Introducing Ken, IAM Vespa Scooterista!

Crikey, this retirement business takes some organising!  Between doing voluntary work helping local senior citizens to use computers, acting as an unpaid carpenter for our offspring and IAM motorcycling involvement, there aren't many spare hours left in the day.  Still, at least we get to choose what we want to do and when to do it for much of the time!

Yesterday was no different as I'd promised to take out an IAM Associate, Ken, from Auckland to brush up on his open road skills.  There had been a snow dump in the central north island high country the previous day and although it was sunny, the strong southerly made it as cold as charity.  Wasn't looking forward to the early morning 2 hour run up to Auckland in those conditions so it was a case of piling on plenty of layers of Icebreaker merino clothing under the padded Gore-Tex riding gear and even slipping Rain-Off mitts over my winter gloves as a further insulation which paid off in spades. The trip was really enjoyable, simply by staying warm and by the time I reached Auckland, temperatures had lifted (just) into double digits C; although wind chill was quite noticeable.

Ken and I arrived within minutes of each other at a service complex just off the Southern Motorway - let me introduce Ken:

Time for a warming coffee and cake before the ride!

A lot of people think that  advanced roadcraft training with IAM is the exclusive province of big, fast roadbikes and whilst a lot of members do own big bikes, it's certainly not their exclusive domain.  Ken is a scooter enthusiast from way back, owning a 200cc Vespa.  He shares the common desire of other IAM members to ride safely to one of the highest roadcraft standards anywhere.  In an urban environment, small capacity scooters compete on an equal footing with any other bike but out of town, a high level of ride planning and situational awareness is required to meet the IAM requirement of "making progress".  Consequently, the decision was taken to plot a route which Ken wasn't terribly familiar with on 2 wheels just south of Auckland.  It incorporated a small amount of motorway (freeway) work, but mainly covered country roads of varying width, sweepers, blind bends and altitude changes.  A great challenge for Ken in terms of positioning and gear selection to make consistently good progress in unfamiliar territory!

Getting ready for the "off" - really nice Teknic jacket Ken!

The ride was deliberately set up to be "informal" so there was no documented marking, enabling Ken to concentrate on one aspect of the roadcraft requirement without the stress of an "official" observation. After a short briefing and connecting his excellent Scala comms set to my helmet, we set off.   The benefit of concentrating on one single aspect of roadcraft in this instance became immediately apparent with Ken attacking the conditions with enthusiasm.  The bike to bike comms was a huge bonus, allowing both of us to offer up relevant information at exactly the right time for maximum impact. Without going into the minutiae of the ride, Ken acquitted himself really well and the scooter also coped pretty well in the strong winds which prevailed on some of the ridge tops. Equally importantly, it was fun for both of us!  After one or two more mentoring rides of this nature plus some solo practice, there's little doubt that the official IAM observed rides will show a significant jump in open road confidence and performance. (A more succinct phrase would be ride it like you stole it Ken!)

Yours truly, looking like Michelin Man but warm as toast!

I guess that the main point of this post is that no matter what you ride, there is no good reason not to aspire to riding to the very highest standards.  The other relevant thing is a comment by both motorcyling guru David Hough and Oregon-based instructor Dan Bateman that the instructor/mentor gets as much, if not more out of training sessions as the trainee.  On top of those benefits, the fact that the IAM operates on a completely voluntary basis, there's no downside whatsoever.  Thanks for a great morning Ken!

To finish on an entirely different note, here's a job advertisement from an NZ south island newspaper for someone to work on weed control on Department of Conservation land.  Isn't it wonderful to see a bit of plain talking in today's politically-correct environment?  Well done that company!!!

A motorcycle book par excellence!

by Neil Bradford

Motorcycling tends to attract independent-minded people, those who like both freedom and the extra challenge and thrill of 2 wheels compared with 4.  Perhaps it's also fair to say that most of us are free spirits to some extent with a few eccentricities thrown in for good measure!  Something to be proud of in this day and age when the pressures to conform, standardise and sanitise are ever-present.

This anthology covers motorcycling tales from the early 20th century right through to the present day written by both sexes. Some of the writers were unknown to me before reading this book, others are household names.  They have different writing styles (which is part of the joy of this book) but no matter who they are, the same passions and sensations that we experience as motorcyclists are shared by all of the writers, irrespective of their status or experiences.  I found myself nodding in agreement, grinning and sometimes moved as they committed their feelings to paper.

