[insane plan] NZ tour with a bike

**arkeo** · 10th May 2012, 06:31

Hi everybody

There is some chance that I might visit NZ next year, in Jan. or Feb. 2013. Among the other things, I'd like to do the tour with a bike. As you can imagine, it isn't an easy task to manage everything from antipodes and I have to gather several information to make the right choices.

I asked for info on local and national forums but it seems that there are few Italians who have done the tour with bike. Nearly all of them had sponsors and were journalists; in any case I haven't got useful answers.

The gross decision is whether to come with my bike or rely on what I can find once in NZ. In the latter case, whether it is better to rent one or buy and resell.

Another problem I have to consider is that my bike mate and I have slightly different ideas about the journey. He loves sea, shores and so on while I am more focused on mountain environment. If it were up to me to decide, I would join south island once landed an jump into wilderness and ferns but I am aware that it will to be found a trade-off between us. So, also the cost of the ferry is to be taken into account because as far as I know there are no "direct" flights from here to south island.

I'll ask around here in Italy for an estimate of the cost for importing the bikes in NZ and sending back it. On the other hand I have to do the same as for rent/buy-and-resell solution. The question is: are there reliable companies and how to contact them? My main concern is to deal with honest people because I have no way to check the bike before in case it were cheaper or necessary to buy and resell. I have no friends in NZ so everything is more difficult. Last but not least, as everybody can see, I don't master English at all, and this doesn't help me

Any idea? Thank you very much for any suggestions. But, please, in case don't waste too time because at present all this is just a wish, not a definite plan more or less sure.

A.

**iYRe** · 10th May 2012, 07:59

I dont know about the bike bit, but the bit about Mountains and beaches.. well.. the thing about NZ is you can do both. You can ride through the mountains on the way to the beaches, and back through the mountains to the beaches :P
NZ isnt very big.. In one day you could ride from an east coast beach, through some farmland, into some forests and mountains, across another mountain or two, and end up at a west coast beach.

Particularly on the west coast of the south Island, you can kill two birds with one stone and have coastlines and mountains etc in one. I'm sure some of the South Island guys can suggest routes that will give you both what you want.

**jim.cox** · 10th May 2012, 10:03

Kia ora, Aarkeo.

Welcome to the KiwiBiker Madhouse

I think you would be able to find a suitable bike for maybe nzd$4000

Maybe you could sell it at the end of the trip for about the same - but there is the effort of selling

Or maybe you just leave it at the airport and fly away - if so you have lost a maximum of $4000

Look can for your current bike on TradeMe < www.trademe.co.nz > for an idea of what it is worth here

I dont know what airfrieght would cost - at least $500 each way - plus putting it on the road here will be more than $500, maybe $1000 and the pain of dealing the NZ bureaucracy - I would not do this myself

Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours are good people for hiring bikes < www.motorcycle-hire.co.nz > I think bike hire here is quite expensive, $320 per day for a R1200GS but they do have good bikes, in good condition. So twelve days hire works out at the same cost of buying and flying away - although you would be riding a 'nicer' bike

Hope this helps

**Quasi** · 10th May 2012, 10:17

Hi Aarkeo and welcome to KB. Are you on Facebook? You could contact this guy - emanuele.giaccaglia who is from Arcona and did NZ last year but by car. he could probably give you come tips about roads etc.

Also - Jérémie (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/me.../25451-Jeremie) on Kiwibiker who is French but hired a motorcycle and toured here for a few weeks earlier in the year

If you need a bed to stay on the way, I am 1 hour north Wellington on the East Coast - place called Martinborough, with lovely roads for motorcyclists.

Kind regards - Q

**ellipsis** · 10th May 2012, 10:35

....your English is ok, probably equal to many who post on this site...

**dogsnbikes** · 10th May 2012, 10:47

Originally Posted by arkeo

Hi everybody

There is some chance that I might visit NZ next year, in Jan. or Feb. 2013. Among the other things, I'd like to do the tour with a bike. As you can imagine, it isn't an easy task to manage everything from antipodes and I have to gather several information to make the right choices.

I asked for info on local and national forums but it seems that there are few Italians who have done the tour with bike. Nearly all of them had sponsors and were journalists; in any case I haven't got useful answers.

The gross decision is whether to come with my bike or rely on what I can find once in NZ. In the latter case, whether it is better to rent one or buy and resell.

Another problem I have to consider is that my bike mate and I have slightly different ideas about the journey. He loves sea, shores and so on while I am more focused on mountain environment. If it were up to me to decide, I would join south island once landed an jump into wilderness and ferns but I am aware that it will to be found a trade-off between us. So, also the cost of the ferry is to be taken into account because as far as I know there are no "direct" flights from here to south island.

