Fast forward a couple of days and I got back on the road once again, but with a much sunnier outlook. This time I pointed the bike towards the Patea dam. The ride to the dam has some flowing open roads, twisties as you drop into the river valley and 11km of gravel to Lake Rotorangi at the end of the road. It’ s a good test route for any motorcycle. The open road section was a little slow as I was following the‘ running in’ guide in the owner’ s manual, which stipulates a maximum of 3500rpm for the first 1000km- equating to 80km / hour. Yes, a few cars and a milk tanker passed me, but I was nursing it … right? Once I got off the beaten track, the ride became more relaxed, the big 652cc DOHC four-valve Rotax single chugging along like a
Swiss watch. Then came the twisties dropping into the river valley, but by now the road was wet, so the fun factor was temporarily reduced. The water-cooled Rotax single has a forced fed, dry sump so there is an oil tank which is located neatly behind the left side cover. There’ s no sight glass only a dipstick to check the level. The engine makes a claimed 45hp at 6500rpm and there’ s a healthy 55Nm of torque available at 4000rpm. As standard is a factory fitted radiator guard and a bash plate, although the bashplate is pretty tinny, which might come in handy for cooking sausages out in the whop-whops and, speaking of food, I took a bite to eat for lunch and some water as there are no cafes out that way.
KIWI RIDER 69