Great Weekend: 1200Kms and lotsa Jappas

[MikeH1A]

Last weekend, my classic Japanese group headed off for a 3 day ride. 9 bikes took off and traversed the South Island - heading west then north and eventually back down south to earthquake battered Christchurch. The terrain ranged from high country passes, lush valleys through to backcountry bush and open roads. There was next to no traffic along the way and the roads included twisting sections, clear straights (with only 1 speed camera) and sweeping bends. A weekend to remember







Along the way we had all sorts of fun. The J Buffalo lost his gear shift lever at 60mph and had do go 100kms in top gear! When we came to the climbing and twisty bits we took the lever off the later model Buffalo, shifted the J into 4th and off she went. Handled it beautifully in 4th all the way - the benfits of a torquey bike



Somebody's sad and petulant Kawasaki decided to stop changing gears in any way shape or form - so had to hitch a ride in the back-up van. That night we found that the front sprocket had come loose and moved so that I, oops he, couldn't change gear



Along the way, we dropped in to see a guy who had a shed full of old Jappas. He was most welcoming and even wanted to swap his Buffalo for my H1A (I was sorely tempted after her misbehaving en route ). Some pics of his stash:








All in all, a fantastic time away with a good buch of blokes on great roads - what more does a man want in life???

[MikeH1A]

The rusty looking gear shifter was one we found the next day on an abandoned weather beaten scooter. It helped the J carry on until we got to the place with the collection of bikes. The guy who owned the collection took the shifter off his well cared for Buffalo and just handed it to our guy, simply telling him to post it back once he got home. The brotherhood of bikers huh!

[Madbuffalo]

Thanks for sharing Mike! Sounds like it was a memorable experience for sure. I'm a bit jealous as our riding season here in the states has come to an abrupt end (woke up this morning to snow on the ground) while it looks like yours is off to a great start!

[Craig380]

Great pics, and that's a nice ice-cream van too (the GS1000S)