Page 39, some more changes...

Well, hello again! I know, I know, it's been a little while since my last entry, but there hasn't been much to report on lately, up until this week that is!

I was fortunate enough to work a shift with Traffic Management on a job site last week that the Hamilton branch was supposed to be covering, but for a lack of staff they sent myself and a couple of other guys from the Auckland branch to it for one day. Way out in the middle of nowhere, we found ourselves on an old gravel forestry road, assisting a crew who where building a set of retainer walls on the road edge to stop it breaking away and falling down the cliff. The road was nice and quiet, so rather than just stand around I decided to jump in and help the work crew out. Well, lo and behold, at the end of the day their boss came up to me and asked if I'd like a job! Pretty significant payrise, plus a few other benefits, so when he rang me back on Saturday morning I said yes! So, as of Monday I've been working on the same site, we're getting further up the road to the third wall now, it's much more enjoyable work and I'm getting paid a whole heap more now too! Plus no more night shifts, we get weekends off, travel allowance, I've got my own work truck and fuel card, it's awesome! Sure, the work is pretty physical at times, but it'll be great to get back in shape again! (FYI: I was only a casual staff member at Traffic Management, so was able to give short notice and start pretty much immediately with the new job...)

So, due to the change in jobs and the extra pay cheque, I was lucky enough to be able to attend another 'Playday On Track' event yesterday, with the bike, and despite the on / off weather conditions, I had a blast! It started off pretty wet, but then the sun came out and we had three perfect sessions with a nice dry track. I found my cornering lines again pretty quickly, and the bike ran flawlessly all day. The rain came back in force mid-afternoon, so I decided to finish up early, rather than risk an accident. Lots of people were coming over and saying how cool my bike was, and how well I was going on the track, giving me tips and advice for certain sections, and boosting my confidence! Being that I'm still only a beginner when it comes to the track, and still very slow compared to some of the others, I was more than happy for the comments! One of the guys that was helping instruct our class was from Spectrum Kawasaki, up here on the shore, he had heaps to offer, even saying we could car pool our bikes down to the track together in future as we live pretty close together. He made a point of telling me about another 'school', namely the "California Superbike School", who take all forms of motorcycle rider and teach them skills to vastly improve their riding, suited to both road and track. I had heard of this course previously, but hadn't put serious thought to it until now. So, now that my finances are on the rise again finally, I'm going to start saving up for a two day course down in Taupo later on this year. It seems to be the one course that all the experienced riders rave about, so I have to go and see for myself! Watch this space for further updates! :-)

Huge thanks of course to Ash, Gary, Tony, and all the team at Playday On Track! You guys put together an awesome day, the track was fantastic, and I had a blast! Also thanks to Tuna (yep, that's his name!) from Spectrum Kawasaki, you're a legend mate! I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun if you hadn't shared your advice and watched me on track. When you passed me with a big 'thumbs-up', that made my day! Cheers mate!

Other than that, there hasn't been much to report, as I mentioned earlier, so I'm off to give the bike a good clean, return the trailer we borrowed (from my partner's brother, thanks Barry!) and enjoy the rest of my weekend off!

Hope everyone out there in internet-land is doing well too! Keep smiling!

Until next time...!

:-)

Page 38... A very long rain check...

Well, a few of you may have noticed I've been a bit slack on the posts lately... Things here have been very quiet as of late, with only a couple of highlights in the last couple of months.

The Nightspeed crew recently held the final round of the 'dragwars' competition, which we went to support, as a friend was at the top of the points for the ladies class. I was lucky enough to win a bunch of free tickets to the event, courtesy of 4'n'rotary promotions. I decided pretty much last minute to see how fast our car would run, just for the fun of it, it's a 1996 Mitsubishi Legnum 2.5L V6 non-turbo. Admittedly, it's not made for racing, but I was pretty chuffed with the quarter mile times I got. I was more worried about breaking something, than anything else, so only ran a couple of passes. I was there mainly to support my friend in the ladies class, which she ended up winning, and taking out the season championship! Everyone was stoked for her, due to the fact that she was on a bike, racing against all the other girls in their cars! Personally, having taken both the car and the bike down the strip now, I can say it's much more fun on the bike, and if I'm allowed, I'll be taking the bike back in the future. I think if I change the sprockets to a lower ratio, I'd be able to get a high 13 at least, which would put the bike pretty close to being on par with the 400cc bikes that run... add to that a couple of other small changes that will take place over the winter, and the bike should be running even better for next season!

As I mentioned in my last post, my partner and I also took our Legnum to a show'n'shine day, organised by a local mag wheel business. A couple of my friends from NZBlokes.co.nz (insert shameless plug here!) had a bikini car-wash running as well, which was great entertainment for the day! Even the rain couldn't dampen the spirits too much! I didn't get a count of how many cars were in attendance, but the carpark was pretty much overflowing, with all sorts of cars, from hard core track cars to old school street cars, heaps of Skyline's, Evo's, and Sylvia's, even a couple of rare Honda NSX's! All in all we had a great day out, cheers to Nic and Matt and the girls from NZBlokes.co.nz, keep up the good work!

Last weekend I received an invite to go hang out with a bunch of my biker mates in the Fat Bikers Motorcycle Club, at the Riverhead Tavern, where the club president and good friend "Fatt Max" was playing in the Blues lineup. I have to say, if you haven't met him yet, you should definitely do so, he's a top bloke! I haven't met anyone quite like him in all my travels, he's just an absolute blast to hang out with! Funny as all hell too, might I add! Catching up with him and the rest of the Fat Bikers was awesome, I highly recommend anyone and everyone out there, be you a biker or not, you should go meet them! They're regulars at the Riverhead, and always out and about on rides for charities, as well as a bunch of other stuff, look them up on Facebook! (Was that yet another shameless plug? Lol) Their symbol is a steaming hot pie, you'll know it when you see it! :-)

Well, that's pretty much all I have at the moment, hope the wet weather isn't getting to you too much, keep an eye on this blog in the future, even though it's been over a year since starting it I'm still gonna keep it going! Stay safe out there!

Till next time!

:-)

Page 37... BBDO!

