came with a healthy serving of scantily clad ladies.
I’d have stayed longer for the view but the
33-degree heat and The Baron’s air-cooled
cylinders beckoned onwards.
Reaching Blenheim I booked into the Top10
holiday park, ditched the riding gear and put
up my tiny home for the next few days.
BMW MOTORCYCLE CLUB AOTEAROA
Next morning I popped along to the Blenheim
Exhibition Centre, the home of the BMW
Owners Club rally for weekend. The club has
been around for 40 years, so this year was
something of a celebration. I’ve gotta say, they
had things pretty nailed. Club feather flags
outside, bikes on display, upcoming ride info,
and hot and cold running drinks and biscuits all
day long (I can’t help myself around all-you-can
eat buffets… and free biscuits are no exception).
After registering for the coming days, which
included three evening meals (and those
biscuits) and a heap of group rides, I got a text
from Doug who was riding down on the
borrowed 1200GS. Turns out his front tyre was
starting to delaminate, so my task was to find a
gravel-worthy tyre in the right size before the
shops closed. At 4:50pm Marlborough
Motorcycles came up trumps with a Michelin
Anakee Adventure – perfect. Not so perfectly,
a lack of mechanics meant they couldn’t fit it
the next morning. Thankfully the guys at
Independent Tyre Specialists were happy to fit
it before our ride started. Happy days. Doug
turned up in time for dinner that night with a
very sorry looking front tyre – the new one was
definitely going to be an improvement.
KIWI RIDER 105