Waikato scooter rides? [Archive]

awa355

7th April 2013, 17:29

Finished looking around the classic car show at the Te A racecourse by 11.30, so decided to take the scooter for a run. I took the back road through to Otorohanga, skirted around the township and headed up the Waitomo valley road. Lots of tight corners, a few short strips of re sealing gravel. The country south of Oto certainly needs a lot of rain.

At Waitomo it was left then right into Fullerton road. Thankfully the two tourists cars in front of me were turning off just a few k's further. If you think scooters are slow, try sitting behind two krauts doing 10kph while looking for a sign. :(. Fullerton rd is made for motorcycles, at least it would be if some BASTARD would come along after the re sealing crews and sweep the road clear.

At the Oparure rd, I turned left to Te Kuiti where 2litres later Buggsy and I barrelled up the hill out of town heading to Piopio.

My target was to locate the Piopio cemetery and find the great grand aunty thats been hanging out there since 1923. Interesting backdrop to her story. The husband Isaac took out a life insurance on her in 1920. two years later Isaac is bankrupt, a year later, 1923, Emily dies suddenly at age 53. 1924 sees old Ike re married. Lots of stories from the oldies of the time. Seems Isaac was the black sheep of the family. Anyway, the cemetery is way up a side road on a hillside with a lovely outlook over the country. Not much use to the residents I guess, but there's something serene and peacefull about a small country cemetery that's kept mowed and well tended.

Goal accomplished, I rode back out to SW3 and a few k's back toward Te Kuiti, I turned up Troopers road. Heaps of S bends tight corners. The scenery was lovely. Very brown but the rolling hills and clumps of bush in the hollows and lots of rocky outcrops made the ride very enjoyable.
281078

From Troopers rd it was back to Waitomo and into Otorohanga for a quick feed at Maccas. From there, I kept to the main road looking for slofox's Waikato tag. Back at home in Te Awamutu, the penny dropped. The tag was on the Pirongia road. So whats another 25ks? Off I went, got the tag ( I had taken a new tag photo on my way out to Piopio ).

All up just over 200 ks. The back roads dont make riding a scooter seem particulally slow. I'd like to meet up with others that are keen to do something different.
281079

deeknow

14th May 2013, 23:08

Nice one dude, epic ride on the scooter huh. Looks like you got some sweet weather judging by the pics :niceone:

awa355

15th May 2013, 19:11

I set off on Monday Morning on a 3 day quest to Taranaki to find some family history. Just out of Te A, I got above the fog blanket and stopped to admire the view of the sun shining onto the hills and trees standing above the fog. 282802

Photos just dont do justice to natures beauty sometimes. From there, it was back into the fog right through to Awakino, when the sun finally took over. A friend had said that Buggsy would struggle up Mt Messenger, but the little buggar hit the hill like a rocket, albeit, a 'small' rocket. After a breather at the top, 282803 it was a slow run down the other side. The road was in shadows and very wet. An easy run into New Plymouth
and then we found a back packers for the night. The afternoon was spent at the Pukeriki library. This trip was, by neccessity, done on the cheap. Never again will I take a Dorm bed. Only two of us in the room but sharing with a stranger, especially a snail sucking french monkey was too much.

Tuesday moning had me aiming for the Okato cemetery to catch up with a family of ancestors, but Buggsy and I decided on the long way there. Carrington road winds its way between the upper reaches of the Taranaki farmlands and the fringes of the mount's forest. Narrow and winding, it was shaded from the sun for most of the road. Adding to the interest was the loose stones washed off the banks onto the corners. 282805

After coming off the mountain into Otako, and a emotional moment at the final resting places of my ancestors, it was off towards Hawera via Newalls / Wiremu roads. A stop at the Newall rd dairy factory which my grand uncle helped set up 90 years ago turned up something I hadn't seen to date in Taranaki, A genuine Taranaki gate, This gates' origin lay in the English background of the early settlers. From the same spot I took this picture. 282807 Just out of Kaponga I spied a bike coming towards me, going like the clappers. Before he got to me, he hit the brakes hard and I got a glimpes of a white Buell turning down a side road. Seconds later came a police car over the brow, lights and siren going, he shot right past the side road and kept going. A half k' further on and a second police car went screaming past. The rest of the day in Hawera was spent talking to people and locating two long lost gravesites.

Wednesday morning saw me turning towards my ride home. First up was a stop in Normanby to chat with an elderly distant relative. "Spud told me about his father, Bill Brogden. WW1 at the battle of the Somme, Bill was hit by machinegun fire. He survived, and at the ripe old age of 90 years old, Bill sat and passed his motorcycle licence so he could ride his scooter. He made the local newspaper as the oldest man in NZ to gain a motorbike licence. 282808 Good on ya Bill.

The rest of the run from Hawera went good, Mt Messenger was awesome. Buggsy would hold 60ks no problem and the '25kph' corners had us both grinning. Stopped an had a look around Mokau 282810 then a good run home.

Buggsy used 24 litres of gas, over 693k's, averaging 28kpl. Considering he only has 100cc and was pulling over 100kg ( rider & luggage) at almost full noise, he did pretty well. When traffic came up behind, I would pull over on the shoulder and let the traffic pass. Humming along at 80ks I settled into a rythym and cruised along. In a years time, I will upgrade to a 250 scooter, but for now Buggsy gets the job done. All comes down to attitude I guess.

The Baron

16th May 2013, 06:47

Thanks for a great read (ride report).

I think when you go up to a 250 there will be no stopping you.

Ride safe.

frogfeaturesFZR

19th May 2013, 08:55

Great ride report, keep them coming!

As an aside, friends moved to Bayley Rd, Kihikihi, last month. Lovely part of the country.
Ride safe.

awa355

30th May 2013, 22:03

Took a couple of hours yesterday afternoon to have a quiet ride around a few of the side roads on the Te Pahu side on Mt Pirongia. First pic is from Bell road looking towards Mt Pirongia. As I said in an earlier post, sometimes photos just dont bring out the sharp crisp colours of Autumn. 283450

The roads were all in good order and ideal for leisurely riding. The lookout at the forest park end of Greys road is now getting overgrown and although I tried for a couple of pictures, none were worth keeping. Back onto Rosborough rd and the farms on the foothills of Pirongia looked lovely. Gullys of natives trees, and lush green paddocks in the late afternoon sun. I shot up Waites road for a look, found what would have been a fantastic panoramic photo, except some mongrel had gone and started building a new house in front of my stop which would have ruined the picture. Waite road is mostly gravel and going uphill was a piece of cake. Coming back down on 10" rims was a bit more interesting.

Limeworks rd is quite tight and winding. This pic shows some locals attempt to create something similar to the bra fence of Otago or the gumboot fence arount Taihape. Somehow tooth brushes dont quite have the same impact. 283451

Just a bit further along is the Kaniwhaniwha stream reserve. Buggsy took some time out to eye up the trout prospects. I've flyfished this stream up from the bridge without a lot of success. 283452

From the stream the road climbs up onto a ridge. Again, the late sun bought out the greens on the hills and the Autumn colours of the trees. 283453

One more photo before turning into Whitaker rd ,283454 The photos dont show the sharp cold wind that was blowing. These roads pass through a lot of lovely country and a scooter gives me more time to enjoy the vistas than a faster machine would.

awa355

23rd June 2013, 13:17

Got Buggsy out of the shed this morning and went for a short run around the back roads.

Wasn't cold at all, untill the last stretch from Otorohanga to Te A. I did about 90k and started thinking, I need to plan another decent scooter ride. I have wanted to do a full on day ride for a while. Waiting untill balmy summer days doesn't do anything for me, so I have a plan.

July 21st, I'm going to leave Te Awamutu early and do the Coromandel loop. Kopu to Kopu via Coromandel, Whitanga is a run I haven't done yet. From home to home will make it a 530k ride. (approx).

I know there are a lot of dumb bastards on KB, but whether there are any silly enough to do this ride on a scooter, in July ( apart from me), I'm not sure.

If there are scooter riders that are keen on a challenge and have a scooter, or an old or small commuter bike in the 100-200cc range, give this some thought.

I plan on getting to Kopu by 10am so if you are interested, and I know you are coming I could meet about there. This isn't a marathon ride by any means but I'm going to do it anyway. If this weekend is solid rain, then I would flag it, but a few showers wont matter.

craisin

25th June 2013, 09:38

Hope to see some good pictures
All the best

wharekura

25th June 2013, 11:15

I like slower speed rides so will be keen on some sort of overnight trip one weekend with a stopover at a bar that we can crash at. I'll try and fit in with you but am renovating weekends with inlaw.

awa355

25th June 2013, 13:53

If I get no response for company on this ride, I may go on the Saturday and camp at Coromandel. That would give me time to look at Colville bay and other side roads.

I still like the idea of a long hard dawn to dusk type one day ride.

craisin

30th June 2013, 12:24

awa355

30th June 2013, 22:21

if you could get us back to 1970 i would be happy to ride anywhere with you.

1970 this is my 1st beast. 50cc, 3spd 3.5hp. Cost $162 brand new. I put down $60 deposit and paid the balance over 12 months. Came up a steep hill one night with my mate on the back. We T-boned the biggest possum in NZ. The front wheel went up, My mate went off the seat onto the number plate, somehow we came to a halt without dropping the scooter or falling off.

The photo is not very good. 284465

craisin

1st July 2013, 18:47

i have a suzuki step thru from 74? that has no motor
that i was going to put a genuine 49cc chinese 4 stroke.
i need a downdraught carb like some of the old honda had save the hardwork of the induction having a corner init

it had rexed like crazy in second gear fourth was downhill only

the 72cc blew second gear no taco serious rev s got 60kmh

awa355

10th July 2013, 17:34

My day off, the wife has gone to work and there's $30 in my acc that she doesn't know about so guess what? That's right, put the riding gear on and here's my chance to try Buggsy's tyres on some wet roads. As it turned out, the rain only came throughout the day in small doses, but the fog that hung around kept the road surfaces nice and wet. I was getting Buggsy cranked over through many of the corners and never had an anxious moment.

I stopped to get a photo of the rowers out on lake Karapiro, but the foggy background and overcast weather made for dull pics so the rowers are a no show. Past Maungatautari and down to the Piarere bridge. Got my first decent photo just across the bridge, looking back towards the ski club. 284855

Onwards to Tirau and an hour spent with two riding buddys from the early seventies. After swapping lies about stray women and fast bikes, it was back on the road. I wanted to ride through to Morrinsville via the backroads skirting the Whitechapel hills and Matamata. First, Totmans rd, then Puketutu, Henry Watson roads. This pic is from the Henry Watson road. 284856

After a diversion up a side road looking for a decent scenic photo it was on to Kiwitahi and into Morrinsville. I had wanted to look at the new Moto Guzzis at NV Motorcycles. If I could've pulled 14g out of my back pocket I would have ridden away on a lovely green cafe styled V7. I fueled Buggsy up and we mozzied back to Kiwitahi. Into Waterworks rd, we climbed for quite a way. Another pic from this road. 284857

This road had a short stretch of gravel then right onto Te Miro rd, Fencourt rd and from there into Maungakawa rd. This has a climb of about 5 ks, all tight 25- 45kph corners, Magic. :bleh: At the top a short gravel road leads to the Gudex Reserve. This has been developed from the grounds of the old TB sanatorium that operated here from tha 1890's to the late 1940's. My grandfather was sent here with TB from which he died in 1948. So this quiet spot had a special significance for me. The monument of stone is dedicated to Michael Gudex who developed the grounds after the hospital closed. The hill in the distance is Kakapuku. Pirongia is to the right under a cloud. 284858

Riding Buggsy down the Maungakawa hill was a grin factor of 10/10. We had a choice of right into Cambridge and straight home or the 'long way home'. Yep, left into French pass road and lots more twisties. 284859

Into Karapiro village, I snapped one more photo. 284860

From here, a short run back to Te A. All up, 240 kilometers. While I will eventually get back into a big bike, this scooter has opened up many local roads that on a big bike, I would probably race past.

Now, I still have a day off tomorrow, and some petrol money left, Maybe a ride and Harbour, Waitomo roads?? Then on the 21st, its a run around the Coromandel loop.

unstuck

10th July 2013, 17:47

Bloody epic stuff. Good on ya.:2thumbsup

Moi

10th July 2013, 19:00

What a great way to spend the day - riding and chewing the fat. You're lucky to have great roads and so little traffic - just a bit envious. Nah, bloody envious! Enjoy your riding tomorrow.

Saturn

11th July 2013, 03:26

As it turned out, the rain only came throughout the day in small doses, but the fog that hung around kept the road surfaces nice and wet. I was getting Buggsy cranked over through many of the corners and never had an anxious moment.

Now, I still have a day off tomorrow, and some petrol money left, Maybe a ride and Harbour, Waitomo roads?? Then on the 21st, its a run around the Coromandel loop.

You are a hardy soul. It's freezing down here in Wanganui, windy and wet too. Sounds like you are not getting it up there. Lucky for some eh? :msn-wink: Have enjoyed your write ups and pics.

awa355

11th July 2013, 18:35

Day off no.2 and after yesterdays run there was still some petrol money left over, so after cutting firewood this morning, Buggsy and I decided to have a run. We filled up and as the old western cliche says, " Go west old fart", or summit like that, we headed west towards Pirongia.

Out past Pirongia to the Ngutunui school where I turned right into Pekanui road. This is a steady uphill climb of about 9 kilometres. A narrow sealed road with barely a straight piece. All tight winding corners. For a little bike, this is a fantastic hill climb. Buggsy forgot he was only supposed to have 100cc under his belt. The little buggar pulled up once to see if I was still onboard so I grabed a snapshot looking back towards Pirongia. 284885

After the seal ended we went onto Okupata road. This was a gravel road for the first 8 k's. Packed down hard but with a few corners loaded with corrugations. No problem to a 21" front end but with 10" rims I noticed the ruts, although the road was a breeze really. 284886

A wee bit down the road I got a nice view of the land with Kawhia harbour in the distance. 284887

Back onto tarseal shortly after and what a ball. A flat run into Oparau with no end of tight corners, a smooth surface and Buggsy blew out the cobwebs. This was the neatest piece of road in the two days' trips. It must have been market day in Oparau. I joined a local lady on the roadside as 'a' car drove through town. As soon as a gap appeared after the car left town, I snapped a shot of some of the best real estate in Oparua, infact, probably the 'only' real estate in town. 284889

Because there are no roundabouts in Oparau, one has to drive around the dead tabby cat on the road before hitting the Kawhia - Otorohanga highway.

This sign says a bit about why bike riders love an afternoon run out to Kawhia.The 10 should read 40. 284890

We stopped at a lookout for one more view. unfortunatly, I can only load six photos, so thats it for this report. Got back to Pirongia just as the rain started. A great two days off work, riding instead of doing dumb stuff around the section.

My next venture is going to be a ride around the Coromandel loop. Should be interesting. :wait:

unstuck

11th July 2013, 19:18

Good on ya dude, top effort. Again.:niceone:

awa355

14th July 2013, 19:02

For this coming weekend I have plans' A & B.

Plan A is my original idea of the Coromandel loop and back home on Sunday.

Plan B is to ride up on Saturday and carry on to Port Jackson. An overnight camp, then back to the original loop ride on the Sunday. I haven't been up past Coromandel, other than a ride to Kennedy's bay many years ago. A mate has a Bivvy bag I can borrow, and with a tarp or fly, it will be a 'basic' camp out. I dont really want to load up the scooter with a sleeping bag, mat, tent, cooking gear etc.

If the penninsula gets a lot of rain this week, I might give the Colville to the tip section, a miss.

I have the Monday/Tuesday off as well so will make a decision closer to the weekend.

Moi

14th July 2013, 19:20

unstuck

14th July 2013, 20:55

Mate, you live in the tropics. A tarp will be ample. Im jealous as hell too. Have a blast dude.:2thumbsup

awa355

14th July 2013, 21:03

Am I jealous? Am I jealous? No-way!! YES-Way!! Jealous as heck!!

While you're out and about I am trying, with some difficulty, to encourage a maths class to have some understanding of algebra and make sure that a few realize that it has nothing to do with lingerie...

Thanks for sharing your adventures with Buggsy, looking forward to hearing about your Coromandel adventure.

How the hell does anyone get an understanding of Algebra?? Apart from looking for solutions by thinking outside the square. Geometry, I can see some logic in. Algebra and Trignometry; no. Do they still issue those Logirithym books?

Moi

14th July 2013, 22:40

How the hell does anyone get an understanding of Algebra?? Apart from looking for solutions by thinking outside the square. Geometry, I can see some logic in. Algebra and Trignometry; no. Do they still issue those Logirithym books?

This is low level algebra - intermediate and lower secondary - use if 1 apple costs 30c, then what would 5 apples cost? and change it to 1a=3 so 5a=y, what is 'y'? some see that, others, well they're still struggling with the concept of multiplication!

We actually use algebra in everyday life quite a bit. Geometry is more visible in everyday life, trig is useful for further maths and science... log books?? I used those and a slide rule... nowadays it's scientific calculators but I prefer them to use a more basic one so they have to actually think - there's a challenge!

Lesson over for the day...

awa355

21st July 2013, 18:40

Ran away from home on Saturday morning. I had decided that rather than do the whole loop in one lightning fast flash, Buggsy and I would cruise around over two days and have a decent look as we went.

The Waikato weather was light drizzle and fog when we left and stayed that way untill Paeroa. By then my gloves were quite wet, my fancy work provided rainproof overpants weren't. I thought then about pulling the pin untill the next day, but pride shone through and we continued on. By Thames, the fog had gone and the clouds were starting to lighten up. The run up the coast was great. A few stops for photos, like this one. 285185
Every bay that had a boat ramp also had a car park full of vehicles and boat trailers. Also lots of people just surfcasting off the rocks and beaches. Where the road leaves the coast a steady climb took us to this next stop to get a photo looking back over the Hauraki estuary. 285188.

Another stop just over the brow of the first climb, and I walked up a hill to get a shot of the ranges looking inland. In this photo there are two tiny dots just below and to the right of the tin haybarn. Two Ducatis winding up the road. They sounded nice. 285189

Coming down the last real drop, I hung a hard left and made my way along the harbour to the Auckland Ferry wharf. A chartered fishing boat was just pulling away with a crowd on board. Someone had apparently left something back in a car. A woman and a man were having a fair old slanging match. God knows what the other passengers were thinking. Back on the road into Coromandel and Buggsy does a sudden lurch into the 309 road. The little buggar loves gravel and he must've known I had been thinking of viewing the Waiau Falls. 8ks along the 309 and just a minutes walk from the road are the falls. Not the biggest in NZ, but a nice spot all the same. 285190

I filled buggsy at the BP station and went for a wander around Coromandel. I have been to Coro before but never ticki toured the streets and side roads. Snapped this pic on the wharf. The harbour was very calm. It was nice to sit and enjoy the quietness. Hardly anyone in sight. 285191 I booked a tent site at the camping ground and set up my 'lightweight' camp site. I had wanted to keep the baggage to a minimum so left the tent at home. Next time, I will be packing the tent. A Bivvy bag on a mat under a fly sheet is not the best for July camping. 285192. With no room to sit up, nothing much to do after dark, it was a long night. The clouds were threatening rain but cleared away and the rest of the night was cool but lying there looking out at the stars and moon with a Morepork calling, was what the trip was all about. In a thousand years, the stars and moon ( and probably a Morepork) will still be there hopefully for someone else to enjoy the natural wonders.

I will write about day 2 in a following post.

awa355

21st July 2013, 19:49

Through the night I had only slept in bits, so about 6, I made my way to the camp kitchen and knocked up some breakfast. I left packing up untill daylight so I wouldn't leave anything behind. Today I tied the camping rolls along the sides of the scooter so I wouldn't have to untie them each time I went to re fuel. Leaving Coromandel I wound up the long climb into the hills behind the township. This Coro to Whitianga road was new territory to me, and I can see why the road warriors love the 'loop'. At the top is a lookout. I pulled up and with the sun still rising behind me, got a photo looking back over Coromandel.
This photo is a panorama using 3 photos to give a decent vista. 285193

From the lookout the road winds its way down through lots of tight hairpins and curves for about 3 ks. Rain had fallen here before my run and the road surface was shiny and wet. Buggsy still had a ball even while erring on the cautious side. Pirelli might make shit F1 tyres, but their scooter tyres are spot on. I would love to ride the entire loop on a decent sports bike, and will, but the scooter has meant I could look for the scenic side of the ride and I've been more inclined to stop for photo opportunities. Here is a pic of the farmland backing onto the ranges. 285194 This is around the Wangapoua area. Lots of utes parked at the forestry road gates. Either pig hunting or tending the 'crops'. :innocent:

I diverted into Matarangi which has that 'Auckland owned' look about it. A lovely beach tho. Back on the main road and at Kuaotunu, was another nice beach settlement. Buggsy wanted his picture taken under a Pohutakawa tree. 285195 Just a bit further along was a boat ramp. I wouldn't like to be trailering a big fibreglass gin palace when the wind is up. Those rocks aren't made of rubber. 285196

More lovely corners uphill and down dale before entering Whitanga. I took a few photos of the beach and harbour but the sun was looking at the camera so most did not produce very well. 285197 "Honest officer, thats not me chatting to that girl" :shit:.

