Rear Tyre

Replaced the rear tyre today with a Bridgestone Battlax BT016. Odo 7250.

The rear may have had another 1000kms left on it but with the possibility of a longer ride this weekend I didn't want to take the risk of it wearing out or getting a flat.

HD XR1200

I went into the city this morning to pick up a tag, deliver a package to the accountant and ride the HD XR1200.

The tag was easy and I submitted the claim via my mobile phone. I took the HD onto the motorway and into Johnsonville where I used the MC in a tag. The XR1200 is a nice bike and I liked the upright riding position and wide bars. 45 minutes later I handed the bike back - as a second or third bike I could use one of these.

On the way home on the Busa I called into Richardson Motorcycles and booked time for a rear tyre change on Thursday.

Akatarawa Loop

I left home on the dot of 1.00pm with no plan of where to go. When getting near to Paraparumu I decided to ride the Akatarawa road and have a look at the Rimutaka summit. That is what happened and I got home at 4.00pm having covered 152kms, according to the GPS.

Now I have ridden the Akatarawa Road I will not go there again without good reason.

Harley Rides

Wellington Motorcycles offered rides on the 2010 model HDs today. I got in there at 9.30am and rode three bikes before heading home at 1.00pm. The weather was bad, rain, some hail and a very strong cold southerly.
The group rides were along the motorway to the Churton Park off/on ramp and then back down the Hutt Road.
I rode:
Sporty 883 - I would never consider owning this bike.
Vrod Muscle - different, the front pegs were too far forward for me.
Dyna Fat Bob - I think this is what a Harley is with all the vibes and shaking. Pegs are also too far forward.

Next week I will see if I can ride the XR1200 and a Buell. The weather is going to improve.

Tag O Rama

Terrible weather today but there was a tag out there. It took a while to find the location in Google Maps but once found I knew I needed to go and get it before someone beat me to it during their lunch time break. It was only a few kms away.

Cruisy Wednesday

My first mid week ride this season. I arrived at the meeting point early at 5.50pm. At 6.30pm the group headed to Featherston. I stopped at the summit and then returned taking in the Haywards Hill and SH1 on the way home.
A nice quiet ride - very cold.

Tag O Rama

I did my first Tag ride today. The first was in the morning and I missed the tag so went and had a look around Wellington Motorcycles. In the afternoon I went back into the city to claim my first tag.

Then after getting home and posting the claim I went up the street and created a new tag. It has since been claimed.

This is a new excuse for going for a ride.

Martinborough

This was my first ride since the operation. I swung by Alan's on the way and our next stop was the summit of the Rimutaka Hill. From there it was straight to Martinborough for lunch and coffee.

On the way home we took a diversion to Carterton and then looped back to the Martinborough road via Greytown.

The new GPSmap 60CSx was on the bike and this was a test of the device. It worked well and the directions shown on the screen were easy to read and logical. I have downloaded the log to Mapsource and can view the route in Google Earth. The ETA calculator is very effective and at Rimutaka calculated an ETA at home of 3.13pm then recalculated to 3.15pm near Lower Hutt and arrived home a couple of minutes after that.

Trip 210kms and total for bike 6775kms.