In reality repairing the bike was a fairly simple exercise in bolting everything back together. Simple as this sounds, it was made more difficult by the delays in delivery and the arrival of incorrect parts.
The only real hiccough, if I could call it that was the deposits I found in the carburettors. This was surprising as it had only been sitting for a matter of weeks, but since some spray on cleaner wouldn’t shift it, a full strip was required. I wasn’t able to find anyone with an ultrasonic cleaner, so in the end had to submit them to my friends at Counties Honda, who cleaned them, only charging me $140 to do so.
Anyway, eventually, everything arrived, was put in its proper place and the bike was starting to look like a bike again.
Before this momentous occasion, I got some good news from the insurance company. They had received the pre-requisite report from NZ’s finest and had accepted my claim. It only took another week, but finally the funds arrived in my account.
Meanwhile my hand was, slowly, improving. I had a physiotherapy appointment, where I learned that I had been doing all the right things, had made good progress and should maintain the momentum, gently. I must admit that did get some useful encouragement – I had been getting rather down about what I thought was slow progress – and good advice so it was a whole $20 (+/- € 10) well spent.
That said by this stage I was getting a little depressed. My injuries were not healing as quickly as I would have liked and progress on the bike was slow. I was beginning to wonder if I had made the right decision to continue the odyssey….
Helenna and Darryll were crucial to maintaining my spirits, and without their very generous support, I would definitely had packed up and gone home. Distraction is a good way to overcome a lack of motivation, if only for a while. One Sunday we drove into Auckland and had a walk, with hundreds of like-minded souls, in Cornwall Park. Here the local citizenry were enjoying some early-autumn sunshine, running, walking, sitting, eating and generally profiting from a very pleasant recreational area, overlooking downtown Auckland.
Finally, all the parts had arrived and the bike was ready to test!
All that was now required was for me to get over the slight anxiety I had developed about getting back on board!
Darryll had no such anxiety however, and the day after completion, we headed out on a ride to Nikau Caves, about 50 km distant, along what he promised were some very fun roads. He wasn’t wrong.
A few days later the bike was finally complete with its new screen, suitably decorated, ready for our second short test ride, this time to Karioitahi Beach.
And finally, on 22 April, it was ready to go!
Next day it was crated and then sent off to the shipping agent in Auckland.
Belfast-2-Belfast-By-Bike 
Good to hear from you that you are healing and that the bike is moving again and getting back to your journey
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