21st May - Bethells beach

[johnsf1980]

CANCELLED - Have to cancel this ride as the weather suxs :cold: :no:


UPDATE - This has been postponed to 22nd May afternoon so that we can do the ride to Kawakawa Bay on the 21st morning.

Meeting point is Repco in New Lynn at 13:00 hrs and we leave at 13:30 hrs (conditional to there being fine weather ofcourse).

[bugjuice]

It's a nice road, but take extreme caution. Some corners tighten up without warning.
If I can make it, I'll join. Where do you plan meeting up, and what time?
Which way are you going? I've done that road a heap, and Scenic Drive. It's a nice road to ride..

[justsomeguy]

a good way to go is take the back roads to Scenic Drive and then head down to Bethells beach.



aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh..........chumbuddy ched Scenic Dwive:love:

[johnsf1980]

aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh..........chumbuddy ched Scenic Dwive:love:

Ive never been out that way before but its supposed to be good so Im looking forward to it :niceone:

[justsomeguy]

Scenic Drive is my favourite road in the world:yes:


I hope you like it too.

[NC]

Watch out for that first 25kms corner..

I highsided down the cliff..

[johnsf1980]

Watch out for that first 25kms corner..

I highsided down the cliff..

Will do, thanks!

Im in no rush to get anywhere so will be riding slow & easy :ride:

[Sutage]

Ill prob come too, i live on a road that comes off scenic drive, but will prob meet you at new lynn :D

[justsomeguy]

I'll be happy to act as a guide if you like.

[SlashWylde]

Haven't ridden that road. Reckon I'll join you if it's fine.

[HDTboy]

I've driven the road about 2 years ago. From memory it'd be awesome for a ride, would love to join youse but have other commitments

[Madmax]

Watch out for that first 25kms corner..

I highsided down the cliff..
i managed to slide up a bank round there,
then the bike came back down and hit me
while i was getting breath back
( a Z1 in the back hurts)
its pretty tight so watch out if its wet

[Madmax]

PS i lost it on leaf litter so watch out for that as well
(stick in the car tracks they cut the litter up a bit)
:yes:

[justsomeguy]

By the way. I don't want to scare anyone. But Scenic Drive is notorious for it's unpredictable corners. I have very often either seen or heard of accidents there.

This road is a lot tighter than SH22. But it is also much shorter. Having said that I do recommend that beginners do come along for this ride. I shall be riding at a very slow pace and am willing to act as a guide.

I believe bugjuice too may be coming. He too knows this road well and is a proper rider (versus a newbie like me).

[Ixion]

PS i lost it on leaf litter so watch out for that as well
(stick in the car tracks they cut the litter up a bit)
:yes:

Watch out for gravel washed out of people's drives .

[Zapf]

Bethells?

We almost lost a Skyline down the cliff at night once.......!

[justsomeguy]

Watch out for gravel washed out of people's drives .

Haven't seen a lot of gravel down that way....

There's sometimes a bit of foliage thats bout it and oh yeah the road surface is as smooth as a teenagers pimply cheek.

[justsomeguy]

Bethells?

We almost lost a Skyline down the cliff at night once.......!

De-tails pl-ease:yes:

[Ixion]

Haven't seen a lot of gravel down that way....

There's sometimes a bit of foliage thats bout it and oh yeah the road surface is as smooth as a teenagers pimply cheek.

I'm picking all this rain will have washed some down. Maybe not, I'm just a cowardy custard

[Mr Skid]

I'm picking all this rain will have washed some down. Maybe not, I'm just a cowardy custardA cowardly custard with a shiny uncrashed bike :niceone:

[johnsf1980]

i managed to slide up a bank round there,
then the bike came back down and hit me
while i was getting breath back
( a Z1 in the back hurts)
its pretty tight so watch out if its wet

Aint going to bother riding out that way if its a wet day and even if its a dry day Im going to ride slow & easy :D

[bugjuice]

I believe bugjuice too may be coming. He too knows this road well and is a proper rider (versus a newbie like me).
stop talkin crap..
if I can make it (and I'm gonna try me best), then I'll happily poodle along. I'm not really going to be hooning it, so we can do a quick brief before we set off, then a nice cruise there and back..

[FEINT]

Does anybody here have the route of this ride?
What is the condition of the road?

How long is the ride?

[justsomeguy]

stop talkin crap..
if I can make it (and I'm gonna try me best), then I'll happily poodle along. I'm not really going to be hooning it, so we can do a quick brief before we set off, then a nice cruise there and back..

Oh ....... looks like I have offended his high and crankyness......:whocares:


Does anybody here have the route of this ride?
What is the condition of the road?

