Six riders to tackle postie bike adventure - copy

These six retirees are getting ready for a 120km road and cross-country jaunt down south on "postie" bikes. From left, are Kevin Smith, Peter Hewitt, Lyn Gentry, Wayne Richards, Ollie Kissling and Allan Russell. Photo / Warren Buckland

It doesn't seem quite the usual petrolhead experience but it should be a lot of fun for six Hawke's Bay men preparing for the Postiebike Adventure through Central Otago in February - on their CT110 Honda motorbikes.

The six include Hastings man Kevin Smith who reckons he was possibly the first to use one of the small machines as a "postie bike", when he was a postman in Takapau.

He bought his own and recalls the boss wasn't prepared to pay the cost of running it, so he compensated by getting the run done in half the time and taking the rest off.

Ollie Kissling, of Clive, was the instigator of the local interest, having cajoled Lyn Gentry, of Haumoana, and Allan Russell, of Meeanee, into a ride from Hanmer Springs to D'Urville Island earlier this year, a 1000km ride.

While all petrolheads of some sort, they weren't all into bikes. Peter Hewitt, of Havelock North, also rides a 500cc Kawasaki, but Mr Russell was on a learner rider licence less than a year ago.

The others in the Hawke's Bay contingent, now a quarter of the 24-25 expected on the ride - both on the road and cross-country - are Peter Hewitt, of Havelock North, and Wayne Richards, of Pakowhai.

Introduced by Honda in 1980, the CT110 became known across New Zealand and Australia, along with its predecessor the CT90, as the "postie bike". The end of production almost four years ago was mourned by some, and one motoring writer observed: "It may have been the ugly duckling of the motorcycle world but the CT110 was probably the longest-serving, strongest and most respected four-stroke bike put to work in Australia and New Zealand."

Its popularity in Australia spawned the Postie Bike Challenge, first held in 2002, and now a series of rides in New Zealand, including the Postiebike Adventure, first held in 2013. It starts on February 6 in Cromwell, and ends there almost a week later, after a jaunt through Omarama, Karitane, Naseby, Dunedin, Owaka, Balclutha, Lawrence and Clyde. Mr Smith says they are doing it to support the adventure's charity, the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

-Visit fundraiseonline.co.nz/postiebikeadventure.