Would you believe it, I've had yet another absolutely epic weekend at the track! Only difference being, this time I got to ride! Hampton Downs racetrack hosted the "Big Bike Day Out", a new event organised and run by the awesome crew at Playday On Track. Two days worth of bikes doing laps, at a comfortable pace for pretty much any rider! Last weekend was the first in a new ten year venture between the organizers and Hampton's, and it was a huge success! Saturday had a reported 120 bikes, some of who continued into the 100 odd that made up Sunday's numbers. Add to that a few cruisers, some extremely quick Super-Karts (on Sunday), as well as a small contingent of classic cars, it was pretty packed! One of the countries top suspension gurus was there giving out free advice, as well as the teams from the local Kawasaki and Honda shops. There was no end of cool toys for any avid biker to admire!!!

The organizers somehow managed to squeeze in 6 full sessions for each group on both days, which I thought was pretty amazing in itself! I only had enough finances to attend on the Sunday, but I spoke with a few people that did both days and the story was the same all round - there wasn't a single complaint to be heard! From what I could gather, everyone in attendance thought the event was top notch. Even the top Superbike guys were happy to chat, share advice, and give the newbies (ie: me!) any help we might need to improve upon our skills.

First session out, I was pretty nervous, and only turned in some pretty slow laps. I'm not entirely sure, but the rear tire on my little 250 felt a bit squirmy, and I wasn't getting as much top end power as I thought I should be. So at the end of the session I pulled back into the pits to check my tire pressures, and drop a couple of PSI out of the rear. Quick check of the oil and water, anything that might have come loose, bolts, etc, then it was pretty much time for the second go! Straight away, once back out on track, the bike felt way more stable through the turns, and I was getting better power out of the turns, which kept the revs more in the "power" range, thus giving me more top end, especially down the main straight. The whole bike really felt like it was working properly, which had me smiling! I finally got the rear tire heating up enough to start scuffing it on the turns, and my leaning is definitely looking better than before. I was told the track temperature at mid-afternoon was 54 degrees Celsius!

I skipped the third session to talk suspension with the guru himself, Mr Robert Taylor! Such a worthwhile decision, he has just sent me an email following up on our discussion, detailing in specific a whole bunch of small things I can do with my setup, even though I don't have any 'proper' adjustable settings like most new sport bikes have. Simple things like filling my forks with slightly more oil, to reduce the air gap, or installing longer spacers on shorter springs to reduce the spring friction inside the fork tubes... Lots of things the average biker would never think about! Whether or not I'll even be able to feel the difference if I do slightly change anything, I don't know, but it's nice to know that I can change things up eventually if I choose to.

For the rest of the sessions on track, I concentrated on my lines through corners, focusing on things I had been told by previous instructors, and got quite a good flow on by the end of the day! My confidence in my tires, suspension, and throttle control are definitely growing with every lap, and even though I'm far from what others would call "fast", I reckon I'm doing pretty good!

The only slight issue I had throughout the day was the bike overheating towards the end of sessions, but only if I was changing gears over 14 thousand RPM. If I shifted before 14k, the bike's temp stayed in the middle, but if I got even close to the 19k redline then things started to get hot quite quickly. I think I need to upgrade to a bigger radiator, and my research has found that one off an NSR250 will fit with only small modifications, and has a thicker core for more fluid. Apart from that though, the bike is running mint!

Anyways, a huge thanks to Ash and Gary and Tony from Playday On Track, you guys put on a great event! I'm already looking forward to the next one!
Next weekend my partner and I are taking our car to a show'n'shine, something a little different to the usual I know, but bound to be fun too!

Check out some quick pictures from the track below, I've also uploaded a full set to my Flickr account...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/s_a_patterson/sets/72157632845196186/

Till next time!

:-)

Page 36!

So, now that I'm recovered from the weekend, I can share my experience with you lot! It was a really long day, with a LOT of action (mostly on the track) but heaps of fun all in all. If you haven't been keeping up to date on my posts, I was marshalling at Battle Of The Streets, one of the bigger events in New Zealand motorbike racing calendar! Held in Paeroa, it's a full on street attack, and I happened to be marshalling on the best (or worst, if you look at it that way) corner! A tight left-hander, with big hay bales on the outside and little bales on the inside, a lot of which moved a considerable amount during the course of the day! The turn probably totalled about 100 degrees, definitely more than 90 anyways, coming off a decent little downhill straight. More than a few of the bikes came in too hot and had to over-brake to negotiate the turn, of which we had a bunch of machines put into the outside bales! Suffice to say, it was a very busy day picking up broken bikes, and riders... I think I pushed a total of 8 or 9 bikes off over the course of the day, almost all from impacting the outside bales. One of the sidecars actually flipped over on top of the rider! Fortunately, he and his swinger (the mad man on the back of the bike - see the pictures below) we're okay, more just upset with the damage to their bike. However, more than a few riders we're unlucky enough to be taken away in the ambulance, after a spate of rather nasty crashes around different sections of the track. My heart really goes out to those who feel the harsher side of motorsport... I won't go on any further about that, but those who understand what I'm talking about will know I'm thinking of them and their loved ones...

Anyways, for myself personally it was a bloody good weekend - some scary moments, some awe inspiring moments too! I still can't fathom how the really quick guys can get round corners as fast as they do, it just doesn't seen physically possible to me!

Things are progressing rather nicely here at my abode, my partner Abbee has just finished her last day of work before she starts her course, which I know she is greatly excited (and more than a little nervous) about! I'm so glad she is finally out of the factory work, it was slowly eating her away... Still, one good thing came about from that job, we met each other! So I shouldn't complain too much I guess... But still, onwards and upwards, as they say, each step is merely the predecessor of the one that follows! My new (-ish) job is going great, there are already options being discussed for my future role withing Traffic Management, which is pretty cool! I've gotten the hang of it again really quickly, the simple stuff that I had forgotten since leaving the Hamilton branch is once again like second nature to me now. I'm hoping to keep rolling the hours in, keep my timesheet full, and keep things at home stable while Abbee is studying. Fortunately though, my work is hugely fun, so I'm happy to keep pulling long hours for our households sake. And I get plenty of time to keep my new found track addiction content, so really I haven't lost out at all! Come winter, and a decline in track days, I'm sure I'll go at least a little crazy, but that's almost the norm anyways with bikers, right?

Next weekend I'm off to do some aforementioned track riding, at Hampton Downs once again, for the "Big Bike Day Out". The aim is to take my time again, get used to the bike, and try to get a better feel for what's happening around the corners. I'm only gonna be in the slow group, so I won't feel bad holding anyone else up. The weather is looking like it's gonna be a mint weekend, so hopefully the next post you'll see will be full of pics of me on the track again!

