Hi. New Auckland member

[Anonymous]

#4142

Hi.My Name is Johan. I have been living in New Zealand for 4 1/2 years. I have been riding bikes since the age of 13/14 years. This ranged from farm bikes, dirt bikes, street bikes and adventure bikes. I stopped riding in 2005 and started in 2010 here in NZ. Started again with a KLX250 in 2010. (taken over by my girlfriend now!) I had a bit of a fall on my snowboard in July and had my left hand in a cast. After a bit of thought I decided to get off the dirt bikes and back into adventure riding. I looked at various bikes, and bought the G650GS Sertao with a cast on my arm and without event test riding the bike! It arrived beginning of October. I am currently running the bike in and doing about 100km per day. Im sitting on 800km and hope to reach 1200km by Monday to take it for its first service. Needless to say to this forum, I could not believe how nice the GS rides compared to an Africa Twin which was the last adventure I could compare it with. I will stay on tar roads for the next 5000km to get to know the bike. After that I will change the tyres and start doing a bit of dirt adventure riding again. So I am keen and eager (like any new owner) to go on a few rides. Please let me know of any trips after next weeks service. I have attached a picture of my bike and will post one of myself on the bike as soon as I can find a brave and willing photographer! thanks Johan

[Richard Kuysten]

#17092

Welcome Johan, we have a couple of rides planned soon (see Auckland Child Board) which will give you the opportunity to meet with members and try out the new wheels.  They both have a gravel option so you can explore the handling characteristics before putting on more aggressive tyres.

[Dave Ross]

#17093

Welcome Johan, we need more adventure riders in Auckland. I've you live in the north-west, by any chance, let me know.

[Anonymous]

#17094

Hi.I opened my weekend for the 21 October run, thanks Malcolm.@ Kokopelli  -- im in Parnell, but spend a bit of time at the Kawasaki sand pit near Helensville. But going from 99kg/120kg dirt bikes to a 200+kg adventure bike again , put my dirt riding confidence a few steps back. It took me a bit to find the gear lever with my MX boots on the GS, but I am adapting slowly. I will have to spend some time with some of the experts here to set the bike up properly regarding handle bars, shocks and tyres at some stage.

[Dave Ross]

#17095

It pays to take it easy on the heavier bikes. They are a handful in soft sand and also in mud. I guess they are mostly at home on gravel roads. However, it depends on how much you want to scare yourself in the process. A good rider can do better on one of those, than I can on a 250.  I am sure you'll be fine. I took my R80Gs through the Sandpit a couple of years ago. That was pretty exciting and it's easy to work up a sweat :-).

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