I had the 114,000km service done this week, which meant that I finally got the heated grips fixed. I also advised them that the front pads had done 60,000km and was surprised to hear that they still had plenty of meat on them. The last set lasted 54,000km, so these were looking to well surpass that, but what really confuses me is that the brakes are linked but the rears only last about half the distance??
As far as rides go, I had no plan this week as there was a Uly ride on and I figured I would see where they were going, probably join in, then tack something else on, however nothing was promulgated so I went anyway, arriving just after 0940, waited until 1000, then I left on the Ulysses ride as a gaggle-of-one! Although I had no plan, I had considered that for today I would like to do a bit more technical riding on some curly roads and by the time I got to Kaitoke I was on a ‘Claytons and Average’ ride. For those that weren’t around in the 1970’s, Claytons was a non-alcoholic beverage that was touted as, “the drink you have when you’re not having a drink.” I don’t think Claytons ever really did that well in the binge drinking culture of New Zealand, but the name certainly caught on and was commonly used to represent anything that wasn’t happening or wasn’t as it seemed. In this case I was riding up to Woodville on SH2, except I wasn’t, …or at least, I would be trying to avoid SH2 as much as possible. The other part of the plan was to try to find a blend between riding economically while making as good a progress as possible, or getting the best average between economy, moving average and overall average. One must ride the Rimutaka Hill to get to the Wai’rapa, so that was fine, but once I got to Featherston, I would head for Martinborough. I could have taken Wards Line or Bidwells Cutting Rd, but they would just get me to Greytown and I suppose I could have crossed SH2 to ride up the Western side, but those roads were a bit straighter, so I opted to go all the way to Martinborough and hop onto middle road (Ponatahi), as that is quite nice, and I could get all the way to the Waingawa River. That certainly was nice. I left Brown Owl with a full tank of gas, an overall average of 33kph and a moving average of 80kph. The 33 was due to the fact I had the GPS on the read the tyre pressures while I pumped them, so I guess I should have reset it and the 80 dropped to 78 due to traffic on the hill, but by the time I got to Masterton, they were back up to 50 and 80. I took the bypass, turned onto the Loop Line, did another short hop on SH2 then was scooting through Mauriceville, then took Dreyers Rock Rd. I can’t recall the last time I went on that road but it was OK, albeit with a couple of patches that hadn’t seen much sun, but it is good riding I was soon on Route 52 to get to Alfredton, then taking Pa Valley Rd to get to Pahiatua. I’d been on these roads a few weeks ago and I must say, I was feeling a lot more comfortable this time around. In Pahiatua I crossed SH2 again, then got on the road to the Track, but turned onto Balance Rd and took that through to the Gorge. That’s another road I haven’t been on for some time but it is in good condition with little grit or crap. Once I got back to SH 2/3 I headed toward Woodville then took Woodlands Rd to get on the Saddle. I’d been trying to keep the indicated speed at 110kph (which is about 102-103 true) but the economy had only managed to get to 17 km/Ltr, which seemed low considering last week it got to 18.5 following Steve, so I guess it must have been the wind and the 95 Octane?? but going up the Saddle Rd, with the turbines pumping energy, I dropped to 16.8, then couldn’t take advantage of the descent being trapped behind traffic that was constantly braking. I was soon through Ashhurst and heading back toward the Track, over that and out via Mangamaire, and now that my glass of Claytons was finished, I scooted back through Eketahuna and couldn’t resist one more squirt back through Mauriceville. From Masterton I was in traffic for the first time during the day, had an OK ride back over the Hill to finish and got home at 1445 having done 410km for the day at an economy of 17km/Ltr, with an overall average of 73kph and moving average of 84kph. I must say that today felt more comfortable in many ways! …with the heated grips working in the 7-11° temperatures, …with the arse on the seat for the duration of almost a full tank, and especially in the brain cells which weren’t feeling quite so ‘insane in the membrane’!!
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This blog is pretty much just about motorcycling ...but every now and then I might rant or dribble on about other things. Categories
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