Hayabusa ’ s full fury , which I ’ d only had glimpses of in the west coast ’ s rain . Third gear , wide open throttle from 4000rpm to the 11,000rpm redline … this thing is a banshee . A 260kg + banshee . It surges forwards screaming , with no kick in the pants , just unstoppable , seemingly never ending thrust . It all feels so easy , so heady , so ridiculous . Like being pushed forwards by the hand of god . Rapidly closing in on the 1000km service , I take the Hayabusa for an oil change and check over at Winton Motorcycles . Turning up just before lunch , they tell me to go get some food and they ’ ll get into it after lunch . I came back 45 mins later to find it had already been done and they ’ ve given the bike a wash too . They ’ re bloody good buggers . Thanks guys . Later that night , after a quick trip to the Bluff signpost and back , eating a curry and drinking a beer in my cheap Invercargill cabin , I realise I ’ m loving the Hayabusa ’ s engine and chassis , but frustrated at the rider triangle . The relationship between seat , ‘ bars and ‘ pegs feels old-school and could do with lower pegs to suit my longish legs .
DAY THREE Invercargill to Twizel 514km Oh , the Catlins . The place everyone told me I must go . So I did . It ’ s never worked out , until today . I ’ d been seriously looking forward to
chasing through the Catlins ’ curves , and they didn ’ t disappoint . And so much fun on the ‘ busa . Leave it in fourth gear and there ’ s enough flexibility to do anything from the tight corners through to the fast sweepers . It ’ s incredibly stable on the brakes , turning beautifully , evenly , with the same rate of turn from upright to big lean angles . I ’ m a little disappointed to get to Balclutha for lunch … except for a chance chat with a local who tells me to turn left after the bridge and head up the river road . The GPS keeps insisting I must turn left along the Clutha River Road , but I stick to his directions and point the ‘ busa up Tuapaka West Road … which is a gem and brings out the best in the big bird . Ups , downs , swoops and curves . It ’ s got everything . The ‘ busa is loving these roads and puts a huge grin on my face . The twists of the Lindis Pass take us over the range and down onto the huge straights leading to Omarama and Twizel . The late afternoon sun is golden , the range in the distance dark and brooding . I have a moment . The ‘ busa doesn ’ t give a damn , it just wants to gallop . I could go crazy fast on the ‘ busa here , but I like my licence . I set the cruise control to keep my licence safe and relax my grip on the throttle ; it ’ s a game-changer for distances
KIWI RIDER 37