Sorted!

Got the replacement "bolt" for the topbox today along with a couple of replacement springs. You can see from the pic below that the old bolt was definitely worn!

So, after the outrageous outlay of $14.50 and 2 minutes work I now have a topbox that will lock onto the bike once again.

One thing I would definitely advise all Givi owners to do is keep an eye on any movement of the topbox on the mount. The rubbers on the mount can wear and even fall out and any vibration is just going to put wear on the bolt. Replacement rubbers are not expensive either.

Topbox issues

As mentioned in my last ride report my Givi V46 topbox has ceased to latch to it's mounting

plate - a bit of a problem. After an email to Givi I've discovered that you can get replacement parts and from the parts diagram they sent me I saw that it was pretty easy to pull the latch (I was imagining me diving in and all these little springs firing out all over the place to be lost and...)

So, this morning I torn into it and pulled the latch. As you can see from the picture there is a lot of wear on the latch and there's simply not enough latch left to bite down on the plate.

As a bit of a "Heath Robinson" fix I tried to pack out the return springs but they have their own molded sockets within the topbox so it was going to be pretty fiddly to try to get anything in there to do the job.

So, it looks like I'm going to need to order some bits - I really hope the importer has stocks as I have experienced some big delays in getting stuff from them before - fingers crossed...

More pics here.

Givi parts diagram here.

Return to Middle Road

Another not so bad day yesterday and an invite by Owl & Sarge to join them in a ride up to the Bay couldn't be passed up so I hurriedly got myself sorted and fired up the Connie.

I met up with Owl on the way out of town and we left Palmy in some light drizzle hoping for better weather further up the road. Luckily we were soon out of the rain and into the gorge where the road was pretty dry and little traffic...

In Danniverke we met up with Sarge and followed him on up through Makotuku, Ormonville, Takapau and Waipuk. In Waipawa we turned off and had a great run through to Patangata where Robertydog and his delicious R1 was waiting for us.

While waiting for our lunch (great burgers) we were joined by another Hawkes Bay couple who ridden down on their sweet black VTR. Burgers scoffed we were once again back on the road and Middle Road was superb!

In Havelock North I said good-bye to the others and shot across to Napier to catch up with the olds.

The old man decided to join me for part of my ride home but while we were getting ready to leave I noticed that my top box was not latching down onto it's mount. We tried plenty of CRC and a lot of poking and prodding but could not get the latch to pop out far enough to catch on it's lug - bummer! We managed to lash it down pretty securely to the bike and the old man followed me up the road to make sure that it wasn't going to go flying off (I noticed he did sit a fair way back behind me at times - didn't trust his own bungies eh?)

Just out of Fern Hill a light rain started falling on us and by the time we were just South of Hastings it was bucketing down. Luckily the rain did not last and the sun even had another go at burning through the clouds - the roads however, remained wet for all the fun parts of SH50...

At Onga the old man turned off to turn his little ride into a loop while I continued on my way home via SH2 and a quick fuel stop in Danniverke. Another nice little ride done and it seems that the weather is slowly on the improve so hopefully I'll get a few longer rides in before the GC - it's less than 2 months away now...Oh, and I have to get that top box sorted too :(

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More pics here.

TT2000 stuff

The TT2000 organisers have added some photos etc from this years ride to their website and have also included links to my write-up, photos and videos.

Check it out here.

Scrubbing

Well after two weeks of making excuses (flu, bad weather) I managed to get out on the Honda today. The weather was fine at home although there was quite a cool wind blowing and initially I steered clear of the ranges and went to visit with friends in Linton.

After a natter and deciding that no, it won't be raining on the Pahiatua track, I remounted and headed for Aokautere and the track. By now the new Pilot Power 2CT on the front of the Honda had done a grand total of about 30km - all of it pottering around town - so I was dead keen to give it a bit of a scrub on the track.

Things started off pretty good, taking in some of the easy sweepers at the start of the track but before long I was riding in drizzle and eventually a quite wet road. After the first little squiggle through the bike I settled down to wet weather mode and took it pretty easy over the hill and down the other side.

Cruising through Ballance the weather improved and I even had some dry road at times so instead of wimping out and riding home via the gorge I decided to tackle the Saddle. The Saddle was in pretty good nick with just a few damp places to be wary on so I enjoyed the ride past the windmills and down into Ashhurst.

By the time I hit Ashhurst my fuel light was blinking insistently at me so turned for home stopping only to top the tank back up for the next ride...

Roll on summer...

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