From here on the country took on a more familiar look. Nothing startling to get a photo of. I did stop and try to capture the ruggedness of the ranges. They might not be the highest or remotest, but still no place for fools to go wandering into. 285198

The Hikuai hill was shrouded with rain clouds so it was on with the rain jacket about halfway up. Lots of diesel spills on the corners, so with the wet and those shiny irredescent pools everywhere, we took it easy. From Kopu, it was a boring ride across the Waikato to home. I never did use the petrol I had carried, so I still have two days off before work on Tuesday night. MMM! :scooter:

Robbo

24th July 2013, 08:40

unstuck

24th July 2013, 08:50

fridayflash

24th July 2013, 10:53

Good stuff fella. Great report again. They must be breeding them soft up there now, I just spent 3 nights in below zero conditions around the helen peaks area in a tent fly, and it wasnt too bad.:devil2:

away hunting cuz? or fencing....

great ride reps awa, those wgtn guys planning a scooter tour could take a leaf outa your book

Moi

24th July 2013, 11:38

Enjoyed reading your report. It's a great part of the country to explore. Yes, scooter travel is so enjoyable: get to see stuff the crotchrocket boys don't know exists! And people wave to you when you're on a scooter out in the country - "Can that thing go on the open road?" Joining you would have been fun except for the camping bit - don't do camping anymore!

As for Unstuck - sleeping under a fly - been kicked out of the dog house?

awa355

24th July 2013, 11:52

unstuck

24th July 2013, 12:48

:killingme No weed growing operations were undertaken on this trip, mostly rock climbing and exploring for gold and other precious minerals.:2thumbsup
Most of the weekend was spent above 1000mtrs.:cold:

awa355

24th July 2013, 13:32

awa355

24th July 2013, 14:00

Hey Mate, Great report. Thanks for the story and the pics. Have done those Waikato roads and the Coro Loop on my road bike before but have never stopped to take in the scenery or pics you you have, well done.
What sort of road speed were you able to maintain on the scooter and did you have any hassles with the traffic in general?
Cheers

Cruising on the road would be around the 80 kph range. Even on the long climbs the scooter might fall back to about 50-60 but only one short steep hill had me dropping down much further. I gave up on the " big hp, big balls" atitude years ago. I do miss the power of a bike but I've adjusted to, what I own is what I ride. I sold the big bike last year to find some finance to help our son out.

The traffic; I just pull onto the shoulder and let them go. The 2 stroke simply hums along, no vibration, quite quiet, I just sit in my comfort zone and enjoy the ride. A lot of the tight stuff, I would go round easier than my big heavy cruiser would've done. Changing lines and cornering on a scooter can be different to a proper motorbike. The front wheel is just in front of the handlebars and being a 10" it can change direction so quick.

The Yamaha has done almost 8,000k now and is still running the original spark plug. I run it on Castrol Activ 2t mineral oil. ( can buy it at any repco or warehouse ) The bike doesn't smoke or bog down under load at all. The seat is the best of any bike in recent years. I can do 300k in a day without getting a numb bum. With having had a lower back disc problem, I find the sit up position far better than having to stretch forward like some riding styles.

unstuck

24th July 2013, 14:56

One of my great grand uncles lived and mined at Nasby through the 30-60's. He is buried at Nasby. I want to come down that way next year and find his grave. I believe he used to work the rivers, he never married and died in 1968, without finding his fortune.

Great wee place nasby. I used to spend a bit of time fossicking around that area. Some good gold has come out of there over the years.:yes:

awa355

25th July 2013, 15:48

Well, I've got my next big idea ticking over. On the ADVrider forum in the NZ section the Taranaki riders are talking of a cape to cape ride this Labour weekend. One suggestion was to start with the sunrise on the east coast and finish with the sunset on the western coast. The organisers will do their run from west to east, so I thought, the sunrise to sunset ride would be an interesting challenge on a scooter.:scooter:

Looked at the lighthouse on the east coast to the lighthouse out from New Plymouth but with that much country to cover, it would be a shame to race through and not take the opportunity to see the country. So a shorter coast to coast would still be an interesting day ride.

So it is Whakatane to Taharoa / Marakopa at this stage. Will ride west via Rotorua, Atiamuri Te Kuiti. I will need to scan the maps to find roads that keep me off the highways as much as possible.

I will look at a date in October, possibly the 12-13th. My weekend off in Sept is tied up, so it will have to be October, unless I use my days off during the weekdays of September. Wont camp out on this trip. I will leave Te A about midnight and travel east, get a bit of kip when there, Photograph the sunrise, and then make my way across to the west coast. From there It will be a short run back home.

Something to plan for. :scooter:

craisin

28th July 2013, 19:32

smoking weed is so old school
all the get ahead set are smoking dick and the behive is not out of bounds

i use stationary engine oil as it has heat tolerance for a 4 stroke

awa355

20th August 2013, 20:28

My next decent ride is going to be as in my previous post. Ride to Whakatane, photograph the sunrise, then return via Murapara, Waiteti valley, Ohakuri dam, Tirohanga/Kaahu rds. Across to TeKuiti, out to Taharoa beach to photograph the sunset.

Lots of back roads and scenery. I hope to do this run either October or early November. I will try for a window of fine weather and light clouds to get some nice photos.

Would enjoy having other scooter riders join in. It will be a long day and involve some night riding at both ends.

awa355

1st September 2013, 18:18

Woke up to a lovely clear day, not a cloud. Just right for a ' short ' run to give Buggsys battery a charge up. I had wanted to have a ride through some of the back roads between Kawhia and Waitomo. After filling the spare gas container Buggsy and I left Te A along Pokuru road, finding my way across onto the Kawhia road. I turned left into Turitea road. 8k of easy winding flat road then right into Honikiwi rd.

Lots of corners as this road climbs through the hill country that continues out to the coast. This road is sealed for about 10ks and has a good sealed surface, fairly narrow but lots of lovely farmland. 287095

After the sealed surface came the gravel. The country also changed from farmland to pine forests and native reserves. This stretch had also just been re metalled recently. Hence very thick loose metal to slow Buggsy up a wee tad. This section is pretty much one lane wide but we never met any other vehicle so had no dramas. 287096

At the end of Honikiwi rd I had a choice. Right into Kaimango rd and more gravel, or left into Kaimango rd and even more metal. Left it was. This road is more a limestone base and being hard and smooth, we barreled along stopping to take a number of photos, 287097 Had I turned right, back at the Honikiwi/Kaimango junction, I would have come out on the Kawhia road.

A bit further along, this stream seemed to disappear under the rocks. 287098

All this country is sitting on limestone rock as seen in the photos. It must have been hard going for the original settlers and being dry stock farming, probably isn't too easy to farm in todays economic times.

The end of Kaimango rd saw a return to a sealed surface. 287100

From this point is a 5k ride along the Hauturu road untill we met the Harbour road. As I can only load 6 photos in a post, I'll finish my tale in the following post.

Moi

1st September 2013, 18:55

You definitely got the better deal - riding those roads is much more fun than marking maths tests...

Tomorrow weeding and spraying??

awa355

1st September 2013, 19:11

From the junction of Hauturu and Harbour road Buggsy flicked from adventure mode into sports mode. After the 35-40ks of unsealed roads it was great to wind up and start playing the 'boy racer' bit. As always there can be corners where the light rocks and gravel wash down off the banks onto the road. The tide was on the way out as seen here. 287102

A short run along Harbour road and we turned right into Te Waitere road. This was a road that I have always ridden past while on the bigger bikes. After 6k of more corners Buggsy and I arrived at the city of Te Waitere. Coming down to the wharf I saw a bike and two riders ahead of me. I thought I reconized the blue/black jackets. They thought they had seen Buggsy before. On my Coromandel loop ride back in July, I had stopped to get a photo and two riders were parked at that same spot. The same husband/wife combo. We chatted for a while. It turned out their next stop was like mine, Taharoa. As there wasn't much other than mudflats to look at, it was a quick cup of tea and look around, then back on the bike. 287104

Another back road was Whakapirau rd. Smooth gravel and about 8k long. Not very far from there to Taharoa. Through the village and onto yet more gravel. This was the roughest stretch of gravel on the entire trip. About 4 k and a stop at the lookout over the beach. 287106 Anchored out off the coast was an iron ore ship. I'm not sure, but believe the ore is pumped out to the waiting ships via an under water pipeline. Up behind the park area was a Cat D11 tractor. 287109

After sizing each other up, the two heavyweights had a pow wow about horsepower and machine talk and stuff. 287108

Actually it was in a spot of bother, Under the rear end was a cutdown 44gal drum full of oil.

From Taharoa we cruised on back. The clouds had closed in a bit and as the country back through to Waitomo was much of what has already been posted, I didn't stop for any more photos. The Waitomo road was brilliant. Winding Buggsy up and rockin thru' the corners was a buzz. Stopped at the village for a stretch, I realised just how small that front brake disc is on the scooter, and it had been getting a good workout. Back home via the Waitomo valley road and home to a hot tongue and cold bum. " Thought you were only going for a short ride" Well, it was only a smidgen over 200 kilometers.

I have done the Kawhia / Habour rd / Waitomo run many times but never looked at the other ride options in that area. There is always another road to discover. My proposed jaunt as mentioned in post #39 may have to wait untill December now. I'm off to Dunedin early November so need to build up the Brownie points for that ride.

About 45ks of todays ride was on gravel.

awa355

1st September 2013, 19:12

You definitely got the better deal - riding those roads is much more fun than marking maths tests...

Tomorrow weeding and spraying??

Nah, cleaning the scooter.

Moi

1st September 2013, 20:09

Nah, cleaning the scooter.

To which I responded with a hearty laugh and a "bugger the weeds"...

awa355

2nd September 2013, 12:54

To which I responded with a hearty laugh and a "bugger the weeds"...

I did the spraying this morning, and dug the garden plots over. The cleaning of the scooter will have to wait. I have another little run arranged for tomorrow, down to PioPio.

Moi

2nd September 2013, 14:57

I did the spraying this morning, and dug the garden plots over. The cleaning of the scooter will have to wait. I have another little run arranged for tomorrow, down to PioPio.

PioPio - one of the first schools to have school buses, based on Model Ts.

Have a look at http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/16503/school-buses

awa355

27th September 2013, 13:56

Friday, I decided to have a meander out and fill the morning checking out the side roads that run up Maungatautari mountain, and nab the Waikato Tagarama as well. Stopped to get a few photos to add, however the sun spat the dummy and the photos I've added do not show the country at its best.

Just shy of Lemmington on the Roto-O-Rangi rd are a number of horse studs. Usually I find horses quite photogenic so stopped for this first pic. The stupid animals refused to cooperate for the camera but I managed to get these to stay in range.

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Coming down the hill to the Karapiro rowing complex, Buggsy spied an old fella at the start of Donkeys cycle track and stopped for a chat.

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" ee! Lad you younins dont know yee are alive. In ma day we didn hae mortors n stuff. We onle ha pedals yu knowe "

" Yea okay Gramps, My God! is that the time? Must be going "

A couple of ks further and I nabbed the Waikato tag. At this point the cycle path drops off the banks along the lake and follows the edge of the lake. The next photo is showing looking back along this stretch. Behind this spot is a bloody steep climb back up to the road. From here on the cycle track is still being constructed.
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Opposite the Maungatautari school, Hicks rd takes you up to the special native bird santuary. this involves a ' pest free ' fence around the entire forested crown of the mountain. All these no exit roads have good surfaces and their share of tight corners. Coming back down Hicks rd, I grabbed this shot of the letterbox, I was going to use this for the new tag.

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The poor starving cow cocky could only afford a rubbish can for a letterbox. Then I realised, he would need a decent sized box to take the record dairy payout cheque from Fonterra next year. Some more ups and downs and we headed left into Heads road then into Stokes rd. I first rode this on my GB500tt. Narrow, unmarked, smooth sealed surface, lots of sweeping 60-70k corners. It is only a 6 or 7 minute deviation from the Maungatautari rd. Well worth it. My final side road was Roberts rd. This was quite a narrow road ( more of a lane ) but with great views out across the Horahora section of Karapiro lake and across the sth Waikato. I've included a photo from this road but it doesn't show the vista as well as the real scene. Tried to re attach the correct photo. It will only show up at the bottam.

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Back onto Plantation road and a neat short run down to the Piarere reserve on the Horahora lake. This is the upper half of lake Karapiro, but known locally by its own name. The ' sandy ' strip around the waters edge is usually under water, but the lake has been lowered quite a bit to allow clearing some of the weed beds that exist in the hydro lakes.

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I rode back along the same roads so not much else to write about. Most of these side roads, I would simply race past on a big bike, and miss seeing a lot of pretty country.

awa355

24th October 2013, 17:06

Parked in the garage, Buggsy was listening to the shed radio. Heard the weather is likely to turn a bit crappy over the weekend so whistled me up and we went for a wee tiki tour around some local back roads before the weather turned nasty.

Didn't bother with the camera this time as the sky was cloudy and the day wasn't all that promising. Pokuru rd thru' to Otorohanga was in good nick, lots of curvy corners along the ridge.

Stopped at a cafe in the main street. Lots to chose from so I naturally pick the toughest, oldest bacon and egg sammys in the shop. 10 minutes munching on the sidewalk while eyeing up the local talent then on the beast and into the Kawhia road. A short way along then left into Honikiwi road. This climbs up through the hills between Oto and Waitomo. Some short steep bits but the little scooter pulled us both up the hills pretty damn well. Lots of gullys and hillsides that seem to be sliding back into gorse and other rubbish. At the top of one climb, I pulled over and grabbed a snap with the phone, looking back over Otorohanga.

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As I said earlier, the weather wasn't too flash but a couple of pics breaks up the text. From the same viewpoint for the next one looking back towards Kakapuka mt.

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A bit further along Honikiwi rd, we turned right into Turitea rd. This is a flat run through a long valley. Nice farmland and plenty of corners. Back on the Kawhia road and more 35 - 55kph corners. This stretch has a stream running alongside the road and with the willows in leaf makes for a scenic ride. I have fished this stream ( the Ngutunui ) but its hard going.

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When we got to the Ngutunui rd intersection, we doubled back to enjoy the corners one more time. The ride back from the Te Kawa crossroads went fairly quickly and we were soon back home.

Nothing really startling about this ride or super fantastic views that can't be found elsewhere, but still every ride is a goodie. One thing this ride reminded me of, an open face helmet is a hellva lot colder and noisier than a full face.

awa355

12th November 2013, 18:39

Kawhia to Raglan.

I had been thinking about a ride a bit more challenging than the usual roads. The coastal roads from Kawhia to Raglan were roads that I had not travelled at all. Riding them on a scooter would be an interesting angle.

So this morning Buggsy and I fueled up, him with gas, me with food and drink. Out past Pirongia we took a right at the Ngutunui school and climbed up Pekanui road. Since my last blast up this road, there have been a number of corners patched and resealed. Untill the loose crap gets washed away the cornering speeds need to be kept down. Over the brow and the 8k of gravel on Okupata road has recently been graded. Lots of thick loose metal to contend with. After the metal came a favourite stretch of road. Winding through a endless supply of corners untill we came out on the Kawhia road.

A tad shy of Kawhia I turned into the Kawhia / Raglan road. The name seems to depend whether you read the map or the road signs. Anyway, this stretch winds its way down into a bush clad gorge before rising over a couple of saddles. Here is a pic typical of this road.

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About 12k along and we arrived at the Te Papatapu / Kawhia road junction. If you turn right you can find your way to the Bridal Veils Falls. Apparently it is even rougher than the road just ridden. The 12 k from the Kawhia end, I found fairly slow going. The corners were deeply rutted and the scooter’s 10” rims struggled with the corrugations.

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Te Papatapu road runs along the inner shoreline of Aotea harbour for the first bit. Stopping at a pulloff a few k’s along, I pulled out the thermos and sammys. The tide was out but I wanted to capture the place with the camera so took a few snaps and welded them together when back home.

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At the junction of Te Papatapu and Phillips road we were back on the tarseal. After bouncing along some of the roughest metal roads, I’ve struck for a while, it was good to crack the whip and unleash all of Buggsys’ 6hp. Now I know why the scooter has a stepped seat, it’s to stop the rider being thrown off the back when all hell breaks loose.

At TeMata, we swung left into Ruapuke road. A fantastic piece of sweeping corners, rises and dips. After about 12-15ks we were back into the gravel. Dropping down a gradual decent we turned into the Ruapuke beach road. The end is simply a turn around and carpark. No view of the coast so we headed back out to Ruapuke road and turned left. A short climb and down the tight winding gravel, we came to Swanns access rd. This took us down to the beach, where I finished the tea and sandwiches. There is something about the west coast beaches. I love them. Most have avoided being trashed by the developers, such as Mt Maunganui has been, but I guess in time we will lose these wild places.

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From here, the road becomes Whaanga rd. This was the roughest piece of road of the ride. Corrugations, big surface goullies, potholes. The scenery was fantastic. The road climbed well above the sea providing some lovely vistas.

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I’m allowed one more photo so have added this one.

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After the Te Toto reserve ( worst piece on the ride ) it was good to get back onto the Wainui road and into Raglan to fuel up.

After some 60 kilometres of gravel roads, it says something about the build quality of the Yamaha. I went over the scooter at Raglan and there wasn’t a single loose or missing screw or fitting. Filling Buggsy at Raglan after 125 k’s from Te Awamutu, he took a mere 4.1 litres.
The ride home was great. I had fitted a small mini HD video camera to the scooter at home. It is not an ‘ action’ video but with a class 10 card, it took some reasonable clips. Considering it was a miserable $15 from trade me, the quality wasn’t too bad. I have a couple of vids to post. Just need to sort out how to upload and edit them and I’ll post them.

This ride was not the most enjoyable, I’ve done. Scenery was fantastic, but 10” wheels are not the best for these roads. I knew that before I left home, but doing it on something that most would think ‘ too hard ‘ was part of the challenge.

awa355

12th November 2013, 21:05

Further to my last post here is a brief clip of my $15 mini video camera. It is a stationary camera, but I thought I would have a play just for the hell of it. This is coming up the Raglan Deviation today. It shakes and waves a fair bit but was never meant to be a Go pro.

The scooter doesn't do too badly for a 6hp engine pulling almost 100kg.

Also, the 10" wheels transmitt a lot of vibration from the road.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MN2DO81sLA

Just previewed it. The finished you tube version is crap, much worse than the original.

awa355

12th November 2013, 21:16

This is from earlier in the day on the Ruapuke rd. Also an uphill climb. After all the rough metal up to then, this felt like the wee beast was flying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS3YNTYNQBc

awa355

15th November 2013, 08:41

My Coast to Coast.

This was going to be a ride to photograph the sunrise off the east coast, then photograph the sun setting off the west coast at the end of the day. The end didn’t work out quite that way for reasons I’ll explain later.
I had wanted to do a night ride on the scooter, and as I had to be on the east coast before dawn this worked out for me.
At midnight I pushed Buggsy out the front gate and we were off. First the back road to Lemmington, then up Maungatautari rd to hit SH1 at Piarere. Only met two vehicles between there and Tirau. There, the tin dog building was lit up by lights that changed colour so I took my first picture of this creation.

289844

It doesn’t appeal to me at all but it is something different. After Tirau came the Mamaku hills. I was only wearing a thermal top, and heavy shirt under my riding jacket. The inner thermal lining had been removed a few weeks ago. I should have put it back for this trip. The temperture was a few degrees lower over the Mamaku’s. Chilly but the moon, clouds and the stars made a perfect night vista. One truck was all I saw untill I got to Rotorua. Filled Buggsy up at the BP on Fairy Springs road, a couple of hot sauages to warm the insides and we made our way down to the lake front. I had a stretch and took the 2nd photo.

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After waiting for the locals to turn up and start a fight, rob us or do whatever tourists get done to while in Rotovegas, we headed out of town, Infact, there was no one out anywhere. Lots of resealing from Te Nae road and on SH30 through the Rotoma’s. I tried for a photo of the lake with the moon reflecting off it during a rest by lake Rotoiti, but the night scenery mode on the camera is crap, so I flagged that idea. A couple of trucks went past but through out this night, the traffic was quite sparse.

The lights on the scooter are surprisingly good and for the speed I ride at ( 75 – 80 kph ) give a reasonable spread and distance. One annoying feature in the name of safety are the warning signs. My understanding is that sometime ago the clowns decided to double the reflective coatings of the road signs. As a result, some of the yellow signs indicating corners are so bright that seeing past the sign to follow the actual road is bloody hard. Other than that, the Rotomas’ were a ball.
The day before this ride, I had a new rear tyre fitted, but I stuffed up the size when ordering and so finished up with a lower profile tyre than the original size. ( down from 90 to a 70 profile ). As a result the top speed is a bit slower, but the pulling power is better. Tight corners and a light quick scooter makes for lots of grins and makes up for the lose of open road performance of bigger bikes.
We turned off sh30 into Grieves road, and took a number of roads untill we reached the Westbank road. This ended at the Thornton beach car park. I could hear the surf just out of sight, so tried to get some shuteye on the ground and wait for the dawn. Couldn’t nap so poured a lukewarm cup of tea from my ‘made in China’ thermos. And had a snack.
Eventually shades of light started to appear so I got the camera sorted and waited for the sun to spring up from beyond the sea. The bastards that taught me the sun rises from the east and sets in the west were talking crap! The sun rises from behind Whakatane. Here’s the photo to prove it.

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This is looking across the Rangitaiki river mouth towards Whakatane. I took a number of photos so have included a couple more. As the sun came up I got this one looking back along the Rangitaiki river to Mt Edgecumbe otherwise known as Putauaki.

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Among the photos I found three I tried to make a panarama of. The programme didn’t do a great job, but I have included it anyway.

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My last photo is of a decent size bit of driftwood. If this is just part of a a tree covered by sand, it must have been here for a while.