The title of the book comes from the Aramaic word Boanerges which T.E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) called each successive Brough Superior motorcycle which he owned. It literally means Sons of Thunder and it sits well!

The feats of some of the early writers almost defy belief, like Theresa Wallach and Florence Blenkiron who in 1935, rode a 600cc single cylinder Panther with a sidecar from London through Africa, including the Sahara Desert.  Similar journeys today with all the modern equipment are still a major undertaking, let alone nearly 80 years ago!

Whilst T.E Lawrence was serving in the Royal Air Force, he describes riding through the English country lanes at full throttle on a twice-weekly shopping trip to buy sausages and bacon. All pretty innocuous but he then adds the sentence that every motorcyclist will identify with:  

"For months, I have been making my evening round, twice a week, riding a hundred miles for the joy of it and picking up the best food cheapest, over half the countryside".

We all know about the journey, not the destination being the important bit, don't we?

The fabled Lawrence of Arabia with his Brough
(file photo)

LJK (Len) Setright was an English eccentric who gave up law for motoring journalism.  His command of the English language is simply superb and he was also gifted with a deep technical knowledge of anything automotive.  Even though his essays are often complex with rich language, it was one paragraph written several decades ago which caught my eye as I thought it only applied to the modern world.  He's on his motorcycle en route to play in an orchestra:

" ....I almost got to Rochester to encounter the tail of what proved to be a 6 mile queue. As carefully as one does in such circumstances, I rode past it all - and was dismayed by the anger and hostility of all those stationary motorists, blaring their horns or even waving fists at me.  There was no way in which I could have been harming them, but the thought that I was going and they were not aroused furious jealousy".

And we've all felt a similar frisson of malicious satisfaction, haven't we?

The wonderfully eccentric "LJK"

(file photo)

Very few people will not have heard of flambouyant American writer, Hunter S Thompson.  He was asked by Cycle World magazine to road test a Ducati Superbike and his narrative is largely about that experience.  He notes that he's not without mental and physical scars from previous accidents, yet can't help himself from taking it out and thrashing it within an inch of it's (and his) life.  This sentence of his sums it up rather neatly:

"A thoroughbred Cafe Racer will ride all night through a fog storm in freeway traffic to put himself into what somebody told him was the ugliest and tightest diminishing-radius loop since Ghengis Khan invented the corkscrew."

Yep, if most of us are honest, we've been there and done that!

Hunter S Thompson

(file photo)

Valentino Rossi (aka The Doctor) must be pretty close to a household name, even among non-motorcycling families. His book extract gives a wonderful insight to the world of Grand Prix racing where the very top riders not only know their own bikes intimately, but their opponents and the characteristics of their bikes too. He says

"You've studied your main opponent's trajectories, the way he takes every turn; you know where he's strongest and where his weaknesses are, you know where he's vulnerable if you attack him.  It's the ultimate rush."

He describes his battle with Max Biaggi on the last race of the year for the World Championship title.  Biaggi is leading, Rossi has sussed out where Biaggi is weakest but daren't try to pass him too early as it will only work once - chess on 2 wheels!  So he leaves it until the last lap and the last tough corner of that lap.  The mark of a true champion with that much at stake.  Two rivals at their absolute limit - what incredible reading.

Valentino Rossi

(Motorcycle USA)

I bought the electronic version of the book though Amazon.  There are no photos but this in no way detracts because the writing is so powerful and evocative.  Don't know if there are photos in the hard copy version. The e-book cost ~$10.  I would have happily paid a lot more for it.

There are 28 separate essays/book extracts and everyone a gem in its own right.  The other great thing about this anthology is now being able to track down some of the original books from which these extracts came to provide many more years of enjoyable reading.  Overall, this is the best motorcycling book I've read for years.  Although the subject matter of each story is quite different, they all carry the assertion which we already know.......  motorcyclists are different from most of the world's population, motorcycling is not about getting from A to B, motorcycling lifts the soul.

Rectification and a rapid ride....

Last week, I had a message from my Triumph dealer in Hamilton that there was general recall for Triumph Street Triples and 675 Daytonas up to a certain VIN number to have the voltage regulator/rectifier replaced.  I've never had any bother in nearly 3 years of ownership but from looking at a couple of Triumph forums, some others have been less fortunate.  There was a similar problem with Honda Blackbirds pre-2002 and although the issue had been present for a number of years, Honda-San made no attempt to sort the problem out with owners who broke down, often in out of the way places.  It therefore came as a delightful surprise to learn that Triumph would be replacing the R/R at their cost, including labour - maximum Kudos to them!