Till then!

:-)

Page 35, more of a "what's coming"...

Well, it's looking like a pretty busy month ahead, I've been invited to events pretty much every weekend in March! Not that I'm complaining, though! I'm not really looking forward to winter, this year, having the bike parked up in the shed for months before I can play at the track again... So, I figure, may as well enjoy the sun while I can!

This weekend I'm off to the infamous "Battle of the Streets", Paeroa's annual motorbike raceday, which promises to be an amazing experience! I'm not racing, only marshalling, but it'll be my first time going to the event, and from what I've heard it's one not to miss. A bunch of my friends are going as well, to add to the fun! (I'm actually finishing this post from the hotel just down the road from where the racing is happening tomorrow, sorry about that! Lol)

Next weekend I'm attending and riding at an open track day, organised by the nice people at "Playday On Track". The event is called Big Bike Day Out, and it's the first in a new ten year venture between the organizers and the Hampton Downs racetrack folk. It's actually a whole weekend worth of bikes on track, but I only plan on going to the Sunday sessions. In any case, it should be huge fun all round, and I hope to see a bunch of friends there again! I'm looking forward to getting more seat time on my bike, more practice and experience with my cornering skills, as well as just the chance to go for a blat again!

On the 3rd of March I've booked my car into a show down the line at an event organised by the same people that did the drag day a few weeks ago, I've entered to run down the drag strip again, but in the car this time as they aren't holding an open group for track bikes. Otherwise I'd take the bike for sure! I'm not going to thrash the car though, being that it's my daily driver, I don't want to break anything, I'd just be keen to see what it can do in an open environment. But again, it's more for the enjoyment of attending, and catching up with friends, that drew my attention to wanting to go.

The weekend after that I'll be another year older, my birthday is on the 10th, and I'm thinking about having some friends over for a few (or more!)drinks. No bike or car events that weekend, but never the less, this year is turning into a bloody good one and so I wanna celebrate! So if you're not doing anything, feel free to come celebrate with me!

Then, on the 16th and 17th, Hampton Downs will come alive again to the sound of superbikes! I've put my name down to Marshall again on the Sunday, we'll see how things are going, but I might be convinced to do the Saturday as well (if my loving partner doesn't mind me disappearing for yet another full weekend, that is!) It was this event a year ago that I first started marshalling at the bike racing, and pretty much a year since I started writing this blog! Wow how the time has flown by, I can't believe how much things have changed in my life since then. Initially, I started writing this thinking it was going to be mostly about my escapades with riding, but plans have a tendency of changing without us even noticing sometimes, huh! Funny how that happens, and even funnier when we end up in a much better situation than we could have hoped for... I've been looking back on some of the stuff I've written, and remembering back to those days is pretty cool, knowing how it all turned out with only minimal input from myself! I do have a lot of people to thank, of course, and you all know who you are. So Thanks guys, you're the best bunch of mates a guy could ever ask for! :-)

Anyhow, I have been doing some internet-ing lately, and a friend forwarded a link to me about a guy in London that does a video log (vlog for those in the know!) about his musings while riding his bike. I thought I'd share it for my readers, I've watched a few of the videos on YouTube, and found them quite enjoyable! He has a pretty funny take on life in general, as well as some fairly interesting thoughts on the whole "being a biker" mindset. Feel free to have a look and decide for yourself!

http://www.youtube.com/user/BaronVonGrumble?nomobile=1

Till next time...

:-)

Page 34... Mates Matter!

Today saw an unusual turn of events: a good friend asked me to help him out with putting his bike back together. Now, while this may not seem strange to some, I'm just not very used to being asked for my help! Of course I said "no problem!" but it has led me to wondering, how many of you nice folk out there are indeed 'home garage handymen' (or handywomen)? I wonder if anyone else out there realizes that they can call me anytime for mechanical (or electrical) help? Well, may as well put it out there, those of you that know me, or anyone else for that matter, if you have something on your mind to do with your motorvehicle, contact me! Either through here, or my Facebook, or if you are lucky enough to have my phone number, call or text me! I am trying to get as many hours as possible at work at the moment, but I'm always available (after consulting my little black book of course!) to help out mates. In my mind, and especially when it comes to bikes, mates do matter!

I may not be fully qualified or greatly experienced in the motorbike field, but I do know a little bit, and I'm more than happy to share what I do know. My background, for what it's worth, is mostly in cars, I have worked in the automotive mechanical and electrical fields in the past, as well as having several other positions of employment in various other automotive roles (grooming, service driver, fitting audio and alarms, even tires...) but if you've been following this blog, you'll know that I've just finished a full rebuild of my own bike, bringing it back to better than new. I have also previously 'freshened up' a Ducati 916, 'ground-up' rebuilt a 1975 Morris Mini, and spent more days than I can count working on my own (and my mates) various cars and bikes.
Basically, if it needs fixing, servicing, adjusting, or even maybe a complete rebuild (cringe!!!) then I'd be more than happy to render assistance! If it's a nice easy small job, I don't ask for anything in return, to me mates helping mates is way more important than anything. Although, if anyone decides to send me their machine for a rebuild (complete or in pieces!) I'm sure we could work something out. I doubt that'll happen, just putting it out there of course!

To be honest, I wouldn't mind another project to keep my days off busy, so IF anyone does have something in mind, feel free to send me a message!

Till then...

:-)

Page 33 :-) Drags!!!

Hi again to my faithful readers, glad to see you're all still with me! Amazingly I see my view counter is picking up again, even after such a long time of no posts! Last weekend was a long weekend here, and I went to one of the countries biggest automotive shows for two days, the first being a show 'n shine day, followed by a day at the drag strip.

I decided last minute to take my bike to the drag strip after talking to the officials at the show, and I'm really glad I did! Late registration was at 6am, so we (my partner and I) had to get up at 4!