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About 7 oclock I was ready to start my trip back across the island. This isn’t the widest part of the north island but it was where I had decided to start from. The next part will be in my next post.

awa355

15th November 2013, 12:19

Coast to Coast part two.

As I left West Bank road I crossed the bridge and turned into East Bank road. Fuelling up at Edgecumbe, I was asked about the scooter. When I told the lady where I had come from and done she looked at me and said “ Fuck man, you must be fuckin crazy”. She was obviously educated in Edgecumbe.

My original plan had been to head off down through Murupara and back up to the Waititi valley. By this time I had been 24 hours without any sleep to speak of, so decided to hed back through Rotorua and kip down at a friends place. I couldn’t get a reply from her, so headed towards Te Teko and joined sh30. The traffic was quite heavy at this time so Buggsy and I sat on the shoulder and let it all go by. Down by Lake Rotoiti, the eyeballs were dropping somewhat, so I pulled over at a small rest area and tried to catch some sleep. A logging hauler up on the hill behind the rest area was working and the continueous blasts from the air horns killed any idea of resting. On we went.

Coming along Te Nae road, I noticed the petrol prices were $2.02.9c. So of course, the service stn I stop at on Fenton st has petrol at $2.11.9c None of that ‘ cheap ‘ stuff in my scooter. As I entered the court yard , I noticed a some Highway 61 gang members and their bikes there. As there were only about 20 of them, Buggsy and I weren’t too worried. There were a number of women dressed in black as well, getting in and out of vehicles and they all seemed to be together. They could have been off to the Tangi of the chap killed at Te Papa a few days ago.

I had picked up a bit by then so decided to get back to my original plan. South out of Rotorua and onto the Atiamuri road. Turned left into the Whirinaki road and aimed for Ngakuru. Some nice country through here. At the top of lake Ohakuri is a pleasant domain where I had thought I would get some sleep. Unfortunately, the ground was covered in a swarm of insects, Midges, I think. They covered the grass. Pushing on, I stopped for a photo of this end of the lake.

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From here Pautakataka road climbed and weaved through rolling country. The grassed hills with the outcrops of rocks interspersed with big gnarley Pine trees makes a change from the Waikato. Next road was Galatos rd. The surface is gravel untill the turn into Maleme road, which is also gravel, The difference being, the corrugations are a lot deeper. Particularly on the downward side of the hills and one is trying to apply the brakes. Here is a photo looking across the Atiamuri country taken from Maleme road. Incidently, Galatos and Maleme are names of places in Crete, that featured in the WW2 battle of Crete. Galatos was where my father was taken prisoner by the Germans.

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The peak just off centre will feature a bit later. The tail end of Maleme road reverts to tarseal. Left at the end takes us to the Ohakuri dam. There is a large grassed rest area by the dam so I tried to get some sleep. I may have dozed off slightly but not enough to revive me really. Many of the dams on the Waikato river are located in very scenic gorges. This was no exception.

Here is looking back up from the dam.

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Swimming thataway will take you to the Orakei-korako tourist spot. Geysers, tourist prices etc. Swimming downstream will take you through this sort of country.

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As swimming down the waikato river isn’t my thing, Buggsy and I cossed the dam and rode up to SH1. A couple of k’s along and we turned left into Tirohanga road. Here we get a close up of the rock outcrop from the Maleme road photo.

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This used to be covered in mature Pine trees, and as kids we wondered how anyone could get up there to cut the trees down. They did. This is all pine tree country. Tirihanga road runs along a beautiful valley which holds the Whakamaru hydro lake.
Towards the end of this road, just before Pohipi road is a side road where a sawmill operated for many years. Mokai. My family lived there in 1946/7. Very few buildings remain, but this house is still standing.

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The rest of my ride will come in another post.

awa355

15th November 2013, 15:38

Here we go again.

Coast to Coast Part Three.

After visiting where Mokai used to exist, I was on Poihipi road. This is ‘ big bike ‘ country. Most riders take this route through to the Western Bay Access road, then up to Whakamaru. I turned off into Kaahu road. This fairly much runs parallel with the Western Bay road. It is a slower road which climbs and goes around hills more so than the better known route. This had been resealed recently and was in good condition. Here is a view from Kaahu road overlooking the Whakamaru country.

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This was once dry stock farming but the almighty dollar has spoken and dairy farming is the main form of farming nowadays.
By this time it was about 2.00pm and the lack of sleep was beginning to tell. I had sort of decided to pull the pin at TeKuiti by now. Pulling up and having a kip is all very well. Actually sleeping is another thing. Stretching right back on the seat and extending my legs, rolling my shoulders etc all helped. Coming into Whakamaru past the Primary school, I thought of my wee grandson just through the classroom walls. It would have been great to have stopped and seen the little man, but the school staff might not have been so keen. Had a brief rest at the lake and snapped this view. Doesn’t show the true lake. I have fished this lake from a dinghy and it is a lovely lake.

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A wee way past Whakamaru and I was on the Bennydale road. I carried on through to Bennydale and stopped for an ice cream. Infact, I had two. At TeKuiti, I pulled up and thought about my options. I was so close to the west coast that I didn’t want to come this far and not reach the coast. Then I thought, by going home via the Waitomo – Harbour road, at least I would have crossed the island from the Pacific ocean to the Tasman sea on the scooter.
Out of TeKuiti, it was onto Fullerton road and through to Waitomo caves. Full of the usual camper vans and buses etc, we raced right through. The Waitomo to Te Anga road is what a motorbike road should be. This part of the Kawhia loop is in better shape than the Kawhia road.
Drifting across the white line and crossing one way bridges before realising I hadn’t checked who had the right of way hit home. The time riding was not the problem, the time since a decent sleep was. From Te Anga to the Kinohaku school is about 19 k. I stopped and took another photo to break up the riding.

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In the distance I could see the harbour. I followed the upper reaches of the Kawhia harbour untill I found this spot to pull up.

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I really would have liked to have made my way out to either Marakopa or Taharoa and waited for the sun to set. This would have been about another four to five hours away and there would still have been an even longer ride home. At least I had been from coast to coast on the scooter. Infact I had virtually done the crossing twice, counting my ride to Thornton beach and back home from the Kawhia harbour. Buggsy and I got home at 6.30pm.

I covered 625k on the scooter, With the time spent waiting for the sun to come up, taking photos and resting, I would have spent about 12 hours riding. The scooter averaged 34 k per litre.

Considering the hard ride over the Kawhia – Raglan road two days before, and this run, Buggsy never missed a beat. He had 2200 on the clock when I bought him and I’ve clocked up an additional 9,500 k’s on him in 9 months. He is still running on the original sparkplug. Nothing has ever come loose or broken. The scooter has done a lot of gravel roads. New front brake pads are due next week. Apart from tyres these will be my first outgoings. For my money, the quality of a Japanese designed scooter is miles ahead of its Asian cuzzies.

Now, for my next ride??? Maybe a midnight ride to Wellington for breakfast?? I’ll have a think about that. Last time I tried that trip was on an old XS750 custom in the middle of July.

Moi

15th November 2013, 17:48

A truly wonderful day's riding...

Buggsy's a game wee fella! [Who needs 1000+cc to enjoy the open road?]

awa355

24th November 2013, 18:33

Met up with six other scooter riders in Hamilton this afternoon after reading of a proposed ride as listed on the Scooter Bar FB page. Apart from Grant of the ' Scooter Bar ' I had not met any of the others. Den Shaw was the instigator of this event and had a course plotted out over about 80k. One novice in Ronnie who did damn well for his first ride.

A leisurely run with a stop over at Orini ( where the bloody ice cream shop was closed ) :doh:

We are hoping, we will get together once a month for a run. It was good to link up with others riding the same machines.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/3320f612-efe8-40aa-87e5-a103ec3a9bb4.jpg?t=1385274452

awa355

15th December 2013, 21:50

After tea I decided to take a short run around a couple of side roads. It was a beautiful evening. I had wanted to see how my new toy filmed in the low light.

Yesterday, my wife had bought me a new Gopro camera for christmas. It wasn't supposed to be touched until the 25th. After 2 hours of sulking, she couldn't stand having to step over a dropped bottam lip, so Xmas came early :banana::banana:

Johnson road is a No Exit road between Te Awamutu and Pirongia. It runs along a saddle and the late sun across the farms below Mt Pirongia showed The best of the patches of bush dotted across the hillsides. The sun was pretty well in front of me on the ride out. This is a snapshot from the Gopro clip.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Evening1.png

The shadows took up a bit more of the photo than I had first thought. Just a 1/2hr ride but a warm clear evening rounded up the day nicely.

awa355

18th December 2013, 19:44

Did a short run around the back roads yesterday to have a chance to play with my new Gopro. Dont bother watching if listening to Margaret Keys is not your taste. The Gopro was set to 720p @ 30fps HD format.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSQK8S25Y24&feature=youtu.be

awa355

20th December 2013, 20:50

This is an earlier part of the same run. I set the Gopro to WVGA at 60fps just to compare the difference between the Gopro's HD and SD formats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcM1N-y9gLc

frogfeaturesFZR

20th December 2013, 21:19

Great video. Buggsy gets along nicely !

Moi

21st December 2013, 09:15

Morning awa355, this is my tuppence worth:
I'm no techno-wizard so no doubt the techs will not understand what I say - hehe...
Of the two vids, I prefer the SD as it seems cleaner to me - by that, I mean, the image has a sharpness to it due to the colour/contrast being more evident than in the HD vid. The HD vid has a 'softness' - almost as if the image has been waterwashed as you can do in art. The colour/contrast is not as sharp to me. I went to the youtube versions and downloaded both so I could run them side-by-side. I understand that HD does give more info and so allows for better video when enlarged and some I have seem are crystal-clear in HD at fullscreen where as SD can become slightly pixelated in fullscreen mode - this seems to contradict what I said above, however when both seen as same size the SD just had the edge over the HD

All of that aside - I am enjoying the products of your Xmas present... that little pouting paid off!

Cheers,
Moi

awa355

26th December 2013, 19:36

I was determined to do todays ride regardless of the weather, despite waking up to rain on the roof. By 9am it had disappeared and I headed off along Pokuru road to Otorohanga. This ride was going to stay off the state highways as much as possible and to stay on roads best suited for 75 – 80kph speeds. The clouds were low and black, so I expected to be kitting up in the wet gear before too long.

Into Oto, and after the main street, I did a left under the rail over bridge, then right into Old Te Kuiti road. No traffic, plenty of corners. After a couple of road name changes I hit SH3 by the Te Kuiti airstrip. A quick top up of fuel and off out of town heading towards Bennydale. I stopped at the site of the Mangapehi sawmill. This is one of only three houses still standing on this site. My uncle worked here before the 2nd world war and won a number of NZ Axemens chopping records.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic1.jpg

Turning right onto the Poro-O-Tarao road I pointed Buggsy towards Wamiha. In the early 1970’s when I travelled this road weekly on the XS650, this road was gravel right through to Wamiha. Now it is sealed and apart from the distintive Tomb in the next picture doesn’t resemble the road I used to know.

Back then I was told that the Tomb was the resting place of an early settler from Europe. Today I saw a plaque that looks fairly genuine, above the door which appears to be a dedication to the local Maori. It is dated 1920. The graves surrounding the Tomb all seem to have headstones belonging to Maori culture.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic2.jpg

Just before Wamiha I turned left into the Ongarue Stream road. Back in the 70’s, I worked in a logging gang working a large farmers block of pine. We used a Skagit hauler. Across the Ongarue stream was Endeans mill. They were milling native timber from the state forest in the area. Even for those times, the mill worked with obsolete methods. Sonny Kerehopa would load the timber onto the A7 Bedford by hand, before taking it into the Wamiha rail station and then off loading it onto the rail wagons, again by hand. Once a month, Sonny would take the truck into Bennydale and return loaded with booze. We stayed in an old farm house on the farm and spent many evenings in one of the mill houses drinking with the locals. They were a fantastic bunch. All gone now.

The mill is a photographers delight, broken rusted old trucks and half collapsed buildings. Unfortunately, I only got this one photo before a local farmer appeared from nowhere to rant and rave about the mill site being private property and a $10 donation being required before wandering around. He calmed down after I explained my connection with the area.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic3.jpg

Back to Wamiha, I was going to get a pic of the old cinema there but two locals were out front having a knuckle dragging contest in the loose gravel , and after ruffling one lot of feathers , I decided to just push on. The road from here is sealed all the way out to SH4. It is bloody rough though. Sunken, uneven, it was probably the worst piece of road on the days ride. I turned left into Ongarue, then right into the Ongarue back road. This runs roughly parallel with the true left bank of the Ongarue river right into Taumarunui. Gravel for 14k, but in far better condition than the sealed road before the village. I stopped to switch off the Gopro and took this photo of the river.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic4.jpg

Just a bit further on and I thought the rail bridge might have some photogenic appeal. Not really, but why put a sign up saying ‘ Trains only ‘ then build a walkway across? Yea, I know, to service the tracks I guess.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic5.jpg

This road comes into the back of Taumarunui. A quick fuel up and it was off down the Forgotten highway. The day was mostly cloudy with occasional showers so the photos are not the best.

awa355

26th December 2013, 20:36

My father was raised on the banks of the Wanganui river at a place called Aukopae back in the 1920’s. So this place means a lot to me, especially when currently writing my dads story. River road used to look like this back then.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Untitledpicture2-4.jpg?t=1388045872

Somewhat improved today, I pushed on until reaching the site of the old original school site. Nothing here now, but as a five year old, I camped on this spot with my dad back in 1957.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic7.jpg

Across the road from this place up on a hill is a white wooden house that my grandfather built in 1926. Nice to see it is still a family home. Down Saddlers road is the site of the Aukopae landing. Can’t see much here, but this was where the settlers met the river boats. Here is looking upstream from the landing site.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic9.jpg
From here the road climbs and turns over the saddles untill River road meets SH43.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic10.jpg

I used the Gopro along here but was not aware of the mounting having loosened up. I will load a short clip after this post of Buggsy chewing up the hills and killing the corners

awa355

26th December 2013, 21:27

Mangaparo road has a lot of patching and resealing at the moment, but this road was new to me so still enjoyable. A lot of sheep farming with dairying moving in.
10 k’s along and one arrives at Ohura. Obviously a busy day in Ohura.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic12.jpg

Found a park outside the local umm, umm local shop.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic13.jpg

Ohura is quite interesting to ride around the streets ( yes, they have streets ). My mate used to be the policeman here back in the 90’s. I used to ride with a group from Matamata and we came down one weekend. The guys thought it was quite neat to sleep in the police cell for the night.

The road winds its way to Matiere. Even smaller than Ohura, some neat old buildings give it some charm. I did try to call in at Shafty’s house ( thought someone who owns a Honda would have a flasher house? ), but no one answered. Then I remembered the buggar was away at Wanganui.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic14.jpg

Took his advice about the back roads to Aria and had a ball. The gravel roads are well maintained and even on a scooter with 10” wheels I was quite pleased with my average speed.

I can see why Shafty likes living out here, Look at the local talent, ( if blondes are your thing )

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pic16.jpg

Eventually, I was back on tarseal and had a blast into Piopio. I refueled, and what a difference running at a backed off throttle makes to the fuel consumption. From Taumarunui, down River road, Ohura, through the back gravel roads, and only 4 litres.

I was starting to get a bit jaded by now but was determined to finish the route I had set out. Out along the Mairoa road, the rain which had threatened all day arrived, although still nothing like the Met sv had promised. Oparure road is fantastic. Turned into Fullerton rd and the weariness started to set in. This road and the Waitomo Valley roads saw my concentration drop a bit. No drifting across the road but I wasn’t as sharp as earlier in the day. A stop and walk around in Otorohanga did wonders and the back road to Te A was a breeze. All up, 360ks. Not a big mileage on a decent road bike but with about 70 k of gravel and plenty of hills, it was still a work out for a 100cc scooter and for me.

Moi

27th December 2013, 09:37

Morning, thanks for sharing your ride, 210miles [360km] is a good distance on 10inch wheels!
The area round Ongarue and that back road to Taumarunui and the road over the top of the Poro-o-tarao rail tunnel has been explored by myself in a car... you need a good map so you don't have to back track so much! The timber/sawmilling and bushrailway/railway history of that area is most interesting - a good book is "The Era of the Bush Tram in New Zealand" by Paul Mahoney.
Cheers

shafty

27th December 2013, 12:36

Great write up Awa, and a great ride completed, well done

I have an involvement with the Matiere Cossie Club, and we are most happy for travellers, be they Campervans or adventure (or scooter) riders to camp in our garden bar should they wish

The 3 Clubs in the area do offer great atmosphere, - at Matiere we have full Dining Fri and Sunday, hot bar snacks otherwise, free wi-fi etc etc - and can organise a BBQ etc should there be a group coming thru

Shafty

Robbo

3rd January 2014, 19:38

Great write up and pics AWA. Thanks. I have ridden some of those King Country roads in the past and recognized some of those pics.
The Forgotten Highway was one of my favourites. Love your little scoot and will look foward to your next adventure. :first:

Cheers

Robbo

awa355

6th January 2014, 20:48

Tried out the time lapse camera on the Gopro today. Got this pic of Sparrows feeding on the fence. The bird above the hen looks like it is a painting on the white wall. Anyway, I like it. I am playing with ways of recording flying birds in slow motion in video and still formats.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Sparrow2.png

awa355

7th January 2014, 16:00

About 9am and I'm thinking to myself, I need to get my act together. Half the summer gone, and the windows still aren't painted, the gates need water blasting and painting, the firewood leanto needs cleaning out, the holes dug by the dog need filling in, the shelf in the kitchen needs putting up, the garden is a mess.

Today is the day I stop procrastinating and start ' doing' So with that I pulled on the jacket and helmet and went for a ride. :motu:

Found myself in Cambridge, and decided to have a run up Sanatorium hill. This has deteriated a lot. The road surface has sunken on the inside of many of the corners. I have posted photos from this ride before, and as there was quite a haze across the Waikato, I did not bother taking any pics today. I have however included a you tube clip of the ride up the hill.

Even with a pultry 6hp on tap, I still had to pull up on some of the tighter corners. Got home about lunchtime, by then it was getting too hot to start any jobs so that will all have to wait untill my next days off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQdY_MF5bKE

awa355

15th January 2014, 20:20

The first day off after a shit week at work so it was ‘ blow out time ‘. Filled up Buggsy and the spare fuel container then set my sights for Te Pahu. I was going to follow the back roads to the Raglan road.

I had the GoPro camera on the scooter but decided to leave it switched off untill Ohautira road. So, just out of Te Awamutu, I’m cruising down Frontier rd when a Harrier Hawk lifts off from the road verge. Instead of flying away from the road, the bird turns in front of me and for about 30 metres it flys maybe three metres in front of me at approximately handle bar height. It was so close and with the sun on it was a stunning sight. If the camera had have been running, it would have made a fantastic clip. Although I don’t have it on video, it is one of those moments that will always stay with me until uncle Alziemers comes calling.

Just before Te Pahu I spied this little massy fergie in the paddock. No real reason to photograph it but I have always had a soft spot for these tractors from my early days.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/photo11426x1069.jpg

Just past Te Pahu Buggsy turned into Whitaker road. Some nice scenes through here, but the hillsides are starting to get that brown look about them. We have had some rain but nowhere enough yet. A left into Limeworks Loop road then a right into Waitetuna Valley road. This turns to quite rough gravel as it climbs up a steep ridge. Stopping part way up I took this photo looking back towards Pirongia.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/photo21426x1069.jpg

After the drop down the other side the road became a lot smoother and soon we were back on tarseal for the last few k’s out to the Raglan road. Along this route then right into Ohautira road. Very popular with the local hoons this is premo bike country. The first five or six k’s have some short sections of road repairs ( in progress ) and Buggsy’s 10” rims found deeper potholes than most bikes would notice.

The tide was in and the first chance for a photo of the upper Raglan harbour came about 10 k along the road. This next photo came from my new LG phone, it has a panaramic mode on the camera so I gave it a try.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/photo3-1.jpg

I had used my regular camera first then thought about the cell phone, so put my camera on a post top and took the above picture. Back on the scooter and away. At the Waingaro Landing road I decided to head down and see what was at the end. I envisaged sitting on an old pier eating my sandwiches and drinking tea while gazing out over a tranquil harbour setting.

That idea went out the window. The grass down the centre of the road was higher than in the paddocks. The track ends at a locked gate.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Snapshot115-01-20149-12pm.png

It was there that I reached for the camera when the penny dropped. It was still back on that fence post. Buggar! Nothing for it but to back track and get it. This is a short vid of the ride back out Landing road. It's not clear but the basic Gopro apparently needs lights of sunlight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZIuL81-XJ4

The camera was still there. This added about an extra 12k’s there and back. Still, the road is worth riding any number of times, so no real hardship there. Back to the Landing road and on with the ride.

Ohautira becomes the Waingaro road at the junction of Highway 22. This is lovely cruising country, Small streams come off the hills and trickle alongside the road as it twists and turns. At Glen Massey I pulled up at the small school and had a cup of tea and ate my sandwiches. Not sure why I bothered to snap a shot of the school, but the old wooden country schools have a character and sense of stability about them that the new glass and stone buildings never will.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/photo41426x1069.jpg

From here It was mainly a boring ride back through Ngaruawahia and the villages of Te Kowhia and Whatwhata.

