Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
Did you take any photos, Steve? I had a brief look on Sunday afternoon on the way back from the ride. It was very hot, too hot to do much walking around. I never crossed the bridge. Those races are a neat event, and we are lucky to have them. I soon put my earplugs back in, though.
in reply to: Yet another new owner #11845Welcome to the forum Robin. I am sure you will enjoy the K-bike. Which area do you live in? If you fill in your profile, people will be able to give you more accurate info if you ever have any questions.
in reply to: Sunset Trail Ride – 22nd Feb #11818I would be tempted, but the weekend is already booked out. It's also time for some new tyres. Thanks for posting the info. Maybe the next one will fit better.
Experience would be your best bet, but Haldanes will also work on your bike. Which part of Auckland do you live in?
in reply to: Taranaki/Old Whangamommona Road Adventure Ride #11795Neat photos, haggis. We'll have to do something like that again.
in reply to: Taranaki/Old Whangamommona Road Adventure Ride #11792Oops. sorry, did I forget to warn you about that harmless looking puddle on the Whagna Rd? 😀 Its deeper than it looks as I found out when I rode through it a few months back. 🙄 Nice dismount Alex 👿
It wasn't the depth, I hit a ledge or a pothole and the handlebar got ripped out of my hands. I've got a nice bruise just above the knee for my trouble. I hadn't checked the puddle and was showing off for the camera. There was plenty of traction, and if you listen closely you can hear me speeding up, just a second before it happened. I was trying to make a bigger wave and ultimately succeeded, just not as planned. Of course I blame Haggis, for standing there with his camera :-).
in reply to: Taranaki/Old Whangamommona Road Adventure Ride #11790There is a picture size limit for attachments. It's best to get a http://www.photobucket.com account and then direct link to the pictures there. It's easy and free. Easier than riding through a puddle.
in reply to: AKL Feb.1 Lunch ride to Port Waikato #11679Well, I just realized that I won't be able to join the lunch ride, got to pick my brother-in-law up from the airport.
in reply to: DTY’s Northern Motorway Motorcycle only Preview #11545Here is a reminder to what it looked like during construction http://forum.bmwor.org.nz/index.php/topic,1022.0.htmlThis thread, or part of it should really be in ride reports now, maybe it can be split, perhaps Neko can look into this.
in reply to: Taranaki/Old Whangamommona Road Adventure Ride #11788Thanks for filling in the gap, Peter. Now all we need is Haggis to show his hand. I wonder if he has figured out how to post a link to the video he took.
in reply to: DTY’s Northern Motorway Motorcycle only Preview #11544It was pretty hot as you know, Malcolm, but I am still impressed by your sense of smell. Must have been all the open vents on my suit :-D.Great photos Jean.
in reply to: Taranaki/Old Whangamommona Road Adventure Ride #11783Get a http://www.photobucket.com account. It is easy to upload your pictures to there and also very easy to embed into your posts. The account is free and it's one of the few places that allows direct links. The advantage is that you can post multiple photos and also a much larger size. The forum picture size is restricted.Thanks again for showing us around.
