1979 Honda XL500S – Fabrication

1979 Honda XL500S – Fabrication Other than building the seat base, the exhaust system and fittings there hasn’t been too much “fabrication” to do on this bike so far. There are a couple of things that do need sorted out, other than the electrical system, wheels, brakes, etc, etc; Handlebars, […]

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1979 Honda XL500S – Frame 2

1979 Honda XL500S – Frame 2 While sorting out the tank the seat has now become the next main focus because of where the rear of the tank will mount. There are plenty of cafe racer style seats available online, at reasonable cost but they might not necessarily fit. Some […]

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Elsie the Lambretta’s new shed

Elsie the Lambretta’s new shed So finding parts for a 67 year old scooter still hasn’t got any easier. Some engine parts and what not have appeared on ebay but freight costs have proved to be prohibitive. Even with a functioning engine the LC still would be a tough restoration […]

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1979 Honda XL500S

1979 Honda XL500S While scooters are what I generally like to work on and ride, I have had a number of different bikes over the years. One of my favorites was a 1979 Honda XL500s. It was one of those dual purpose bikes that you used on the road but […]

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2018 Events

Burt Munro Challenge Rally 9am, Thursday 8th February – 12pm, Sunday 11th February 2018   MUNRO FAMILY TROPHY The Munro family has generously donated a spectacular trophy which is given to the “Competitor of the Year” at each annual Challenge. The Munro family presents the trophy in honour of Burt […]

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Canscoot Show Weekend Ride 2017

Canscoot Show Weekend Ride 2017 The annual ride with the Canscoot ones from Christchurch was another interesting journey into Central Otago with great weather and awesome riding conditions. We had organised to ride up to Cromwell and then on to Bannockburn to meet up with the rest of the group […]

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Winter is here

Winter is here and we recently had a -6 frost, just nippy enough really. Not much to report on the scooter front as the new workshop is still under construction. The Bajaj was left outside in the interim and has expressed its disgust by leaking oil in the new carport. […]

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Motoretta Tourist Trophy 2017

Motoretta Tourist Trophy 2017 Another fantastic scooter event has finished and finally was located in the South Island. Sadly for some teams from the North Island, this years event was always going to be logistically challenging, however some would say the event was better with the fewer teams that came […]

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2017 Events

Motoretta Tourist Trophy Friday the 21st April to Tuesday the 25th April. If you can only go on one scooter ride a year, make it this one. A 4 day, 1000 mile team ride for classic geared scooters. An epic test of man and machine, taking in the best roads and scenery […]

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1966 Vespa SS180 project

1966 Vespa SS180 project The Super Sport, or S.S., was the successor to the G.S. 160 and was built from 1964 to 1968. With the exception of the increase in cc’s, the motor and suspension design are very similar on the two scooters. On the other hand, the styling of […]

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Burt Munro Challenge 2016

Burt Munro Challenge 2016 Recently we attended the 11th annual Burt Munro Challenge with scooter friends from around the country. This years event coincided with the opening of the new Classic Motorcycle Mecca here in Tay St. The Bill Richardson Transport World and Motorcycle Mecca are both world class collections […]

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