A neat ride and beats working on the section.

unstuck

15th January 2014, 20:26

Good work mate, I love those tractors too. Did a little bit of fencing and spraying around there in the early 80,s so cheers for the memories.:niceone:

shafty

15th January 2014, 21:27

Another goodie Awa

awa355

18th January 2014, 20:55

Here's Buggsy singing a song as we cruised the Waingaro road as part of my previous ride report.

He has a fairly high pitched voice so you may want to cut the volume back. I have been playing with the Gopro studio2 editing programme and have got the exposure and tint setting wrong, but WTF, its fun learning. Riding the scooter, the engine noise is barely audiable. The camera mic makes the exhaust note far louder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy37A32L4_Q

unstuck

18th January 2014, 21:09

Good stuff, practice makes perfect and all that. As long as your having fun, who cares.

Keep up the good work.:niceone:

Moi

18th January 2014, 21:37

Another road for exploring sometime in your neck-of-the-woods....

Buggsy's a countertenor... needs a tenor and baritone to join him!

Cheers

awa355

25th January 2014, 11:53

Went for a ride last night to try for a time lapse clip of the sunset over the Kawhia harbour. The sunset didn't play ball but it was a neat ride anyway. I had the Gopro camera on the scooter so got a few nice clips, unfortunately, the sun was down low and straight ahead of Buggsy.

I went pass the lookout where I was going to film from and got this short clip of the road with the sun behind me as I returned to the lookout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUf7m5rM9F8

As with most you tube vids, their finished clip presents worse than the original.

Anyway, while waiting the last hour for the sun to set I snapped a couple of photos at the lookout point.

One of the road.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Kawhiaroad1426x1069.jpg

Just after taking this, a black Ducati went sailing past. I wish I had've filmed him with the video mode. Second is a Tui. The zoom would not get in as close as I would have liked. The power lines have ruined the shot.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Tui1426x1069.jpg

The last is a panorama of the hillsides in the last of the sun.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Kawhiahillside2630x978.jpg

Got back to Te A just after dark,

awa355

26th January 2014, 21:43

Returning from the above ride on the Kawhia road, I had the camera running, mostly to see how much could be recorded before the battery run flat. The sun had dropped and I suppose this would be twilight time. The white edition of the GoPro does not work too well in low light so I was not expecting too much. It was filmed at 720p

This has had the brightness tweaked up a little bit in windows live movie maker. I quite like the colours in this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYh0CA11mEg

unstuck

27th January 2014, 06:25

Good work Speilberg.:Punk::Punk:

awa355

27th January 2014, 18:36

Buggsy cruising the 'Strip' otherwise known as the main street. :no: Checking out the Saturday night action. :laugh::laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6VgJsR9Nc

unstuck

27th January 2014, 18:44

Hell of a lot busier than gore on a saturday night, thats for sure.:yes:

awa355

27th January 2014, 19:45

Hell of a lot busier than gore on a saturday night, thats for sure.:yes:

There was a re run of Lassie Come Home ( in Tecnicolour ) at the pictures. Dats why there wwas so many cars parked in the main street.

Does Gore have a picture threatre? :no::no:

unstuck

27th January 2014, 20:27

Yep, The ST James. Currently playing the new movie with that dench woman in it. :sick:

frogfeaturesFZR

28th January 2014, 20:13

Mmmm could smell the hot bread from Viands, happy memories !:niceone:

awa355

2nd February 2014, 15:39

This is the last few k's before Ngaroma.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ2-avPb6l0&feature=youtu.be

frogfeaturesFZR

2nd February 2014, 18:25

Lovely day for a ride, cheers for posting :drinknsin

awa355

5th February 2014, 20:13

A few posts ago, I wrote on a ride one evening to try for a decent sunset photo from the Kawhia road lookout. The sunset was a noshow, but I got a couple of video clips of the ride in the late sunshine / twilight hour.

Last night I decided to give this sunset lark another wack. This time I chose to ride around the inner harbour to Waitere and wait for the sunset. Sadly, the tide was out so any photos of the harbour show mostly mudflats either side of the channels. As this pic shows, taken just before the drop off the last saddle down to the harbour.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/upperKharbour1280x960.jpg

The ride alongside the harbour is quite picturesque. You need to watch the inside corners tho' as many corners have a spread of light stones washed down off the banks onto the road.

The road to Te Waitere climbs over a couple of ridges before coming to a pleasant little village ( no amenities ) with a pier and boat ramp.

After a light snack and cup of tea, I decided that the sunset was going to be better to view from the far end of the harbour, so I headed back.

This is a short clip of the Te Waitere road coming over the last ridge before linking with the Harbour / TeAnga road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5LShcHWFGU

This second video is on Harbour road heading back towards the Kawhia end. I added a sound track to the film, Hopefully, the copyright gestapo leave it in place. The preview shows the clips as being a bit jerky, I hope your view is a lot smoother.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeVX2aNPlpk&feature=youtu.be

At the bridge before the hills, I pulled up and aimed Buggsy across the harbour towards the sun. Unfortunately you only get one sunset a day and like last time, the curtains were pulled across the sun itself, but the sky still had some nice patterns.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/sunsetone855x642.jpg

It was very pleasant sitting on the bank watching the sea birds diving and gliding across the water. Soon it was obvious that a stunning sunset was not on the cards, so I headed towards home. Just after the turnoff onto the Kawhia road the sky lit up with the last sunset rays spread across the sky.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Kawhiasunsettwo1280x960.jpg

After this it was a straight forward run home. A neat evening ride.

Moi

5th February 2014, 22:23

Those sky/cloud pics are great... really like the second one... :first:

Nice way to spend an afternoon/early evening.

awa355

13th February 2014, 11:33

Last November I replaced the rear tyre on the scooter, but made a ' technical' error in ordering the size. I ordered a 70 profile instead of a 90. So for the last 4,500k have been running a smaller than standard tyre. The road speed had dropped, fuel consumption up slightly, ground clearance less, so today I got a new tyre fitted. Have stuck with Pirelli but gone back to the block tread pattern similar to the original Chen Sein.

The previous tyre was a SL38, the new one a SL60. The SL38 was only half worn which is pretty good for a 10" tyre. I should have worn the 38 right down but dropping about 10kph comfortable cruising speed was driving me nuts.

Tomorrow, I'm riding up to the Sth Manakau heads for a good look around the Waiuku area . I am going to meander through the side roads between sh22 and the Waikato river on the way up. If the sky is clear, I will return via Port Waikato and follow the coastal roads down to Te Aku, then back onto sh22. Should be a good run in for the new tyre.

oneblackflag

13th February 2014, 12:42

Tomorrow, I'm riding up to the Sth Manakau heads for a good look around the Waiuku area . I am going to meander through the side roads between sh22 and the Waikato river on the way up. If the sky is clear, I will return via Port Waikato and follow the coastal roads down to Te Aku, then back onto sh22. Should be a good run in for the new tyre.

:niceone: Sounds like a good ride. Look forward to pics/clips.

CrazyFrog

13th February 2014, 13:42

Last November I replaced the rear tyre on the scooter, but made a ' technical' error in ordering the size. I ordered a 70 profile instead of a 90. So for the last 4,500k have been running a smaller than standard tyre. The road speed had dropped, fuel consumption up slightly, ground clearance less, so today I got a new tyre fitted. Have stuck with Pirelli but gone back to the block tread pattern similar to the original Chen Shen.
The previous tyre was a SL38, the new one a SL60. The SL38 was only half worn which is pretty good for a 10" tyre. I should have worn the 38 right down but dropping about 10kph comfortable cruising speed was driving me nuts.

I don't think a worn rear should alter your top speed much, low tyre pressure yes, but not really general wear on the tyre.
Have you checked the variator rollers for flat spots or the thickness of the drivebelt for wear? These are common items which contribute to lower speeds. I know your scoot has done a few kms now, these should really be replaced bewtween 10-15,000km.
If your fuel consumption has increased, might pay to check air filter and give it a good clean. Riding on some of those gravel roads you do will clog it up quickly.

Also looking forward to your report on SH22 and beyond, might be doing it on a 125 scoot in 2 weeks.

awa355

13th February 2014, 14:22

The slight drop in cruising speed was there from the start of using the lower profile tyre. Whereas the engine buzz at 80kph with the standard tyre felt just right, with the smaller tyre, that same engine feel appeared about 70kph.

Returning from Blackwood Yamaha with the new tyre, it was the old bike again. The usual hum thu' the bum was there and a glance down showed 80+kph. I always prefer to keep the revs back a bit when sticking to a regular ride. Opening the throttle saw 90kph without trying to wring it too hard.

The fuel consumption increase was barely 3kpl so I would put that down to the smaller tyre. The air filter gets cleaned fairly regular and the chap at Blackwood said if I'm happy with the speeds I'm getting, then not to go messing about trying to fix what doesn't need fixing ( yet ).

Incidently, I am wrapped with the attitude and attention from the staff at Blackwood Yamaha. Twice now their final prices have been less than the original estimate to supply and fit tyres. $80.80c for the new Pirelli fitted,

The local Honda shop in Te A quoted $140 for the same service. ( $82 for a Michelin and approx $60 to fit it.).

CrazyFrog

13th February 2014, 14:56

Good result then, new tyre way cheaper than belt/variator roller replacement!
Well done on your local dealer too, listening to customer, great service and price. What is the other dealer thinking, $60 for fitting!

awa355

15th February 2014, 07:55

For this ride, I had planned to explore the South Manakau heads etc. Other needs at home meant I had to change my plans somewhat. So Port Waikato became my destination. Every one goes straight up SH1 or SH22. I wanted to get there by riding side roads I had not thought about before. A look at the map gave me a plan. Also, I wanted to include Onewhero on my ride to locate a farm owned by a long gone uncle that I had visited as a child.

Friday morning, showery squalls and heavy gray clouds were sweeping overhead, but at 8.30am Buggsy and I barrelled out of Te A and up the back roads to Ngaruawahia.

The Waingaro road was in good nick and soon I was turning onto the Rotowaro road. I tried to capture the stream that trickles down alongside the Waingaro road but was too much shade. I’ll include it anyway.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/P1020841640x480.jpg

Slofox and I had tossed up which of us would target the Waikato tag, in the end he left it for me. Got to Glen Afton and after cruising the streets, found the sports club. ( old tag ). Since this tag was posted someone had collared the sign off the front of the building.

After this I knew there were not going to be any refueling stations on my planned route before arriving at Port Waikato. From there my plan had been to ride down the coastal roads to Te Akau. So from Glen Afton, I decided to continue into Huntly and refuel there. This meant a bit of backtracking but nothing major. The rain finally starting falling at this time, so I pulled up by the mining road tunnel and pulled my rain gear on. Sure enough, as I got going again, the rain stopped. As the wind was quite strong and cold I left the gear on. After Huntly, I rode back along the Rotowaro road and turned right into Waikokowai road. This was a new road for me and I loved it. Lots of sweeping corners as the road follows a low ridge that runs across the farmlands. Nothing extraordinary to include as a photo as far as the landscape goes. This road comes out at Heatherington rd, a right, then a left into Rotongaro road. Another ‘ new ‘ road for me. This is like the Wakokowai rd, wide road, corners that twist left then right, It follows the high ground between the Waikato river and SH22. Here is a view of how the road looks.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/P1020844640x480.jpg

Over to the right the views look out over Huntly and the river. This road runs between two lakes that were formed by the Waikato river changing its course in some historic time. Lake Whangape is quite scenic and covers a large area. These lakes are part of a wetland reserve. Rotongaro road ends at the Glen Murray road. Turning left and a few k’s along I sweep right into Churchill rd. This drops down to run alongside the Waikato river. Some straight sections here, also a stretch of gravel that badly needs a grader over it. I stopped on a small bridge to snap this shot looking out to the river from a tributary.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/3143c4ed-5287-435d-8d66-e10a6a673d12.jpg?t=1392365306

Churchill road meets sh22 at the Pukekawa golf course. A left then right into Logan road, then left into Kauri rd and onto the Onewhero road. A lovely little village, I snapped the new tag at a hall then sat on the grandstand at the local sports ground and had a cup of tea and sandwiches. It was really pleasant sitting there with just the occasional vehicle going past, and the school kids laughing and playing in the distance. I will cover the rest of the ride in the next post.

awa355

15th February 2014, 12:10

Part 2. After a light snack I set about finding the old Richardson farm. My cousin had told me it was at the end of a narrow gravel road called Millars rd. On the map this wasn’t too far from the village so off we went. Turns out that sometime between the early 1960’s and yesterday, Millars rd has been tarsealed. Still narrow and plenty of Pukekos to aim for, at the end of the road, I thought I could recognize the old farm house, now a shearing shed.
The road I had picked out to travel out to the river mouth was Klondyke rd. On the map, this was a narrow winding gravel track that zig zagged through the hills untill ending on the main road to Port Waikato. The first 6ks were sealed then the gravel started. A sign warned about logging trucks and other hazards. The state of the surface was the worst I had struck for a while. Big potholes dug out by dual trucktyres , corrugations deeper than the Raglan/Kawhia road. It was virtually stop start riding with the speedo barely lifting off zero. What clinched it for me was the metal, razor sharp edges, it needed a second run through the crusher. I decided the tyres were worth more than my ego so turned around and accepted that there are some mountains that Buggsy and I cant climb.
Back on the Onewhero rd and we turned left into Kohanga rd and a nice relaxed ride later were on the Port W road. At the beach the wind was blowing off the sea quite hard. Buggsy tried sunbathing while I cleaned up the last of the tucker…

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Beach.jpg?t=1392361933

Very relaxing to sit and watch the surf. I thought about my fuel levels and how far back to Te A via the Te Akau coastal road would clean my reserves up. I had not fueled up since Huntly. By this time, I was sort of dozing off and the idea of leaving the more demanding part of the days ride till last had lost some of its appeal. So for the second time on this trip I backtracked on my plans. Stopped on the outskirts of the village to capture the river as it flows into the sea. It really looks more like a harbour than a river. The photos don’t show the murky colour of the water, :Oops:, sorry aucklanders, I forgot you guys drink this stuff. :argh:

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Waikato2.jpg?t=1392361811

The sun had come out for the ride back. For this return I stuck to SH22 untill Churchill road then I followed the same roads I had ridden on the way up. The ‘new’ roads I had found were just as much enjoyment to ride a second time this day. Here is a short clip made up from the roads on the way back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwFSS-QfOx4

Refueled at Ngaruawahia and cruised on home. I should have done the coastal ride first, on my way up. I would have been fresh and keen as. 45 years riding have taught me that nothing is for certain when leaving home on a bike. This ride was 360k with all the extra trapseing around I did.
It was a year ago I bought Buggsy, today saw us 40k short of 15,000ks. The scooter still has the original plug, the air filter has been cleaned regularly and it has only run on Caltex 2 stroke mineral oil. When I had the new tyre fitted on Thursday, the mechanic said the exhaust was almost as clean as when new. No build of of carbon. I was hitting 85-90kph on the flats so for a 100cc 2t It is going well.

Moi

15th February 2014, 14:34

Another great day's riding and exploring...

I always enjoy reading the "Adventures of Buggsy and Awa" - when is Peter Jackson buying the film rights and who's playing Buggsy? - Awa has to be played by George Clooney... :bleh:

oneblackflag

15th February 2014, 18:58

Nice report. I tend to get very nervous about fuel heading out that way, haven't made it to Port Waikato yet; so there's no gas there eh? Need to get myself organized and put my larger tank on.

awa355

15th February 2014, 20:03

Nice report. I tend to get very nervous about fuel heading out that way, haven't made it to Port Waikato yet; so there's no gas there eh? Need to get myself organized and put my larger tank on.

There is gas there at the store, if you want to pay $2.54c a litre.

oneblackflag

15th February 2014, 20:11

There is gas there at the store, if you want to pay $2.54c a litre.

Ok thanks, yea think I could squeeze that out of the wallet.

craisin

23rd February 2014, 18:12

good pics nice country

awa355

7th March 2014, 10:00

I'm doing a run on the back roads to Tekuiti then back along the Rangatoto's to Maungatautari on Sunday. Either that ride or the Kawhia Waitomo roads?

Another KB rider is coming down from Auckland with his scooter, anyone local with a scoot or older/smaller bike that is happy to run around the 80k mark would be welcome.

awa355

10th March 2014, 09:19

Midmorning Sunday and Danchop pulled up in his camper van. It was nice to meet up with someone from the KB membership. Dan and I swapped stories and plotted a route out that Dan hadn't ridden before. We decided to head out to Kawhia, then return via Harbour road and Waitomo.

Unloaded his Suzuki 125 from the van and got kitted up. While Dan was fuelling up, I spied this lovely special parked across the road. The only name on the bodywork was 'Clevant'. I would have loved to see under the bonnet.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/oldcar1.jpg

We left town and rode through some very dry brown farmland. Rain is sure needed. It was neat to have another scooter for company on the Kawhia road. The 125 4 stroke had too much grunt for Buggsy on the long hills. We stopped at the lookout as Dan had not been on this road before.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Theteam.jpg

The weather was spot on. No wind, plenty of clouds, the tide was going out as we cruised around the harbour into Kawhia. The usual little clusters of motorbikes outside the shops ( and local dunnies ). Dan rolled a ciggie as I wandered out along the wharf. Quite a few fishing off the wharf. Nobody was pulling anything up but they all seemed to be enjoying the sun and relaxing.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/KawhiaHarbour1222x445.jpg

Dan was keen to try a whitebait sandwich back at the Oparua Roadside Cafe, so after a short ride around a few streets, we headed back out . I had never stopped at the Oparua store before. It had everything. As good as any place in Kawhia. Dan got his whitebait sammy and I murdered an ice cream.

Harbour road wound its way through the hills and when we dropped down to the bridge marking the start of the upper harbour, we swapped scooters. The narrow front tyre on the uz125 certainly made for a different feel to the steering after riding just the one bike for so long. Dans Suzuki had 52,000k on the clock but ran beautifully. It has a longer foot pan which would suit taller riders wanting their feet further forward than the Yamaha allows. At Kinohaku we stopped for another break. I topped Buggsy up with fuel. Dan did the entire 206k on the one tank full. Another plus for the 4t motor.

At TeAnga, I explained about Marokopa being down the road. Dan remembered having been out that way a long time ago, We headed off for Waitomo with Dan leading. This is a short clip of me chasing the Suzuki through a few corners.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eHa3Bx-TmI

The video is very poor compared to the actual video filmed. I'll try and improve it. I have just noticed the camera was loose in its mounting. I had used an after market mounting clip, and it is a fraction looser on the base than a genuine GoPro clip. Here is another effort to load a reasonable video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vApTVtkZpDg&feature=youtu.be

At Waitomo we had a short stop and watched the tourists being fleeced at the local shops. Left into Waitomo Valley road, ( some new sealing ), across the back of Oto and home via the Ouruwhero road. After a coffee and wind down, we loaded Dans scooter back into his van and he headed back to Auckland.

It was a boomer day and thanks Dan for making the effort to come down. A neat man with some interesting yarns about his courier work.

danchop

10th March 2014, 17:41

yeah thanks for the tour Arthur I really enjoyed it,its good to see a route from a local.and that white bait fritter was up there with the best ive brought when living down the south island.
hope you enjoyed the snapper

awa355

30th March 2014, 09:22

I had planned to do a night ride starting about 11pm and simply riding ‘ somewhere’. Two nights before, my sister talked me into going over to Whangamata to watch the Beach Hop car parade. As I hadn’t been before I decided this might be worth looking at.

I got home from work about 10.30 and had planned to go over about then, while the sky was clear and no sign of fog as the early morning ride option promised. As it was, I was knackered when I got home so chose to get some sleep and take my chances in the morning with the fog. I wanted to be at my sisters place before breakfast so it was up and away by 3.45am. I figured, about 2 1/2 hours riding. I had put the thermal lining in my 2nd riding jacket the day before and lined up the heavier gloves as I expected a mostly damp cold run.

Turned out to be cool with only the occasional wisp of fog. The first stop was Morrinsville to have a stretch and re arrange the clothes. Nothing worse than riding when a trouser leg is twisted inside your wet gear, or you can feel a draught coming in from a gap between two garments. This is what Morrinsville looks like at 4.30 in the morning. Not a good pic, and no smart arsed comments about the disabled carpark. Okay?

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/8ccf6af9-7e5c-4594-9265-4a458444eeae.jpg?t=1396128279

Because I had used the scooter for work the night before, the fuel tank was not totally full this morning, so at Te Aroha I topped up from the extra fuel container I usually carry. This part of the Waikato east of Hamilton is always boring. No hills, stuff all corners. Sitting at 80kph doesn’t help either.

After Paeroa the ride was far more enjoyable. The gorge was empty of traffic apart from Buggsy and me, infact, the whole ride through to Whangamata saw barely any other vehicles. Waihi was quiet, looked nice at night with the old styled street lamps. This was the first time I had ridden the Waihi-Whangamata road in the dark, and it wasn’t much fun. The scooter lights have a decent enough beam length but poor width. This meant when leaning into right corners I was looking into the darkness for my cornering lines. Just took it easy right through into the township then headed out of town to my sisters place. It was 6.30 when I got there so with the stops and the slow speeds through the tight stuff, I was quite happy with my time.
Lorraine woke up and we had a cuppa, then I went and put my head down for an hours kip.

The main street was blocked off and people were setting up stalls, static displays, etc. Rock and Roll music playing over speakers. Before the cars started their parade various groups of Rock & Roll dance clubs made their way up the street putting on a show.
We were on the roundabout at the end of the street. The buggars got to our position and must have run out of breath. They started “ Line Dancing “

FFS!!!! :mad: Shoulder to shoulder varicous veins and tennis shoes. One group were from Wellsford, the line dancers must’ve come up from somewhere like Gore ?? Still, regardless of my thoughts on line dancing, they all were enjoying themselves and all contributed to the carnival atmosphere.

