centaurus
3rd March 2010, 11:16
I have recently returned from a two weeks touring trip around the north island and thought I should share my thoughts.
Trip details:
bike: 1999 zx6
timing: 6 days riding, 2 days break, another 6 days riding
distance: 7800km and change (600km or more every day) - and no bin :)
accommodation: tent
The plan was to do as many of the north island back roads in two weeks. I started from Wellington going up on the east coast, then zig zag-ing between the east coast (napier, gisborne, east cape, bop) and the middle of the island (taupo and rotorua), then coromandel, auckland, northland (going up on the east side, coming down on the west), auckland again and the doing the western part of the north island.
On average I was riding about 9 hours every day. Some days I've ridden 10 or 11 but being by tent and refusing to wake before 7.30 my time was limited by the dailight (It's hard to set up the tent by dark). Towards the end I was able to easily ride 3 hours without break and not get tired.
As luggage I had the oxford sports panniers, fully extended and the oxford humpback tankbag. I am really pleased by these panniers. Being low on the bike they don't upset the ballance on corners like a tailpack or a top box does. The bike just feels heavier but still ballanced. I even managed to go all the way to the tyres' edge a few times with the panniers fully loaded. I took them up to 200kph a few times and they didn't even budge. And if they're packed properly they won't sag at all. I ended up not even taking them off the bike daily. I would just take stuff off in the evening and cram them back in the morning. Even going over rough ground, they didn't move one inch. I did have the non-slip blanked between them and the fairing though.
My horn died early in the trip so I had to take extra precautions, not being able to signal any unattentive road users my pressence by sound (I can't yell that hard :D). It made wonders for my defensive driving skills.
These are some of my conlusions after this tour:
- never go touring at the end of the summer. All the roads are being repaired at this time of year.
- most of the "tourist routes" are rubbish. If you are on a sports bike avoid them: terrible road. After this tour I will never complain about any of the roads in wellington or in wairarapa. By comparison these are brilliant
- I hate the "chip seal". After a couple of days of riding on chip seal exclusively, your fingertips start getting numb from the vibration, and in Northland or east cape the cip is really really rough (big stones)
- there are no bigger arse holes than the auckland cops
- NZ is a brilliant country to travel. Not much straight roads and friendly people everywhere.
- unexpectedly, I found most people very curteous towards bikers, even on auckland motorway, making room for lane splitters when the traffic is crawling.
- there's nothing better for practice than riding on bald tyres in the wet (unless you bin it, obviously)
- after tenting for two weeks, I will never go back to holiday by hotels. It's magical.
Best roads:
1.Wairoa to Gisborne, through Tiniroto, with a little detour to Piripaua (keep straight at Frasertown and then return from Piripaua back to Frasertown): the combination of corners is absolutely unbelievable and the view is breath taking. It's like being in the lost world. Before you know it you'd be racing through the corners. However, be aware of livestock. Both ways are fun but northbound is better.
2. The coro loop: rough surface in places but the switchback sections are unbelievable fun. Be aware of traffic, Especially in the weekends. Plus, there are many biker going fast (and sometimes in the wrong lane) around corners.
3. The forgotten world highway: not a very technical road but very fun. It's more of an epic story than a road trip. There are several series or similar corners (same speed corners) one after the other, so you can keep the same speed all the way through, and concentrate on leaning as much as you can in the corners, or just cruise and enjoy the view.
4.Whakapara to Russell: brilliant road, quite technical in many places, and demanding overall, especially if you don't want to take the ferry to Paihia and do it return. Not the best road surface.
Worst:
East cape, between gisborne and Opotiki: terrible road. Lumps and bumps all the way. It's like riding on a frozen ocean, going over waves. And because they're created by the surface beneath, you can't see anything, just get shaken for quite a few hours (the road is over 300kms long). The road surface is terrible and there are dozens of road works. And if it's raining it's like riding on ice.
Most of the Northland "twin discovery highway" - quite bad road and road surface. Compared to them the roads between farms in the taranaki area are smooth as silk.
