A QUESTION OF SANITY
Living north of Christchurch my first thoughts
were could it be done? The first challenge was
to secure a machine, so I purchased a 1979
Yamaha V50 scooter for the sum of $100. The
years had not been kind and I am sure that
one or two of the original 4.5 horses may have
escaped over the last 40 years, but with a little
time, a sparkplug and lots of elbow grease, I was
able to rectify some of the years of neglect.
Returning to the shop where I had purchased
it, disbelief was the initial reaction. When I
explained that I would be riding to Bluff and
back (a journey of over 1400km) without a
support vehicle my sanity was questioned.
They did, however, offer to sponsor me for
the amount paid. Accommodation and the
majority of the funds raised would come by
way of the Freemasons and without their
support the venture would probably not have
even happened.
FROSTY START
Wheeling my scooter out into the sunshine
on a frosty -2 degree Canterbury morning,
I kept telling myself “It’s not just a scooter,
it was Yamaha’s first adventure bike”. True
to the Yamaha’s philosophy, it had one rider
mode and traction control setting – the level of
both determined by how much you twist the
well-worn throttle. As for ABS that would be
handled by the small lever mounted on the bars.
I’d be fine, right? Dressed as a six feet four inch
white rabbit, wearing a blue tutu and riding the
smallest machine on the road loaded up with
luggage, it would certainly be an adventure.
The first few kilometres were a bit of a
challenge. The rear tyre had been flat for so
long it had deformed. I thought that it would
resolve itself with a little heat and use. Wrong.
By Oxford, some 30km into the ride, it was
possibly worse. A short stop and interview with
News Hub would prove to be beneficial as the
following days people would know a little about
what I was doing and who it would benefit.
By Glentunnel it was clear that things needed
to be resolved. A call into Pitlane and an old
friend Don was the answer – I thought he
might know a few tricks of the trade to get
me rolling more smoothly. Unfortunately, it
would prove to be terminal for the old tyre.
A few minutes later, after a bit of rummaging,
“
DRESSED AS A SIX FEET FOUR INCH WHITE RABBIT,
WEARING A BLUE TUTU AND RIDING THE SMALLEST
MACHINE ON THE ROAD LOADED UP WITH LUGGAGE,
IT WOULD CERTAINLY BE AN ADVENTURE
HARVEY
THROTTLESTOP
28 KIWI RIDER