Pics from my Classic Jap Group's trip (Pre-Earthquake)

[MikeH1A]

The weekend before the big shake up, my classic jap group went on a long weekend away. Over three days, we covered 685 miles around the South Island of NZ. We went via the country roads and missed the highway for most of it. A total of 13 bikes went, of which 10 were pre-1980. (I took my H1A due to a charging problem on the Buffalo). We saw some amazing scenery, rode some fantastic, twisting roads and enjoyed great comraderie - as only a group of die hard Jap lovers can.

Setting off


Watering hole from the 1880's


Livening up the local cafe scene


Running repairs to the Suzukis. The 76 GT just happened to break down in a small town where the owners brother lives ..and he just happens to be an auto electrician



RE5 comes to the rescue ofan overly thirsty H1


In the wilds of South Canterbury, we came across a crop farmer who has a house on his land that has nothing but old Jappas in each of the rooms This guy has good taste, the kitchen had a Bridgestone 350 in it whilst other rooms were full of Hondas, Kawasakis, Yamahas and, of course, Suzukis





Check out the speedo of the Katana


The trip went well - and even my normally grumpy, badly behaved and prone to breaking down H1A behaved itself

Mike

P.S. If any of you get the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics magazine, they are going to run an article on my group's recent bike show in the next month or so

[alanr]

hey Mike,youll have to take the 500r off your profile.Im looking after it now .its keeping my xs1 company.Im doing up a t350j.hows your new project coming on. might see you and your group in Blenheim sometime.Alan

[SV Titian]

Awesome pics, that T500 Cobra is very nice, been wanting one for a while in that exact color.

Thank you for posting

[oldjapanesebikes]

Very nice indeed ! Looking forward to seeing the article

[Scorch]

Excellent, so many really nice bikes. Thanks so much for posting!

[H2RICK]

Thanks for the pics, Mike. Looks like you had a great time.

RE5 comes to the rescue of an overly thirsty H1

Now THAT'S funny. Kinda like the blind leading the blind. I'm surprised the RE5 actually had ANY spare fuel at all....even a cupful.
I'd have thought you'd be borrowing fuel from a Buffalo which would have LOTS of spare fuel.

[MikeH1A]

Hi Alan,

Good to hear from you. Sorry about the delay in replying but I have been taking some R&R over in the Gold Coast. Watching depressing pictures on the T.V. of our once beautiful city lost it's appeal somewhat Things are still pretty miserable here and now half the city is spooked by some pseudo-scientist who reckons he can predict quakes by the moon's movements/phases He's cheerily predicting another big quake this coming weekend and battle weary citizens are finding it hard to ignore his comments. So, we'll see by Monday whether he's worth his salt!

My new project is very enjoyable indeed. I am truly loving the big GT750. It feels big, solid and dependable - although the current ( no pun intended ) charging problem would suggest otherwise. I've been tracking down bits and pieces which of course is a big part of the fun. I'm going to get her running good and ride her for a while before attempting the serious bits of the resto.

Hope the classic scene is doing well up there in the sunny lands. We may be doing a ride up through the West Coast, Nelson, Picton and Blenhein regions as our next outing - so it'd be good to catch up with like minded folk en route.

Take care, Mike

P.S. My H1A has just ticked over to the classic/vintage rating for registration. Man, what a difference: a hundred odd dollars for 12 months instead of five hundred or whatever it now is