The dealer is some 170 km away but as we've had some nice sunny days for a change, it was a good opportunity today to beat the winter blues and go for a decent, rapid ride.  I must say that before setting off, there was some vague unease as to whether Sod's Law would strike with a R/R failure on its last run before replacement; leaving me stranded somewhere in the countryside. Fears turned out to be unfounded of course.

Radar detector locked and loaded!

Most of the journey is through countryside and a "brisk" pace could be maintained with minimal other traffic about.  Rocking up to the Hamilton Motorcycle Centre is always such a pleasant experience because not only are their team on top of their game in terms of competence, the relationship with their customers is flawless.  On pulling up, Matt, the senior workshop technician and one of his team walked out to say hi and that they were ready for me - still getting my riding gear off whilst it was wheeled inside!

Prepping it before hoisting it to eye level

The photo below shows the old R/R (the finned block) just to the left of the monoshock.  Not only is it directly behind the engine, it runs down the axis of the bike so there isn't much area exposed to cooling air and these mothers run hot!!  It would be a really fiddly job, but the guys simply unbolted the top of the rear shock which made it a straightforward exercise.

Not a job for large hands!

Pristine new R/R

The new R/R has a transverse mounting, exposing a bigger surface area to cool air so that should aid reliability, together with whatever they've done to the internals.

New R/R bolted in place

Whilst the guys were putting it together again, I strolled into the showroom to see what goodies I could drool over.  Readers who have seen previous posts about the Hamilton visits may remember that the dealership covers Triumph, Ducati and Kawasaki. First bike to drool over was a Ducati 848 Corse.  This must be one of the most beautiful bikes on the market - absolute design excellence.  I'm not sure that my knees would bend far enough to get my boots on the pegs but if we won Lotto, I'd buy one as a lounge ornament (err... subject to CEO permission of course).

 

Talk about going weak at the knees!

Every line carefully crafted

The seat is a work of art by itself

The 3 pipes of the Tiger Explorer 1200

Retro chic Bonneville - extremely attractive in the flesh

Blue and white Bonneville - gorgeous, shiny engine

Early 2000's muscle bike - the Kawasaki 1200 ZRX

I love it!

If Darth Vader owned a bike, this would be it - the wicked ZX10R

Ducati 996 race bike - drool, slaver.......

Less than an hour after arriving, I was on my way again.  Is there any better way of spending a morning..... riding 350 km in great weather, looking at some fantastic bikes and dealing with a business which is right at the very top of its game - thanks a million guys for the magnificent service!

The bike that got me back into motorcycling

I've loved bikes for as long as I can remember but motorcycle ownership went on hold with marriage in 1972, moving to NZ in 1975, building a career and raising a young family - a pretty typical scenario for many of us.  I'd also got into competitive sailing although bikes were never forgotten.  On one fateful day in 1987, a visit to Auckland to pick up a yacht sail right next door to a Honda dealer was to cause a few ructions in our household. 

You know how some bikes trigger an instant emotional connection?  (Otherwise known as "I want it, and I want it NOW").  Well, that's what the bike on a stand in the dealer's window did to me, completely out of the blue.  Jennie wasn't best pleased with several days of whining on my part and reluctantly gave permission for ownership.  A week later, I was the proud owner and not long after, she was the proud owner of a piano at nearly twice the cost of the Honda.  That's what you call a quid pro quo in spades!!

Anyway, back to the bike......

It's called a GB400TT, predominantly produced for the Japanese domestic market and loosely modelled on the classic British sporting singles of the 50's and 60's such as the BSA Gold Star. The motor was a modified XR400 single cylinder trail bike engine with a 4 valve head and a 2 into 1 exhaust system.  Finished in rare midnight blue metallic paint and silver guards with plenty of chrome, it looked gorgeous.  The following photo was taken not long after taking ownership.

1987 Honda GB 400TT

It was a great bike to re-launch a motorcycling career - light, reasonably quick (around a genuine 100 mph / 160 km/hr) and utterly reliable.  

Now, the reason for this post is that I've just made one of my occasional forays into our many boxes of photos and found some extra shots taken around 1990.  At that time, I saw an advert for locally made aftermarket fairings and enquired about one for the GB 400. I got a reply saying they had one based on a Yamaha RZ 350 and a few weeks later, the deal was done.  Had it sprayed to match the bike and signwritten in gold - looked like it was made for the GB.  Here are some pics...