Arriving at the drag strip still in darkness, I got my registration forms filled out (thanks to Adele from the 4nR crew!) and got set up. Because my bike is now a dedicated 'track' bike, I was put into the exhibition class, with other race bikes and cars. My first pass was held up a little bit due to a technical fault - the starting lights were playing up - so I had to sit on the start line for about an hour waiting for the problem to be fixed. Once that was rectified, I ran a 14.39 second pass! Friends had told me before the event that I'd be doing well if I got into the 14's, so as you can imagine I was pretty stoked! All in all I didn't really stand much of a chance against much higher powered vehicles, but my best time of 14.263 wasn't too bad I thought! Remembering that my bike is 23 years old and only a 250cc! Anyways, after all the classes had finished, we were allowed to run a few grudge match passes. I was lucky enough to meet a few other bikers there, who gave me heaps of encouragement throughout the day, and I was even luckier to be allowed to have a few races against a Repsol CBR600RR in the grudge matches. Of course, I got my butt kicked, but I wasn't stressing nearly so much by then and managed to get my launch sorted a little bit better. All in all, I had a blast, definitely planning on going back again once I have a proper drag racing license, it's so much fun! Oh, and the bike ran pretty much faultlessly again, apart from one minor incident of a sticky throttle (easily fixed with some cable lube.)

Huge thanks again to all the 4nR crew for putting on an awesome event, and the fellow bikers that calmed my nervousness and shared their knowledge, as well as my lovely partner Abbee for putting up with me despite the sunburn!

Next event, Big Bike Day Out, on the 24th of February, can't wait!!!

Till then!

:-)

Page 32 and a half...!

Sorry about that, had to go pick Abbee up from her work. Things are going really well on that front too, by the way!

Now, where was I... Oh yeah, progress of the last couple of months... I've applied for a 3 year degree course at Uni, looking forward to hearing if I've gotten in! Abbee has been accepted to the vet nursing course she applied for, it'll do her good to follow her dreams... Everyone has been telling me for ages to get into something to do with "writing", so now I can finally say Thank You to everyone for pushing me to follow my dreams too! Bit nervous actually, it's been a long while since I've been in any classroom type situation, I hope my brain hasn't deteriorated too much over the last few years!

Other than that, I've successfully completed my very first Advanced Rider Training (or A.R.T. for short) day, and I have to say, I had the best time ever!!! Only had a couple of very small issues with the bike, nothing I couldn't fix between track sessions. The chain was fractionally tight, and the clutch was a bit tight too. Basically, at high revs, the motor was over riding the clutch, causing too much slip. Loosened it off at the adjuster on the lever, problem solved! And the chain, obviously, was easy enough to loosen slightly too, with the help of a friends rear stand. Went back out onto the track for the second session, and Bazinga! no more problem. :-) So yeah, very proud of my little 250, and the fact that she still hasn't let me down, even after more than 20 years of service! And to anyone interested in riding on the track, I say Do It!!! You won't regret it, that's for sure!

On the job front, I've started back with Traffic Management NZ again, working for my old boss that used to run the Hamilton office. Today was my first day back on the truck again, and I loved it! Being outside, working with a really cool bunch of people, makes the factory work I was doing seem like hell! The story with that was, the pay department wasn't going to pay out our holiday entitlement, so arguments ensued, then I got accused of "threatening behaviour", and dismissed for serious misconduct... Long story short, they didn't follow proper conduct in the way they fired me, so now I'm talking to a lawyer about it. Early days yet, but from what I've heard, I've got quite a strong case! So glad to be out of there in any case, it was doing my head in. I mean, the work was fine, and I enjoyed the technical side of the factory work, but certain individuals made it unbearable... Why is it that some people just feel they have to act all queenly, and make others feel like crap every day? I'm glad Abbee only has 4 and a half weeks left before her course starts! I feel guilty for leaving her to cope with the old hags on her own, but I'm sure she'll be fine, especially knowing that she's gonna be handing in her notice soon enough. I know she'll be happy once her course is underway! :-)

So, as I said, things are progressing very well so far for 2013, despite small tedious issues, the cloud is parting ways to show it's silver lining more and more every day...! Sorry again for the lack of posts, hopefully that will change for the better from now on, now that my head isn't stressed out with dramas. And I've discovered an 'app' for my phone (Samsung Galaxy S3, sooo much better than my old Sony Ericsson!) that plugs me straight into my blog too, even though I got a new laptop for Xmas I still haven't quite got it up to speed just yet. Blogspot, some free advertising for you here, good work on your app! Nice and easy to use, 5 stars from me. Thanks!

To everyone out there still reading my dribble, thanks for bearing with me and keeping me on the right path. Look forward to seeing you all out there on the road or at the track sometime soon!

Till then...!

:-)

Page 32, a long time coming!

Wow, I never could have imagined how things would change so quickly in my life, seems like only yesterday I posted up here saying sorry for not posting for so long! Well, things as I said have changed, I've just started another new job (after being fired from the factory over the Xmas break... long story, don't ask...), the bike has been completely transformed into a track bike, with new parts galore, been to my first proper track day, and I've applied to university for a journalism degree!

Haha just typing that, I'm still amazed myself at the progress I've made in life in the last couple of months! Anyways, the bike is finally finished, completely rebuilt from the ground up, with powder coated frame, swing arm and sub frame, the motor has been pulled down and given a good going over from top to bottom, balanced and put back together to the exact manufacturers specs, front shocks stripped and rebuilt, new bolts front to back, new paint on all the bits that needed it, fairings, tires, brake pads, cables, hoses, lines, etc etc etc... I'm really quite proud of how it's all come back together, if I do say so myself! Only problem is, now I've got nothing to do with my free time! It got to the point that every day I had more than a couple of hours to play with, I'd go down to the garage (my workshop) and no-one would see me for the rest of the day! Now I don't have anything else to do on the bike, I'm struggling to keep myself busy with my free time! Lol well, if that's all I have to complain about, things can't be too bad, huh?

Whoops, just realized I've gotta go pick up my partner from her work, will post more in a few minutes...

Till then...!

Page 31... The return of a biker!

Wow, it's been absolutely ages since I've been on my blog! It's been a VERY quiet winter (blog-wise), unfortunately, but lots has changed in my situation, I have been feeling guilty about not sharing it with the world! Well, here goes...!

Firstly, I am four months into my new job, working in a factory on Auckland's North Shore, working at the tail end of a printing press, packing envelopes into boxes for delivery around the country and Australia. It's not exactly glamorous work, but it pays the bills... which is pretty good to be honest, it was a fair while in between jobs before I found this one. Huge thanks to the good friend that helped me get the position, you're a real legend mate! Without making excuses, the workload is part of the reason I haven't been online much at all lately, I'm doing 12 hour days, 4 days a week, and the weekends have been pretty busy lately too...