How long is the ride?

Hmm....yeah would be nice to have a route of this place.

And Feint the roads are pretty much the same quality as SH22. But a bit tighter in some places, with a bit more traffic too. The roads at times are narrow and visibility is limited so overtaking cars will be a careful affair.

The ride may be 3-4 hours, I think........dunno really.

[johnsf1980]

Does anybody here have the route of this ride?
What is the condition of the road?

How long is the ride?

I tried looking for a route on Wises but Bethells beach seems to fall off their maps!

Im assuming the ride wont take very long... I believe the whole ride is just about 100 km (Correct me if Im wrong)

[hondacmx450]

I tried looking for a route on Wises but Bethells beach seems to fall off their maps!

Im assuming the ride wont take very long... I believe the whole ride is just about 100 km (Correct me if Im wrong)
hi all the road up there at the mo is not bad at that time of the day ride easy wet in the shadows the ride will be about 3/4 of a hour to a hour i used to travell it evry day pasing year if it ant bizy watch the leves on the road and the corners mmm some r tight but after saying all that it is a gr8t road and you love it have fun all sorry i cant make it

[johnsf1980]

I can actually see patches of blue sky today!!! Keeping fingers crossed that the weather improves even more :ride:

[bugjuice]

giving real thought to going on Feints ride:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=12195

why don't you head on that one instead, nice open roads, and more used so less crap down the middle.. and fush and chups at the end of it.. but that'd be slightly longer than this ride.. just a thought

[Motu]

Haven't seen a lot of gravel down that way....

It used to be ALL gravel to Bethells,I used to know people there back in the hippy days - we used to go in and out up the river.

Can you still ride on the dunes? That was a hoot,we used to ride on the beach too,no one went to Bethells back then,only the seaweeds and they were scared of bikes....First time I rode on the Bethells dunes we were going real fast,jumping off dunes,then stopped for a rest....got off the bike and looked down the next dune - like,about 100ft to the river! Shit,I was just about to launch off that one !

[johnsf1980]

giving real thought to going on Feints ride:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=12195

why don't you head on that one instead, nice open roads, and more used so less crap down the middle.. and fush and chups at the end of it.. but that'd be slightly longer than this ride.. just a thought

Im just going to potter around slowly to Bethells beach (only if the weather is fine) and explore the roads, have a wander around, etc :)

If anyone is planning on coming along make sure to inform me so that I know :niceone:

[Sutage]

K im not gonna come, just had a quick ride down scenic drive to the arataki(sp?) lodge thing and shit man some of those corners are deadly, add oncomnig cars to the mix and shit no way

ppl who are going be careful, if the corner says 45 it means 45 its not one of those lets double it cuz youll die

and that first 25km corner, 25km!!!!!!! shit man its lethal haha

im gonna slow work my way down it by myself

everyone going be careful, cars coming outta driveways, leaves gravel you name it, be careful!!!! have fun:D

[justsomeguy]

K im not gonna come, just had a quick ride down scenic drive to the arataki(sp?) lodge thing and shit man some of those corners are deadly, add oncomnig cars to the mix and shit no way

ppl who are going be careful, if the corner says 45 it means 45 its not one of those lets double it cuz youll die

and that first 25km corner, 25km!!!!!!! shit man its lethal haha

im gonna slow work my way down it by myself

everyone going be careful, cars coming outta driveways, leaves gravel you name it, be careful!!!! have fun:D

Heheheheh, love that piece of road..........:love:

[bugjuice]

K im not gonna come, just had a quick ride down scenic drive to the arataki(sp?) lodge thing and shit man some of those corners are deadly, add oncomnig cars to the mix and shit no way

ppl who are going be careful, if the corner says 45 it means 45 its not one of those lets double it cuz youll die

and that first 25km corner, 25km!!!!!!! shit man its lethal haha

im gonna slow work my way down it by myself

everyone going be careful, cars coming outta driveways, leaves gravel you name it, be careful!!!! have fun:D
dats why you get knee sliders..
it's not a road to be taken lightly, that's for sure. But I love it all the same. I use it when I have brakes and tyres to scrub in. Works a treat.

