Go Hard or Go Home
Having lived in Southland most of my life, I had never heard of this and looked it up online. Run by the Clutha Valley Tuapeka Heritage Trust this service has been going since 1896. Some 25 punts used to operate on the Clutha River but now there is only the […]
Read moreLake Ferry 2021 One of the Auckland guys had organised a ride to Raglan. A group of us from Wellington were keen to go there, but covid 19 put the mockers on that for the top half of the North Island. Some of the team had been to Lake Ferry […]
Read moreRiding over 500kms in a day on a scooter, can be quite daunting for some people but is something my friends and I do as regularly as we can. Based where we are at the bottom of Aotearoa we generally tend to have to travel to attend the different scooter […]
Read moreBrass Monkey 2021 40 years on and the “last” one is finally done. Phillip, a local scooterist, has done 39 of them. A pretty good effort, all things considered and on all sorts of bikes, but this one, on a Vespa PX200. The last time I was here, there […]
Read moreAs we are local, going to “The Burt” is a no brainer. The event still just seems to get bigger every year. It’s a real boost to the Southland economy and there are very few problems. A well known NZ scooterist usually races at the Burt – 2016 event and […]
Read moreBelladonna Black 07 This Belladonna scooter has been in the wars and was purchased because of its pedigree and I liked the rough and ready look of it. Also, the location was handy when planning scooter trips up north. The original 150 engine in it had been modified and the […]
Read moreThe Grand Tour We have been to Whanganui twice now for the vintage weekend and scootering with friends. We have stayed at the Grand and enjoyed our time there and out and about exploring Whanganui. It is well priced and clean with a good selection of room types available. The […]
Read moreThe Grand Tour Come and hang with scooter geeks, have a decent length ride out, then hang with scooter geeks again. It’s not a scooter rally. Don’t expect a participation certificate or concours d’elegance waffle-fest because there won’t be one. The idea is all staying at a nice old school […]
Read moreDouglas Vespa project 2 This scooter came from a local man, here in Invercargill and was part of a collection It might be worth “doing up” or just reassembling it and getting it going or maybe even selling it as is. Good Points: Body in good condition and complete with little surface […]
Read more1958 Douglas 92L2 update 5 Recently I discovered how the Douglas scooters were numbered. I had been told the scooter was a 42L2 but after some internet searching and comparing serial numbers with known scooters, I was able to figure out a rough guide as to the dating of the […]
Read more1979 Honda XL500S – Tyres The original tyres that came on the CBR600 rims, I have used for this project, were in poor condition. Once the bike was up and running enough to get a basic tune done, the old tyres were going to be replaced anyway. The rear […]
Read moreCanscoot March Hare ride There aren’t many of us Scooter riders in the deep south, so when the opportunity to mix with other like minded individuals arises, we tend to go and have a look. The Otago Vespa Club and the Canscoot Club from Canterbury were interested in having […]
Read more1979 Honda XL500S – Front Guard As the project has evolved, the stripped down look is fine but a little impractical, when living in an area, where inclement weather can happen at anytime. I have seen a lot of other similar projects without mudguards and have always wondered what they […]
Read moreVespa SS180 stator replacement I upgraded the original points ignition system on the SS180 quite some time ago but haven’t made too many changes to it since then. The lighting has been great and other than a pickup failing, the rest has worked very well. It was one of the […]
Read moreThe Grand Tour Jan 17 at 6 PM – Jan 19 The Grand Hotel Wanganui 99a Guyton Street, Wanganui, New Zealand 4500 36th Vincent County Rally Friday 31st January to Sunday 2nd February 2020 211 Fisher Lane, Galloway – Alexandra Gates Open 12pm Friday Online entries here – https://bronzotago.ecwid.com/36th-VINCENT-COUNTY-RALLY-p121526995 […]
Read more1979 Honda XL500S – Exhaust baffle Now that the bike has a running engine I have been concentrating on tuning it and riding it around to see how it handles. The first issue is that it is loud – very loud. Personally, I think it sounds awesome in a 500cc […]
Read more1979 Honda XL500S – Hard to Start Checking the wiring has been straight forward but without a running engine this project has taken a little longer than expected. I did manage to get it started once but since then it’s only been good exercise for my right leg. The first […]
Read more1979 Honda XL500S – LED lighting The Honda has had quite a lot done to it over the last 10 months and the wiring has changed a little bit along with a few other things. Because it is kickstart only and doesn’t have a battery this has been a bit […]
Read moreVespa Stretch Most of the scooter enthusiasts that I know, enjoy their vintage scooters for what they are – classically styled forms of transport that require some maintenance and a lot of patience to be safe and fun to ride. Many are just collectors and store their treasures away while […]
Read moreBullseye the Vespa SS90 So I got a ring from a guy that was selling a Vespa SS90. He was looking for a good home for his scooter and after talking to him for a bit and some emails back and forth I realised that he was actually a serious […]
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