First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

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72Combat

72Combat

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After weeks of anticipation the day arrived to collect the Norton.
The options were to have it collected and transported which was the sensible option or the other of fly down and ride a bike that had been in storage 10 years 500 miles back home......
If I was sensible I'd be driving a Toyota Corolla so.....
Friday 28 th flew from Auckland to Blenheim in Marlborough which is the largest wine growing region in New Zealand.
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

The owner picked me up and showed me around the aircraft workshop where he worked, they had a Hercules in being rebuilt and an Orion. Outside in the paddock were our mothballed fleet of Skyhawks... :cry:
Normally when I buy vehicles I don't take any pics or talk much to the owner, this time I thought I would.
Old owner
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

me....
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

After a training session of how to start it, and some discussion on what to look out for we were on our way to Picton to catch the 3 hour long sailing up the Marlborough Sounds accross Cooks Strait to the capital Wellington.
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

I was met off the ferry by a former work mate on his new Triumph Speed Triple and we did a bit of a ride around Wellington.
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

The next day it was over the hills and heading North. I don't like the main roads much ( we don't have interstates) as they are pretty busy so it was secondary roads most of the way...takes longer but hey I had 3 days.
to be continued...
 
First Commando by Air ,Sea and Land Part 2

We left Wellington on Saturday Mornng and headed over the hills to Martinborough another wine growing region. That is when we ran into problems.....
After stopping to fill up with petrol the bike refused to start. After lots of kicking I noticed there was no power...bugger I didn't bring a meter.....
Went back to the garage and borrowed a meter and sure enough 3 volts in the battery that looked like it was a burgler alarm one.....
My two Wellintonian mates were dining out on this... " ha ha...old Pommy bikes....typical.." and " trailer job"....was this the end.....?
Back at the petrol station...." do you have any 6 volt lantern batteries and about a metre of wire?"
$ 36 NZ eye watering dollars later I had two $ 5 batteries and some wire.....
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

I had done this on a Honda about 25 years earlier so my long term memory was still good....
Disconnected all but Mr Boyer and after two kicks we were off....
NZ has some odd place names
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

and we don't throw stuff away either...
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

and we like Yank Tanks too... :roll:
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

On the way back went up to the base of the ski field at 1600 metres....mid summer but 8 degrees C....brrrrrr he said....should have packed more t shirts.
Still a bit of snow around.
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land


hmm ran of room again....
 
First Commando by Air Sea and Land Part 3

This was not meant to be a three parter but I ran out of room twice....
The first set of Big Jim batteries lasted for " over and hour"...
This could be an expensive trip I thought. The bike cut out in the middle of nowhere, which in a small country like NZ means about 20 minutes....
My mate rode into town and was told by the lady at BP " I won't rip you off for batteries...go to the supermarket up the road..."
$10 for two...thats more like it.... we were off again.
The lads peeled off as we reached Bulls and we were on our own......
On Sunday morning we were on the last stretch...and a man needs a good breakie....
First Commando by Air, Sea and Land

A bloke stopped on his brand new Multistada and took off his helmet revealing a ZZ Top beard more suited to a HD.
" a 72 Combat mate.....nice.... bought one new in '72 for $1200.00, of the 40 or so bikes I have had thats the one I regret selling.....had to rebuild the engine every 5000 miles"
Reassuring news indeed....rampant inflation and high maintenance.....oh yay.

Anyway about the bike:
It has 20 000 miles on it and was imported from OZ in the late 90's. Its been rebuilt along the way and the owner said it would sit on 70 all day.
I asked him about the oil pressue guage and he said..." don't put too much stock in what it says"
He'd fitted aircraft type oil lines, and it had new Dunlop TT's,brake pads and a service.
I found the RH gear change odd...especially as it was upside down too...
overtaking presented my brain with two tasks and it struggled.....changed up one instead of down.....
I found the motor quiet and very flexible, top gear pulled from 30.
I ran it up to 85 on a few occasions and it cruised happily at the speed limit of 60.
Arrived home on sunday Afternoon and very happy with my purchase, should hve done it years ago.
cheers...hope I didn't go on too much.
 
Re: First Commando by Air Sea and Land Part 3

72Combat said:
cheers...hope I didn't go on too much.
Click to expand...

If verbosity was a crime here the jail would be full.
 
oOh, purdy. I leave it up to you. As to what I'm refering. :mrgreen:

You didn't 'go on' nearly long enough. lol
 
Absolutely terrific! The bike, the trip, and the memories it brings back from my visits down your way. Just to keep things accurate, the shifter isn't upside down...you are.

Russ
 
Looks good mate. I actually looked at that bike on Bikesales NZ and spoke to the guy several times, the price was coming down, It was a good deal but got too hard in the end to get it over here to oz. Hope she's a good en... The old Big Jim battery trick eh.
 
Nice trip, nice story. Wellington looks nice with those trees that don't look like they can take much of a frost. That's a plus.

Do they have granite shoals in Marlborough Sounds? Makes for scallops without the sand.

You'll remember that trip, including the batteries.

Good job, good luck with the bike.

Dave
69S
 
What a great trip.
I was down that way a few years ago.
Got some friends in Raumati South.
 
Cheers Guys, I looked at shiping it up via a bike transport company...but the owner said it was " Good for it" he was right.
Makes for better beer stories at any rallys I might go to.
Less oil on the floor this morning than my Darmah :roll: ...about a dime size patch.
It came over from Aussie in the late 90's and I am hoping to contact the last two previous owners to get some history.
Its been looked after rather than restored as none of the fixings are rounded or munted ( damaged).
 
Now turn around and head back down to MonowaI this weekend for the NZ Norton Owners Club Rally.
 
72Combat said:
Thats a long way to go to drink beer and sleep on the ground......saying that the last few rallys I've been to they book cabins... :roll:
Next weekend its off to Pukekohe for the Classic Festival, http://www.nzcmrr.com/images/events/201 ... _large.jpg
100 years of Henderson and Benelli.
Click to expand...

Borland Lodge, a DOC site, should be bunk rooms. We're all getting a bit old for sleeping on the ground.
Hope you enjoy Puke, we are planning to be back in time for Hampton Downs the following weekend.
 
Post Trip Investigaton:

For the want of a wiring diagram I ended up buying all those batterys.
After testing the alternator with a 1 ohm resistor and getting 9 volts it was time to check the wiring.
I traced the fault to the weird charge light relay being wired up arse about face....
Saying that the wiring is a hack job....yeech.
I see a new loom on the shopping list.

set up the carbs using the finger and eyeball method...improvment on its current tune.....off for an ice cream with the Missus now....
 
Thanks for the pics, the story, and for posting. Takes us all to another place, on the cheap! :D
 
Enjoyed the story and pictures.
I love New Zealand.
My wife and I heading down there in three weeks for our fourth visit in 7 years!
If I was younger I'd immigrate and bring my bike with me.

Bob
 
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