Greetings all. I'm in the UK but my parents live in New Zealand and whilst I've managed a couple of road trips over there in the last decade bike rental is hugely expensive and restricts where you can ride - it almost made sense to buy my own bike and leave it there... Which, now that I can visit more regularly, is how I've ended up with a rather scruffy 1989 white/blue GS garaged 12,000 miles away!
Bought last February, I briefly owned exactly the same version a few years back so I knew it would tick all the boxes for me. This particular one has patchy service history and indeterminate mileage, probably around 100k. Once bought, I changed the oil and set off in hope for a few weeks round the South Island, like you do. Trip completed without any great issues, but there are clearly some things that need looking at sooner rather than later and I plan on giving the bike some TLC when I go back over in a few months time.
Most obvious (bar the oil leaks round the cylinders) is that it's a poor starter. I'm taking a lithium battery and new HT leads with me from UK, making up the latter myself as I recently bought the kit to make up leads for my UK bike (1992 Ducati). Can anybody give me length, centre eyelet to centre eyelet, of the leads? And eyelet diameters? Also, any suggestions as to why neutral light sometimes takes a couple of seconds to come on - which gave me the occasional palpitation when offroad in the middle of nowhere given that starter won't work unless it's lit?.
Any info appreciated, cheers.
Bought last February, I briefly owned exactly the same version a few years back so I knew it would tick all the boxes for me. This particular one has patchy service history and indeterminate mileage, probably around 100k. Once bought, I changed the oil and set off in hope for a few weeks round the South Island, like you do. Trip completed without any great issues, but there are clearly some things that need looking at sooner rather than later and I plan on giving the bike some TLC when I go back over in a few months time.
Most obvious (bar the oil leaks round the cylinders) is that it's a poor starter. I'm taking a lithium battery and new HT leads with me from UK, making up the latter myself as I recently bought the kit to make up leads for my UK bike (1992 Ducati). Can anybody give me length, centre eyelet to centre eyelet, of the leads? And eyelet diameters? Also, any suggestions as to why neutral light sometimes takes a couple of seconds to come on - which gave me the occasional palpitation when offroad in the middle of nowhere given that starter won't work unless it's lit?.
Any info appreciated, cheers.
) After that, do a basic service (tappets, plugs, filters) and you're good to go. There is an Airhead riders Fb group which will have Kiwi riders on it if you need help over there.