Two weeks into the job, I asked a pretty young lady (that I work with) out on a date, we've since moved in together, things are going exceptionally well and I couldn't be happier! I won't babble on about the subject, but we 'click' really really well, we've bought a car together, been off on road-trips for a few weekends... she's been instrumental in my getting back on my feet again. I feel so lucky to have found her!

On the 'bike' front, I recently decided that I want to turn it into a track-bike, which is the current project underway. A couple of weeks ago I started stripping the whole thing back to bare frame, and have been ordering parts left, right, and centre, to get everything back to 100% perfect. New race fairings, tires, fork service kit, electrics, etc etc the list goes on and on! We're getting the frame powder-coated this weekend, then reassembly will begin! I can't wait to get back to the track, I've been waiting for so long for summer to arrive again! The bike's been off the road for a little while now, the battery died shortly after I started my new job, and I discovered the left fork has developed a small leak, but luckily it was decided that a car would help out with things a lot so that was the route we (my girlfriend and I) took. It's actually made things a lot easier to be honest, going away for trips and still feeling like a part of the 'biker group' that have become my family in recent times.

I still can't believe how quickly the last four months have flown by, and the next few months before Christmas are guaranteed to go even faster! My calendar is quickly being filled with 'garage time', then track-days (when the bike is finished), weekend trips away, holiday plans with my family (Lol my real 'family', that is!) and all sorts of other things that are bound to come up between now and then...! All I can say is, bring it on!!! :-)

Till next time, hopefully it doesn't take me as long to write again as it did this time!

Keep smiling! :-)

Page 30...

Hi again everyone, how are we all after a beautiful long weekend (here in Kiwiland at least!)? I've been out and about heaps as usual, decided to get away from it all for a night while I could. More on that later!

The biggest news I have to share tonight is, I found a new flat to move into! I've been keeping my eye on 'flatmate wanted' ads on an NZ trade website, and found a couple that were both really close to work that I thought I'd inquire about. Gladly, one of them (the cheaper one!) replied quite quickly saying I could go and have a look, which I did on Saturday afternoon. Within a couple of hours, the advertiser texted me back saying I could move in next weekend! I'm completely stoked to have one more piece of my jigsaw puzzle in place now! It's a really cool place, the current residents are a lady in her 30's and her 5 year old son. I didn't meet the little guy, but she's a really cool chick, studying to be a nanny as well as running her own beauty type business. The house is nice, leather lounge suite, new appliances, newly refurb'd bathroom etc etc. I'm really looking forward to moving in! Firstly, it's literally two minutes from work, which is going to make things heaps easier, and secondly, I miss having my own space to chill out in without feeling like I'm intruding upon other people's area. And it'll be really really nice to sleep in my own bed again! :-)

Anyways, the rest of my weekend was pretty laid back apart from that, I decided to go for a night up at a camping ground at a beach up north, it was so quiet and calming! One night away from the busyness of normal life was definitely good for the soul, and I'll definitely be doing it again in the near future! I spent a day at the hot pools, watching movies on a big screen from one of the pools, soaked in a 40 degree spa pool, caught up on my suntan (a little bit), and generally just had the most relaxing day I've had in years! Then the following day I sat on the beach for about an hour, before coming back to the city. After that I spent the rest of the day at a friend's place watching DVD's. In all honesty, I feel hugely refreshed, it's been so long since I've been able to just get away on my own and do absolutely nothing! And, seeing that the motorcycle season is pretty much finished for the year, I plan on doing it lots more...

Apart from that, there isn't much more to share this time. Work is going great, the bike seems to be running even better than it has done in over a year, I've started getting my finances back in order again now that I have an income again... All in all, things couldn't be much better! So many people deserve my most heartfelt thanks, helping me get back on my feet again, putting me up, helping me with the bike, and getting me back into work... I feel like I owe everyone around me more than I could ever repay. I can't wait to be able to give something back to each and every single one of them in some way that will mean as much to them as what they've given me. With things on the up and up for me like they are at the moment, it won't be long before I can do just that! :-)

I have been so lucky lately, having such good friends around me... I know I have been guilty of taking my friends for granted in the past, but if the last three months have taught me anything, it's to put real value in the lasting relationships. I don't know if anyone else can understand how much it means to me that my friends have all been 'good' friends, not giving up on me, not trying to push me into things before I was ready on my own... I don't exactly know how to put it into words, other than to say that I hope each and every single one of you out there reading this can appreciate your good friends as much as they appreciate you!

Take care out there!


Until next time...

:-)

Page 29

Wow, time has literally flown by since my last blog post, I've been so busy with work and weekends filled with taking the bike out on the track! Everyone has been nudging me to keep the posts going, so I'll do my best to fill in the last three weeks worth without boring you all to tears!

Work is going really well, I've been moved up into the 'front room', where the printing machines are a little bit more complicated, a little bit faster, and a little bit more technical. Packing is still roughly the same, and I've been doing well so far to keep up with the pace of the printing machines (up to 1000 envelopes per minute!) so I'm really happy with everything on the job front. I get along really well with everyone at work, they're a cool bunch of people! One of the ladies celebrated her 15th year in the company last week, which I thought was absolutely amazing! She's not the only long-server either, some of the others have been there even longer! From what I see, the company really looks after it's staff, if they didn't I doubt the staff would stay so long. I'm still feeling really good about being back in the workforce again, being a productive member of society. I'm pretty quickly getting used to the 12 hour shifts, I think working all hours of the day and night when I was with the V8's helped me somewhat with that. Other than that, I'm still learning how everything runs, how the different envelopes are made, and how the rest of the company works outside of the manufacturing floor. I find it really interesting to see how the whole company operates.

