PETE ’ S PEOPLE
Allan on a Suzuki TS 185
rough and rugged – awful actually , and some were just two wheeled ruts with grass in the centre . Whatever we were going to need on that John Bull tour we had to carry with us . I made a map board which I fitted onto the tank with a light attached , and I carried tools , a spare tube , tyre pump , a patching kit , and spare petrol . Fuel stops were prearranged for night-time supplies , and at midnight the Coromandel Hotel opened up especially for us , and provided a very welcome roast meal for the large group of riders . Having ridden for fifteen hours I crawled under a table and had ‘ 40 winks ’. Then at 1:30am we were riding again , through to the wee small hours . At around 3am one of the guys , going flat out up a gravel hill , hit a wild pig . His bike stopped , instantly . He didn ’ t . It took me some time to find him , unconscious , in the Ti-tree bushes . He recovered well , and actually went on to become a pretty famous kiwi rider of the day .
Much later that morning our trial organiser , Club Captain Neil McKay , was riding his Triumph Twin Sprung Hub on badly undulating tarseal road on the Hauraki Plains , when he was killed after the bike went into a ‘ tank slapper ’ and he was pitched off ( sprung hubs were notorious for giving dangerous trouble at speed ). His helmet was made of aluminium and was the dome-style of the day , with no protection of the temple or face , and that may have been a contributor to the fatality . I arrived on the scene riding with his brother , noticed the black marks on the road and we found him , deceased . Very sobering indeed . The event was called off after that , but I well remember the valve-bouncing ride back to town to inform his unfortunate family ( there were no phones anywhere in these days ). This sad event served to teach me to have respect for my machine , and made me fully aware of how vulnerable motorcyclists can be ; lessons I carry to this day .
KIWI RIDER 77