Really tempted to go on that other ride I mentioned, by Feint tho. Sorry guys. Just fancy heading out that way, and those roads (better and wider condition than scenic drive, but more commercial (traffic) than scenic). Tis a good road tho, been on heaps of rides both solo and with kb that way, so it does work.. just watch for the shady bits, might be wet/slippy.
The other ride is longer, and a better chance of me knee getting down, and more speed bits

[johnsf1980]

K im not gonna come, just had a quick ride down scenic drive to the arataki(sp?) lodge thing and shit man some of those corners are deadly, add oncomnig cars to the mix and shit no way

ppl who are going be careful, if the corner says 45 it means 45 its not one of those lets double it cuz youll die

and that first 25km corner, 25km!!!!!!! shit man its lethal haha

im gonna slow work my way down it by myself

everyone going be careful, cars coming outta driveways, leaves gravel you name it, be careful!!!! have fun:D

Sounds like a good piece of road for my cruiser & me :ride: :niceone:

[Sutage]

Watch out for morons in those subaru things too

they go kinda fast and overtake you

[Ixion]

It used to be ALL gravel to Bethells,I used to know people there back in the hippy days - we used to go in and out up the river.

Can you still ride on the dunes? That was a hoot,we used to ride on the beach too,no one went to Bethells back then,only the seaweeds and they were scared of bikes....First time I rode on the Bethells dunes we were going real fast,jumping off dunes,then stopped for a rest....got off the bike and looked down the next dune - like,about 100ft to the river! Shit,I was just about to launch off that one !

I *DID* . Over the dunes and whee, airbourne, land on far side, sideways with a nice rooster tail. Over the next one - **OH SHIT** . Threw the bike sideways ,me the other way, slid about half way down (and fark, that dune was STEEP) scrabbling with every available appendage to try to slow down. No way I was going to climb back up, let alone get the bike up. Bellowed for me mates, bring the ropes. Then the indignity of being hauled back up the dune on the end of a rope. No actual damage in the end though.

I've seen bikes on them, but there's so many killjoys around there now, ready to call the ARC guys. (Though if you want to a bike should be able to outrun their 4WDs easily enough )

Used to be all gravel to Piha too, ruined it when they sealed the road.

Incidentally Mr Motu, you seem to have had a singularly misspent , nay even irresponsible youff. What have you to say for yourself, carrying on thus, while responsible and law abiding young fellows like me were setting such a good example.

[justsomeguy]

Watch out for morons in those subaru things too

they go kinda fast and overtake you

There will be no cages overtaking me......:devil2:

[Motu]

I *DID* . Over the dunes and whee, airbourne, land on far side, sideways with a nice rooster tail. Over the next one - **OH SHIT** . Threw the bike sideways ,me the other way, slid about half way down (and fark, that dune was STEEP) scrabbling with every available appendage to try to slow down. No way I was going to climb back up, let alone get the bike up. Bellowed for me mates, bring the ropes. Then the indignity of being hauled back up the dune on the end of a rope. No actual damage in the end though.


:killingme :killingme I knew someone had to have done it,it was a near miss for me.Thing is,it looked like the dunes just went on forever...and like,they just stopped!

My yoof? Yeah it was spent alright...but I could of been a lot worse - you can't choose your family on this side,blind luck....but I was quick to realise which friends would take me to jail with them,and which ones would still be keeping an eye on me 30 yrs later....

[justsomeguy]

By the way the Good John has decided to kindly postpone the ride to Sunday leaving Repco at 13:30.

[bugjuice]

nice one, so we can do both now..

[johnsf1980]

nice one, so we can do both now..

Yeah.. hopefully the weather clears up and stays fine on both days!

[Madmax]

i will be in :drinknsin

[johnsf1980]

So far the weather forecast for Sunday is:

Max: 18°C Min: 13°C
Rain, some heavy thundery falls. Strong northeasterly.

Keep fingers crossed that it all clears up by midday!!!

[Zapf]

De-tails pl-ease:yes:

R32 GTS25, going too hot into a corner that is 90" right, but like a round about you have to take the long way around the outside 3/4 way of a circle. 2am in the morning... group of skylines.... he panic braked... went across the road, across the other lane, fell into the bush.... luckly the trees where holding the car from falling into the gorgue.... someone when home and got a 4WD to tow it out...

[XTC]

Lucky it was only a nissan.... Imagine if he'd been in some thing fast :D

[NhuanH]

Lucky it was only a nissan.... Imagine if he'd been in some thing fast :D
LOL :killingme . If I actually cared about cages, I might be upset since I am the pilot of a mean automatic front wheeler Nissan! But I don't, so I'm not.

[johnsf1980]

CANCELLED - Have to cancel this ride as the weather suxs :cold: :no:

[Zapf]

Lucky it was only a nissan.... Imagine if he'd been in some thing fast :D

yea its a pig of a car... hence he skidded.... too heavy... front heavy.... but that is a GTS25.... any non turbo skyline is SLOW