Outside of work, I've been concentrating on getting my bike 'sorted' again, thanks mainly to my new flow in income. So far, I've fixed a couple of issues with the cooling cycle, as the bike was tending to overheat on longer rides, and give the motor a good all round servicing in general. Today, I went to a track day, with a couple of good friends, and only had one small issue where the bike started smoking quite a bit after I started using the top end of the rev range... Long story short, I inadvertently over-filled the oil when I did the oil and filter change, and it over-pressurized into the cylinders down the back straight. My friends quickly realized what had happened, and we dropped the excess oil from the sump. I was worried it might have done internal damage, but they said it 'should be fine', so I went out in the next session and let the remaining oil (in the cylinders) burn off by itself. After that, the bike was running better than ever! I was putting in some really good laps, reaching a really good top speed down the back straight, and getting more and more confident with my cornering. My best run was just before the rain set in, and as everyone else was packing up to go home, I decided to stay out for one more session to concentrate on my 'line' at slower speed before I called it a day as well. It was good too, on my last session I had the track all to myself! The flagmen were cheering me on from the start-finish line, which was really cool too. And, the other positive thing was that the bike didn't overheat once all day, so I'm really stoked that the day turned out so good in the end. Initially, when I saw all the blue smoke coming out of the exhaust, I thought I'd done major damage - maybe blown a piston ring, or a head gasket, or something expensive, so when it turned out to be a minor, I was so relieved!

While I'm on the subject, I'd like to say a big Thank You to the event organizers from today, it really was a great day, and I greatly appreciated the officials coming over to make sure I was okay after they saw my bike smoking so much! For anyone riding in the Auckland region, I highly recommend coming to the next event (in September I think), check this out for info: Pro Rider Website. If you do come, you'll definitely see me there!

Anyways, I'm buzzing that everything is still going really well in all aspects of my life, next up is to find a place to move into... The arrangement I have with the absolutely awesome people that are letting me stay here isn't permanent, I'm saving for a bond and looking at 'flatmates wanted' adverts online and in the papers. My only two requirements are: the house has to have a garage for my bike, and that it's relatively close to work. Hopefully that criteria wont be too hard to fulfill! Once I've got a fraction more money saved, I'll be ready. So everyone has to cross their fingers for me again, just this once last time! (Unless you want to keep them crossed for me to win lotto next weekend...? Lol)

Well, that's about all from me, next weekend is going to be a quiet one (at this stage), some of the guys I ride with are going for an annual meetup down south, but I've decided not to go so I can just relax (and save more of course!)

I do hope that everyone out there is doing as well as I am at the moment!


Until next time...

:-)

Page 28!

Wow, what a week it's been! First off, I have the best excuse for not posting anything in the last few days - I have a brand new job! Yay! As well as that, I've moved all my stuff up from Hamilton, which makes life a lot easier, having more than three changes of clothes is nice! All in all, it's been a really good week, and now I've got the whole weekend off to celebrate! :-)

On the job front, I started on Tuesday, went through induction and found out what I'm going to be doing. The factory mass produce envelopes, which doesn't sound very exciting, but it's good work! They have a couple of dozen printing machines, operating 24 hours a day, and I've been rostered to day shift, 12 hours from Monday to Thursday. Fridays are optional overtime, and paid at time and a half too! My specific job on the factory floor is quality control, checking the product for defects, as well as packing envelopes, basically just keeping the flow of the machines up to what they're supposed to be. Yesterday I was working on a machine that was making over 750 envelopes a minute, which was pretty quick! It's pretty full-on, hectic paced work, but it keeps the time going, 12 hour days seem to be going pretty quickly in fact. I can honestly say I quite enjoy it! The other workers are really cool, everyone has been really nice and welcoming, and making me feel right at home. My friend who initially told me about the position has been keeping tabs on me too, he works in management, but has come down to the floor a few times to make sure I'm doing okay. I cannot say how grateful I am to him for helping me find work again!

I realized yesterday that I've been out of full-time paid contract work for over a year now! Since I was working at the pools, every job I've had has been 'on demand', or 'as needed', or only part-time or commission based. It's going to be SO nice to have a regular paycheck coming in again! As well as that, it feels so good to be back at work, where I feel useful, I can see how much work I've actually done at the end of the day, I feel like I'm finally being a productive part of society again. It's strange how that works, I didn't remember how good it felt for the time that I was out of work. But now I can say I go to work with a smile, and I finish work with a smile! Sure, we have laughs at work, I've found out pretty quickly who the more serious people are, and who aren't as much so, but everyone there is hard-working, and on the same page. I can see that it'd be quite good in a way, being that the work is so full-on and the day is so long, it would sort out the hard workers from the ones that can't hack it pretty quickly! I can see myself staying for quite a while though, I really enjoy the physical side of the work as well as the people and the environment. All in all, it's a really cool place to work. :-)

Last weekend I finally got around to moving all my things up from my old house in Hamilton, with the help of a few friends loaning me a vehicle and trailer and a hand packing and unpacking the bigger stuff. It was a fairly easy move to be honest, all my things easily fit on the back of the ute and trailer, and is now safely stacked away ready for when I find a more permanent living arrangement, hopefully close to my new job. I've already looked at rentals online, as well as 'flatmates wanted', and there are quite a few options not too far from the factory, which is good. Meanwhile, I can start saving for a bond, which should only take a few weeks. It'll be nice to have my own place, but I'll have to see how my budget works out once I've been working for a few weeks. Or, alternatively, a shared flat situation would be good too for the social interaction. In any case, I'll make a decision on that in a few weeks.

Other than that, there's not much else to report really! Oh, I was hoping to get to the next track day with my bike, in a couple of weeks, but it looks like that's not going to happen - I missed out on registration due to a lack of funds, and now it looks like all the groups are full. Never mind, the weather hasn't been the nicest lately, so guaranteed it'll turn to custard on the day (although I still hope it won't, a couple of my friends are going to be riding!) so I'm not too worried about missing out. I think I'm better off concentrating on work anyways, I'm hoping to pick up a few Fridays in the next few weeks so I can save extra for moving...

Anyways, now it's officially my weekend, so I'm going to go find some lunch, and have a relaxing three days off! It's amazing how much stress I've let go of in the last few days, I can finally relax properly now!


Until next time!

:-)

Page 27

Hey again, how's everyone's day been? Just a quick update tonight, maybe with a few extra thoughts thrown in at the end for good measure... Read on...!