A still from one video clip.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/oldone.png

The cars started rolling past and I didn’t realise how many fantastic american cars from the 50’s and 60’s were in this country. Most were modified in some way, but many were stock. A lot of memories for the crowds,
I have put in a video clip of just a few cars that I filmed. Someone said that about 100 cars made the run up from the south island.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4kfQT_BUc

The surrounding parks all had displays, a lot of specials, retro caravans, dragsters, . By mid afternoon, the crowds, the music and the heat was beginning to catch up with my lack of sleep so we made our way back to the bach where I had a nana nap then kitted up for my ride back home. Having anticipated damp cold fog on the ride over, I had worn my heavy armoured jacket and winter gloves. I should have known better. :brick: The afternoon was back to summer weather. The road back to Waihi was heavy traffic so now that I could see through the corners, the volume of cars meant no fun through the twisties. Saw two acts of stupidity, both by motorbike riders ( 1 solo, 1 group ) passing traffic where ever they came to them. Blind corners etc. About halfway to Waihi I passed a motorcycle accident on a corner. Police were attending.

The Karangahake gorge had light traffic, the scenery was teriffic with the sun filtering through the trees onto the river. I was following three cars with a light truck in the lead. Just past the Waikino pub a harley rider with apehangers, fingerless mitts, nazi helmet and t shirt went screaming past me. A long sweeping left hand curve with the river wall on one side and the cliff on the other, he never slowed down, out and passed the lot. Lucky for him there was no one coming towards us. A short view from Buggsy of the gorge.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ToNkpEuVWM&feature=youtu.be

Three stand out acts of stupidity over the days riding and all three circumstances were motorcycle riders on big machines who couldn’t show an ounce of restraint.
Back to the ride, it was fuel up time in Paeroa then a steady run back across the Waikato without any further stops. I should have stayed for the Sundays events but long grass, firewood and other jobs around the place were waiting. It was a neat day at Whangamata. I would go again next year.

Moi

30th March 2014, 12:19

Another good read... thanks for the utube vid...

I always enjoy reading about your adventures...

Thanks

awa355

10th April 2014, 19:57

Ok, no vids in this entry :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

Gave Buggsy a major overhaul yesterday. Changed the sparkplug :clap::clap:

I dont know if the plug had been changed in the 2,200k the scooter had done before I bought it, but I have simply pulled the plug out a couple of times in the last 16,000k, held it up to the light, checked the gap with my eyecrometer and screwed the bloody thing back in. Its always been clean, Always ran without a fart or spit, however I decided to retire that plug with a newy.

I headed off to Putaruru after waiting half the morning for the rain to go from a drizzle to heavy showers. After a long stretch of fine weather, riding in the rain was quite pleasant. It does make the cornering more interesting. Buggsy has a well worn street tread on the front and a ' knobbly ' on the back. The two tyres dont like each other much. A few weeks ago when Danchop came down for a ride around the Kawhia Waitomo roads, he commented then, about scooter tyres, They are all ok in the dry, it's the wet that sorts them out. The surface film on the road through Puahue was noticable. A couple of corners gave the front a super light feel resulting in a couple of anxious moments.

Selecting ' cruise ' instead of ' sports ' mode made for a more relaxing ride. Cruise mode is 1/2 throttle-4hp, sports mode is 3/4 throttle-6hp. ( or there abouts ).

The rain got quite heavy passing through Pukeatua as it follows the foothills of Mangatautauri but eased up by Arapuni. This confirmed what I already knew. My riding jacket and overtrousers leak like a sieve. The rain eased right off at Putaruru so after a light lunch at my sisters, I took a leisurely ride around the town. I grew up here and from the heydays of the fifties and sixties, its sad to see the town going backwards. Houses that have not been painted in 30 years, closed up shops. Here is an aerial phot of Putaruru taken back in 1955 Some readers who, like me, grew up here may find it interesting. The view is from above the PTY mill.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/200212041455x998.jpg

The showers started again as I left town. I meandered back to the dam via the Waotu road then a boring ride back to Te Awamutu. Was good riding in the rain for a change.

awa355

21st April 2014, 19:07

Easter Monday

Easter Monday, I had scoffed all the chocolate easter eggs I had been able to find in the house, so having missed going on a planned ride on Saturday, I was out to make amends today. The weather was going to be a mixture of showers and fine periods. The morning was actually looking quite good untill I was rolling Buggsy out of the garage, then it poured down. Didn’t last long though.
The ride today was going to be a couple of gravel roads between Kawhia and Waitomo. The sun broke through as I cruised out of Te A towards Pirongia. It stayed sunny until I hit the Kawhia road then showers from then on.
At Kaimango road I turned left. This was the start of the gravel. This road was in good condition. With all the rain recently, there was very little water sitting in the wheel tracks and almost no potholes, although the corrugations on the corners bounced Buggsy around a bit. The road follows a ridge through farmland.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/No1.jpg?t=1398056852

Most of the farmland in this part of Waipa is fairly marginal. Fighting the re growth of scrub and erosion damage is never ending. After a few k’s the road passes through a remnant of the Pirongia forest park. There arent any big trees in this forest. Just rubbish trees and ferns. Still nice to ride through.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/No2.jpg?t=1398056856

There is something about being on a narrow gravel road, no houses or farms in sight, fog and drizzle. It gives you a sense of being on your own, being a part of the real country.
After about 12 k’s, I stopped at the junction of Kaimango and Honikiwi roads. I have been up Honikiwi on an earlier ride and onto the half of Kaimango road still ahead of me. The top third of Honikiwi is gravel and runs through steep farmland and roadside reserves.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/No3.jpg?t=1398056861

Buggsy got his photo taken under the signpost so he could show that cute little pink nifty fifty back in town where he’d been. From here Kaimango road keeps the forest park on the right and farmland off to the left. On my last ride over this road, I stopped to take a photo. Today I stopped at the same place. The sun had broken through the clouds and the farm in the valley with the rocky outcrops looked a picture. A rainbow added to the vista.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/No4.jpg?t=1398056868

The photos don’t show the sun shining off the wet grassland and trees very well. From here it was quite a bit of downhill to the Awaroa river and Ruaturu road. I will break this report into two parts to allow me to post a few more photos.

awa355

21st April 2014, 19:20

There was a major Enduro event on today which covered farmland on both sides of Ruaturu road. I had come out of Kaimango road, then right out to Harbour road on my earlier ride. This time I was turning left and following Ruaturu road right through to the Te Anga road. The first 6 or 7 k’s follows the Awaroa river. The river was carrying a lot of colour due to the amount of rain having fallen. A few vehicles were parked along the roadside as part of the Enduro event. The sun was out but I could see black clouds at the end of the valley. I stopped and had a chat with a marshall who was on a point for the Enduro. A small number of bikes came through as we talked. A bit further on I stopped to get a picture looking back along the river. I had passed better scenery than here.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/No6.jpg?t=1398056885

The road started to climb away from the river and this snap from the GoPro shows some heavy weather ahead.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/No10.png?t=1398056891

The road climbed for quite away, some lovely farm houses down below the road. Just before the road turns away from the river valley I stopped for a bite to eat and enjoyed the view.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/No7.jpg?t=1398056894

Kawhia is on the other side of the hill in the centre. This would be a beautiful ride in the summer. Up around the corner from this spot is a waterfall. The family that farms this land must love this spot in the summer

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/No8.jpg?t=1398056900

Looking ahead the road runs through more reserves. The road also narrows a lot and is far rougher. Throwing Buggsy around the corners was a blast. We never had a hairy moment. The scooter really goes well on gravel. The rain was light but persistant. A number of beef cattle were grazing the long acre so it was stay alert time always. I saw no traffic at all on either road.
This next picture is at a monument which is dedicated to a local farmer,
Robert Huston who gave much of his land to the Queen Elizabeth 2 National Trust.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/No9.jpg?t=1398056907

From here the road continued to wind its way along the ridgeline untill a right turn started dropping down towards the Te Anga road. Another 8 kilometres and Buggsy and I were back on tarseal. We had a break at Waitomo then a quiet run back via the Waitomo Valley road.

I was home by 1pm. Did 140k’s and did not need to top up the fuel tank at all. The first section of Kaimango road ( from the Kawhia rd end ) and Ruaturu roads were new to me.
The rain added something to todays ride.

awa355

22nd April 2014, 15:15

Now, for those who thought they had escaped the ordeal of watching Buggsy crunching up the miles, Tough shit :doh:

This is 3 short cuts of Hauturu road after the Mahoe rd junction and heading towards the Te Anga road. . Probably the smoothest, section on the road.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIB4gtPXHBQ

Moi

22nd April 2014, 17:06

Go Buggsy!

Three cheers for Buggsy and his intrepid rider!

Again, thanks for sharing your ride. Must admit to a little bit of envy... you have a great roads to explore and sights to see.

Cheers

frogfeaturesFZR

24th April 2014, 19:27

:scooter: thanks for posting !

awa355

1st May 2014, 15:10

I decided to cut back on the high speed reports and write about a slower paced ride this morning, so all you lot that read slowly, can keep up :niceone:

I ride the bike around town alot and used to do a lot of 30-40 k rides around the local roads but had gotten a bit lazy over the last 12 months. Got the bike out of the garden shed and pointed it for the horizon. Wearing a tee shirt, shorts and jandals was not a brilliant idea. The drizzle had stopped but the wind chill factor left my arms and feet fairly cold for most of the ride. Riding along Te Rahu road out of town then into Coulter road. This is mostly flat with a couple of slight rises towards the Cambridge road end. I stopped to watch a roadside logging operation for a spell. ( wasn't tired, honest ). As I was pushing off, a woman jogger walked around the corner, I said " Shouldn't you be running?". Without batting an eyelid she replied " Shouldn't you be cycling? " Smartarse,:Oi:

At the end of Coulter rd, I hung a left into Woodstock road. Another narrow road through some well developed farmland. The Mangapiko stream crosses this road so I pulled up to take a breather.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/1eee1d93-7c34-43e8-b3a9-455b7e94249a.jpg?t=1398915298

The countryside looks lovely as this pic shows, lots of old Oak trees and beautiful homes.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/today012648x488.jpg

Unfortunately, the state of the Mangapiko stream isn't quite as nice. Too many people who dont give a shit about dumping rubbish off a bridge. The view off the other side of the bridge shows a car door, wheels, pipes, and household rubbish.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/today005768x576.jpg

Riding on, Woodstock rd became Storey road then back onto Te Rahu road again. I cruised on, the body was holding up quite well. Stopped part way and got this pic.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/3ed9fb25-4562-42a1-a85c-52e4b3f0c691.jpg?t=1398915381

Straight open road and not a cop in sight, Choice, :clap::clap:

Stopped at the El Chepo Cafe at Te Rahu hall.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/47cd4a59-f271-4bfa-8f65-af8e67e96a06.jpg?t=1398915471

The outside tap is halfway down the side of the building. :cool:

Crossing onto ngaroto road I passed a stud farm. Stopped to capture these young horses with the ph camera. Horses are usually very photogenic animals.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/today021768x576.jpg

About half way along Ngaroto rd and my left knee was starting to run out of fluid, oil whatever lubes the joint. Still it held up untill back at home. Probably only about 20 k at the most but it was still an enjoyable ride.

Buggsy will get let loose tomorrow, not sure where but it will be a run across the Waikato somewhere.

Moi

1st May 2014, 16:26

awa355

1st May 2014, 16:49

awa355

1st May 2014, 16:54

You've had fun today...

As for "Wearing a tee shirt, shorts and jandals was not a brilliant idea." -:nono: you're not on a scooter now!

Wear proper gear when you're on a push-bike - lycra's the way to go! :eek5:

With my grey hair and body??? At least I was better dressed than these idiots.

:lol::lol:

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Untitledpicture2-7.png

Moi

1st May 2014, 17:35

Bloody heck mate!!

Where's the R rating? Nearly burnt the retinas with that vision! :crazy:

awa355

4th June 2014, 19:02

I had to ride over to Putaruru today so thought I would snap the Waikato tag at the same time. The countryside is looking good. Plenty of green grass so I'm not too sure just what the cockys will be grizzling about this week. An early lunch at the sisters and I decided to top up Buggsy before doing the tag detour on the way home.

The Waotu road had no traffic and the surface good so Buggsy went into cruise mode till we got to the Waotu school. A left at the T junction , down the hill and right into Waotu South road. The Jim Barnett reserve is about 1 kilometre along. The Barnett family were early pioneers in the Waotu district and this reserve is the family's gift to the area. This 1st photo was going to be the Waikato tag.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/JBReserve.jpg

However some sly fox from Hamilton snuck in under the radar while I was eating date scones at the sisters. When I got home the sod had already posted this tag plus the new one. To make matters worse, I stopped right outside the new tag on my way home.

Anyway, after taking the photo I cruised on up to the end of the road. This road climbs along the hills along side the middle reaches of Lake Arapuni. In the early days this part of the country was thick with heavy native forests, particulary Rimu. One hauler was in the one place for two years pulling Rimu, Matai, Totaras. Now it is some of the prettiest farming country in the Waikato.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/P1030031.jpg

Pockets of remaining native fill the gullys and mature trees dot the paddocks. Anyone who has been on Lake Arapuni will have noticed Waotu Quarries eating into the hills. This would be one of the oldest and largest quarries in the Waikato. I remember as a primary school student on a school trip out to this quarry over 50 years ago. The road down to the quarry was ( and still is ) bloody steep. I can still see ' Super Coopers' old bedford bus being towed up the hill when leaving. Just along from the quarry is a short gravel road that crosses the farmland to give some nice views of the upper body of the lake.

Back on the Waotu road I wound Buggsy up and like a speeding bullet ( ok, a BB pellet maybe ) we carved up the corners, flattened hills etc untill arriving at Jones Landing. This was going to be my ' new' tag:weep: The lake was so calm. I got this panarama shot.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/JonesLanding1.jpg

Some trees were still in Autumn colours.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/JonesLanding2.jpg

From here it was a cruisy ride back to Te A. Buggsy is playing up a bit when cold, but when warmed up, it goes damn well for a 100cc scooter. I'd love to see this motor in a bike frame and a 5sp gearbox.

I am hopeing to get a marathon ride done in July. Will need to throw a set of tyres on it before then.

awa355

7th July 2014, 10:55

The next two days would be minding a 3 ½ and a 8 yr old so decided to escape for a short ride while Nan was home. Fueled up and headed west. I wanted to re visit some roads and ride a couple of roads I hadn’t been on before around the Raglan district.

Past Pirongia and left into Te Pahu road. No traffic to speak of and soon swung into Old Mountain rd. I had ridden this road some months ago and wanted to have a change from the main Raglan road. Shortly after the turnoff it reverts to gravel for most of its length untill the settlement of Waitetuna. It also climbs over the Kaoamahunga range. The winter and rain had taken its toll on this road. Deep corrugations, potholes and water channels snaking their way down the slopes made for a steady but slow ride. The country is mostly drystock farming in this region. Lots of steep hill sides and rocky outcrops.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/no3.jpg

Part way down the west side of the road I stopped here.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/01febd78-3be6-4160-9560-5e28f8214a9a.jpg?t=1404686715

These featured as a Waikato tag a while ago. They were placed here as a tank barricade back in the war years. The theory being that after the Japs had invaded Raglan, they would attempt to drive their tanks over the road only to come to a grinding halt here. I wonder if it crossed Capt Mannering's mind that having came all that way, that the Japs just might blast the concrete blocks to pieces. Anyway, a couple of Jappos did get through because Te A now has about three Suchi shops.

Down off the saddle and the road levels out and it’s a much faster pace into Waitetuna. This is a motley collection of trendy ‘ wannabe ‘life stylers. You know when you are coming to a life style block, ponies, black faced sheep and old rusty wagon wheels. I swung left at the school onto Waitetune Valley road. About 6 ks of wide smooth seal and sweeping corners untill the gravel kicks in. I turned around here as I had more gravel roads lined up later. Back onto H23 and a steady ride into Raglan. Quite a few motorbikes heading that way.

After a sammy or two and a cuppa down at the harbours edge I decided to check out a view of the harbour from above the town that I had been told of. Across the estuary bridge and onto Te Hutewai road. This climbs for about 6-7 k’s. A lovely short hillclimb for the road warriors. Over the top of the ridge this road is gravel through untill it hits the Ruapuke road. Here’s a view of the township and harbour taken from the road.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/no4.jpg

From here, I rode back into town and through to Maungatawhiri road. This follows the ridges through to the Te Mata road. All gravel but this was a huge improvement on the Old Mountain road. It is also a main access road for the farmers. Buggsy barrelled along here, infact we were winding up a tad to fast. Meeting a Falcon on a corner was a sharp reminder that you cannot throw the anchors on in a hurry when on metal. No biggie. Out on the Te Mata road and just a short hop to the village.

The Ruapuke road starts here. I rode this on my Kawhia to Raglan ride back in November. Back then Buggsy and I rode right around Mt Karori on the Whaanga road. This time I just wanted to unleash Buggy’s 6hp on the corners of the first 10 or so kilometres. Sweeping S bends, dips, cambers, this is one of my favourite sections of road. Returning along this road was just as much fun. When I see all the big sportsbikes making their way out to Raglan for a blast, I think what a shame none of them add this road to their ride. It maybe a 20k there and back addition from the main road but worth the effort.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/ruapuke1.png

Back at TeMata I headed for the Kawhia road. This winds its way through a native bush reserve to the Bridal Veil Falls. A lovely spot but a hell of a lot of steps if you want to veiw the falls from the bottom lookout. Also this road has had a few slips from the rains.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/BF2.png

Back home on Google maps, there is a gravel road ( Plateau ) that winds through hill country and links up with Van Houtte rd which would bring me out onto SH23. Down Plateau road we sailed. All gravel but in a reasonable state. After climbing uphill for quite away I came to a locked gate across the road. No continuing on to Van Houtte rd here. Turning around we headed back to the Bridal Veil Falls road. Plateau road, with wind turbines on the skyline.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/fa6982fd-3068-4c1c-8033-230483d04824.png?t=1404686964

Returning to the tarseal it was a steady run back out to the main road. Nothing spectacular to note about the ride home. The temperture had dropped considerbly so the fire going back home was a nice welcome. The wife wasn’t so welcoming tho’ She thought I was only going for a short blast. Well, 220k and 5 hours later wasn’t much more than a ‘ short blast ‘.

awa355

7th July 2014, 11:03

A few bikes that passed me just before the turnoff to SH22. Someone may reconize the riders.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxkTHeW13h4

kevfromcoro

7th July 2014, 16:11

Great post and pics..
Keep em coming...:niceone:

Moi

7th July 2014, 17:10

Another great write-up. I really enjoy reading of your adventures and escapades... some lovely country around your parts.

I trust the Falcon was of the native feathered variety, not that Australian import :eek:

awa355

7th July 2014, 17:38

I trust the Falcon was of the native feathered variety, not that Australian import :eek:

The Falcon was one of those big metal imports from Aussie. Not a lot of soft bendy places on them.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/falcon.png

Actually, looking at the footage again, It wasn't as close as I first thought.

awa355

6th August 2014, 17:11

I decided to give Buggsy a run today. I had been thinking about some of the roads east of Cambridge. The weather was looking like rain but that didn't worry me too much. Put on the over trousers and the heavy NEO jacket and sailed off into the rain clouds.
The ride to Cambridge was no problem. The out skirts of the town around the Fencourt rd area has a big subdivision developement going on. This must be for the noobs and other rich sods. One house being built would darn near take up the length of the street I live in.

I had planned to ride up the Mangakawa rd but got diverted by detours around the big developements, so headed down the French Pass road. Lots of hills, tight corners and pockets of native reserves on the hillsides. The rain had caught up with me by now, so with a knobbly tyre on the back and a well worn road tread on the front, I decided to leave getting the knees and elbows down in the corners to another day.

At the intersection of F pass and Brunskills road Buggsy swung left and we went up Brunskill rd. I hadn't been over this road before. It narrows as it follows a ridge through the Whitehall hills. The rain had eased up a bit so I stopped for a quick picture. This looks back towards French Pass road. This is pretty country in the warmer months, but under heavy rain clouds wasn't so interesting. I've thrown in the photo to break up the text.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/P1030134Stitch.jpg

Brunskill road would be a lovely ride on a light sports bike in the dry. The surface is good, enough corners to keep a rider alert. The road widens out and the road markings return about half way along before meeting with the Te Miro road. The rain had found me again so it was cruise mode through Te Miro. This next pic is from the Te Miro road just before the Flume road turn off.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/ide1.png

It doesn't appear as wet as the road actually was. Flume road took me through to Fencourt rd and from there, I fairly much followed the same road back to Te Awamutu. Of course the bloody rain clouds started breaking up 15 minutes before getting home. By this time my chest was wet, my arse, crutch and legs were soaked. My overtrousers were a pair of Dryrider Typhoon padded nylon pants I had bought some time ago from a Boyds sale. They were absolutely useless. This was the first time they had seen a couple of hours of rain and failed miserablely.

When I pulled up in the driveway, the first thing I did was take the pants off, walk down the drive and shoved the damn things into the wheelie bin waiting to be emptied.

Even with the rain it was a neat ride. If I had've left the ride untill this afternoon it would have been much drier, but thats what riding is all about. I do enjoying riding in the rain, but when I am wearing decent rain gear.