Trip details:
bike: 1999 zx6
timing: 6 days riding, 2 days break, another 6 days riding
distance: 7800km and change (600km or more every day) - and no bin :)
accommodation: tent
The plan was to do as many of the north island back roads in two weeks. I started from Wellington going up on the east coast, then zig zag-ing between the east coast (napier, gisborne, east cape, bop) and the middle of the island (taupo and rotorua), then coromandel, auckland, northland (going up on the east side, coming down on the west), auckland again and the doing the western part of the north island.
On average I was riding about 9 hours every day. Some days I've ridden 10 or 11 but being by tent and refusing to wake before 7.30 my time was limited by the dailight (It's hard to set up the tent by dark). Towards the end I was able to easily ride 3 hours without break and not get tired.
As luggage I had the oxford sports panniers, fully extended and the oxford humpback tankbag. I am really pleased by these panniers. Being low on the bike they don't upset the ballance on corners like a tailpack or a top box does. The bike just feels heavier but still ballanced. I even managed to go all the way to the tyres' edge a few times with the panniers fully loaded. I took them up to 200kph a few times and they didn't even budge. And if they're packed properly they won't sag at all. I ended up not even taking them off the bike daily. I would just take stuff off in the evening and cram them back in the morning. Even going over rough ground, they didn't move one inch. I did have the non-slip blanked between them and the fairing though.
My horn died early in the trip so I had to take extra precautions, not being able to signal any unattentive road users my pressence by sound (I can't yell that hard :D). It made wonders for my defensive driving skills.
These are some of my conlusions after this tour:
- never go touring at the end of the summer. All the roads are being repaired at this time of year.
- most of the "tourist routes" are rubbish. If you are on a sports bike avoid them: terrible road. After this tour I will never complain about any of the roads in wellington or in wairarapa. By comparison these are brilliant
- I hate the "chip seal". After a couple of days of riding on chip seal exclusively, your fingertips start getting numb from the vibration, and in Northland or east cape the cip is really really rough (big stones)
- there are no bigger arse holes than the auckland cops
- NZ is a brilliant country to travel. Not much straight roads and friendly people everywhere.
- unexpectedly, I found most people very curteous towards bikers, even on auckland motorway, making room for lane splitters when the traffic is crawling.
- there's nothing better for practice than riding on bald tyres in the wet (unless you bin it, obviously)
- after tenting for two weeks, I will never go back to holiday by hotels. It's magical.
Best roads:
1.Wairoa to Gisborne, through Tiniroto, with a little detour to Piripaua (keep straight at Frasertown and then return from Piripaua back to Frasertown): the combination of corners is absolutely unbelievable and the view is breath taking. It's like being in the lost world. Before you know it you'd be racing through the corners. However, be aware of livestock. Both ways are fun but northbound is better.
2. The coro loop: rough surface in places but the switchback sections are unbelievable fun. Be aware of traffic, Especially in the weekends. Plus, there are many biker going fast (and sometimes in the wrong lane) around corners.
3. The forgotten world highway: not a very technical road but very fun. It's more of an epic story than a road trip. There are several series or similar corners (same speed corners) one after the other, so you can keep the same speed all the way through, and concentrate on leaning as much as you can in the corners, or just cruise and enjoy the view.
4.Whakapara to Russell: brilliant road, quite technical in many places, and demanding overall, especially if you don't want to take the ferry to Paihia and do it return. Not the best road surface.
Worst:
East cape, between gisborne and Opotiki: terrible road. Lumps and bumps all the way. It's like riding on a frozen ocean, going over waves. And because they're created by the surface beneath, you can't see anything, just get shaken for quite a few hours (the road is over 300kms long). The road surface is terrible and there are dozens of road works. And if it's raining it's like riding on ice.
Most of the Northland "twin discovery highway" - quite bad road and road surface. Compared to them the roads between farms in the taranaki area are smooth as silk.