Well, as you may have read earlier, I had a job interview this morning, at a Printing Factory, for a job as a Packer on the factory floor. The interview went really well, the guys seem really cool, easy going, we talked about a whole bunch of stuff from my past experiences to my future goals and what plans I have for my career... I went down to the floor with one of the Supervisors and had a look around, the place is freaking huge! They must have at least a dozen printing machines, plus a massive warehouse area for stock and bulk packages to be sent out. My job (hopefully!) will be working on a printing machine, packing envelopes into boxes, at a rate of about 700 per minute. That kinda tells you the magnitude of the operation! It's a pretty simple position, but I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to get back into work. Fingers crossed for the call back in the next couple of days! :-)

On a different note, I have been thinking lately about some stuff that I thought it would be okay to share... I'm at a stage in life - I'm not 'young' anymore, at 31 now (Lol I can hear some of you laughing at that from all the way over here!) and I think it's about time I finally look at settling down. I've seen pretty much the whole of New Zealand over the last 10 or so years, including some places not available to the normal civilian populace, thanks to my time in the 'services... I've loved being able to travel around so much, but now I'm finally back where I really do feel like I belong. Someone once said "It's the people that make a place", which I've found to be very true. And the thing I've realised is, the people here are completely awesome!!! They don't realise it themselves, but I have a lot of respect and gratitude for the people that have taken me in, looked after me, helped me get back on my feet, and pushed me in the right direction. Whether or not they read this, I'm gonna put it out there for the universe to receive it, they deserve a huge big thank you! And not just from me either, I think. The point I'm trying to make in a roundabout kinda way is, I'm gonna make an almighty effort to make the rest of this year (and of course the years to come!) the best yet - in some ways I can't wait for a certain someone to come home, but also I know I've got lots to do before she does, to get myself to a point where I'm ready for her to become more of a fixture in my life. Lol does that even make sense? Hehe... I know she'll understand, she always does! :-)

To look even further down the track, I have never previously seen much of a future for myself, having been such a 'lone wolf' up until fairly recently, wandering around so much as I have done... But for the first time in my life I can honestly say I do have an picture I'd like to see brought to life for my future self, even though it might sound corny......

I don't know how to put it other than this: I'd love to be have a family of my own, married, kids, the whole nine yards... Leaving for work in the morning with a kiss from the wife, helping the kids with their homework each night, mowing the lawns on the weekend, teaching my kids about cars (if that's what they're interested in?)... Does that sound corny? Me, the rough-neck, the boy-racer, the lone wolf, settling down? My mother wouldn't believe it even if she saw it with her own eyes! To be honest, I don't know if I would either, if I was looking at myself from a different perspective... Well, I guess we'll all just have to wait and see what the future may bring, but I think one step at a time is a good starting point. It might happen, it might not, you never know, right? :-)

One thing I do know for sure, I'll never give up being a 'biker'...!


Until next time...

:-)

Page 26

I've just finished watching a movie called "Beastly"... Admittedly, it is kinda a chick flick, but I enjoyed it!

Here's the trailer, from YouTube:

It got me thinking, what would you do for love? Sometimes I feel like the 'beast', the guy no-one wants to be near, the guy that hides in the shadows out of fear of the 'normal' world... But to have someone truly appreciate me for who I am inside, someone that doesn't care about the things I've done in the past, but only sees the guy that I'm trying to be... Sure, I know it was only a movie, and things like that don't happen, but why can't it? Why can't we be hopeful for a miracle every now and then...?

The truth is, if I may be so bold, I do feel like there is someone out there that does understand me, she always seems to know exactly what's going on in my mind before I even say anything, and I wonder if she feels anything similar to the way I feel... Lol, just saying that might scare her off, knowing my luck! I hope not though, she really is an amazing woman, she deserves the very best in life, and she should know that there are more people than just myself that think so. Most of all I hope she is smiling lots! :-)

Anyways, it was something I was pondering over, and felt like writing about... Hope everyone out there in cyberspace is doing well, and I do appreciate the comments that people have been placing on my posts... It seems like I must be doing something right, because my reader counter thingee keeps going up!


Until next time...

:-)

Chapter 3, Page 25

So it's been a while, but I've decided to change things up a bit after a long think about things. I've been through some shit lately, mostly of my own doing, but I seem to have landed on my feet - well, kinda, with the support and help of a few really really good friends!

Last time I posted was the video's from the rider training day, which was a really cool day out, I wish I had been able to ride it, but finances are still short so that's bottom of the list of priorities at the moment... Instead, the weekend rides that I've been going on lately with a cool group of people will suffice for now. The bike needs some money spent on it pretty soon to keep it roadworthy in any case, new battery, new tires, etc etc...

So, onto the new pace of things. I found that I was focusing on the bad stuff too much and not spending enough time on the better things in life! There are some pretty cool things out there to enjoy, even on a minimal budget like that which I'm on currently... Take for example, just getting outside and exploring, finding new treasures pretty much on your doorstep that you hadn't taken the time to see previously... I went for a short ride the other day (it's my only transport so any excursion out of the house is a ride - how cool is that though!?!) to visit a friend that moved up the country a while before I did, first time I'd seen him in a few years which was pretty cool in itself! On the way home I decided to go a different route, up the coastline, finding cool spots that would be really cool to take 'someone special' to at some stage in the future... I also stopped at a spot that I used to visit on occasion years ago when I lived up these ways last, a small park with a view over the city, which brought back some memories... It's nice to remember back to times gone past once in a while...

Things do have a tendency to change over time, as we grow up (or just older) we see things in a different light, and the world changes around us - sometimes in ways we like, sometimes in ways we might not so - but we are bound by life to change with the world. I might not agree with the way the world is changing at the moment, but there's little in reality that I can do about that, on my own anyways. All we can aspire to do what we can for the short period of time we are capable of, to influence the people around us in a positive way, and treat the world in a way that our kids would be proud of. For me, I've decided to make more of an effort in this regard, after thinking about some things the other night...

The 10th of each month does have a somewhat sobering effect on me, for reasons I won't go into great detail of, but it is a number that has changed my life a few times. It's really easy to focus on the negative all the time, but the flip side of that coin is this: where things have been tough, they've also been great! How hard is it really to recognize the achievements of others around us and say a quick "Well done!".. .? I do tend to be the kind of guy that responds best to compliments and praise, so for me something like that means heaps. But what about your workmates? Your spouse? Or your kids? Or even yourself...? We are a social race, we (mostly) strive for the appreciation of our peers, yet we forget to give out kindness even when we seek it from others so much. The decision I made was to compliment those around me more, to focus on their achievements, and not to worry about their errors so much. I dare you to do the same with your friends and family! That, and smile more! :-)

So, my plan for the new month, being May and almost half way through the year already, is fairly simple...
1. Continue to be positive about finding a new job,
2. Get my bike back up to spec once my finances are back on track,
3. Spend more time with my friends and show my gratitude for them,
4. Listen to more music, because it always cheers me up!
and
5. Continue my writing, because it cheers me up too.