BlackSheepLogic

6th August 2014, 19:09

awa355, where do you leave from? I might be interested in doing a ride. I have a town bike I would like to get more use of.

awa355

6th August 2014, 19:27

awa355, where do you leave from? I might be interested in doing a ride. I have a town bike I would like to get more use of.

I live in Te Awamutu, Wynyard st. I started writing about rides I've done since getting the scooter in the hope that anyone else with a slower bike would see that there is heaps of back roads that can be enjoyed. I currently have a friends 250 Hyosung in the garage that I can use. I try to get out for a decent ride on one of my days off. Even a couple of hours on a nice afternoon can be a pleasant outing.

Get in touch when you hope to have time avalible. If it fits in with my shift work, I'd love to go riding. Cheers, Arthur

awa355

18th August 2014, 08:00

I have 3 weeks off work in October so plan to spend a week riding the scooter up north. I want to be in Kohukohu on the 11th. Will look for cabins to stay in as I want to cut down on excess baggage on the scooter. I will have a 3 week window so the weather will probably dictate my start finish dates.

A rough plan is to visit the Manukau north heads, meander through the Waitakeres and stay out west Auckland the first night. The second night, will probably be at Dargaville after exploring the Sth Kaipara area. From there I will make my way up through the center to Kaitaia.
I might do a run up to Cape Reinga. I plan to stick to roads I haven't ridden as much as possible. My route back will be decided on the day.

Lots to plan for. If anyone wants to tag along for any part of the ride, let me know.

frogfeaturesFZR

20th August 2014, 17:32

Arthur, make sure you ride Scenic Drive, runs over the top of the Waitakere Ranges. Worth a detour down to Huia as well :niceone:

danchop

20th August 2014, 18:49

hey again Arthur,if you need a nights bed in west Auckland when you do this trip,let me know...
may even come for a jaunt depending what date your talking

awa355

20th August 2014, 19:04

Thanks for that Dan. I had hoped to explore the Waitakeres on an earlier date which didn't work out. Looking at the ranges on Google, I think I might make this part of West Auckland a separate ride on its own. I'll come up when the weather suits my next 4 day weekend around early September. Then in October, I can aim for the Dargaville area on my first day of the northland trip.

My earlier plans had been to go out as far as the Waitipu campground and as Frogfeatures suggested, have a good look at the entire place. Will be in touch when I get some dates confirmed.

awa355

26th August 2014, 18:25

Got a new front tyre on the scooter today, a Pirelli SL26. The previous Pirelli ceat did 13,000k. It still had life left in the tread but with a couple of long rides coming up, I didn't want to be having second thoughts about whether I should've changed the tyre.

Moi, Got a totally pointless ? for you. If the circumference of the new tyre is 145cm, at 80kph how many revolutions would the wheel be turning per minute?.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with a rider from Hamilton who wants to give his UZ125 a blast, so we are heading out around the Waingaro Te Aku roads. Should be a fun run.

awa355

28th August 2014, 20:32

Yesterday I met up with a KB rider from Hamilton who wanted to give his uz125 a run around some of the local roads. Andrew has been overseas for quite a few years and has recently settled in Hamilton. We met at Te Kowhia then cruised through to Ngaruawahia and out the Waingaro road. The Uz125 looks quite good in white and seems to have had a bit of a facelift since my 2008 model.

We turned off onto the Rotowaro road and rolled along untill we hit the outskirts of Glen Afton. After Texas, I thought Andrew might want to see a 'real' town. 30 seconds later we had made it through the traffic and back on the road to Huntly. Coal has been the backbone of Huntly for generations. Sadly it seems to be on the decline these days. We topped up the tanks in Huntly, grabbed a drink and then rode out along Heatherington road. This seems to follow a saddle which gives a good view of the surrounding country. Quite pretty even without the spring greenery which appears to be just kicking off.

Because I had a riding companion I didn't bother to stop every ten minutes and drag the camera out. Left into SH22 and the pockets of native bush, newborn lambs and sunshine made for a pleasant ride. The only downer is seeing how much the road has deteriated. A big bike with good suspension and big sized wheels wouldn't notice the unevenness but if the powers that be dont spend some serious money on roads like this, they are going to pack up badly.

Right into Ohautira road and we met a local 'scrubcutter' on the road. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Untitledpicture-30.png

Ohaurita road was a delight to ride as always except for the patches of gravel at the Raglan end. Can anyone remember this road when these patches weren't there? Two one way bridges just after and here's a local giving way Not!.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/oneway.png

Back onto the Raglan road and we mossied on over the deviation and at Whatwhata, I turned off to head for home, Andrew carried on into Hamilton. It was a good run,

awa355

29th August 2014, 13:39

Yesterday when Andrew and I had done our ride around the Waingaro roads, I got home thinking that buggsy had a drinking problem. I have opened the shed and found the lawnmower fuel tins empty on a number of occasions. The fuel gauge is not accurate by any means but the tank was near empty after 128k from filling up at Huntly. I have to admit, that riding with others I tend to push the little buggar harder than when being by myself.

Today I was going to chase up the Waikato tag. I filled up Buggsy and decided on the Mangatautari rd side of the mountain. A few more corners than the Arapuni road and a lot more scenic. Across the Piarere bridge and onto SH1. Turning right into Horohoro road I stopped and got a snapshot of the lake from this side. Most photos seem to be from the ski club shore.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Horohoro1.jpg

Meandering along the road I couldn't help but notice the farmland between Horohoro road and the lake is now dozens of lifestyle blocks. So much productive land taken out for the sake of kitset kids playhouses and ride on mowers. Got the tag and continued into Putaruru. Cop cars everywhere. I found out from my sister that another school principal had been busted for child porn the day before. That make three local school principals in the last 2 years busted.

I had an idea of where I might get the new tag so with a police tail following through town Buggsy and I headed out to Domain road. It had dawned on me that I had left home and not locked the house. Infact, I wasn't too sure I'd even closed the back door. Back in town I turned down Market street. This was where my father had his trucking and logging company throughout my childhood. What a sad sight.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Marketst1.png

The brown building on the right was Ken Swains engine reconditioning shop, the green building and the truck bays across the road were Uden Bros work shop. Further on was Frank Wilcox's machine shop. Now, every building is closed up, for sale signs everywhere. In the 50&60's this street would be full of trucks, cars, noise etc. PTY had the mill at the end on the right and the saleyards were straight off the end of the street. Now the mill and saleyard sites are nothing more than rubbish and blackberry.

I parked Buggsy outside Freddy Flowers old wool and skin shop and had a walk around.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/P1030168.jpg

Freddy and his brother also bought bottles and crates for recycling I guess. Us kids would sneak down the bank behing this shed and pinch crates of empty quart bottles and then later on bring them up to the front and sell them to old freddy. He knew what was going on so starting marking the crates. A few of us got caught out.

After a quick cup of tea at my sisters, it was a steady run back home. The fuel consumption was a lot better on this trip. With the 2t motor there is a big difference between wot and taking it steady. As it is, The Hyosung I have been babysitting will be with me for a couple of more months. The owner showed up yesterday with a rego sticker and told me to use it as I want. :clap: so Buggsy might get some rest for a few weeks.

Robbo

31st August 2014, 11:54

Great pics and trip reports Arthur, as always, I recognised many of those roads as ones I have ridden in the past, especially in the hills east of Cambridge, down around Piarere and in the Raglan and Kawhia areas.

Cheers:niceone:

Moi

31st August 2014, 16:33

Enjoyed another interesting and entertaining write-up...
It's not just small towns that have lost businesses... when we moved to our present house over 25 years ago [yeah, I know, should have moved several times in that time - get stuffed on that suggestion!] the local village had proper shops = a men's wear; a haberdashery; a paint shop who knew how to mix paints and sell stuff like Danish Oil; a lady's 'undergarments' supplier; a proper stationer... now we have cafes, and $2 shops, and a number of banks and a shopping precinct and a supermarket... it's called progress and some believe it to be great...

Sorry about the wee rant...

awa355

3rd September 2014, 06:57

I'd love one of these if it had a bigger motor.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/scooters/auction-773258425.htm

Here is a link to a Swedish chap who has toured throughout europe on one. He has a couple of long reports on rides. Great photos and shows what can be done with the right atitude.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608324&highlight=zoomer

Robbo

3rd September 2014, 07:41

Have you seen the Honda Ruckus Arthur? There has been a couple of them for sale on TradeMe in the last year.
They are 250cc.

awa355

8th September 2014, 19:45

This is part of a ride report on Advrider. This man has done more on his various 50cc scooters than any of us will ever do. Makes facinating reading. Here is the link to some gutsy rides. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608324

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSQebcngq1c#t=59

awa355

29th September 2014, 11:56

Sunday morning was spent watching the All Black game and thinking ‘Will I or wont I?’ By 1 oclock I decided to go for a ride on the scooter. Buggsy and I stuck to the main road through to Otorohanga instead of my usual Pokuru rd track. Not much traffic and the main street of Oto always looks nice with the flower baskets hanging from the shop verandas. There had been a market day on but everyone seemed to be closing up so I didn’t bother stopping.
Into Otewa rd and wound my way alongside the Waipa river. A nice piece of water for trout fishing although the willows and poplars can take their toll of spinners and flys. Barber rd climbs up from the river valley and from a narrow winding climb opens onto a ridge that follows the Rangitoto ranges. The road is double laned and most locals know of the corners that flow from one to the next. Off to the left (on a nice day) are some wonderful vistas looking across to the Rangitoto ranges ( or hills depending on your definition). I stopped and collared this shot but the gray drizzly weather didn’t help much.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/rangatotos.jpg

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/barberrd.png

At the old Rewarewa school reserve I pulled up for a break and killed a snickers bar while having a look around. This school was opened in 1917. Whether this is the original building or a replacement one, I’m not sure. It is a single classroom so may well be the original. Although only 14k from Te Kuiti on todays roads, the early settlers used to travel through to Otorohanga and Hamilton for their twice yearly shopping. Access to Te Kuiti was practically non existant back then. I read of the settlers disgruntlement with washed out ‘roads’ broken wooden culvets landslips trees down etc.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/oldschool.jpg

Following a local on his farm bike I thought he was carrying a dead calf. Turns out the calf was not dead. The poor thing was lifting its head and kicking its legs. Not a pleasant sight.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Untitledpicture-32.png

Further on Barber road becomes Rangitoto road. Still a nice run through scenic country. About 9 k from the Te Kuiti end, Ahoroa road goes off to the left. This road winds its way through some fairly rugged country to (according to Google) come out on the Bennydale road via the Mangaokewa road. I turned around after about 8k when the seal turned to gravel. The gravel doesn’t worry me but the weather and not bringing spare fuel made me turn around and leave this ride for another day. A snap from Ahoroa rd. lovely pockets of native trees and small streams meandering across the flats.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Ahoroard.png

Back onto Rangitoto rd and it is mostly downhill into Te Kuiti. Plenty of cambered corners and views of the town down below the road. A short stop in the main street which has seen a lot of improvements recently. The gardens and landscaping across from the shops makes the place a nice place to take a break.
From Te Kuiti I headed north, turning right at the airstrip. This leads through rolling country into Otorohanga without the traffic volumes on SH3. The back roads of Rangitoto, Barbers and Otewa roads make for a nice diversion if you have the time to spare. The weather stayed fine for most of this ride apart from bits of drizzle.

frogfeaturesFZR

29th September 2014, 17:01

cheers Arthur, down your way middle of next month, so I'm building up a list of rides !:niceone:

Moi

29th September 2014, 17:08

Nice riding roads... and no other traffic!

Always enjoy your ride reports, thanks.

awa355

29th September 2014, 18:57

cheers Arthur, down your way middle of next month, so I'm building up a list of rides !:niceone:

I'm on leave until the 23rd. then on night shift so can find a cup of coffee if you touch base prior to arriving.

frogfeaturesFZR

30th September 2014, 20:07

Cool, when I've got some dates locked I'll PM you :yes:

awa355

13th October 2014, 12:55

Well I did my ride around the Waitakere ranges and a look around the Kaipara harbour. I had planned on staying away an extra night but woke up Sunday morning with a bloodshot and blurry eye. It mostly came right but later that day after having covered most of the country I had wanted to see, I decided to give away a 2nd night camping and head for an uncles place in Tuakau. They weren't home so I continued back home.

Anyhow, this is my 1st days riding.

Friday morning saw the scooter loaded with camping tent and gear and I was away by 8am. I was to meet up with Mark and Ken at Titirangi at 11 oclock. They were going to ride out with me to Whatipu as part of my 1st day of rambling around the Waitakeres and the Kaipara sth district.
I stuck to the back roads to Rangiriri, where after crossing the bridge I followed the Churchill East road. This hugs the eastern side of the Waikato river for a while then turns in to meet SH1 via Hall road. From here I stuck to the main road untill refueling at the Bombay truck stop. I had thought the Bombay hill might’ve slowed Buggsy down with the weight he was carrying but he even pulled out and passed a truck and trailer unit. Originally I had planned on hitting the Great Sth road from here and keeping off the motorway. Looking at the time saw that plan go by the way and it was the motorway right through to the South Western turn off. I sat on 80kph on the shoulder and there were no hassles with the vehicles. Hillsborough road is pretty much a straight route to Titirangi and I arrived at the meet up point 5 minutes before Mark and Ken arrived. We exchanged chit chat for a while then rode out along the Huia road, the plan being, to stop at the Huia Beach Store for a break.
A bit about the scooters, Mark was on a Piaggio MP3 400. He cheated slightly, the sod stuck an extra wheel on the front. Must have known about the gravel coming up. Ken was on a Vespa PX200. This comes with a four speed gearbox, something I wouldn’t mind having on my next machine.
After weaving over the foothills of the ranges we stopped at the Huia beach store and had coffee and a light snack. The sun was out, the tide in and water calm. It was a lovely spot. From here we had a couple of climbs then down to the sea and followed the road alongside the water line.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/day1.png

I can imagine that in rough weather, the road would be awash with waves. The road soon leaves the shoreline then climbs for quite a while before turning to gravel. There was only one car to contend with and a easy run down to the carpark.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Waitipu.jpg

With all the riding gear, we decided against the walk out to the beach and after a break rode back with the idea of turning down any side roads that looked promising.
The sun breaking through the trees made a wonderfull ride back along Waitipu road.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Whatipureturn.jpg

The photos from the GoPro don’t show the vibrant colours as well as a proper camera. Back at Huia bay, we were going to visit the Huia dam but the locked gates foiled that idea. Huia road wound through the foothills and the next turnoff was Cornwallis road. We cruised down to the wharf then up to the lookout giving a lovely view back towards Waitipu.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Cornwallislookout.jpg

On the scooters again and our next stop was the Lower Nihotupu Reservoir. This was built about 1943 to supply water to Auckland. The concrete wall lines an earth dam and the spillway allows the excess out to sea.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/870.jpg

From here Mark led the way back to the Scenic Drive route. This is a tree lined road meandering through the Waitakere ranges. We pulled in at the Arataki visitors centre. Some lovely views over the Manakau harbour.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Huiadam2.jpg

Soon it was back on the scooters and further along the Scenic drive we turned back into the city. Riding back to Mt Eden in Auckland traffic was an eye opener after rural traffic flows. That night we had a lovely meal at a neighbours home then a decent sleep. The next day I was heading off on my own. A great day, wonderfull scenery and good friends. Choice.

awa355

13th October 2014, 16:55

Day Two and the morning of day three.
I got away from Marks home about mid morning. My first port of call was the Waikumete cemetery. This was to locate the grave of an ancestor. The office was closed however I knew where the general area was. Unfortunately, many of the rows have been re numbered according to one lady I spoke with. This bit of family history will have to wait for another visit.
Moving on I followed the Gt Nth rd out through the suburbs untill I found myself on Swanson rd which became Waitakere rd. I wasn’t too sure which direction I was going in but the ride was to cover roads I had not been on before so it was all new and relaxing. Eventually Buggsy and I arrived in Kumeu where I stopped and took a break. A little bakery there had the best mince and curry pie I’ve ever had. A lot of motorbikes roaring past. On the road again and at Waimauku the sign pointed to Muriwai. I had thought I was way past Muriwai but as it wasn’t far decided to have a look.
Plenty of people around, the tide was well in and I watched the surf breaking over the rocks between the beach and the Gannet colony.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Muriwai2.jpg

I found it tricky to get the digital camera to capture the precise moment the wave broke. It has just dawned on me as I type this that if I had used the burst or continuous modes I would have ended up with better photos.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/P1030299.jpg

I went for a ride up a couple of streets that I thought might give a bigger view of the coastline. From Waitea road I took some photos looking down at the Gannet colony.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Muriwai3.jpg

After tossing up whether to book in to the local campground and spend the rest of the day lounging around, I decided to push on. From Waimauku I stuck to SH16. There was nothing startling to stop and explore so soon I arrived at Hellensville.
This is a nice town to look around. The back streets have some nicely kept old homes. Buggsy had a drink at the local Caltex then we headed up Parkhurst road. On the map was marked a campground at Shellys beach. This turned out to be more of a motorhome park and the wind was howling through. Back out on Sth Head rd we wound up hill and down dale for several kilometers. It would be a great race track on a sportsbike, but on the scooter it was slow hard going with very little in the way of exciting views.
Eventually I arrived back at the Parakai springs. Booked a tent site and took a walk around. The swimming complex was packed. Thought about having a soak but figured the kids didn’t need the image of a white michelin man doing bellyflops to end their school holidays with. Tea was greasys from the local take away shop. The tent is a little 1 man affair, got it up and although there was not much space inside, it proved to be warm and dry. The camp amenities weren’t anything flash. Very basic.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Parakai1.jpg

That night there were a lot of drongos staggering through the camp ground and I did not sleep very much worrying about some idiot helping himself to the scooter. Not having an airbed did not help either. However the ground was fairly soft and not too bad on the body.
Next moring I woke to find Buggsy still there, had a cleanup and took a walk around Parakai. Loaded up and rolled back out to the Kaipara coast highway. I had been told lots about this ride, but to be honest, it did not have any standout views until closer to Wellsford. A good road on a big bike but a long drag on a 100cc scooter. I stopped at a pull off to take a photo of the Kaipara harbour and this;

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Lookout2.jpg

The information said that it is made of solid Macracarpa. It was made by a local man who spent his childhood making toy wooden planes that always seemed to crash. He went on to be a pilot for Malaysian Airlines. ( not really). This is the other photo I snapped at this spot.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Lookout1.jpg

While I was there a local farmer arrived. He comes up each day and cleans up the rubbish left behind by the ignorant. I asked about the two squares of concrete in front of the scooter. He said there used to be wooden picnic tables there but thieves were always cutting the table legs off the mounting plates and taking the tables so now there is nothing. From here onto Wellsford there are some great views of the upper reaches of the harbour. I stopped and took photos but have run out of allowable postings. At Wellsford Buggsy had a drink and I had a feed at the local bakery. I will finish my report in the next post.

awa355

13th October 2014, 19:23

Day Three. Since finding out that my great grandfather came out on the William Miles in 1863 as part of the Albertlanders settlement community I have had a special interest in this little part of NZ. After a top up for both of us it was back along the coast road to the turn off into Whakapirau rd, entrance to the Okahukura peninsula. This passes through rolling hill country. Some time ago I saw a photo of an old wooden church with the Kaipara harbour in the background. I wanted to find that spot. Due to my right eye still being very sore and my focus not always as it should have been, I did not complete the full circuit of the peninsula but still felt like I had touched base with a small part of my history.
Down Wharf road I stopped to take in the peacefulness of the harbour.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Oka1.jpg

Two small boats were coming into the ramp. Possibly been netting?, There is a plaque here that acknowledges the early settlers.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Oka2.jpg

Back up to Wharehine road and further on I had been told of a short gravel road leading out to some great views of the upper harbour. Down Witheford road and stopped at the last highest point before the road dropped. The views were lovely. I tried for a panaramic type photo but the editing programme would not match the photos. Here is one snap.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Withefordrd.jpg

The dull weather didn’t help much. Back on Run rd, I passed a sign about a historic chapel down a side road. Turning into Pah Hill road I cruised along the gravel and down into Shegadeen road. Here was the chapel.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Oka3.jpg

The old graves behind the building were hidden amidst various overgrown flowers.
Some must have been cleaned up at some stage. The oldest date I could find was 1872. A couple of headstones were wooden, Kauri I would guess.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Oka4.jpg

After a time of exploring around there was a light drizzle falling so starting Buggsy up I headed back to Run road. This road is quite wide and seems larger than the usual back road. It turned to gravel and this is one of the widest gravel roads I’ve ridden for a while.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Untitledpicture-34.png

Quite smooth, cambered corners, it had buggsy winding up. We had 75kph showing and it was a blast. On one corner I felt the rear slip which reminded me, I was a long way from any help if things went wrong. 10” wheels get a bit skittery on bigger stones so I pulled the fun factor down a peg or two. As said earlier I had a sore eye and with the weather looking a wee bit dicey decided to cut my visit to this peninsula back. Winding my way back to SH16 by continuing along Wharehine road.
I had hoped not to cover the same roads twice but being uncertain of the weather and my crook eye, I cruised on back to Helensville. Once there I tossed up whether to stay another night at Parakai or head for an uncles place at Taukau. I had seen what I had come for so decided to finish with a decent length ride towards home. We took the back roads ( old nth rd) from Helensville to Kumeu. From there I hit the Nth West mtrwy and stayed on the motorway untill Karaka. Turning off to re fuel then on to Tuakau. My uncle wasn’t home so I made the decision to continue back to Te Awamutu. The ride back was quite pleasant. The late sun bringing out the colours of the countryside. I got home about 7 oclock.