I'll ask around here in Italy for an estimate of the cost for importing the bikes in NZ and sending back it. On the other hand I have to do the same as for rent/buy-and-resell solution. The question is: are there reliable companies and how to contact them? My main concern is to deal with honest people because I have no way to check the bike before in case it were cheaper or necessary to buy and resell. I have no friends in NZ so everything is more difficult. Last but not least, as everybody can see, I don't master English at all, and this doesn't help me

Any idea? Thank you very much for any suggestions. But, please, in case don't waste too time because at present all this is just a wish, not a definite plan more or less sure.

A.

Cheak out the link below
http://www.krad-vagabunden.de/

They stayed with us as part of there travel and I am sure you will find NZ friendlier than you imagine

**sleemanj** · 10th May 2012, 11:25

My gut feeling is it will be cheaper and possibly easier for you to buy and sell a bike here.

To ship your bike will require a lot of work and expense, it needs to be spotlessly cleaned, emptied of fluids, crated, and then flown out, once here it will need MAF and Customs to clear it, be de-crated, assembled, fueled, you will need to pay a deposit to Customs for the GST (15% total value of bike AND shipping), and you will need to pay the "ACC" component of a yearly licence to our transport agency, you won't need to "comply" it here as you are only visiting a short while, you can ride on your foreign plates. Then when you are done you need to reverse the process, clean, crate, collect your GST deposit refund, and fly it all the way back.

Conversely, to buy a bike, look here: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes

It won't cost that much, and if you buy right, you will be able to sell it for the same or more.

**unstuck** · 10th May 2012, 11:52

Quote: I have no friends in NZ so everything is more difficult.

I guarantee that you will have some when you leave.

Good luck dude and welcome.

**jellywrestler** · 10th May 2012, 12:36

Originally Posted by jim.cox

I think you would be able to find a suitable bike for maybe nzd$4000

ha fucking ha, you don't know whether he wants a harley or a honda how the hell can you come up with that figure?

**jim.cox** · 10th May 2012, 12:41

Originally Posted by jellywrestler

ha fucking ha, you don't know whether he wants a harley or a honda how the hell can you come up with that figure?

because thats about what you will pay for a bike that will tour nz - sure you can pay more - but you are unlikely to get anything for less

**Gremlin** · 10th May 2012, 14:58

Another bike hire company: http://www.nzbike.com/

**GrayWolf** · 12th May 2012, 20:37

Originally Posted by arkeo

Hi everybody

There is some chance that I might visit NZ next year, in Jan. or Feb. 2013. Among the other things, I'd like to do the tour with a bike. As you can imagine, it isn't an easy task to manage everything from antipodes and I have to gather several information to make the right choices.

The gross decision is whether to come with my bike or rely on what I can find once in NZ. In the latter case, whether it is better to rent one or buy and resell.

Another problem I have to consider is that my bike mate and I have slightly different ideas about the journey. He loves sea, shores and so on while I am more focused on mountain environment. If it were up to me to decide, I would join south island once landed an jump into wilderness and ferns but I am aware that it will to be found a trade-off between us. So, also the cost of the ferry is to be taken into account because as far as I know there are no "direct" flights from here to south island.

Any idea? Thank you very much for any suggestions. But, please, in case don't waste too time because at present all this is just a wish, not a definite plan more or less sure.

A.

Hi arkeo, welcome to KB
There has been a suggestion of 4000 dollars to get a good touring bike. I would agree with that completely. May be old school but are proven road munchers and extremely reliable.. the Venerable FJ1200, CB1000F, RF900 are all available on trade me and can be found priced 4k or under. Often they are low milage jap imports that may have been owned by a kiwi for a few years. Any of those models are proven in reliability and ability. I would also say buying here will work out easier for you and some shops will give you a 'buy back' once you have completed your holiday.

As for having different 'needs' you can both meet what you enjoy all in the same day. it really is that easy to travel from one type of scenery to another. If you condense all the types of roads you'd find from Sweden to Italy they are all 'compacted' into the two small islands of NZ. It's why NZ is considered a truly Motorcycle paradise.

**arkeo** · 15th May 2012, 02:42

A big thank you to everybody for the helpful answers and for being so available. I'll contact the companies and in the meantime I keep my finger crossed. In case I'll be able to fulfill my wish to visit NZ I'll surely bother kiwi bikers again. On a side note - as for the bureaucracy I live in one of the most unfortunate countries in the world

so I hope that in case I'll be able to manage NZ bureaucracy also. @Quasi: thank you very much for being available to put us on, you are too kind. In case I'll let you know.

See you soon, thanks again! Great KB!

A.