Jumping on the bike and riding some distance for a coffee and maybe a feed is an age old tradition for motorcyclists. It was how I was introduced to motorcycling by my father, with a trip to Helensville and Puhoi on his Triumph, a weekly tradition.
Now, some years later, I find myself in a similar position and I’m trying to come up with my own tradition. While I’ve got a bike to blast around on, I haven’t yet cemented my ride’s end point. At least that was the case before a recent visit to the Route 66 cafe in Hamilton.
Ever since my first visit to the cafe’s home within Royale Cars and Motorcycles on the Te Rapa straight, I’ve had a hunger to go back. Not so much for the wide selection of bikes on the floor, but rather to take some time out and get a bit of food therapy at the on-site cafe, Route 66.
From the very beginning, Route 66 was built into the Royale dealership’s floor plan and offers more than the basic coffee and scone.
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Despite its location within the dealership, the Route 66 Cafe is fully functional cafe with kitchen, barista and even a bit of a dessert section in the form of Tip Top and Kapiti ice creams. If you miss the Pokeno ice cream experience of old, Route 66 will even do you a 12-scoop monster if you’re game.
After Royale’s owner, Chris Gibbs, talked up the burgers with meat fresh off his farm outside of Hamilton, I knew I’d have to come back and get stuck in to some of the kai.
Unlike the famed “Royale with Cheese” from Pulp Fiction, the flagship Royale burger at Route 66 is a Kiwi affair. From the local beef to the addition of an egg and beetroot, this behemoth burger is a solidly square meal all in one.
I added fries on the side and I’m not afraid to admit it was a struggle to polish it all off.
But a cafe isn’t all about the quality of its food, and the staff were what really made the experience one worth repeating. From the moment I walked in to when I walked out the door they were incredibly hospitable.
It’s everything you want in a ride destination. The food is good, the scenery made up of shiny new bikes, and the people are friendly and share a passion for motorcycles.
I know I’ll definitely be back.
Seeing yellow
With September being the first month of spring, it is often a time when we start to see an increase in the number of motorcycles on our roads after a winter of hibernation.
According to ACC, more than half of Kiwi motorcyclists park up over winter and wait for the warmer riding conditions of spring. I don’t blame that majority either: riding in the freezing rain is often a challenge, and not in a fun way.
The sad fact of the matter is that while we’re not all on the roads year round, we still make up a staggering number of fatal road statistics. Despite making up only 3 per cent of the national fleet, motorcyclists make up roughly 20 per cent of fatalities.
We’re well aware of how vulnerable we are on two wheels, but there is always more we can do to keep ourselves safe on the roads. So it makes spring a perfect time to promote motorcycling with ACC and Ride Forever officially naming September as Motorcycle Awareness Month.
This year the key message remains the same: look out for bikes. As part of this, riders are being encouraged to don yellow - naturally an eye-catching hue - in an effort to help raise the profile of motorcyclists.
You don’t have to go full fluoro to get in behind MAM, but it can’t hurt more than your pride to go the whole nine yards.
There are also a number of courses, tips and competitions being offered by Ride Forever this year; it’s worth checking out rideforever.co.nz and brushing up on your skillset.
Aussies take on EV giants
We are living through a renaissance of motorcycle innovation: new brands are cropping up everywhere with a new take on two-wheeled mobility.
New Zealand already has two of its own EV-focused brands in the form of Ubco and FTN Motion, and now the Aussies are getting in on the action with their own take on the EV motorcycle.
The new shocker from the land down under is Savic Motorcycles, which takes its name from the company’s founder, Dennis Savic.
Savic, a former Ford engineer, saw an opening in the market between the growing moped class and the expensive heavyweights from the Northern Hemisphere. Aimed as a middleweight in the market, Savic’s first offering is the C-Series, with the top-spec Alpha version boasting 60KW/200Nm from its three-phase AC motor, Brembo brakes front and rear, upside-down forks, Pirelli Diablo Rosso 3 tyres, a 7-inch touchscreen, multiple ride modes (also customisable), ABS, traction control, and regenerative braking.
It sounds awfully similar to a certain American offering with performance figures of 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds and a range of roughly 200km from its 16.2kWh battery. The main point of difference being that unlike the LiveWire One (formally the H-D LiveWire) the Savic C-Series Alpha is priced at $26,990 in its native Australia, with the lesser-spec Delta coming in under the $20k mark.
New Zealand pricing is not yet set, but Savic says it has plans to bring the C-Series to NZ: “In Australia, the C-Series will be direct to consumer, purchased through the custom online configurator on our website and will be delivered directly to your door via our transport partners. To support our customer network, we will have Savic-supported service centres around the country, although most of our technical diagnosis and updates will be available over the air.
“We want the ownership experience to be as easy as possible so our customers can spend more time enjoying their motorcycles,” says Savic.
“We’re really looking forward to bringing our flagship C-Series to NZ. Besides being spoilt for choice with the beautiful riding roads and scenery, the investment into scalable electrification initiatives like Electric Island Waiheke is very promising for the EV future.”
Savic is launching its production models into the Australian market later this year and we’ll be keeping a close eye on how this thunder from downunder is received by the public.