In summary, I did almost 900 kilometres over the three days. Day three was about 450k from Parakai, up to Wellsford, around the Okahukura peninsula then back to Helensville and down to Te Awamutu. The scooter averaged 31kpl. It was carrying me (95kg), tent, clothing, food etc, and it went like a dream. It never missed a beat. There are cheaper scooters on the market than the Japanese makes but paying more up front is worth it. 19,400k in 19 months with a 100cc engine without a single issue takes some beating.

Moi

15th October 2014, 07:17

A fun weekend - the Kaipara area is on the bucket list for next year.

unstuck

15th October 2014, 07:53

Brings back some wonderful memories of my youth, cheers awa.:2thumbsup

awa355

15th October 2014, 18:50

Thought you weren't going to get this didn't you :bs: Well, you damn well are. Anybody complains, and you'll get the whole 26 minutes.

Three short clips showing Huia rd then Waitipu road.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84a_TPWU_1o&feature=youtu.be

Moi

15th October 2014, 19:16

... Anybody complains, and you'll get the whole 26 minutes...

Go on, I dare you! Give us the full monty... :blah:

Moi

21st October 2014, 16:24

Further proof that scooterists are brave fellas...

The Cornwallis lookout - in the distance the Manukau Heads.

unstuck

21st October 2014, 16:28

Further proof that scooterists are brave fellas...

The Cornwallis lookout - in the distance the Manukau Heads.

Nice looking garden.:msn-wink:

awa355

21st October 2014, 19:11

Here are a few more photos from my trip.

I had planned on a photo of the inland side of Huia rd but some nut on his mobility scooter crashed the party. :nya:

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/P1030271.jpg

Mark and Ken and the scooters at the Huia Bay store.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/P1030267.jpg

Another pic of the waves at Muriwai.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Muriwai1.jpg

Looking back along the wharf at the end of Wharf rd (obviously)

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/P1030340.jpg

This chap came up the fence line as I was parked there taking photos. He was bellowing all the way and when at the gate he started pawing at the ground and driving his head along the ground. I re started the GoPro but he had slowed down by then otherwise he would have made a neat vid clip. I was standing behind Buggsy but when he head butted the gate, I had a good look at the flimsy chain and hook so decided he could keep his views of the Kaipara.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/BullatKaipara.png

awa355

2nd November 2014, 19:39

I was going to join a ride around Mt Maungatautari this morning but had a couple of jobs that needed to be done before going anywhere. Tasks done sooner than I thought, so decided to go alone on the scooter and check out the Pureora area.
Trundled off out to Parawera and into the Owairaka Valley road. Right into Bayley road and stuck with this road right through to the Ngaroma road. Stopped to enjoy the view and get some photos. The weather at this stage was heavy gray clouds with the promise of rain. So the photos in this ride report will look a bit flat.
The Ngaroma road has a lot of patches prepared for re sealing so expect a lot of loose chips on this road for a while. My mothers family settled at Tolleys road Ngaroma when the first blocks of land was balloted off back in 1912. The Memorial hall was built on the site of the original school building. Many days were missed from attending school due to the state of the roads back then. A trip to Te Awamutu twice yearly was a major highlight (40minutes drive today).

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Ngaroma2.jpg

Another photo from Ngaroma on the Wairehi road showing the dry stock farming, slowly being converted to dairy farming.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Ngaroma3.jpg

Out on the Waipapa road and my next stop was at the Mangawhio bridge. Everyone simply races over this bridge without bothering to take in the view over the side. Admittedly, there isnt anywhere to pull off the road, unless you are on a scooter.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/bridge1.jpg

My dad used to tell us kids that it took two looks to see the bottom of the gorge so I took two photos over the left side, this is the second pic.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/bridge2.jpg

For the up stream side pic I got cunning. I used the zoom function so got the full depth of the gorge in one picture. Beats dads old box brownie.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Mangawhio1.jpg

A bit further on and a stop at the Waipapa dam. This lake is quite pictureque but I’ve done a zillion pictures of the lake, so for this report I have put up a photo of the Waipapa river just before the water enters the lake under the little bridge. There can be great fly fishing further up stream from here, but it is not a river to fish on your own. The river bed is papa rock which lies in a honeycomb pattern. So easy to put a foot down a hole in the rock and snap! One fractured ankle. If that happens, there is no cell phone coverage and you’re a long way from any help.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/waipapariver.jpg

End of part 1, I’ll start the 2nd part just up around the corner, got a question for the road making experts.

awa355

2nd November 2014, 20:19

After the dam the road winds uphill over a saddle climbing away from the lake. I stopped to try for a picture looking down through the trees onto the top end of the lake. None of the photos showed very much but I did notice that the rock formation along that part of the road had quite distinct shapes.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/waipapard3.jpg

The surface appears to be vertical strata layers. Surely these would be a result of the making of the road along the rock cliffs rather than any natural formation?

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/waipapard2.jpg

Moving on and the sun had broken out. The colours of the trees, the rocky outcrops and the yellow of the Broom made a pleasant picture. Tried to capture the moment here but the photo didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/waipapard.jpg

At the end of the road in this photo, I turned right into Ranginui road. This gravel road passes through the pine forest and then it is farming country. Sheep mostly, It is easy to see the land was formed by various volcanos and or earthquakes. Lots of sharp peaks and gullys. This is a pic looking across towards the Sth Waikato.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Ranganuird2.jpg

The gravel is continuous for about 10 kilometres then alternate stretches of seal and gravel. The gravel sections were first class. It wasn’t hard to punt the scooter along but with the sun out, scenic vistas on either side of the road, Buggsy and I were in cruise mode. Looking in the Taupo direction.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Ranganuird1.jpg

Towards the end of Ranginui road there is a fragment of native reserve. A number of tall Rimu trees broke through the lesser growth. I should have stopped but this still from the GoPro sort of shows a bit of the reserve.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Ranganuird3.jpg

Shortly after here Ranginui road meets up with the Bennydale road. All up, 22 kilometres, and a nice change from the usual route around through the main roads. My next bit is about the Pouakani Totara tree.

unstuck

2nd November 2014, 20:27

Great stuff there again fella.:2thumbsup Those rocks look a little too uniform to be natural, but then nature is a funny bugger at times.:wacko:

awa355

2nd November 2014, 21:06

Great stuff there again fella.:2thumbsup Those rocks look a little too uniform to be natural, but then nature is a funny bugger at times.:wacko:

The road was knocked up before the days of hydraulic diggers so I cant think of any reasons for shaping the cliff banks like that.

awa355

2nd November 2014, 21:12

Just along from the Ranginui road is a sign acknowledging the Pouakani Totara. From about Raglan latitude south, The Totara tree replaced the Kauri as the biggest podocarp. Not the tallest but for bulk the Totara was a real ‘mans’ tree. This particular tree somehow escaped the crosscut saw and chainsaw.
Anyhow, Buggsy and I pulled up on the knoll that passes as a carpark. It comprises of several old logs side by side in the ground. Once it would have been a loading skid for the logs that came out of the forest. I made a cup of tea from the luke warm water from the crap thermos that I swear I’ll throw out one day, had a sandwich and soaked up the sun. I was a biy iffy about leaving the scooter out in view of the road. You never know when some devious low life motorbike rider is likely to come along and want to ‘upgrade’ his ride. The walk into the tree is about 20 minutes so I figured on being away just under an hour. Fired Buggsy up and rode into the walking track about 15 metres and parked him up in the undergrowth out of sight of the road.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/PouakaniTotara1.jpg

I have walked in to the totara tree about 40 years ago. The track is easy enough to follow and the sun coming through the canopy made for a lovely quiet stroll.
The tree is now fenced off to stop dickheads from wreaking the root system. I tried to merge two photos together to make one of the entire tree. Didn’t quite work but you can get an idea of the size from these photos.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/vertical.jpg

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/PouakaniTotara2.jpg

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/PouakaniTotara4.jpg

The canopy has had about 5 heads but over the years a couple have rotted away. Still a massive tree when seen in the flesh. A couple of stats; 4 m up from the ground, the girth is 11.3m, the dia 3.6m, 10m up to the first fork and at that point if solid, it would yield 77 cubic metres of timber. I took a short video clip, hopefully it shows the true size of this tree. This tree is estimated to be about 1800years old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlxsqS8y-GE

From here I made my way back out and retrieved Buggsy. Leaving here and heading towards Bennydale, the weather ahead looked like it was going to turn nasty. I had a cruise around Bennydale, lots of old unpainted derilict houses. Sad but quite rustic in its own way. The ride back to Tekuiti was a breeze, the rain kept to the west and it was 5k out of Te Awamutu when I finaly hit rain. It only lasted about 30 seconds. All up, 215 k. A neat ride.

Robbo

3rd November 2014, 06:06

Great ride report and pics, as always Arthur.

Cheers :first:

Moi

3rd November 2014, 07:16

A great day out. Some beautiful country in South Waikato.

unstuck

3rd November 2014, 07:26

The road was knocked up before the days of hydraulic diggers so I cant think of any reasons for shaping the cliff banks like that.

http://fooyoh.com/geekapolis_gadgets_wishlist/1477380 Who knows??????????? Aliens?????:innocent:

awa355

3rd November 2014, 07:58

A short boring clip of Ranginui road showing the gravel. This is in better shape than many of the sealed back roads in many areas. I guess that over a time frame, gravel is cheaper to maintain than tarsealed roads for some areas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTomh5Xo34k&feature=youtu.be

unstuck

3rd November 2014, 08:07

There were heaps of really good gravel roads down this way when I first moved here 20 odd years ago, but now we have had the dairy boom, most of them are complete shit. Milk tankers suck.:yes:

carver

4th November 2014, 17:38

scooters are gay

awa355

4th November 2014, 17:59

scooters are gay

What a pointless post. :tugger:

Moi

4th November 2014, 20:39

... to each his own...

that is one spectacular tree...

as for the rock formation, I wonder if it is some form of volcanic formation where the lava flows is formed into 'columns' - similar to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Island. There are some others in NZ, but can't think of where... Mt Cargill, Dunedin - thanks Mr Google...

carver

5th November 2014, 05:36

What a pointless post. :tugger:

what a pointless thread!:yawn:

frogfeaturesFZR

9th November 2014, 11:57

what a pointless thread!:yawn:

I'd beg to differ.
Horses for courses and all that.

BlackSheepLogic

11th November 2014, 19:31

scooters are gay

Feeling a little insecure are we?

Madness

11th November 2014, 19:37

Feeling a little insecure are we?

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/89673-Congrats-2-carver?

craisin

12th November 2014, 06:08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05HMY6tL5EE mm

awa355

12th November 2014, 17:57

I've seen the video, a fantastic ride.

awa355

3rd December 2014, 18:56

8.30am and here I was with a full 5l fuel can and the lawns were too wet to mow. Buggar!! well not being one to waste petrol I grudgenly filled Buggsy, made some sandwiches and a thermos and went for a short tiki tour while the lawns dried.

Turning into Pekanui road I cruised on up the 9k's of gradual climbing stopping once to take in the views over the Waikato from the slopes of Mt Pirongia. Looking towards Taupo, I could get a good view of Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe. Tried for a photo of Ruapehu but had to engage the digital zoom function which does nothing for the clarity of the photo but I've loaded it anyway.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pwrd1.jpg

From here I carried on up to the crossroads where Pirongia west rd turns right. I have ridden the Okupata rd several times on the scooter but not the west road. The road surface was good but with plenty of bigger gravel stones than the 10" wheels were comfortable with. Having said that, the scooter handled the bigger loose stuff pretty well. Keeping out wide on the cambered left corners helps with avoiding the worst of the corrugations. The road follows the edge of the Mt Pirongia forest park for quite away before moving away towards Oparau. The roads seems to have been cut along some bluffs as the right side is mostly steep banks and the left has a belt of pungas and scrub dropping down to the farmland.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pwrd2.jpg

As far as scenery goes, there isn't any, untill leaving the forst park section. There are some great views looking out over the inner Kawhia harbour.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pwrd3.jpg

The road becomes easier as it drops down through sheep farmland to the valley below. The Oparau river flows out of the forest park and into the harbour. Here is one photo of the river.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pwrd4.jpg

The place was so quiet and serene. Apart from the sheep bleating it was so still. No breeze, not farm machinary, no traffic. A bit further along at Oparau I stopped again and had a bite to eat and cup of tea. About 20 minutes spent there and not a soul went passed or showed themselves. Leaning over the bridge I watched a decent size trout going about his business, drifting sideways into the current for a snack then back behind the sunken tree trunk. From here it is a short hop out to the Kawhia road. I pulled up at a picnic table to take off my jersey when this local chap turned up.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/pwrd5.jpg

Turns out his grandaddy was an old totara from way back, used to make Wakas'. then made fence posts. Nowadays his family have gone and he just stands around watching the traffic go by. From here it was 'knees down' back through the twisties of the Kawhia road. Buggsy wasn't quite finished with the gravel though, we swung left into Te Rauamoa road. Eight k's of smooth winding gravel bought us back to the crossroads of Pekanui and Okupata roads. This time Pekanui was all downhills. Still patches of fine loose chips on many corners tho' so we didn't go for any records.

All up, about 120 k round trip. Looking at the local maps, ( King Country/Waikato) there are very few gravel roads that the scooter and I haven't covered. Guess we will have to start all over again. Oh, and the lawns did get mowed this afternoon.

frogfeaturesFZR

3rd December 2014, 19:14

Cheers, good read, have you ridden out past Ngaroma way ? Great twisty roads !

Moi

3rd December 2014, 20:46

Great read, nice way to get out of mowing the lawns... or were you good and did them when you got home?

BlackSheepLogic

7th December 2014, 18:28

Great read, nice way to get out of mowing the lawns... or were you good and did them when you got home?

Took the UZ125 out on Kakaramea road yesterday morning. When I got back my lady wanted the lawn mowed including edging. Wasn't allowed to take the bike out until it was done.

awa355

8th December 2014, 00:56

Took the UZ125 out on Kakaramea road yesterday morning. When I got back my lady wanted the lawn mowed including edging. Wasn't allowed to take the bike out until it was done.

I wait until the wife has gone to work, then disappear on the bike. :shit:

craisin

14th December 2014, 19:37

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqwZPou2VuI

Saturn

15th December 2014, 00:20

I wait until the wife has gone to work, then disappear on the bike. :shit:

Naughty, Naughty, but really good read as usual and great to see the scenery. :msn-wink:

awa355

15th December 2014, 20:09

Well the wife did go to work this morning so I decided that 9am was far too late to start any chores around the house so it was saddle up Buggsy and head for the hills. The hills behind Te Pahu to be exact.
A leisurely ride through to Te Pahu and we hung a left into Limework Loop road. Plenty of corners, nice green trees and hills. Turned left into Fillery road. Somewhere along this road the name changes to Waitetuna Valley road. This climbs over the Aromiro saddle. Fillery road in many respects copies Old Mountain road. Winds and twists through farmland then climbs up through scrub covered hills then down into the Waitetuna valley.
At the highest point of Fillery road there is a small quarry on the right. I talked to a truckie who pulled at the quarry entrance where I had stopped. I asked about riding up to the quarry and getting a few photos of the surrounding country. As he was the only one working there, that was no problem. Followed his truck up the road leading into the quarry and parked up the scooter. I climbed up onto a peak and had a wonderfull view of the country overlooking the waikato on one side and towards the west. A couple of photos taken with my cell phone. What a useless piece of equipment for taking photos. A reflective screen that makes reading the functions and seeing what is in the view impossible. I’m currently looking at up grading my camera to one with a better optical zoom function.
A panarama shot looking over towards Mt Pirongia.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/no3-1.jpg

One of the quarry.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/no2-1.jpg

One looking west.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/no1-1.jpg

I did take a short 360 video from here. If it looks somewhat shaking that’s because ‘eloquent’ doesn’t quite describe a man wearing motorcycle gear standing on a heap of ryolite trying to pirouette gracefully while holding a stupid cell phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUi-I-vXyoI

From here Fillery road drops down into the Waitetuna valley. The road surface is quite good, for gravel, and Buggsy started winding up. Vandy road had featured in the Adventureriding website recently, so I decided to have a look at this road. It slowly climbs through marginal farmland and finishes at a mud track that dissappears into a bush reserve. A snap of Vandy road.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/no4-1.jpg

A fun ride back down to the Waitetuna road and it was back onto the tarseal. I did think about riding back over the Old Mountain road but I had done this track twice in the last two months, so I ran out to the main Raglan-Hamilton road and then onto the Te Pahu road. Before Te Pahu I turned left into Grove road. This runs along a ridge untill hitting the Te Pahu road again. This road has been recently sealed all the way. A wee loop off the Te Pahu road, this is a ball. One eye on the scenery and one eye on the road. Going to be a while before the loose chips are swept off the road. A lovely shot looking across to Mt Pirongia.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/no6.jpg

From here a easy ride back home. I was only away for 3 hours, but saw some lovely scenery and rode some great roads. Not fast but loose enough to be fun.

unstuck

15th December 2014, 20:22

Good stuff yet again.:yes:
Must have come out not far from where strawberry fields music festival was held by the look of that last pic.:Punk::Punk:

tri boy

15th December 2014, 20:30

That wee scoot gets about:scooter:
Limeworks loop Rd -Te Rapa is my daily commute. Love it:banana:
When I see the big Kahikatea trees going home, I just smile:sunny:

Saturn

16th December 2014, 01:18

Just love the description of you taking the video, made me chuckle out loud.:laugh:

Moi

16th December 2014, 06:37

Great ride - like the photo of the quarry: the colour of the rocks is such a contrast.

awa355

2nd January 2015, 20:56

Got up this morning and realised that we were well into 2015 and I still hadn’t been anywhere on the scooter. Made a lunch, thermos and packed the cameras, then filled the spare petrol container and headed off. The plan was to ride the Marokopa-Awakino road and have a peek up a few side rides. I have ridden this road (Mangatoa) before but only untill Pomarangai road junction. That time Phill and I had ridden our road bikes over the Pomarangai and Ngapaenga roads.

I got away at 10am and it was an uneventfull ride through the back roads to Waitomo. From Waitomo the road had a lot of tar bleed for the first few ks. My first stop was just before Te Anga. This photo shows the Marakopa river just below the falls. I have had some success fishing this stretch of water.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/TeAnga.jpg

From Te Anga the road follows the river untill the little village of Marakopa. The Marakopa river has the usual whitebaiters huts ranging from one fairly elaborate cottage type to the more common corrugated iron lean to’s and derilict caravans. The farmland along here appears to be mainly beef and sheep.
The early farmers around here ( and everywhere else) worked their hearts out breaking in the land. Hills as steep as anywhere covered with pockets of trees and grass.
The flat land either side of the river dotted with trees.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/DSC00123.jpg

A wee bit further on I stopped to get a snapshot of this Pohutukawa tree
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Pahutakawa.jpg

Before the village I turned left into Mangatoa road, otherwise known as the Marakopa-Awakino road. A short sharp climb to a small lookout over the river mouth and village. Once apon a time a section here was worth a pittance. Now the land grab has taken off and prices have gone through the roof. The river is very popular with surf casters.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Marakopa1.jpg

After a quick snack I rolled on over the saddle and down to the Soundy road turnoff. A few k’s along side the Rararimu stream there is a small campsite by the river mouth. I got the feeling that the local campers weren’t too keen on visitors. Got this picture of the river mouth then headed back to Mangatoa road.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Soundierd.jpg

End of part 1.

awa355

2nd January 2015, 21:02

Just past the junction of Soundy and Mangatoa roads the seal gives way to gravel. There is a thin belt of farmland along the river banks with scrub and bush covering most of the hills. The gravel lasts about 14 kilometres then becomes a marked double lane road for the rest of the drive to Awakino. About halfway along, Waikawau road is on the right. This is a 5k gravel road following the Mangawhitkau stream. What a lovely little spot at the end.

A small carpark then a man made tunnel leading out onto the beach.
This pic is of the stream before meeting the sea.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/2Stitch.jpg

This is the entrance to the tunnel.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/tunnel1.jpg

One of the inside. Plenty of water dripping from the roof and down the walls.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/tunnel2.jpg

The view out onto the beach,
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/tunnel3.jpg

and back to the left of the exit
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/tunnel4.jpg

Here is what the history book says about the tunnel.
“ The only publicly accessible part of the coastline between Marokopa and Awakino, which are almost 60 kilometres apart by road, is at Waikawau beach. Access is via a narrow tunnel through the sandstone cliffs, which was made in 1911 by three men armed only with picks and shovels. It was constructed so cattle could be driven to and from Nukuhakare Station, on the hills above the tunnel. The farm is hilly and it was easier to drive the cattle along the beach than across the rough terrain. These days the tunnel is used by people rather than cows. “

The three mens’ names were, Tom, Dick and Hori. (don’t believe me do you?).

