Andy & Cary's Excellent Kawhia Caper!

[Taz]

Left home at 9:15am thursday 10th of December and headed off to MR Motorcycles to buy a new Camel back bladder for my Dri rider rally cross jacket as it was going to be a stinking hot day.

I met Cary on his XR650R at the Gull servo in Tuakau with the plan to head south via back roads to Cary's new bach in Kawhia.

Headed south thru Onewhero and onto Ponganui Road.

1) KTM525 packed and ready.
2) MR Motorcycles
3) Filling up with force 10 at the Gull Station :)
4) Cary
5) Cary
6) Ponganui Road

[Taz]

42.5 Kms into the ride all the air went to the top of Cary's rear tyre so we had to halt and coax it back to the bottom - Did I mention it was bloody hot!!

[Taz]

More Pics from Waikaretu area.......

Pic 6) Interesting rocks rock man!

To be continued......

[junkmanjoe]

cool photos... tell me...dose that force 10 gas make ya bike go super KTM fast...................:eek:

JMJ

[marks]

so given the way that the two of you are inclined to ride - did the 'ride' degenerate into a race?

[Taz]

so given the way that the two of you are inclined to ride - did the 'ride' degenerate into a race?

Na Cary knows he'll never win :devil2:

[Taz]

cool photos... tell me...dose that force 10 gas make ya bike go super KTM fast...................:eek:

JMJ

Better than Super KTM fast - It goes maga fast :lol:

[Taz]

Stopped at the raglan pub for lunch and to watch the "scenery" walk by :love:

Then went around the coast road stopping at the surf beach on the way.

[tri boy]

a pig with a sore foot. Don't see that everyday<_<
There will be great pontification and wailing at the Hui next Saturday, regarding Aklders sneaking into "our" stomping ground without permission.
However, a koha of suitable beverage may soothe the furious/vocal warriors.:drinkup:

[Taz]

Had a bit of a play at woody head (I think). Then found some giant urinal lollies.

[Taz]

I'm not an Aucklander.

[Taz]

Attacked the fords on Kawhia road. The rocks beneath the water were bloody slippery and covered in slime this time. Then on to Aotea beach, The beach access from here has now been closed to vehicular traffic due to erosion apparently (swines!).
Then on to Palace Cary in Kawhia. Bit over grown Cary!!

[Taz]

After dropping off the bikes and turning on the fridge we headed off to the Blue Chook Inn for a couple of brews then off to watch the whale boats......

[Taz]

.....while waiting for our fish and chips. (no burgers but). Last pic is the view from the bach while we feast on our fish and chips and have a Tui or 2 (or three etc).

End of day one.

[Eddieb]

They weren't serving burgers last time I was there either.

[Taz]

Think they're seasonal :lol:

[bart]

Awesome photos guys. Looks like you're having way too much fun....except for the flat.

[Cary]

Na Cary knows he'll never win
Gave up trying long ago........:laugh:


I'm not an Aucklander.
YEAH RIGHT!

First flat fixed on a ride and she's still up, best way to earn a cool beer.

I hope those lawns look a lot shorter next time I see em......:shifty:

[oldrider]

Cool, that place looks great! Cheers, guy's! :2thumbsup

[Taz]

Awoke to a cloudy overcast day on friday. Loaded up and hit the road to Oparau intending to do a loop south thru Te Anga and the Waitomo area. Cruised past the Oparau service station thinking I've still got at least a 100km of fuel left, That'll be heaps. The loop we intended only looked on the map to be about 60-80kms :). Headed south on Harbour road to Te Anga then onto Marakopa. It had started drizzling now. Starting to get a little concerned about the fuel situation we asked a lady at Marakopa about fuel. "None to be had here" was the reply. :(. Only thing to do was to carry on and see just how far a KTM 525 will go on 13 litres........ The rain had set in by now so I fitted my rain lining to my Jacket (Cary had fitted his before we left that morning cause he's clevererer than I). And off we went.

[Taz]

We took the Mangatoa road south from Marakopa then left into Pomarangai Road. The sign at the beginning of this raod say "Extreme Caution next 21km's" - Excellent if only I wasn't in fuel conserve mode!! This road is a single lane road that winds it's way up the hills of the north of Whareorino forest. Nearing the summit the rain was joined by mist making visibility hard to say the least. In dry weather this road would be magic. The 525 went onto reserve on this road at 202.5 kms. Pomarangai Rd became Ngapaenga rd and from there we took a left into Waipuna Road with the intention of getting fuel at Waitomo Caves township. I was informed by a friendly road works lollipop lady that Waitomo Caves township no longer has it's gas pump!! She said the next place would be Otorohanga :shit: I very much doubted that I'd make it so with instructions to Cary to look for a bottle so we could transfer some fuel from the XR if need be we took the Waitomo Valley Rd to Otorohanga. Long story even longer I made it to the Caltex in Otorohanga after traveling 261kms and put 12.51litres into my 13 litre tank! That was too close for comfort and a lesson to never pass a gas station when you only have 13 litres. We then went to a Cafe for breakfast. Oh and the rain had stopped :2thumbsup

[Cary]

