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Author Topic: Connie owner in New Zealand  (Read 7778 times)

Offline Cloggy

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Connie owner in New Zealand
« on: January 14, 2016, 10:01:59 pm »
Hello everyone,

Pierre here from Rotorua, New Zealand.
I bought a 2010 Concours last month after a two year break from motorcycles.
Prior to this I had a Suzuki Bandit 1250SA, a Triumph Daytona 675 and a Yamaha Scorpio 225.
Great to be back on a bike and the wife and myself are looking forward to getting some great touring miles clocked up on our Connie. The bike also does double duty as my daily commuter.
Looking forward to the camaraderie and helpful advise available on this site.

Cheers,
Pierre
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Offline banditrider

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2016, 10:46:27 pm »
Hey Pierre

You're not the only one to have come from Bandits to a Connie.  8 and a half years ago (and 132,000km ago) I traded my '06 on a Connie and I'm still in love with it!

She's made for touring, so get out there and enjoy it!
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AlbertaDoug

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2016, 10:50:20 pm »
Welcome aboard.  8)
It's a wonderful transition coming off the Bandit, but it's still nice to ride my Bandit every now and then. Makes me appreciate the Connie that much more. I put a fair bit of $ into the Bandit to get it to where I wanted it for touring then I rode a Connie and bought one  a week later.  ::) ::)
Enjoy
Cheers M8
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Offline kwakrider

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2016, 01:01:42 am »
Welcome mate....you're going to love it!!  ;) :D
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Offline Cloggy

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2016, 01:48:25 am »
Cheers guys,
Banditrider, a familiar "face" on the forum already. Never met you of course but have seen your posts on Kiwirider and visited your website and read your blogs.
I thought I'd post some pics of my motorcycle history. I am still much of a newbie on two wheels. I have had my motorcycle licence for about 7 years but have only ridden 5 of those years since selling the Bandit over two years ago.
My first bike was this Yamaha Scorpio. Up until fairly recently, you could only ride a motorcycle up to 250cc here in New Zealand if you were on a learner's licence.
This bike was a single cylinder 225cc "powerhouse".

Once I got my full licence it was time to upgrade to something a little quicker.
Along came a Triumph Daytona 675

The Daytona was fun for a while but no good for carrying a passenger or luggage.
So along came a Bandit with all the touring options fitted.

The Bandit was eventually sold (along with everything else) to fund an extended tour of the USA.
Upon our return to New Zealand we've had a bit of a bike drought but that came to an end last month when we got this Concours.

I have purchased a Givi V47 topbox for it, just waiting for this to arrive from Italy.
Then we are all set for the first road trip, hopefully early in February.

Pierre
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Offline tweeter55

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2016, 06:16:55 am »
Welcome  :chugbeer: to the Forum, Cloggy!!!
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Offline Rhino

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2016, 07:42:25 am »
Welcome! Enjoy the new bike. Post some pics from time to time, especially if you ever ride it to Omaka for the air show.  ;)
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Offline Conniesaki

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2016, 08:06:40 am »
Pierre - We have friends (non riders) on the South Island in Oxford and visited them last year. We didn't make it the N island. Seems like that might almost seem like another country?
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Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2016, 10:25:06 am »
Welcome!
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Offline Cloggy

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #9 on: January 15, 2016, 11:42:46 pm »
Quote from: Conniesaki on January 15, 2016, 08:06:40 am
Pierre - We have friends (non riders) on the South Island in Oxford and visited them last year. We didn't make it the N island. Seems like that might almost seem like another country?
Yes  :)
The South Island is very scenic, mountainous and comparatively sparsely populated.
Th North Island has got plenty of scenic areas but is not as majestic as the South Island, is generally more hilly than mountains and contains the bulk of New Zealand's population. Although a large part of that population is all concentrated in Auckland.
South Islanders believe they live in the Mainland of New Zealand. Aucklanders believe there is no life beyond the Bombay Hills just south of Auckland. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle and a little lost. All in jest and with a good dose of humour of course.
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Offline Conniesaki

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2016, 12:34:47 am »
We were there for 18 days, and just scratched the surface, seeing a whirlwind tour of Christchurch, then with home base in Oxford first venturing out to Hanmer Hot Springs for 3 days, back to Oxford, then crossing to Greymouth on the west coast, north up the coast to Punakaiki, Cape Foulwind and Denniston coal mines, then back south thru Greymouth to Hokitika and the Franz Josef Glacier, then back to Oxford before heading home. I thought it was fantastic and really hope to go back ASAP.
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Offline freebird6

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Re: Connie owner in New Zealand
« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2016, 07:22:10 am »
Kia ora Cloggy

Welcome to the forum

I see you already breached the subject of not living on the Mainland so I will not throw that one in there... Some great roads down there on the east side but the west side of the South island was pretty variable with surfaces. Going down the west coast I might think of opting for an ADV bike. Glad you are here. Would love to return and visit with a bike. Connie is going to like the roads, curves and hills down there. That bike should draw a crowd in the cities.

Made friends down there that I have kept close over the years. Wonderful places. Hope you stay and put up posts with pics and vids of your tours.

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