Update from down-under in NZ

[Don French]

It's so very nice to hear from you and to update us on all that freaky Freddy has put you through. I loved the GPZ Home Page that had a link to the "Arduous Journey" to your 1982 GPz restoration.Chin up biker girl and stay in touch.
Don.

> Date: Thu, 9 May 2013 09:29:11 +1200
> Subject: Update from down-under in NZ
> From: miclikie at gmail.com
> To: DONDIEGO at evansville.net
> 
> Hi folks,
> 
> I thought it was time I stopped reading about you all and posted
> something myself again, so here 'tis.
> 
> First up, thanks for all the news & hints, especially about the diesel
> oil - interesting! I run Motul synthetic in my GPz as the clutch took
> a dislike to mineral oil some years (ahem, decades) ago. The Motul
> seems very good and luckily I get it for a good price ...so far, I'll
> keep using it unless/ until economic necessity dictates otherwise.
> 
> Freddy *my* GPz (1982 ELR-replica model) has just clocked over 140,000
> km, which makes about 30,000 on the last, final, most expensive
> rebuild I had to endure. For those who don't remember, this bike is
> called Freddy because it became a nightmare...at last count, I had
> spent over $12,000NZD on the thing when its market value was about
> $4000. My only consolation is that the in-between owner spent another
> $2500 for the 1200 km he did....typical Freddy, gobbling up the
> dollars along with the mileage at a ratio I don't want to calculate.
> 
> Those days are gone by though and Freddy has been behaving nicely for
> the past few years. It hummed along recently over a long weekend's
> ride which included a trek out to Whangamomona (feel free to Internet
> that - a set of back-country twisties including four saddle roads, not
> unlike four runs of the Paekakariki hills interspersed with two lots
> of Akatarawas - you can Internet those too :)))). Two-up with panniers
> on, it still hauls along and had several of our friends much amused
> that 'that old heap' can still take off so fast and leave them behind.
> 
> At its recent road inspection the mechanic (younger than the bike,
> haha) was a bit disparaging that the seat only has a clip, not a lock,
> and that the tyres were 'pretty damn thin for something that heavy'. I
> guess bikes have developed a bit since 1982, along with our
> expectations.
> 
> We're heading into winter now so Freddy will be off the road for a few
> user-mods including a fork brace at long last and a fiddle-around with
> the pannier racks to make loading up for trips easier.
> 
> Keep safe all, and keep the emails up!
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Micky in NZ
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