I thought about taking Buggsy through the tunnel as tyre tracks showed ATV’s using the tunnel, but the wooden ramp down onto the beach looked a bit too slimey and steep.
Back at the carpark, I topped Buggsy up with fuel. This was the first time on all of my rides that I had to used the extra fuel I usually carry. I may not have quite made it to Awakino.

awa355

2nd January 2015, 21:06

From Waikawau school the road changes name to Manganui. The road is a scratchers delight. Lots of corners and for the most part, in good condition.
The forest that the road winds its way through for most of its length is the Wharekino State Forest. Towards the Awakino end the land is mostly farming country. I stopped and tried to capture some of the scenery.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/awakino2.jpg

The river is the Manganui. I stopped for a break under what must be one of the tallest “Piss off” signs I’ve seen.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/awakino3.jpg

Another snap of the roadside scenery.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/awakino1.jpg

Finally got to Awakino and took a break to refuel the spare container and top up the scooter. My butt was starting to tell me that the day was coming to an end soon so I stuck with SH3 up through the gorge untill I found Totoro road on the right. This would swing by Aria then back to Piopoi.
This road is quite rough along the Awakino end but improves closer to Aria. Some nice country through here . I had planned on passing through Aria and meandering across to SH4. But was getting a bit jaded by now, so came out at Piopio and stuck with the main drag back to Otorohonga, then the usual back road to Te Awamutu.
All up 300k’s for the day. I covered some new ground and had a lot of fun but have to admit, I’m looking forward to getting back on a proper bike. I could replace the scooter now and get a reasonable 2nd hand bike, or wait until June, when I can possibly look at a new 250.

frogfeaturesFZR

3rd January 2015, 04:24

Great read, and nice pics, as usual Arthur!
Enjoy 2015
Cheers

Robbo

3rd January 2015, 05:51

Brilliant Arthur, thanks for posting

Cheers :niceone:

Moi

3rd January 2015, 08:41

awa355

3rd January 2015, 13:33

Morning and Happy New Year!

Your new camera does a great job - those photos are clear and crisp, especially like the pohutukawa tree shot.

Hope Buggsy doesn't hear of your evil plan to replace him!

BTW - what are you thinking of getting?

Cheers

I'm thinking along the lines of a 200- 500 single or twin. Something light, simple and economical. A bike with a sit up position rather than a 'leaning forward' stance. Looking at various options from a XT250 to a Suzuki Inazuma. I want something that I can afford to maintain when retired in a couple of years. I like riding the secondary roads and exploring the no exit roads that disappear into the hills. At the moment I am leaning towards a dual purpose model. Trouble is finding one that I dont need to use a step ladder to climb on.

If a road bike, then I do like the look of this but a wee bit pricey
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Untitledpicture-47.png

Moi

3rd January 2015, 15:51

Go on, be a devil...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/cruiser/auction-803105220.htm :devil2:

caseye

3rd January 2015, 18:38

Always enjoy reading and viewing your exploits, nice work, hunted around this area for many years, fished some of the rivers too, big strong fish in some of em, and in places you'd not expect.
On ya, get a proper dual purpose bike and continue enjoying what you are doing.

BlackSheepLogic

4th January 2015, 09:07

I'm thinking along the lines of a 200- 500 single or twin. Something light, simple and economical. A bike with a sit up position rather than a 'leaning forward' stance.

Are you planning on keeping the Scooter? I prefer the scooter around town to any road bike I've ever owned.

awa355

4th January 2015, 09:22

Are you planning on keeping the Scooter? I prefer the scooter around town to any road bike I've ever owned.

Will probably trade or sell the scooter. I'd like to keep it, but really, I would have no use for it and could not justify a 2nd lot of $427 re-licencing per year on a scooter. Te A is small enough that I can walk to most places.

BlackSheepLogic

5th January 2015, 08:59

Will probably trade or sell the scooter. I'd like to keep it, but really, I would have no use for it and could not justify a 2nd lot of $427 re-licencing per year on a scooter. Te A is small enough that I can walk to most places.

Flick me a note when the time comes.

Saturn

6th January 2015, 01:06

Happy New Year to all.

Great write up as usual Arthur. Took me down memory lane. We used to go to the A&P shows in Piopio and Aria and I can still place some of the pics (and that's from 60 years ago)
Cheers, Glen

CrazyFrog

6th January 2015, 10:51

Nice little road trip there again Arthur. Buggsy is doing you proud. Be a shame to let him go, but hey, bigger and better things await.
When I was a kid, mid 70's, we use to have all our summer holidays over Awakino/Mokau way. Great spot for fishing, exploring the backblocks and shooting goats!

As for the upgrade to something bigger..... my call is a late model XT250, low seat height, nice smooth ride and a go anywhere machine.
If you're mainly sticking to secondary roads and just cruising, the motor should last ages. Good ergo's and economical.

unstuck

6th January 2015, 11:17

I vote this for thread of the year.:Punk::Punk:

With Jatz's travels a close second. You dudes rock.:Punk::Punk:

awa355

6th January 2015, 12:08

I vote this for thread of the year.:Punk::Punk:

With Jatz's travels a close second. You dudes rock.:Punk::Punk:

Jatz's travels leave mine for dead. I simply post my ride reports in a way that suits me. I do know that if I had been on a big sportster, I would have barrelled past Waikawau and Boundy roads.

Here are a few more pics from the ride. I dont know how or if I can post more than 6 pics to a post.

First is a horse just before Waikawau. He had his head raised up and turned towards me. By the time I got the camera sorted the horse had lost interest in posing. With the sun shining on his/her coat had a lovely sheen.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/DSC00153.jpg

Just along from the horse was this cutting with Waikawau on the other side, I thought the scolloping of the sandstone banks were different.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/DSC00154.jpg

An old access way across an old creek bed. Bridge has seen better days. Off Manganui road.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/DSC00172.jpg

A snap from Totoro road.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Untitledpicture-50.png

awa355

6th January 2015, 12:11

Moi

6th January 2015, 15:28

Jatz's travels leave mine for dead. I simply post my ride reports in a way that suits me.

I'd disagree with you - yes, Jatz's travels are different but both of you provide us with interesting write-ups and photos. And, hopefully, a bit of a push to get off the backside and go riding up some of those secondary roads...

Well done to both of you!

First equal is my decision :first:

craisin

10th January 2015, 05:50

happy new year good pics and ride report

awa355

10th January 2015, 19:54

Here's a scooter photo, I've 'borrowed' from a scooter FB page. Can anyone id it? I'm not even sure that it isn't a glorified homebuilt special. :wacko:

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Untitledpicture-52.png

shafty

10th January 2015, 19:57

Cushmanclubofamerica.com I'd guess - they're cool 👍

unstuck

10th January 2015, 19:59

Saw something very similar the other day on a website. No idea what it is though.:scratch:

Moi

10th January 2015, 20:22

Try this link - Allstate (https://www.flickr.com/photos/howard33/318101095)

The Yanks made some interesting scooters, including Harley-Davidson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-margie/1430381092/in/photolist-3bp5sY-4CcwFX-bNgRRi-4CgQEw-9yaSGo-8KoMKH-8KoMDr-a7FVXx-ec6gM3-9zddcg-dKxGV-8KrRHJ-6Re6kh-o2Tt75-dvca3N-5Jmcie-383Bo5-kW1DxH-mqnsJP-9HE6SZ-5XVaBd-b498Ui-6vnBYF-vf7SX-dYv8qp-mqNUiA-jWT4d8-29tC7e-9zddYT-8xgNpT-8JPh2Y-c6aZGs-9juV8D-dhWgih-9y7Ug6-Md73C-6GGx2w-6GGxzN-6GGwNL-fpzrXS-9zgcmY-9SBTyW-9zdbUi-6cF9KM-7wV3Gv-8KrRN1-58WEGC-9SBTGb-4C73Wq-fpzrPu)

Now if you replaced Buggsy with one of those :2thumbsup:

awa355

11th January 2015, 01:28

Cushmanclubofamerica.com I'd guess - they're cool 

You mean someone actually got paid to design that front end?????:gob::gob::gob::gob:

BlackSheepLogic

11th January 2015, 09:31

Here's a scooter photo, I've 'borrowed' from a scooter FB page. Can anyone id it? I'm not even sure that it isn't a glorified homebuilt special

That should never have been restored (more correctly, should never have been legal to build in the first place).

unstuck

11th January 2015, 12:59

You mean someone actually got paid to design that front end?????:gob::gob::gob::gob:http://www.nebraskahistory.org/sites/mnh/cushman.htm :niceone:

Moi

11th January 2015, 15:04

You mean someone actually got paid to design that front end?????:gob::gob::gob::gob:

Perhaps they had this as inspiration...

http://members.pioneer.net/~fitzrr/5344cv.jpg

awa355

14th January 2015, 01:35

Off subject, how does this tri 125 Yamaha scooter get to be able to ride with just a car licence? Several dealers have this model on trade me, all giving the same spiel.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/scooters/auction-819358280.htm

unstuck

14th January 2015, 06:29

Off subject, how does this tri 125 Yamaha scooter get to be able to ride with just a car licence? Several dealers have this model on trade me, all giving the same spiel.

Because it has 3 wheels not 2. :niceone:
Looks pretty unstable to me, but then I am not a rocket surgeon.:weird:

Moi

14th January 2015, 07:58

unstuck

14th January 2015, 08:19

I thought a 'moped' was able to be ridden on a car licence and a moped was up to 50cc and not capable of more than 50 km/h... otherwise the vehicle is classified as a motorcycle and you need a motorcycle licence.

Be interesting to see what happens if someone buys a Tricity and is stopped by the Police and has their licence checked and they are on a car licence only...

I was led to believe that it was about kw power rather than cc, at least that was what the judge said when I went to court for riding a 49cc scooter when I was younger.
He dismissed the case because I had a car license and the scooter was less than the kw power stated in law. Mind you, that was over 30yrs ago.:blink:

Moi

14th January 2015, 09:40

Interesting. NZTA website states:

What you can drive with a car licence
With a car (class 1) licence you can drive:
* most ‘light’ vehicles – cars, vans and utes
* all terrain vehicles (ATVs)
* mopeds – but not motorcycles
* some agricultural vehicles.

What you can ride with a motorcycle licence
With a motorcycle (class 6) licence you can ride:
* motorcycles
* mopeds
* all-terrain vehicles (ATVs).

A moped is a motor vehicle (other than a power-assisted pedal cycle) that:
* has two wheels [Class LA] or three wheels [Class LB1 or LB2]; and either:
* has an engine cylinder capacity not exceeding 50ml and a maximum speed not exceeding 50km/h; or
* has a power source other than a piston engine and a maximum speed not exceeding 50km/h.

So no mention of power output [kw] but that doesn't mean it does not exist as part of the regulations and has not been put on the website.

Personally, I'd be very cautious buying a Tricity and riding it on a car licence. It's just too different to not draw attention to you and for a constable to not become interested.

awa355

29th January 2015, 15:23

Did a ride on Tuesday, around some roads in behind Mahihi. This area is flanked on the east by the Rangitoto ranges and farmland rolling westwards to Otorohanga. Most local riders know the sealed roads through this area but there are some side roads I hadn't been over so decided to take a wander.

Through Mahihi, and Hoddle road is a gravel road that climbs a saddle coming off the Rangitoto hills. It loops around to connect with Tauraroa Valley road. Probably about 5k long. I stopped part way up the climb and took a look back. The country is very parched. The only greenery were the tree foliages.

This photo shows Mt Pirongia at the back with Kakepuku just to the right.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Hoddlerd1.jpg

Swinging the camera in the other direction towards the hills shows the Mangaoronga stream weaving down into the farmland.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Hoddlerd2.jpg

The land seems to be mostly sheep and grazing for young dairy stock. A lot of maize being grown on the flatter paddocks. Turning right into Tauraroa Valley road we dropped down gradually into the floor of the Tauraroa valley (I guess). A nice little stream winding out of the hills here.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/TauraroaValleyrd.jpg

The hills are remarkedly clear of the original forest stumps. Previous generations have put some effort into bringing this country into production. Gravel soon becomes tarseal and my next road to check out was Waimahora rd. Another gravel road that follows a narrow strip of flat land back into the Rangitoto's. This range makes up the western side of the Pureora Forest Park. Alongside the road is the Waimahora stream. A short way up this road, another, Owawenga rd veers off to climb up a ridge into strands of forest reserves. I turned up this road.

I stopped at a sharp dip where a bridge crossed a stream and took a nosy up an overgrown track lying alongside the stream.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Owawengard1.jpg

Another looking back across one of the gullys on Owawenga rd.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Owawengard2.jpg

From here the road climbed up through some cut over logging operations and onto a y junction. One was obviously a farm drive, the other seemed to be a continuation of the road. On the old map, Owawenga road does a big loop around and back onto Waimahora road. In fact, the road dies out here as the gates across the road suggested private access only.

10k back to the junction with Wai road, I turned right and followed the Waimahora road (and stream) about 3k to the end. Another apparent private property? The maps seemed to show the road as going much further, so maybe it was public access through the farm?
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/DSC00468.jpg

I sat on the bank and enjoyed a snack and cup of tea before rolling on back down Otewa road. Stopped to catch this shot of the Waipa river. A lovely river to fly fish. Scenic and while the trout aren't huge, they are wild bred and fight like hell.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Waipariver.jpg

Back home, I delibirated about whether I would bother with this report. The country being so dry did not make for nice photos, but then decided this is my last report of my rides on Buggsy. Within the next week I will give the scooter a good going over and put a new 12month wof on it and list it for sale. Will most likely need a new rear tyre for the wof. There is nothing wrong with the scooter, it goes as well now as it did two years ago. Nothing has ever broken down/off, nothing has come loose, cracked, or stopped working. I just need to get back onto a motorbike. Buying Buggsy was only ever an interim measure while I helped out a family member financially.

Now starts the fun of scanning turd me about six times a day, looking at bikes. I'm not going to get anything big, still tossing up between a dual purpose and a light street bike?

Moi

29th January 2015, 17:05

A nice day's riding...

Buggsy has served you well, you'll need something rather special to replace the wee fella...

frogfeaturesFZR

30th January 2015, 18:27

A nice day's riding...

Buggsy has served you well, you'll need something rather special to replace the wee fella...

Yip, Bugsy punches well above his weight.:niceone:

awa355

14th February 2015, 11:11

Buggsy went the way of all trade in's On Wednesday. I'm now riding a mint Yamaha Virago 250. Not the bike I was originally looking for but after a good talk with my wife I (we) decided to settle for a lower priced bike for now, then at the years end, look at a reasonably new 250.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/DSC00485.jpg

The Virago has been owned by a lady owner who has done a pretty good job of looking after it. The colour scheme isn't my first choice but it will grow on me. Reading the viragotech forum, 250 section it appeared that the original sprocket gearing is very low, with some vibes around the 100kph mark and very short 1st/2nd gears (which I had noticed on my test ride). So even before I picked up the bike, I had a new 17t front sprocket on the way. In the states a popular upgrade is from 16/45t (stock) to 17/38. This seems to make 5th pretty much an overdrive gear.

I changed the front to the 17t last night and even that slight increase makes a noticeable difference. It feels quite comfortable at just under the 100kph mark. Plodding along at that speed suits me. I may look at dropping the rear cog down a couple of teeth later on. The 250 Vtwin pulls quite well (for what it is) and gee, it's good to be able to ride with the traffic, instead of sitting on the shoulder. The wife likes the sound of the v twin, so thats a plus. Its a bit muted but I wont bother messing with the exhaust. I would prefer the bars to be lower and wider but that might be something to look at later.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/DSC00486.jpg

Tomorrow I will get out and do a decent ride down Mangakino/Aitimuri way. I might drop a note in the 250 section and see if anyone else is interested.

shafty

14th February 2015, 11:23

Well done AWA, nice step up, and I think the colour will surely grow on you, I like it.

What's with the rear turn signal rearrangement ? Did it have saddlebags? That could open more longer travel options for you.....

Moi

14th February 2015, 11:43

That's nice... well done young man!

Enjoy!

Did you go through to Mangakino? We stayed there on Tuesday night after riding the Owairaka Valley Rd - got a little lost leaving Te A and looking for the Cambridge Rd :facepalm: - and then on Wednesday the Kaahu Rd from Whakamaru hydro...

unstuck

14th February 2015, 12:09

Good on ya.:Punk:

Next you will be buying a Harley and some tassles.:Punk:

awa355

14th February 2015, 19:28

Good on ya.:Punk:

Next you will be buying a Harley and some tassles.:Punk:

I will die before I own a bike with tassles,:oi-grr::oi-grr:\

Not sure on the rear indicators. Will have another look tomorrow, had two funerals to pick from today. Both had a terrible death from cancer. A ride tomorrow will be a bit of time out.

frogfeaturesFZR

15th February 2015, 20:16

post up a ride report :2thumbsup

unstuck

15th February 2015, 20:19

post up a ride report :2thumbsup

Check out the Waikato ride thread.:2thumbsup

craisin

27th February 2015, 07:55

I dont know how you ride a 125 on a car licence , but tell them to register it for you and keep a copy of the ad:weird:

Moi

4th April 2015, 19:27

OK, bit of a thread dredge...

Off subject, how does this tri 125 Yamaha scooter get to be able to ride with just a car licence? Several dealers have this model on trade me, all giving the same spiel.

The Yamaha Tricity was reviewed by Jacqui Madelin in today's NZ Herald's motoring section, but can't access an electronic version... but did locate this one from Stuff (http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/bikes/65940707/yamahas-trike-bike-oddity-is-a-car-in-nz) from early February. NZTA has decided they can be registered as a car and not a motorcycle, so they have to have two car licence plates - one front and one rear...

My tuppence on this is - if it leans it's a motorcycle, if it has a fixed axle, either front as CanAm Spyder or rear as traditional trike, it's a car...

Here's the Jacqui Madelin piece (http://www.driven.co.nz/reviews/reviews/yamaha-tricity-the-power-of-three/?ref=NZHNetwork)

awa355

6th April 2015, 03:00

It might be something to look at when I retire. Car rego is going to be far cheaper, and the stability could be a factor.

Moi

6th April 2015, 10:37

It might be something to look at when I retire ... stability could be a factor.

May I suggest a mobility scooter... :whistle:

I like the little Honda Grom (http://img3.findthebest.com/sites/default/files/778/media/images/2014_Honda_Grom_1131785.jpg)

Saturn

7th April 2015, 00:28

May I suggest a mobility scooter... :whistle:

I like the little Honda Grom (http://img3.findthebest.com/sites/default/files/778/media/images/2014_Honda_Grom_1131785.jpg)

He said Stability not Senility :laugh:

HenrytheHen

11th July 2016, 18:44

awa355

11th July 2016, 21:32

hi i got myself a bws100! awesome hey
I was wondering what tyres you would recommend, im either opting for Michellin or Pirelli, the michellin are the stock more off road suited tyres and pirelli more road, what would you recommend?

The BW 100 is primarily a road scooter with off road styling. Every time I went to change the rear tyre, I found that my existing tyre brand was not available. I don't think I ever tried the michellins as they were always advertised but never in stock. The Pirelli's were good, both the ceat and the SL26's. I think I got 13,000k out of the ceat on the front. Both tyres griped well in the wet. If you read the whole thread you will see what the beewee can do. I saw a lot of country that I would never bothered to visit on a big bike. 450k was my longest single ride (I think). Also ran a SL60. All were good tyres.

Do not use semi synthetic 2t oil. the pump doesn't like it. I used Castrol mineral oil. Changed the original plug at 14,000k. It was still good. I ran slime in the tyres, don't know if it was effective as I never had a puncture.

HenrytheHen

12th July 2016, 09:19

ok awesome thanks for that,
I think ill go for some sl60;s (front and back) or even sl26's would they be fine?.
do you fit the tyres your self or get the shop to do it?
Thanks

HenrytheHen

17th July 2016, 09:54

awa355

18th July 2016, 12:48

Hi, so i got two new tires on my bw100!, on the front a Michelin bopper and on the rear a Michelin reggae, Also got wof yesterday, flew through no problems. Just wondering what petrol do you put in? 91 or premium unleaded? haha.
Also the guys at Yamaha dealer insisted i only top it up with Yamaha oil (yamalube) so i bought a bottle of that and topped it up!.
Scooter ran awesome clocking 95 km/h tops.
Im looking foward to doing some long road trips!

The guys at the Yamaha dealer are talking crap. Of course they will push any product they are selling. Any recognized brand will suffice. I used Castrol GTX mineral 2t for 22,000k (22 months) and never had a single issue. The oil pumps on these do not like semi synthetic oils. In fact I only replaced the spark plug at 14,000k on impulse, not because it was fouling or breaking down.
95kph (95 indicated, 86kph true) is about top speed, 80-85kph is a good steady cruising speed. Scooters tend to have the most optimistic speedo's of any vehicle. The reggae is one of the fastest wearing tyres for this scooter, and not particularly grippy in the wet.

HenrytheHen

9th August 2016, 19:40

Hi, since i topped up the oil to the top. with the yamalube oil, the scooter has seemed to burn through all of it. I then purchased Castrol 2T oil (for motorcycles) and it took the whole 1 liter?
Does this sound about right to you?

HenrytheHen

9th August 2016, 19:41

So my question is how often do you top up the oil?

awa355

10th August 2016, 05:41

The oil tank is in two parts. There is a small tank at the filler, which runs into a larger reservoir. When the oil level light comes on, you can still get another four full petrol tank fill up's without any fears of running out of engine oil. And it will swallow up a litre easy if the light has come on. The oil tank capacity is 1.4L. and from memory, the light comes on at about the 1L level. If you pour the oil in too fast, it will build in in the narrow neck between the two sections of the oil tank and give the appearance of being full. You need to pour the oil in slowly.

I have a user manual and probably a workshop and parts manual stored on an external hard drive. The Zouma scooter website forum has links to a lot of online manuals. Most of the references to the BeeWee scooter refers to the 50cc 4t model as the 2t did not appear on the American market.

If you read back through my reports, I think I make mention of how far between oil top ups I was getting. Most of my riding was on the country roads, very little stop-start riding in urban areas. That would make a difference.