Nice slim front profile

Resplendent in midnight blue metallic paint and gold sign-writing

Classic "British" profile with Manx Norton-type short reverse cone megaphone

It was a delight to ride - light and flickable.  Reminiscent of the current Street Triple in that respect, but with only 1/3 of the gee-gees!  I even bought a single race seat for it later on to make it look even more like a British classic racer.  Spent 5 happy years with it until stepping up in capacity and buying a BMW K100 RS. Our eldest son inherited it for a year or two before it got sold to a delighted buyer in the South Taranaki region of NZ.  A great machine for getting me back into bikes and forever held in great affection!

Now for something to put you off your dinner, hehe!

Some of you may remember previous posts featuring my mate and fellow Coromandel resident Paul who owns some classic Nortons, including the superb 850 racebike below.  A few Kiwi friends who read this blog have actually met him and will attest to his "apparently" reserved demeanour.

Paul and his 850 at the Pukekohe race track

Now you may wonder how the residents of a remote village like Coromandel (pop 1600 on a good day) spend those long winter evenings apart from varnishing their banjos and making moonshine. Well, they hold a Mizz Coromandel pageant and dinner in the local school hall to raise money for the local food bank.  The unique difference is that the entrants are all macho guys - loggers, fishermen, engineers ........ and Paul!!!  They had to parade on the raised catwalk in what might be described as "local daywear", swimwear and evening dress.  Most of the entrants appeared to have consumed a fair bit of alcohol to get them through the ordeal!

Laugh?  I nearly choked to death!!  Some guys went the whole hog with a full body wax and looked (blush) stunning.  It was even funnier seeing the more ummm.... hirsute guys with masses of chest and back hair prancing about in glorious costume!

Anyway, here are some shots of the normally quiet and retiring Paul as Mizz Whiplash (or something like that).

Paul in tasteful evening wear

Paul in modest beachwear attire

When the Master of Ceremonies commented on the brevity of his attire, Paul said that he'd spent a whole $20 on his green swimwear and about $10 of that had disappeared up his arse - brought the house down!!

Anyway, a massive amount of money was raised for the local food bank and everyone had a truly memorable evening, even if we won't see Paul in quite the same light again - what a star!!!!  Maybe it's a commentary on all Norton owners....... ;-)

Paranoia or are they REALLY out to get you???

I've not been accessing the internet much for the last few days having been away from home on a couple of missions.  On reading a few fellow moto-bloggers websites, there seems to be a common thread where car drivers seem hell-bent on removing fellow road users from existence at a greater frequency than normal.  Maybe there's some sort of celestial alignment causing the problem as it isn't just confined to the Northern Hemisphere! The driving is certainly like the offender's heads are up their Uranus.

Last Thursday, Jennie and I headed off on a business trip 400 km to the south.  The day didn't start well as the distance magically increased overnight to 500 km thanks to a landslip blocking the most direct route.  Going round the long way to get off our Peninsula, a ute (utility... Kiwi and Aussie-speak for a pickup) came out of a side turn in front of us.  We then proceeded to witness some of the most incompetent driving we've seen for a long, long time.  It's appropriate to mention that the ute was emblazoned with the name of the driver's employer - a reasonable-sized company, together with their website address and telephone number so it was hardly inconspicuous.  Oh and another relevant fact....in New Zealand, we drive on the left hand side of the road.

We'd been following the ute for a minute or so when it caught up with another ute towing a trailer down a reasonably long straight.  Inexplicably, the driver held off passing the other vehicle until a few tens of metres before a blind bend at the end of the straight.  Had something appeared coming the other way, the consequences would have been dire.

It turns out that this was no isolated rush of blood to the head. On every bend, blind or not, he cut the corner and on the blind corners - someone coming in the opposite direction would have no chance.  Lazy driving at its worst with terrible potential consequences. We were both horrified and under those circumstances, it's hard not to think about someone you love coming the other way.  With cameras and videos being so compact and easy to use these days, people tend to carry them just like they'd carry a wallet and we're no different.  Makes it much harder for a miscreant to say that a certain event didn't happen.  Jennie blazed off a series of photos at different corners as a record without really knowing what we were going to do with them.  It was pointless calling the police traffic hotline (*555) as there are only a handful of cops patrolling the whole Peninsula and besides, mobile phone coverage is pretty patchy in the area.  After following him for 20 minutes or so, we pulled over for a short stop.

