yoeddynz

Oh and while I'm here I have also found an incredibly up to date motorcycle handling program to watch. I also feel the need to get a Goldwing belt buckle to go with the Bull-it motorbike jeans and Neo black leather jacket I have picked up this morning in Nelson. Suitable 80's photos will be taken once I sort out my belt 😎

Fella I know in oz (a torana foamer called Heath) just sent me this photo he took on ferry..

I honestly don't know if the springs on my bike are too soft or too stiff. I'm not experienced enough so I'm just riding it. Its so fun and sounds so good but I do yearn for a smaller more nimble classic bike that can also go at least a bit offroad without needing Matt Spears levels of skill. That's where I'll head in the future.

Crikey! Good to know though. Its pretty cool using them with the panel controls. The pressure of the system gets displayed on the little lcd screen between the dials. Must have seemed pretty techy in 1988.

I measured the discs and the rear was below the limit. $180 later for, luckily available, a new aftermarket disc. Honda want circa $600 for an oem item! Bought some pads as well. They could have lasted a bit longert on the front but for the money its good to know its all new stuff. Removed the rear side boxes to get to the wheel. Not a difficult job. Good chance to give it all a clean. Luckily the stainless caliper pistons came up clean before being slid home. Front brakes had clean pistons too and got the cleaning treatment before new pads were fitted. Then we bled the whole system through until it was all new fluid. Cute little compressor that charges the rear shocks. It had more recently been fitted with new shocks. There's also an airline from the compressor into one of the panniers- you can use this to pump the tyres/inflatable boat/inflatable lady up. While the mufflers were exposed I removed them for a proper polish. This bike sounds so nice, although a bit loud when under load up climbs. Would probably be a bit drony in a car. But I weighed them (quite heavy) and sized them up on the Imp just out of interest. The bike has had its expansion box removed so there's another reason for the extra decibels. The silencers do have pretty small outlets though. Probably the only reason its not horrendously loud. It thought it rude not to polish up the nice alloy wheels. Mainly the front as its the one on view. It came up pretty good! In related bike news we visited a friends place down the road. He's got a lovely collection in his living room! I love this bike. CBR1000 with a straight six. What a lovely looking engine. I'd love to fit one of these into a small unsuspecting car I've been riding the bike almost every day. I just go out for 20 mins and practice on the quiet roads around here, targeting the twisty roads. I'm improving each time and getting more comfortable with it. On my Saturday morning ride I actually stopped and took a photo. Later that morning whilst busy doing an exhaust job on mates car my cousins turned up. Very keen bikers who are pretty stoked I've been bit by the bug. So the yard looked a smidge bikey.. My nephew who's started a bike mechanic apprenticeship locally has got a Ducati speed machine. Very deathy looking. My next job now the brakes are sorted is to pop into town and put it through a wof.

Going to be an exhausting day of work with @yetchh today..

I got home this evening after another short ride practising twisty roads. I decided I'd ring Rob, the old fella I'd bought this bike from and give him an update. Because he told me he was going to get into building his model railway I sent him a model train magazine about 12 days ago so I also wanted to check he'd received that. He answers his phone, didn't remember who I was until I told him. Turns out he's been taken to hospital 8 days ago. He cant remember what for but he's looking forward to getting home. He got the magazine and loves it! He has it by his bed in hospital and has now got several ideas on how he'll do his layout. (it was a mag I'd bought in England and is all about model train layouts for beginners) I'm going to keep staying in touch now. I'm pretty gutted to hear he's been taken in and can only hope its something minor. Shows how we should all make the most of the time we have whilst still capable.

Yeah it was super cool to see. Both Hannah and I were totally buzzing at the atmosphere during the whole cruise. So many folk out and they all seemed so happy to see the cars. Its exactly the sort of great vibes everyone needs right no eh! Put down the phones, ignore the all the shite news and just sit in the summer evening sunshine with your mates to watch old cars cruise by. It was like a carnival. When we drove back through Motueka about an hour after the event happened there were still a few folk sitting out on their sofas, on the pavement, music blaring 🥳

The original Imp gear knob is a push fit onto the gearstick and has always been quite easy to twist off. The loose feeling is a bit off putting when driving spiritedly and I've been wanting to make a threaded knob for ages. This first one is temporary as I have plans for a different style in the future. I removed the gearstick which is a 2 minute job from inside the car. Into the lathe and I threaded it with a die. Some 50mm stainless bar was then machined as closely to a sphere as I could freehand. Got it pretty round and polished it smooth. Came up good. Much weightier than the original plastic item and the shift really does seems to benefit from that bit of mass. So much nicer to handle. On Friday night there was a big classic car cruise before a weekend of shows. We met up at a local hall not far from Motueka. A mate had his Impala along. Lovely car. A little bit bigger.. Car cruise was bloody amazing. Huge amount of people lined the roads on the 45km circuit. Families were out with the sofas on the front lawns, on the pavements, farmers sat on their tractors, farm trucks, 4wds on roadsides, a whole retirement home was out on folding chairs, painted signs, school kids cheering, loads of fruit orchard workers with tables out of their various accommodations, chilling out with music, young couples in the evening sun drinking wine etc. It was such a great turnout. I'm amazed. I was also blown away at the response from people over the little Imp. I guess it really stood out in a cruise that was predominantly big Aussie or American cars and hot rods. So many older folk jumping with joy and shouting out "its a Hillman Imp!!! " I wish I'd got Hannah to take more photos. These are screen shots from a short video Hannah took... After the cruise it was off to Coastal town of Mapua for fish and chips. Got this cool shot. The Valiant that parked next to us was once considered a big car but not really any more it seems. On the Saturday we went to the Nelson car show. Really good eclectic mix. This shot is an example.. One of my favourite cars at the show was this Corolla. They used to be everywhere when I was a teen. This is the first one I've seen in ages and pretty damn clean too.

Well at the very least please post pictures of the Haynes manual section for us.

Thread dredge. At least 8 of us at car show today. Probably more of the Nelson lurkers I don't know about. Was chatting to @moparmuppet. A Nelson meet soon. Thinking a weekend meet in Wakefield for coffee/pies. Also - ideas on a spot for an evening meet during a weeknight while it's still summer.

It was a good show. Nice eclectic mix. Cool meeting you Hayden. So by my count there were at least 8 oldschoolers at the show and we never congragated. We must try harder. Let's take the batmobile and head straight to the Nelson area chat. Edit.. 8!

Yeah go on @Sanfiddy Bring the Jaaaaaag!!!

That's the spirit lad!

Yep- I too figure that he'll never back down. So I replied with this.. Alex Davidson You're right! I guess this is why every performance car produced since EFI was invented is still running carbs. I love seeing the brace of Webers sticking out through the engine lid on Lewis Hamiltons F1 car, the polished SUs lined up gracefully on the side of a BMW S54 screaming away at 9000 rpm. Or the 12 fish Carburetors that Gordan Murray recently asked Cosworth to spec on his latest T.50 supercar engine because he knows as well as you do that they are every bit as efficient as any EFI system and bugger the emissions.