Christchurch Guzzista; Who's Going to the tattley Rappet?

[Muzz]

Just wondering whether anyone from Christchurch is contemplating going down.  Steamdriven was going to but can't get time off work.
If no one else is going down I will just cruise down on my own otherwise.

[Muzz]

Any Guzzi will do Dusty.  I actually have to set the tappets on mine.  All last riding season I have been saying that.  At the moment it's "loud tappets saves lives".

Yeah, get to work on that Kiwi lad.  You aint lived till you've been to Kiwiland.  Must admit,  this will be the first bike rally I will have been on.  Should be fun.

[malik]

I won't be able to make it this year, unfortunately, and Paul & Phil, being working stiffs, are only going to make the Burt Munro. I was intending to fly into C/church earlier in Nov, fix the 1100 Sport & join them, but that too may be in jeopardy. Have you tried Neill in Sumner?

Mal

[malik]

Must admit,  this will be the first bike rally I will have been on.  Should be fun.

They are a great crew, you'll have a ball, guaranteed. I'll miss them.

There was a Cali rider from Christchurch (sorry, forget his name) who bought a 1000S at the rally at Reefton a couple of years back. I don't think he'd miss the opportunity of going. Here's a pic of the two last I heard of living in Christchurch.



Mal

[Muzz]

Couple of nice looking bikes there Mal.  I see a reasonable number of Guzzis around the place.  I have met a guy at the St Johns fund raising ride that the Ulysses put on each year who is on the WG site, but he said he does not post much and I can't remember the moniker he operates under.  A guy I see each year at the Swap meet has one, but other than that,  I don't know any Guzzista at all.

[Kiwi_Roy]

When is the tattley rappet?
I plan on being in Aotearoa for most of February next year.

I will twist the arm of my bro Kiwikev

[Muzz]

When is the tattley rappet?
I plan on being in Aotearoa for most of February next year.

I will twist the arm of my bro Kiwikev

October 23-26,  i.e. Labour Weekend.  Happens at the same time each year.  Feb is usually a pretty good time for bike riding as the weather is pretty settled.

[johnr]

Is that the older pushrod Otherwise , or the new OHC model ? Dang , the Tattely Rappet and the Burt Munroe thing sound like so much fun , guess I need to start working on Stephen Adams again 

  Dusty

You really are going to have to get yourself over here for a month or three Dusty.

[johnr]

I really have no excuse given that it is in my home town this year. (Jeez, Id better find the needful for rego  (and maybe a tire) quick smart.)

[steamdriven NZ]

I've asked for ONE day off in October so my wife can take me out for dinner for my birthday (I'm on late shift that week) and I can't even get THAT. So yeah, sorry John, Muzz and Co, I won't be there.
Worse, my sister and her fella live in Invercargill and go to rallies with the Drummond crowd, nothing worse than your sixty+ year old sister ringing up and giving ya a hard time for not being at a bike rally when you've had bikes all your life!

Enjoy all.

See you at the swap meet this year, Muzz?

[Muzz]

See you at the swap meet this year, Muzz?

Are the Kennedys gun shy? Is the Pope a Catholic?  Do bears shit in the woods?  Hell yeah!

Coffees or teas available at short notice. served with a smile and a biscuit or two if you are lucky.

Will be overnighting starting Wednesday night.  Usually migrate to the motorcycle compound at about midnight.  Some  may be involved.  Staying out there until Sunday.

[johnr]

I've asked for ONE day off in October so my wife can take me out for dinner for my birthday (I'm on late shift that week) and I can't even get THAT. So yeah, sorry John, Muzz and Co, I won't be there.
Worse, my sister and her fella live in Invercargill and go to rallies with the Drummond crowd, nothing worse than your sixty+ year old sister ringing up and giving ya a hard time for not being at a bike rally when you've had bikes all your life!

Enjoy all.

See you at the swap meet this year, Muzz?

That's one mean employer you have there Kev.  Sorry we won't be seeing you.