in reply to: DTY’s Northern Motorway Motorcycle only Preview #11541Look at this poser on his GS, can't get any bluer than that 😀
in reply to: Taranaki/Old Whangamommona Road Adventure Ride #11780The next day we hat breakfast at the hotel, which included a round of anti-inflammatory pills. These are great little helpers on adventure rides.Soon we were on the road again. After a short fuel stop at Urenui, we turned into Otaraoa rd a few kilometres later. Otararoa road starts out quite flat and straight, but soon the scenery changes and it becomes hilly and winding. It’s one of those lovely single lane roads without road markings. We stopped for a quick photo of the mountain.Soon after we went through another tunnel, these tunnels have quite a bit of history and I’ll just include the links again that Colin has found on the subject, they are well worth looking at.http://www.pukeariki.com/en/stories/newTaranakiStories/taratunnels.htmhttp://www.pukeariki.com/en/stories/transport/tunneltour.htmOtaraoa road then turns into Tarata and it wasn’t long before the first traffic jam. The traffic can be horrendous on a Monday morning and it was obviously the local rush hour. We just had to pull over and let the traffic pass, while we had a chat to a nice man who was part of the traffic control. He mentioned that he rides a KLR and loves touring on it.By now I have given up counting the various tunnels, but we went through a few more before the end of the ride.Tarata road turns to gravel soon after Purangi. From there we turned into Matau road and on to Mohakau road, which then joins Ohau road at Te Wera, the main road to Whangamomona. Of course we weren’t ready for the this just yet, so we took the road less travelled and turned right and then left into Brewer road at Strathmore. Brewer road becomes the upper Mangahehu road, but before that you are though another tunnel. Now Ohau road is known as the Forgotten World Highway, but I guess this road would deserve the name more. We took this road all the way to Aotuhia, of course this was all gravel by now. A good road, and very pretty scenery all along the way. Keep in mind that there are lots of bees around and keep you visor shut. I didn’t want to repeat my trifecta from last year.Finally we reached the bridge to somewhere. We too some photos and then I was ready to cross the bridge to the Old Whanga road. Of course, had I read the signs like the others had, I would have know that this was the wrong way. Luckily my ridding buddies were a little more observant and we went past the sign that basically said, if you use the road and die, you’re a bloody idiot and have nobody else to blame. Here is a picture of the treacherous road we were about to ride on.After a gate or two we arrives a slightly more challenging section. Richard pointed out that it would be a good idea to let a bit of air out of the tires, to help improve traction, which we promptly did. Just the a man came towards us from up the track and wondered if we had bike problems. He was some sort of ranger and also involved in pest control. For that purpose he carried a short shotgun and an ammo belt full of shells. However, the fact that he was holding a set of cramp-on, for extra traction, in his hands gave us some food for thought.The first bog hole was relatively short, but as an extra bonus had a slip to within a inch of the right rut, which we duly avoided. Retrieving a bike from the river below was beyond our capabilities.Peter and Peter took to the mud like a duck to water. Doing this on virtually new bikes must have taking a bit of mental fortitude.I’ve got to say that I have new found respect for the toughness of the new Adventure. In these sort of conditions the crash bars work as advertised. Peter H. got his bike through all sorts of obstacles. I probably had the easiest bike for these conditions and Peter H. would have had the most difficult one. Peter GT had a brand-spanking new bike and has had virtually no time to gain much gravel time on it prior to this. I don’t think he dropped his bike once, but it did need the odd pull and tuck. Well, we all needed that.While the obstacles weren’t too bad due to the fine weather, rain would have made this road virtually impassable for us. Keep in mind that the river was only a couple meters to the right and about 40 meters down. Not the place to make a mistake.Richard just made it look easy as usual and just quietly made his way through or around obstacles. The best part about these rides is the team work, when things become more difficult.It was pretty much unavoidable to have the occasional mishap.In the end we did make it through to the Whangamomona hotel, for a well earned lunch and a beer. Of course we had to stay outside, as we didn’t meet their high standards of cleanliness and they had just finished cleaning up after their Republic day (goggle Republic of Whangamomona).Soon it was time to head off. We followed most of the forgotten world highway out, but them went towards Te Kuiti via Ohura. In Te Kuiti we filled up the bikes and had a quick drink before the final leg home.This is where things got a bit messy, as Richard’s bike lost its clutch just out of Otorohanga. I had been riding ahead and had failed to notice quite late, that only Peter H. had continued to follow me. Richard would have been left stranded with his failed clutch, if it hadn’t been for Peter GT, who saved the day.Richard’s bike was stored at a farm and he got to ride pillion on Peter’s bike for the rest of the way home. Lesson learned for the next ride. Take it easy and make sure the group stays together for as long as possible; this was clearly my stuff up. Bikes can take a hammering on a ride like this, so anything can happen on the ride home.On a more positive note, it was a pretty good ride and I think we all enjoyed ourselves. We are so lucky to live n a country with such beautiful scenery and roads like this that are still accessible by the public. I hope that people will respect this privilege and look after the environment while having fun in remote locations.Hopefully we’ll do this again some other time.
-
AuthorPosts