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.

Oh What A Tangled Web We Weave

On the last Saturday of the month, we went for a nice ride. Down to Waimauku Food Station to eat pancakes, up the back way to Simon's parent's Orewa Beach house, then over to Albany Mega Centre via the Motorway for some shopping, then back towards home. Around...120kms. Whew! All in a day's ride :)

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Magnetos Annual Ride - Sat 15/11

On Saturday, 15 Nov, we set off from home at 1230 and returned around 9pm and 160 or so kms later. The reason? The Annual Magnetos Scooter Club ride! What a blast. We joined 60+ other scooters for a ride through central Auckland and then along the harbour to a BBQ. We went first to Ponsonby for lunch and a bit of a shop then met the club at Scooter eMotion on Ruru St at 4pm. The ride commenced about 430pm once everyone had gathered and had been given instruction. We arrived to the final destination at Kohimarama beach around 530pm. Here are some of our favorite photos from the day.

Simon's bike with the Magnetos Annual Ride Sticker

Leader Bike

The DMW - a classic British scoot from the '60s

The NSU Prima - German bike from the mid '50s with really cool white seats that are blocked by the helmet in this pic :(

The ride leader explaining the route

Scoots lined up under the Harbour Bridge at the other Shelley Beach

The rest of the line up at Shelley Beach

Upper Queen St.

The corner of Queen St and Mayoral Dr.

Right in downtown Auckland on Queen St near Whitcoul's bookstore

At Britomart Place

The Deemster at a light on Quay St

Scoots stopping midway through the ride at Mechanics Bay - about 65 scoots on the ride!

Tamaki Drive

Yes, he is riding without any hands taking photos!

The trickster again taking a photo of Angelle taking a photo of him; this time over his shoulder with no hand on the throttle

Mission Bay

BBQ post ride at Kohimarama

Parked on the grass verge at Kohimarama

"Vesparate Housewives"

Just the two of us before taking off to get sushi and make the long ride home

Our favorite bike of the day was this rat bike with the mud flaps reading "Manic Mutha"

Playing Catch Up

Last Saturday we had a wonderful day. We went for a flight to Whangerei and had a pie and then came home and went out scooting. The weather was great and we had all the time in the world. It's not often there is no training on at the airfield on a Saturday morning or that we have absolutely no other commitments or plans and can spend an entire day pottering around enjoying the countryside.

Simon is a pilot of microlight aircraft and working on his instructor rating, so he needs to fly as much as possible. Although we had no specific goal in mind for our arrival at Whangerei and could have gotten a much better pie elsewhere, we went for it.

Simon re-fueling the plane in our "back yard"

Pie in Whangerei

Funny signs in the cafe at the Whangerei Airport.

Graffiti "SL <3 4 AL"

As you can see, we certainly weren't the first to leave our mark.

Ready for take-off towards home.

Pre-flight run-ups

Instrument panel

Scenery on take-off

So, after the flight, we got the scooters out of the garage and went for a burn. Again, no specific agenda which is usually the best way. We took the back road from Helensville down past Waimauku and on to the Riverhead area where we stopped at Hallertau Brewery for a pint. We were responsible and had only one and some chips alongside as well. In the past, Hallertau has been a dinner destination for us, so it was nice to sit out on their patio and see it in another light.

Out in front of Hallertau

After our brew, we went to Coatsville and stopped at this store.

We saw another scooter out with a larger motorbike and snapped a photo.

And we shared a thickshake.

The Longest Drink in Town cup our thickshake came in :)