This was to be my first visit to the Cold Kiwi Rally . My first rally , period . I ’ d heard the stories and had always wanted to go , but it just … didn ’ t happen . This time it was different . It all started with my mate Mat saying how his best Father ’ s Day ever was spent in a cold field near Ohakune . Middle of winter and he was camping with his dad at the Cold Kiwi Rally . So , after years of talking about it , I was finally free for the last weekend in August . Phone calls were made but only a hardy duo answered the call . Ironically , Mat wasn ’ t one of them , he had to spend Father ’ s Day being the dad this time around … So , Doug , Greg and I were the trio to sign up for the the 2024 Cold Kiwi . Rotorua , Auckland and Reefton , converging on a field just outside of Waiouru .
ALMOST DIDN ’ T MAKE IT A couple of hours out of home on the South Island ’ s West Coast and I wasn ’ t sure I ’ d make it at all . 10km or so out of Murchison my 32-year-
Made it to Picton , despite throttle cable issues
old BMW R80GS suddenly lost power and limped onto one cylinder . It was raining pretty hard and I didn ’ t want to stop until there was some shelter from the rain to check it out . I thought it might be fuel , so flicked both taps onto reserve … no change . I ’ d put new plugs and plug caps on before the trip , so it could be spark , but out of desperation , I pulled at the throttle cables going to each carb … bingo , there was a lot of slack in one of them and it came back on song again . So , I spent the next 15km using the throttle twist grip to open the right carb and pulling the other cable to open the left carb . A quick pitstop under the info board shelter at the St Arnaud turn found the culprit - one throttle cable nipple had slipped out of its retainer at the twist grip end . A greasy 10 minutes later and we were back on the road to get the ferry in Picton . Getting off the ferry in Wellington I was greeted by an absolute soaking of a downpour , but managed to avoid the worst of it . I took a quick detour up to say hello to a friend who works at Boyle Brothers Motorcycles and for a quick look around it ’ s an absolute time-capsule that ’ s the epitome of retro-cool , but it ’ s not a manufactured ‘ vibe ’, it ’ s all original . It ’ s like the bike shops of my youth , are there any others
KIWI RIDER 35