Back on them New Zealand roads

[Old Steve]

I rode up to Silverdale this morning, did my business, and turned around to ride home. Because I had an appointment up there, I'd ridden up on the motorway. But coming home I had the time to make the choice between the motorway straight home or the back road around the top of the harbour through Coatsville, Riverhead, around the Whenuapai Airfield, across the upper harbour bridge at Greenhithe and home down Glenfield Rd. The Coatsville/Riverhead road won the day.

WOW! After nearly three years in tropical Queensland with it's largely flat roads, straights between long corridors of sugar cane, and well built, large, even radius curves, what a pleasure it was to ride on a normal Kiwi road again. Up and down, into and out of valleys, corner after corner (even some decreasing radius corners where you have to increase the counter steering part way through the curve), and through a couple of lovely villages with cafes which look like they'll be well worth a later visit in their own right.

What a treat, what an amasing buzz that was. I think we take what we've got for granted, I'm looking forward to discovering all the other out of the way roads in the area. Look out Kumeu, Puhoi, Piha, here I come.

[Metastable]

You guys have the best riding roads I have seen anywhere I have been (generalizing from what I saw throughout the country). There are places with great roads in Colorado and Southern France, but NZ takes the cake.... IMO.

[98tls]

Welcome back fella,ST left over the ditch?

[Old Steve]

Welcome back fella,ST left over the ditch?

Yeah, moved it on to a friend of a friend. While it was ideal for tropical Queensland where towns are 400 km apart, my inside leg measurement didn't match the height of the ST1100's seat so I could only place the balls of my feet on the ground. And it was only worth $A3000, would have cost too much to bring it home. As well, I feel much more at ease on the Boulevard M50, and hope that by the time I've set it up with a wraparound padded trunk box that my perfect pillion will find it comfortable and secure too.

But I had completely forgotten just how fantastic our Kiwi roads are. I'd never ridden the upper harbour road through Coatsville and Riverhead but I'd ride it again any day. And I remember a lot of rides on those Waikato, King Country, Bay of Plenty and Coromandel roads - down to Te Hoi, out to Kawhia, from Rotorua out through the lakes to Whakatane, the ride through the Karangahake Gorge, the road from Waihi Beach to Whangamata and then over the range to Kopu, and the early way out of Auckland off the motorway at Papakura up through Clevedon and down the inside of the Firth of Thames through Kaiaua.

I'm just a happy little Kiwi, home on what must be some of the best roads in the world.

[caseye]

Yeah, moved it on to a friend of a friend. While it was ideal for tropical Queensland where towns are 400 km apart, my inside leg measurement didn't match the height of the ST1100's seat so I could only place the balls of my feet on the ground. And it was only worth $A3000, would have cost too much to bring it home. As well, I feel much more at ease on the Boulevard M50, and hope that by the time I've set it up with a wraparound padded trunk box that my perfect pillion will find it comfortable and secure too.

But I had completely forgotten just how fantastic our Kiwi roads are. I'd never ridden the upper harbour road through Coatsville and Riverhead but I'd ride it again any day. And I remember a lot of rides on those Waikato, King Country, Bay of Plenty and Coromandel roads - down to Te Hoi, out to Kawhia, from Rotorua out through the lakes to Whakatane, the ride through the Karangahake Gorge, the road from Waihi Beach to Whangamata and then over the range to Kopu, and the early way out of Auckland off the motorway at Papakura up through Clevedon and down the inside of the Firth of Thames through Kaiaua.

I'm just a happy little Kiwi, home on what must be some of the best roads in the world.

Always a pleasure to welcome someone home! Enjoy em all over again won't you.

[jonnyk5614]

Phil at riderskills sends you out on some of those roads for your riding tests. I love em!

Keep on highway 16 North up to Wellsford - it is a cracker :D Then 12.... then the coast road..... then highway 1 to Cape R........

[Bikemad]

jeez..... if you think the coatsville riverhead is good........wanganui river road........the real forgotton highway............the other ones got too much traffic on it
or the gentle annie.......magic

[R650R]

jeez..... if you think the coatsville riverhead is good........wanganui river road........the real forgotton highway............the other ones got too much traffic on it
or the gentle annie.......magic

Yep bugger those Auckland region backroads, too much traffic and idiots on them these days. Even when I lived up there over ten years ago they were starting to get too busy all the time. Head south to central and eastern north island....

[Maha]

Rivedhead/Coatsville is all 80 kph and heavy with other traffic at times. Ridge road (same area if you're out that way) is well worth the effort.

Paparoa/Oakliegh should be on the 'roads to do' list, about 70 kms and on any given day you'll see a hand full of cars.
A lot of great roads down this way (central districts) the only set back for Auckland dwellers (for a day ride) is the getting here.

[Old Steve]

Oh, is it 80 km/hr? Oops. And at the time of day I went over it, about 1.30 to 2.00 on a Tuesday arvo, there just weren't that many cars around until I reached Brigham Creek Rd and Whenuapai airbase.

But I'll keep an eye out for those other roads. And I agree that there are just so many wonderful roads further south.

I used to ride out of Tauranga, so know just how great those BOP and Waikato roads are. I loved the road from the turn off from SH1 at the Fronterra factory in Litchfield going around to the west of Tokoroa and down through the forest to Whakamaru, then the squirt down the western access from there to lunch at Te Hoi - though that road was heavily policed whenever there had been a race meeting further south, remember riding down it following the Burt Munro one year there was lemon and blue diamond stick on tape everywhere.

And the ride up the west of the Waikato River from Whakamaru, usually would cross the Arapuni dam and head for home via a coffee at the the Okoroire Pub. Then there was the ride across Lake Karapiro onto Maungatautari Rd and south to around Arapuni then west across the south Waikato to Kihikihi and across to Kawhia.

Just so many wonderful rides I have to discover and rediscover.

[Autech]

I would agree on the NZ roads stuff. Was just over in Montreal riding a borrowed Diavel (beast) and even though I don't ride on the road in NZ anymore (only have track bikes), I was trying to explain to the locals what riding was all about for us over here. There were a few roads there with a few alright corners that I found, but nothing in the ball park of what we have on offer here so close to the city. We got it good!

[george formby]

We got it good!

Damn right. My biking started in the Border region of the UK and continued in Scotland. Lots of great roads and scenery. But NZ is great roads from top to bottom. I'm still, after 20 odd years, totally enchanted by riding here. And the weather is wayyyyyyy betterer. Ahh, deep joy.

[Metastable]

I would agree on the NZ roads stuff. Was just over in Montreal riding a borrowed Diavel (beast) and even though I don't ride on the road in NZ anymore (only have track bikes), I was trying to explain to the locals what riding was all about for us over here. There were a few roads there with a few alright corners that I found, but nothing in the ball park of what we have on offer here so close to the city. We got it good!

There are some pretty decent roads near Mont Tremblant (nice track BTW), but you have to be aware of potholes anywhere in Quebec.... they still don't come close to NZ roads.

[Autech]

Yup Quebec roads remind me of Chch and we had an effing earthquake!


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[MarkH]

You should try the Gentle Annie (Taihape to Napier) sometime!
When I rode that road on my DR650 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLnWf1sQkjY
I'm keen to take a ride along it on my ST1300 sometime.