As well as that, I'm going to decide by the end of this month if I want to go back to school and back my writing up with a Journalism degree...


So, until next time...

:-)

Page 24

Some pics and clips from my day at the racetrack again, just a training day but heaps of fun!

A full write-up of the days action will be forthcoming soon!


Until then...

:-)

Page 23

Patience is a funny thing... Like my current situation, waiting for the call to say I've got the job... Waiting makes the day seem so much longer! Trying to fill the hours in the day isn't exactly hard, I've been doing okay in keeping myself busy, but I just wish the phone would ring! I do hope it comes in the next couple of days, it'd be nice to know that I've either got the job or not...!

On other matters, how's everyone else out there doing? I've been so thankful to my good friends here for taking me in and looking after me in this 'not-so-nice' time in my life, I thought I should put my issues aside and use my spare time proactively! Being the kind of guy that I am, if anyone out there (in my region, obviously) has any jobs on hand that I might be able to help out with, please feel free to let me know! I'm fairly handy, around the house and stuff, but my specialty is of course mechanical stuff... So, this is me officially putting myself out there as a 'hired hand' as such... I'm sure someone will put me to work! :-)

I know my posts have been short and sparse as of lately, which stems from the lack of things going on here for me lately, and I do hope to be able to turn that around soon enough...! I don't want to be posting up stuff that won't be of any interest to anyone reading, but I do still want to keep this blog going. I thought I'd ask if anyone out there in the Interweb has anything they'd like my perspective on, kind of like a 'Letters to the Editor' type of arrangement... I know there's a few of you out there, my counter says I've accumulated almost 700 'reads' in under 2 months! So start commenting, and give me something to discuss here while things are stalling in my world!


I must admit a little bit of selfishness with this blog, not so much 'ulterior motives' per say, but there's been a thought playing in the back of my mind as of late... I've always wondered about furthering my studies, along the lines of a Journalism qualification. I have been using my blog as a kind of 'practice', figuring out how to put my thoughts into words that actually make some sense to anyone out there. I've always thought that it would be pretty cool to write reviews and articles for a magazine such as 'Top Gear' or 'Autocar' or even a Motorcycle magazine (once I build up my riding skills of course). Everyone that I've talked to that has been following this blog has said I'm a very good writer, and that I should do something along the lines of writing in my career... Personally, I know it'd be a pretty huge decision to go 'back to school' again, however I am looking into extramural courses, so I can study and work at the same time...

Gees I just wish the phone would ring already! Lol!



Until next time...

:-)

Page 22

So, sorry again, it's been a pretty slow last few days... Not much to report on really, I'm still waiting for a phone call from the job interview I attended last week.

Well, actually, I did talk to the Service Manager again, briefly - I rang him to enquire whether or not they'd filled the position yet, and he told me he still had a couple of people to interview, and that he'd probably be making a decision next week. However, within about two minutes of that call, a lady from H.R. called me back, to ask about my referees, and to confirm what my expectations would be if I got the job... She gave me the feeling I'm the top candidate so far! So I'm still rather optimistic about it, hoping to get a phone call back tomorrow, as I know the Service Manager is off to Europe on Tuesday, so hopefully they'll fill the position before he goes...!

Oh, and while I'm here, I should let you all know that I've found another place to stay until I get back on my feet again, some of my biker mates kindly took me in. So for now, I'm doing okay. :-)

So hopefully, there'll be some good news tomorrow! Everyone knows I'll be completely stoked if I do get the position, so keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!


Until next time...

:-)

Page 21

One of the guys that I went riding with last weekend asked me if I'd seen his website, specifically the 'Survival Skills' section, to which I said I hadn't, so when I got home I searched for it.

Now, having read through a good portion of it, and getting further into his 'book' by the day, I highly recommend it to any 'biker out there! (I've added the link to the bottom of my Blog site...)

First off, the author is a very knowledgable character, having been instructing motorcyclists for quite a while, both on the road and the track, for over 20 years. He's completed Police advanced rider training in two different countries, and has been riding for over 37 years, on four different continents.

And, in person, he's a really nice guy! Personally, I'd enjoy riding with him (or watching him disappear into the distance) anytime I get the opportunity. I hope you all out there have a good read of his writings - you never know, you might just learn something that'll change your whole riding philosophy!


On another note, I applied for a job two days ago off a job website, as a vehicle detailer/groomer for a fairly prestigious dealership in town, not really expecting much from it. When I say 'fairly prestigious', their least expensive vehicle would still be well over one hundred thousand dollars...! To my surprise, the service department manager called me up yesterday, asking if I could come in for an interview!

So, off I went, having tidied and dressed up for the part, and as soon as I pulled into their yard I'm awestruck with the number of top-shelf cars all around me! The interview itself took about 20 minutes, of which we chatted about all sorts of stuff, and I met the Sales Department Manager as well. Basically, the business normally has two Detailers, one for sales and one for service. But currently they only have one guy doing all the work on his own, and they really need to fill the second spot as soon as possible! I'm quietly optimistic, I think the interview went really well, and I'm really hoping to get a phone call back before the weekend to say I've got the job! Honestly, I'd be in heaven if I got it!

Apart from that, I discovered last night that I'm in need of another place to stay fairly soon now, my friend's landlady mentioned to him last night that she thought I wouldn't be here for as long as I have been... And I don't want to make things awkward between him and her in that way. They've been really cool about me staying here while I look for suitable work, and of course I had hoped to be back at work already, but now it's feeling a bit stressed here... I'm not quite sure what's going to happen in the next few days, but I do hope that the Detailing job calls me back really soon so I can get a little bit of 'normality' back in my life!


All in all, I feel like I'm on a bit of a precipice here, waiting for a phone call, still keeping my eyes out for other jobs just in case the one I want doesn't come through, wondering where I'm gonna be putting my head down at night next week... It's not exactly a nice feeling, but I've just been reminded by a text message from a good friend that I was the one that said "it's the hard times that show us what we're really made of"...


So, until next time, hopefully with some good news...


:-)