Here are a couple of photos to illustrate just how far the offender was over the centre line on most corners.  If there are any protests from bleeding hearts about his human rights being violated by publishing the photos, tough s*it.  What about the rights of other road users to expect to live through the day?

Insanity personified - we drive on the left

Yet another example of appalling driving

During the trip, we debated what we were going to do.  Shake our heads and do nothing might be an option for a one-off transgression of a minor nature but that was never going to happen with multiple examples of bad driving.  The next option was to send the photos to the police.  We had some reservations about this being the immediate best option. We thought rightly or wrongly that that if the driver entered the justice system, there may well be a heavy fine and possible loss of licence but little else in the way of discretionary powers open to the authorities.  There was a time when I'd have been quite happy for the offender's head to be stuck up on a long pole by the roadside (metaphorically speaking) as an example to others but not any more.  That approach, however satisfying, probably only generates driver resentment and does eff all to prevent it happening again.

We finally decided to send the photos to his employer when we got back from the trip with a short description of events but completely leaving out any outraged demands etc, simply to judge the reaction.  It was late on Friday afternoon when the email got sent via the company website.  Even though it was late, we got a response within half an hour. The reply started with a profound apology, then noted which branch of the company the vehicle was based at and that the matter would be taken up immediately on Monday morning.  In view of the response, we then responded with a possible approach.  The suggestion was for the company to consider as part of any punitive action, mandatory attendance by the driver on an advanced driving course, turning it into a win-win situation.

We have yet to hear about any further action so this whole issue isn't closed yet.  I'll add an update when there's something else to report.  The main reason for posting this incident is that with the technology available to us these days, there are other options available than simply complaining about the poor standards of driving, but doing nothing else.  I guess the death of my best friend 2 decades ago due to another driver crossing the centre line has coloured my views somewhat.  However, joining the IAM last year has opened my eyes to possibly better options in some circumstances than simply using the sometimes heavy hand of the law - let's see how it works out.

As a parting comment, if someone is inclined to ask about the impact on the driver's employment and family etc through not turning a blind eye..... how would it be viewed if that driver's actions had caused grief and suffering to an innocent road user's family?  Damned if I do and damned if I don't - guess that my conscience is pretty clear but it's still a bit of a moral minefield.


Addendum:  A very satisfactory outcome thanks to both the person's company and the employee himself.  I won't go into the details for privacy reasons but totally happy.  I guess it demonstrates that as road users, we don't have to accept poor driving and that we can do something about it.

Cabin fever!

I haven't ridden the Triple for nearly 3 weeks and I'm like a bear with a sore head and a bit stressed too!  It's winter Down Under and although it doesn't get particularly cold where we live, boy - we've had some rain. Today, this is all we can see of Coromandel Harbour from our deck..... it's early afternoon, dark as heck and liquid sunshine is falling like there's no tomorrow.  Of course, it doesn't help that a lot of our overseas blogging mates are all together currently enjoying great weather at the moto-blogging convention in Oregon.  I wish.....

Rain, rain......go away

It hasn't just been the weather which has put paid to riding recently.  Jennie and I are volunteer tutors for SeniorNet, a nationwide voluntary organisation which provides support for senior citizens wanting to learn about computers or needing tuition in particular computer topics.  The workload has been pretty heavy for a while now and as we've been doing it for the last 4 years, it might be getting close to the time when someone else in our region has to step up.  Immensely rewarding but there are only so many hours in the day.....

All this non-riding activity has added to stress levels as next weekend, there's a 2 day intensive Institute of Advanced Motorists training camp for trainee instructors (Observers).  It's a mixture of theory and practical riding under the eagle eyes of some of the very best riders anywhere - IAM Examiners and experienced IAM Observers. I feel extremely rusty and way below the top of my game which is a real worry.  Just going to have to bite the bullet and get out in the atrocious weather for some practice if  conditions don't improve.  As mentioned in previous posts, there is never any compromise in IAM standards.  Having battled so hard and for so long to meet the membership standards, none of us would have it any other way but sure is a worry when you feel out of sorts.  Fellow mate and blogger Rogey is on the course too so I dare say that there will be a public report in the next couple of weeks!