Even though the BRP sucks the gas better than most with a smooth throttle & great line choice :rolleyes: (and 99% less wheelies than pictured KTM!) the XR went to reserve at 230k, did 20k to Otorohanga and still had 2-3lt in the tank :niceone:

Good to know. I did get 14.5lt in the tank at Otorohanga so think my 15.5lt tank is closer to 16.5 - 17lt

(I did pick up a Lion Red bottle just in case....:lol:)

[Taz]

After breakfast, well Brunch really, we took the seal to Pirongia With me aboard the Mighty XR while Cary had the plank hard KTM for the boring road bit :lol: Me smart me am. Then the back roads thru to waitetuna. Here we swapped back to our own bikes with Cary complaining about the KTM's seat. My arse has calluses? now so I don't feel it so bad :). Here was an interesting school bus shelter painted by the Waitetuna school children and teachers probably and in one side it says "Growing seeds of success" with a teacher and a parent holding watering cans and watering the "seeds" which are the children. I loved it!!

[tri boy]

That's great fuel mileage from a bike that normally only knows one speed.:devil2:

[Taz]

Was torture I can tell ya that........ :lol: was helped by the fact that at times in the mist and drizzle we could barely see which way the next corner went until we were halfway thru it though.

[Taz]

We took SH22 and veered onto Ruakiwi to Te Akau. Found one of my side stand springs had popped off, luckily only at one end so I removed it and stuffed it in my pocket.....
Love the first pic of Cary styling it up for the camera.

[Cary]

After breakfast, well Brunch really, we took the seal to Pirongia with me aboard the Mighty XR while Cary had the plank hard KTM for the boring road bit :lol: Me smart me am. Here we swapped back to our own bikes with Cary complaining about the KTM's seat.Two things, 1. Don't mention the word 'brunch' you just know those southerers i'll bite. & 2. At the first mention of 'swap bikes' THE first thing i thought of was the KTM plank! but to give my right wrist a rest(XR throttle has a VERY strong throttle return spring) the plank was worth it :clap:

[Taz]

Up the Te Akau Coast road and onto Pukerewa Road. As you come to the end of this road you can see a huge fan thing up on the hill. We thought we'd seek permission to go have a look. We turned up a farm driveway and stopped at a open gate. just as we decided to head up the drive way to ask. I looked behind us and as if by magic a farmer lady ha djust appeared out of no where on a quad and was looking at us suspiciously :lol:. I told her what we wanted to do and she graciously gave us the ok to go up for a look. She told us this wind power prototype was installed by a power company more than 10 years ago and then they went bust. I don't think it ever worked. It is an interesting design.

[Taz]

More. Couldn't resist climbing it of course.....

[Taz]

Up thru Limestone Downs, overshooting the same tight downhill corner we always overshoot (slow learners). Luckily it has a good run off area :). Stopped at the Port Waikato Store for an ice cream. Then stopped at the Village Bar in Patumahoe for a post ride debrief.

[Taz]

From there it was home going our separate ways, Cary to Otahuhu and I to Waiuku. Got home, greeted family, greeted dog (dog was the most excited to see me) had shower, washed bike, bounced on trampoline with the kids :).
Cary's $49 rear tyre is now dead having done at least 1500kms for around a third of a cent per Km. Not bad eh?

Total km's for trip was 660km for me, slightly more for Cary.

[Cary]

Cary's $49 rear tyre is now dead having done at least 1500kms for around a third of a cent per Km. Not bad eh?

Total km's for trip was 660km for me, slightly more for Cary.Ummm, I got my figures a little wrong, seems the Innova tyre only did 934k. still, $54 delivered......(be trying the Mitas next)

I'm sure your speedo reads fast, I've checked mine to GPS and came out quite close and I only did 624k all up.

[Cary]

That's great fuel mileage from a bike that normally only knows one speed.:devil2:

You ASS - U - ME he was talking about you Andy...... :Pokey:

(no need to confirm Brent :lol:)

[Taz]

I'm sure your speedo reads fast, I've checked mine to GPS and came out quite close and I only did 624k all up.

Was that from home? Haven't checked mine with the gps for a while Might have to check and adjust the wheel size setting in the speedo. Tho kast time I checked it with the 21" front wheel it was pretty close.

[Cary]

Was that from home? Haven't checked mine with the gps for a while Might have to check and adjust the wheel size setting in the speedo. The last time I checked it with the 21" front wheel it was pretty close.

Yep from home. When I rode yours on seal we were doing 100kph most of the time, that about what XR was reading?

[junkmanjoe]

well looks like you guys had a blast, great report, top photos, and that turbine, thats cool..

JMJ.

:clap::apint::clap:

[Taz]

Yep from home. When I rode yours on seal we were doing 100kph most of the time, that about what XR was reading?

I was keeping the XR near 100 too.

[Taz]

well looks like you guys had a blast, great report, top photos, and that turbine, thats cool..

JMJ.

:clap::apint::clap:

It was an excellent ride. But I had thought it was beginning rain while cary was patching his tube...... But he was just sweating :lol:

[Cary]

It was an excellent ride. But I had thought it was beginning rain while cary was patching his tube...... But he was just sweating :lol:

That would be why MY first beer tasted sooo good :clap: