the wheels (one has a failed battery, so the other can't be far off too) but this will have to wait until the Pirellis are toast. I also need to do a bit more investigation on the Concours website as Kawasaki say the sensors have to be replaced ($$) whereas I believe some owners have experimented with dissecting them and replacing the $5 battery.

Perhaps I need a cheaper hobby, say, flying helicopters...

Keeping ya wits about ya

I took the Honda out for a little ride this afternoon and on my return trip through town witnessed an accident directly in front of me. In fact, but for sheer luck (2 seconds in it) I could have been tangled up in it.

A stupid car driver pulled out of a parking area directly across one lane of traffic and into the car in front of me in the second lane. I managed to stop in plenty of time but it could easily have been me or if I hadn't been paying a bit of attention I could have ridden into it.

The truth of it is that I was only paying attention to what was going on directly in front of me and maybe what was in my mirrors. I wasn't checking out the parking area that carefully - and it was full of other cars and people wandering around. There were a lot of hazards that I wasn't even bothering about and the accident came as a surprise.

Usually I'm pretty good at checking out each side road I pass whether on my left or right and here I was ignoring another source of danger - stupid. The good news as that both car

drivers are ok (although their corollas are a bit 2nd had) and I got a cheap wake-up call.

So keep ya wits about ya eh?

ACC Protest Ride video

Some of the video I shot yesterday of the protest ride. Still sorting through & uploading more.

Leaving Levin for the ride down State Highway 1 to Papakowhai:

Arriving at Papakowhai. Gives some idea of the number of bikes involved. There was another group like coming in from the Hutt.

On way into Wellington.

Arriving at the Stadium to park.

More to come...

ACC Protest Ride

Had a pretty much perfect day for the ACC ride although a bit windy in places. Rode with perhaps 300 others from Palmy to Levin and then with even greater numbers to Papakowhai. Here we met up with thousands for the ride to Parliament where we listened to a lot of good speakers and booed the ACC minister.

While there we heard reports of up to 12,000 people there although the TV has been saying 5,000 bikes. Very hard to say but the place was swimming in bikes and the Parliament grounds were packed out. A great effort by a lot of people to make it all happen.

I'm currently uploading some video but in the meantime here are the pics:

ACC after us again

Ok, so it's not breaking news but the ACC are putting forward a proposal that will increase the cost of motorcycle registration dramatically - the rates for both my bikes will be more than trebled and cost more than my insurance.

There have already been a few protest rides and there is plenty of discussion going on about errors in the ACC figures and the injustice of the proposed changes so I'm not going to go into all that here but I think Mowgli's "Tui ad" below is not bad at all...

November the 17th is scheduled for a National protest ride where bikers from all over the country are going to converge on Parliment buildings to demonstrate their opposition to these proposed changes. I'll be there!

Headlights On

Saw an item on TV and then the below on the web about LTNZ thinking of making lights-on compulsory in New Zealand to help other motorists see bikes better and avoid hitting them. I'm not really for or against the idea (and both my bikes give me no option - the lights are already hard-wired on) - but generally prefer people to be free to make up there own mind on things like this.

On other bikes where I had a headlight switch I did tend to run with the lights on but then again I've been hit 4 times by car drivers and each time my light has been on. Having a light on will not stop a car driver from choosing to "not see" or ignore a bike...

No amount of rules & regulations will stop stupid people from doing stupid things - be the master of your own destiny and do not trust anyone else on the road!

http://www.3news.co.nz/News/NationalNews/Compulsory-healights-on-motorbikes-could-combat-fatalities/tabid/423/articleID/79822/cat/64/Default.aspx

Liquid gold, Texas Tea...

Forgot to mention in yesterday's blog - I put $40.15 worth of gas in the bike yesterday! Got a measly 18.86L for my hard earned!

And I can remember complaining when $20 wouldn't fill the bike!

It just doesn't seem right to be able to spend that much money on filling a bike's tank...

Mutter, mutter...

Police U-Turns

I don't really like having a go at the police but after the incident in the Buller Gorge last year you would think that the cops maybe would be taking more care with the way they handled their cars in traffic.

On the way down to Wellington on Sunday I was following a police car (one car ahead of me) when the cop all of a sudden decided that they were going the wrong way and needed to do a U-turn. This was in reasonably heavy traffic with two lanes going both ways.

To start the manoeuvre the cop simply pulled across into the opposite lanes - no indicator, no flashing lights or anything. Unfortunately two lanes were not enough to complete the turn and so by the time I went past the car was in reverse and I was wondering if I was about to be rammed in the side by a cop car. Additionally, all of the traffic in the opposing two lanes had to stop otherwise they'd pile into the cop car - wonder if there were any nose to tails?

Anyway, the cop didn't hit me but I wonder what he would have done if it had been another member of the public pulling the same kind of stunt? Probably be sentenced to life imprisonment or something. The thing that most annoys me is the no indication/Christmas tree lights etc to warn other motorists and that the cop thought that it was perfectly ok to do that sort of thing. Be nice if they could set better examples out on the road...

Oh, and to top it all off, while we were parked outside Wellington Motorcycles a mufti cop tried to back into the space between Brian's & my bike and a parked car. There was not enough room for a mini let alone a commodore! He eventually worked this out and drove off without knocking our bikes over - phew! Must have got his licence out of a weet-bix packet...

C'mon guys!

2007 Done & Dusted

Well it's the 30th of December and with no riding planned for today and work tomorrow that means the year is pretty much over in terms of bike riding. So, I thought it might be a good idea to wrap up the year with a summary of the year's high lights, disappointments and my biking plans for 2008. So here goes:

High Lights

• 2007 Rusty Nuts Southern Cross - the Southern Cross is always great fun.
• Buying the Concours - sad to say goodbye the the Bandit but always great to get a new toy.
• 2007 Rusty Nuts Grand Challenge. The worst weather on record only made the sense of achievement greater.
• Meeting some of the local Kiwi Bikers and enjoying some great rides with them.

Low Lights

• Twanger in the van backing into the Bandit.
• Concours falling over on the Coast to Coast.
• Far too many RIP/Biker down threads on Kiwi Biker.
• Not being able to afford more bikes/riding...

Plans for 2008

• Chateau to Plateau - Jan
• Mini's Return - March
• Grand Challenge - October
• As much riding as I can squeeze in...

Well that's about it I think, so Happy New Year to all who read this and if you're riding in 2008, have fun but be careful!