[steamdriven NZ]

Not mean at all,  John, we're just booked up to the hilt plus some! It is likely that a fair number of us will be working through Christmas, but no big deal for me because my wife will be too, this year.
The fleet (ours and our codeshare partners) has gotten bigger but we haven't gotten much bigger to fit all the checks in in time. It's not an easy thing to react to.

 C'est la vie.

[Muzz]

Bump

[oldbike54]

You really are going to have to get yourself over here for a month or three Dusty.

 Be one hell of a swim , but yeah 

  Dusty

[Muzz]

Strap the Guzzi on to a couple of pontoons and clamp some blades on to the rear wheel.  C'mon Dusty, where is your sense of adventure???

[johnr]

Erm.... Muzz... I can think of one or two possible problems with that sceme. (Mind you, no doubt the Top Gear guys would approve. )

[oldbike54]

Erm.... Muzz... I can think of one or two possible problems with that sceme. (Mind you, no doubt the Top Gear guys would approve. )

 Think I will stick with the Stephen Adams plan  One of you needs to contact his family and tell them of our need here , after all , it is us Okies that are paying him a few million bucks a year to play a boys game 

  Dusty

[Muzz]

Bump

Bump

Bump

Probably see someone on the road...

[azguzzirep]

October 23-26,  i.e. Labour Weekend.  Happens at the same time each year.  Feb is usually a pretty good time for bike riding as the weather is pretty settled.

My wife and I won't be in CC until early November, dang it!!

Tom

[malik]

Just in time then for the classic racing at the Levels in Timaru, then. See how the kiwis do it. Expect a fair sprinkling of guzzisti there, 'tho not always racing Guzzis. Should be the weekend after the Burt Munro. Camp there or near by, wander around the pits & introduce yourself, and have a ball. See if you can get to see some street racing while you're in NZ.

Again, Muzz, sorry to miss the rally.

Mal

[Muzz]

Bump

[johnr]

Jeez Muzz. I hope the weather improves!!
...and that I don't strike any hitches with my bike.  I'm a good week behind schedule now as a result of some bad chicken, and everything will have to go just right now to have it ready.

[Muzz]

Not sure when I will arrive John.  Last Monday I got rear ended in my works vehicle and have a reasonably severe whiplash as a result. Have not been out on the bike to see how it feels, but right now it does not feel good. My vehicle does not look so good either. Might need the two days to travel.  Real bummer.

[johnr]

Not sure when I will arrive John.  Last Monday I got rear ended in my works vehicle and have a reasonably severe whiplash as a result. Have not been out on the bike to see how it feels, but right now it does not feel good. My vehicle does not look so good either. Might need the two days to travel.  Real bummer.

Ooohh! That doesn't sound very nice Muzz. You may not make it at all! Keep me apprised, and I hope things are better by set off time..

[Muzz]

Will give you a ring tonight John.  Will see how the head and shoulder feel after I gas up tonight after work.  At least the weather predictions look a bit better than it did a week ago.

[johnr]

OK Muzz.
Weather does seem to be getting better. Bit of as breeze about but not as bad as painted in the for-casts. Should be an OK ride for you, it's all down to your neck.

[johnr]

Most are still on the road on their way home. Some are not even leaving until tomorrow. Muzz (who is staying with me) will be leaving for home tomorrow morning and either he or I (or both) will put something up very soon.

[johnr]

Invercargill, the rally site this year, is right down at the Southern end of the country. It's just a bit too far for many in the North to travel to even with a long weekend, so I wasn't expecting big numbers.

This is probably as well as we don't want too many Aucklanders to discover that their perception of the place as a land of snow and ice with penguins flapping around on the main street is in fact pure fantasy.

It is also my home town so there was no question of my going, though I obviously wouldn't be staying on site. I think the experience of a rally is always better if you do. You are more involved somehow if you stay on site.

The question was though would I have the Wild Goose Guzzi (my Calli) on the road in time. I gave it a good try.

The arrival of Muzz from Christchurch on his 750 Breva on the Thursday was a great help, especially as he has smaller hands than me. Muzz would be staying with me for the rally.