Anyway, enough of the grizzling!  There was a break in the weather yesterday so Jennie and I drove down the coast road in her sports car with the top down (and heater on to generate a hot air cocoon, haha). It's a good time for planting so we visited a specialist garden centre down the coast.  I'm a great fan of bromeliads which grow well in our garden with varieties for both deep shade and full sun.  The colourful leaves are really attractive and some have flowers which look like they're an alien mutation! All of them grow "pups" which you simply cut off and plant elsewhere.

For fellow bloggers who are keen on gardening, here's what we bought......

Alcantarea Vinicolour - grows to nearly 800mm high and across with crimson leaves.  Currently about half that size.

Viresia Dark Knight.  Has really attractive leaves and grows to about 800mm.

Guzmania Lingulata.  Grows to about 500mm and centre leaves turn bright scarlet.

And I've saved the weirdest for last!  This is Aechmea Blue Rain.  It has plain green leaves but throws out a crimson near-metre-long flower stalk with the most intense blue profusion of flowers.  This is a close-up of the top of the flower stalk.

After the buying spree, we stopped off at a waterside cafe for lunch.  I had grilled Portobello mushrooms topped with blue cheese and served with a spinach and chilli salad.  Jennie had creamy button mushrooms served with bacon and a mixed salad - simply wonderful.  No photos as our moto-blogging mates from the Americas photograph food so much better!  I'll just settle for a shot of the C.E.O reading magazines on the verandah of the cafe whilst waiting for lunch!

Blissfully unaware......

Addendum:  Bugger!  After 260mm of rain in the last 48 hours, our village is cut off from the rest of the world with landslips.  Wonder how long it's going to take to clear them???

Something you hope never to use!

Poseurs excepted, motorcyclists invariably head for the wide open spaces where there isn't much traffic. One of the problems of heading into the Wide Blue Yonder is getting marooned or seriously inconvenienced if you get a puncture.  I know it's pushing Karma to mention it but I've only had 2 punctures since returning to bikes in the 1980's, neither of which stopped me in my tracks.  That's not to say it's not prudent to take precautions though.

There are various products on the market and this is the kit which has resided in my bike pack for many years

 Hmmmm..... must be getting on for 10 years old

The kit consists of 2 CO2 cylinders and a right-angled fitting (nice touch ,that), a reamer for cleaning the hole, some sticky rope which I think are called dog turds in some quarters (chihuahua-sized, one presumes) and an awl to drive the turds into the puncture.  I'll admit that the presence of the kit has given a certain peace of mind over the years, but not without a couple of nagging doubts.  A piece of sticky rope blocking a hole with 40psi or thereabouts of tyre pressure behind it, plus added centrifugal force when moving doesn't fill me with confidence, even taking it easy.  Secondly, 2 CO2 cartridges are highly unlikely to deliver full pressure to a tyre - maybe enough to limp to the nearest gas station pump, maybe not.

In the end, the worry about inflation got the better of me.  I popped down to the local store and bought an inflator which plugs into a cigarette lighter port.  As the case was large and the working internals are small, I simply removed the case and now have a pump which is less than 12 cm down its longest side. Chop the plug off and fit crocodile clips to attach to the bike battery and you have a compact and lightweight inflator.  Here 'tis:

Inflator and digital pressure gauge

Incidentally, the gauge on the pump is a mile out of calibration (just like a lot of gas station gauges) so I  always carry a good quality digital gauge.

Last weekend, we were passing our local Triumph dealer so stopped off to buy oil and a filter.  On the counter was a Gryyp-brand puncture repair outfit.  I'd read good reports about these so decided to splash out the rather expensive NZ$89 to get one.  Here's a picture of the kit:

Gryyp puncture repair kit

The business end of the kit is a threaded plastic key (see close-up below).  All you do is mark the puncture location with the thoughtfully-provided chalk, pull out the cause of the puncture with the supplied pliers and turn the threaded key in until the head snaps off.  What could be simpler than that and you actually have mechanical grip to hold the plug in.

4 plastic keys supplied in the kit

Must say that I feel a lot happier with this kit in my pack, although I'll still use my still battery-powered pump rather than CO2 cartridges should a puncture occur.

Here's a YouTube demo from UK-based magazine MCN showing how easy the whole process is:

In the video, the commentator talks about replacing the tyre. In the last bike puncture I had which must have been in the mid 1990's, a small sliver of tinplate went through the tyre almost immediately I'd left the shop from having a new one fitted! In that instance, the tyre shop simply vulcanised a reinforced patch on the inside of the tyre rather than having to fork out for yet another new tyre.