Back after a long hiatus to support Bikers Against ACC Levies

Well, it's the spring season here in New Zealand it could be time to get back on the scooters. Neither of us has ridden much over the winter as we are fair-weather riders and Angelle has been occupied with the very important task of growing our baby girl who arrived on 14/10/09. Hopefully that explains the long hiatus.
We've been talking about getting back on the scoots lately and Angelle's ET has been getting a minute makeover which will be unveiled once everything is put back in place. One thing we must do before getting back on our scooters is get them "legal" again.
In NZ, you are required to have your vehicle registered and warranted as safe. Recently, it was announced that the cost of registration for motorcycles and scooters over 50cc was to be increased. The increased announced is overly dramatic and not appreciated by motorcyclists the country over. We were recently passed this link by Clunk S.C. on Facebook. If you are a motorcycle or scooter riding New Zealander and haven't yet become involved in any action against the planned ACC levy hike, please visit Bikers Against ACC Levies and see what you can do - many of the actions require very little effort.

Cold Week Ahead

With Angelle facing a cold week down in Invercargill, we thought it time to share a few of our photos from our recent trip to Bali. It was wonderfully warm there and there were scooters for Africa! About 80% of the traffic in Bali is made up by scooters - a lot of modern scoots but we managed to find some vintage scoots riding around and restoration workshops.

Waiting for Salvation

Scenes From the WorkshopVespa Garage with Ape's Out FrontShowroomShowroomCustomization ServiceTypical Street Parking

We have plenty more photos of interesting scooters from Bali to come. For now, however, it's back to packing and other errands.

Bring Out Your Dead

Last Sunday we indeed attended the Bring Out Your Dead scooter show we last posted about. It was a bit of luck that we were indeed able seeing how we'd just returned from holiday the afternoon prior and had a 2 year old in tow.
Also in tow was Simon's dad's Maicoletta. Simon has spent some time on it and it is now running relatively reliably and the electric start is (almost) working. It does need some more work to be reliable enough to ride around on for any length of time and to be road worthy, but that is coming.
At the show, we were treated with the sight of two other running Maico's and a Maico Mobil body. We got to meet the owner of the other roadworthy Maico and another chap who at some point in the past owned the pile of parts which is our second Maico. The owner of the Mobil body is the fella we bought the parts off, and Chris (who we've written about before) is the owner of the roadworthy blue Maicoletta.
The show was excellent with heaps of bikes we'd not seen around before. A lot of cool Lammy's, customized Vespa's, and some rarer bikes as well.

Just outside the show
Simon riding into the show
Ape to greet you at the gate.

Scoots and peeps

Maico Corner
Maico owners

NZetta between a Tigress and the Mobil body
Customized
"Orginal"

Seen better days
Rare bird
Reshaped
Bubble CarAnd we're off...

Even if you're not a member of Facebook (evil as it is), you can see more photos of this event by clicking this link.

Pre 1979 Classic Scooter Show

This looks like one for us! Sure, we own 2 modern twist and go Vespas, but there are 3 Pre '79 scoots lurking in the garage and just waiting for a chance to be admired. Perhaps we'll bring out the Maicoletta projects and the '61 Vespa 1:1 working scale model we've got...

Ride Photos

We've been busy and rides have been few and far between, but here are a couple from a ride to Kumeu River Winery shortly after Judas arrived.

Riding 2 Up

So, Simon's brother Tim found himself a Vespa. None other than JC, Simon's ET8. While trawling Trademe one afternoon, we came upon a bargain we couldn't resist and organized the sale so we could act.
Yesterday was spent zooming around, 2Up on our latest aquisition. Meet "Judas, the Betrayer":





So, Judas, as we are calling it for the moment, is a Vespa GTS 250 with a custom bright orange paint job. Sweet...

Welcome to 2009

After a nice beginning to the New Year and getting back to work for the past week, we are finally back. Today we went for a scoot up toward South Head to MacNut Farms for breakfast. There is a small cafe there and the food is decent. The service is only so-so as the people working there aren't really friendly and somehow make you feel as if you're inconveniencing them by patronizing their restaurant. The real reason to go here is for the view. We sat out on the deck which overlooks a large pond to the left, another smaller Lily pond to the right and a manicured garden leading off to a walk through the macadamia orchard. Sorry, no photos...D'OH!

In other news, Simon's brother Tim is looking for a scooter after being inspired by ours. He's very interested in getting a Vespa and came out for a jaunt on ours. At the moment, the market for them here in NZ is pretty competative and the prices have risen since we snapped up ours. Hopefully one of these days, we'll be able to post about a ride that we've taken with him and share his buying experience with you all.