By midnight on Thursday we were ready to fit the tank.


Half an hour later we found that for some reason that we couldn't fathom, the fuel pipe would not reach the tap. The quickest fix would be to extend the line by a couple of inches but that would require a visit to Hayes Hardware  (http://www.ehayes.co.nz/) so we gave up for the night.

I returned from an appointment and a visit to Hayes at about 1:50 pm Friday and we ripped into it. By 3pm we were ready to a) put some air in the tires, (the front one was very soft), b) get a warrant of fitness and c) get the bike registered. Rally registration was at 5pm.

He she is, all ready for legalities. (Note the Wild Goose Guzzi number plate)


She seemed to run fine though somewhat rich. I must check the functioning of my new air temp sensor.  Anyway off we went at a very slow pace (about 20 kph) on a nearly flat front tyre.

We got about 1 kilometer and suddenly there were huge clouds of white smoke and the Calli came to an abrupt halt. That was that!
 
I'll explore this more on the working on my EVT thread.  (http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=79594.0) A passer by towing a trailer having been hugely impressed by the cloud of smoke produced stopped to see if we were OK and got the bike home for us.

This meant that Muzz and I would be going on Muzz's Breva. Given that there is a 30 kg weight difference between us and that neither of us were in what might be called prime condition Muzz decided that when we were two up I would do the riding. I think he also might have felt a bit sorry for me but I wasn't complaining.
 
Imagine being a passenger on your own bike, for the first time too! It would freak me out!

That small block Breva is an absolute jewel! I could easily become a small block convert.

We arrived in time for registration and there followed a lot of milling about, meeting and greeting, issuing of rally kits (including a chocolate bar I might add) and conversing with people late into the night.

Muzz pic.
Some of the assembled multitude.

Muzz pic.
One of these turned up from Dunedin. I've never seen one in the flesh before.

On Saturday the main day activity was a ride round the coast to Tuatapere and back via the inland route. These are roads that I know very well indeed so I decided to let Muzz do that one on his own. A couple of his pics follow.




At 3pm the bike judging session got underway. We each had been given a judging sheet with various categories on it and had to pick the winner of each (in our individual opinions)  These were added up and prizes were given after the dinner that night.

The dinner was held in a restaurant situated right in front of the camp ground that was the rally site, but they cost $43 so Muzz and I opted to buzz into town and invest an a couple of $5 pizzas.
 
We returned for the prize giving and shindig and had a pretty good night. The band was too loud though for several of us and we spent a good part of the evening outside where we could at least hear what we were saying to each other.
 
One of the guys has Parkinsens disease and has as a consequence built this.
Muzz pic

My abiding image as we left that night was of this trike rider up with the band vastly improving their version of Copperhead Road with his harmonica.
 
Bike judging time



Muzz's Breva


Sundays official ride was one that would take many people a good step on their way home. Muzz didn't see much virtue in this as he wasn't planning to leave until the next day. There were various other suggested activities for people who might prefer them. Muzz and I decided we would take a trip down to Bluff, Invercargill's local port.

On the way we stopped for a look at the remains of one of New Zealand's historic craft.  She was almost unique (there was one other) as she was designed to do the job of a scow, but do it much better.  She is a 60 footer with a 20 foot beam and only 4 feet of draft. (and a center board in the middle of her hold) She was intended to be able to load and unload between tides on beaches.

During WW2 she was used to carry explosives over from Australia.
It's a shame she ended this way when there was a time she could have been rescued and preserved.


(That's a dead oyster boat beside her)

Here is what she looked like drying her sails in  Auckland Habour in 1934. She was already 40 years old.


Off to the top of Bluff Hill for a view then. That's me on the left with the Christopher Lloyd thing going on. I need a hair cut.


Bluff Harbour


On the way back we called into the rally site to find those who were staying on for another night chilling out in the sun.  Then home to watch the NZ v South Africa rugby game.

And that boys and girls, was that.

[johnr]

It certainly looked and sounded serious Dusty. It is what one might expect in a case of catastrophic engine failure, but we have a theory and it may not be that bad.