16 bikes gathered at KFC Westgate, West Auckland, 15 of them leaving at 1020am for lunch at Paparoa, the other toddling off home to a previous engagement. The weather forecast was for periods of rain during the day so it was a unexpected to see such a good turnout. 2x 1100RT, 1x 1100RT-P, 2x 1200GS, 1x K1200GT, 2x 1150RT, 2x 1200ST, 1x 1150GS, 1x 1150R, 1x Hayabusa, 1x VFR400, 1x Cagiva Xtra-Raptor and always in the lead, 1x Honda ST1300.
TonyHonda led us via a slightly unexpected route to Riverhead Forest and via Peak Road to SH16. We did our usual cruise to the viewing platform South of Wellsford for a 10 minute break with the forecast weather nowhere to be seen! Then to Wellsford and up SH1 to the Brynderwyn turnoff and on to the Sahara Restaurant at Paparoa. The restaurant ratings are still coming in and vary from 2 to 5 for coffee and 5 to 7 for food. I'm going back again as I like the atmosphere. After lunch we took the superb road from Paparoa to SH1 at Oakleigh. It is Fast and Fun! This was followed by a quick cruise down SH1 to Waipu, it was as difficult as usual with too much Sunday traffic. The Waipu Cove road, and thru to Mangawhai Heads, was a blast, mind the gravel in the middle of some corners, not much but enough to cause some riders to position themselves on the wrong side of the centre line.
BTW, some overtaking today sucked! Ignoring the yellow no passing lines, overtaking on blind rises, blind corners and lane splitting cars in dumb places showed a skill level of dizzying mediocrity. If you insist on doing it please stay behind me where I cant see or hear the eventual inevitable impact. 😥
We finally settled on the 'Smashed Pipi' to stop and recover with coffee or beer or whatever took your fancy. While there a quartet of bikers roared and wheelspun their way out of the gravel carpark. It gave me great pleasure to steam past them later on, on SH16, in the pouring rain. Their bravado was washed away!
It had started to rain as we left Wellsford and rained solidly all the way to Riverhead, then it absolutely bucketed down! I must say I was having fun. I had to ride with my visor cracked open to stop it fogging up, cant wait for the new pinlock one to arrive. The back end slipped a little on a shiny black patch around 15km from Wellsford and from there on I made sure I stayed off them. I thought I was nearly as quick in the wet as I was in the dry and provided I kept off the shiny slippy stuff I felt confident the Metzeler Z6's would handle my skill level when cornering and stopping. I am very, very happy with these tyres.
When I got home I checked my gear for weather proofness. Water had run down my arms and into my gloves. The pocket in my Spidi trousers that I hadnt zipped up got water inside, the other didnt, and everything else felt dry on the inside. As this goes to press the dehumidifier has taken 4 litres of water from my gear!
Thanks Neko for organizing the ride and food stops, TonyHonda for leading and everyone else for your great company. It was an excellent day and I want to go again, NOW! 😕
PS Please add some photos Cameraman?
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