Whanganui River Road

[Moise]

Anyone ridden this recently? Anything to watch for?

[Ulsterkiwi]

Corners, quite a few of them. Been a while. They were "resealing" then, am sure the chips have been brushed aside....probably


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[reasonable]

Did it over Xmas , fully sealed .

Great ride I turned off at Raetihi then headed to Pipiriki on my V-Strom 650 and on to Wanganui .

Great to get away from the traffic .

Ride might be a little different on a R1 though

[jellywrestler]

locals cutting the corners with bull bars, especially on dole day

[FJRider]

Anyone ridden this recently? Anything to watch for?

It's a RURAL road. Blind corners ... mobs of sheep ... 4WD's parked in the middle of the road (two side by side with the drivers chatting is common) ... Wandering livestock (singular horses, sheep, dogs, cows, goats etc) ... Camper vans parked/driving indiscriminately on or near the road ... Tractors of various sizes (moving or parked) ... to name but a few.

Keeping left is not the option many road users in these areas take.

[Moise]

Thanks everyone. I'd heard that there'd been some major repairs, but sounds like it's finished.

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[FJRider]

Thanks everyone. I'd heard that there'd been some major repairs, but sounds like it's finished.

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Remember it's a river road ... parts of it slide into the river now and then. Some parts can be one lane with little warning.

[Moi]

As reasonable has said: go from Raetihi if you can. Don't expect it to be a fast ride, take a day and stop at the historic places - it is a magic place to ride/drive through.

If you are thinking of doing the Paraparas, be aware that there are a number of sections of one lane road controlled by traffic lights and the surface in those bits can be a bit rough, plus a few other short one lane sections.

At the southern end of the road it climbs up to a "gap" before descending to the main highway - stop there for magnificent views back up the river.

[Moi]

It's a RURAL road. Blind corners ... mobs of sheep ... 4WD's parked in the middle of the road (two side by side with the drivers chatting is common) ... Wandering livestock (singular horses, sheep, dogs, cows, goats etc) ... Camper vans parked/driving indiscriminately on or near the road ... Tractors of various sizes (moving or parked) ... to name but a few.

Keeping left is not the option many road users in these areas take.


Remember it's a river road ... parts of it slide into the river now and then. Some parts can be one lane with little warning.

When did you last ride/drive through there?

[FJRider]

When did you last ride/drive through there?

It matters little when ... it is his option to ignore any (or all) of the warnings ... ;)

[old slider]

Anyone ridden this recently? Anything to watch for?


I wouldn't ride my bike up there if you don't like getting new seal and tar over everything, they have and are still working hard out on the road repairs. plenty of Papa areas across the road in places that are treacherous if wet as well.

I travelled this road on the 8th and 9th of Feb, we spent quite some time trying to clean a brand new 4x4 double cab after we got back to Wanganui, sadly all the stone chips remained.

[Moise]

We rode it last Friday. Unfortunately we were late to Raetihi as one of the bikes needed repairs after being rear ended in Auckland, so we didn't have enough time to appreciate the experience.

Most of the road is OK, but not so much the local drivers. They don't slow down or leave you much room!

There were a couple of quite rough sections that the R1 didn't enjoy, but other parts of the road were great fun.

I'd definitely ride it again, hopefully when they've made more progress with the repairs.

There wasn't much water in the upper part of the river, which looked very muddy.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170227/2e22d888e803823a3a8c3ce1acac025f.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170227/2e93a2458acbc62774c17d539ef1ed44.jpg

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[old slider]

Looks like you had great weather for it. Definitely needs a bit of free time to stop frequently and enjoy the surroundings, Yes the locals can be a menace to other motorists, but luckily your were for-warned. I met a Guy from Masterton who was staying at the 151 London street accommodation on Saturday, he was going for a ride up the river road on his very nice looking Ducati with passenger and returning, I thought leaving at 1530 was pushing it for an enjoyable look around, I pre warned him off the other vehicles he may encounter on the road and to use the left side of his lane as much as he possibly could.

[Banditbandit]

It's a good RURAL Road. It's not wide in places so don't do it fast ... you never know when you are going to meet a local coming the other way ... The second picture of Moise's above is of a wide part of the road

[Moi]

We rode it last Friday...

Good to know that you got to experience it, definitely a road worth riding or driving again - several times...

Drove down once after a really good storm - trees down and slips - and the whole river was very atmospheric and a totally different feeling to the time before that when it had been blue-dome-day weather for several weeks prior.

[Dobbin]

I also did it last Friday, coming from Whanganui to Raetihi. A bit of loose metal where they've resealed the road but not swept it properly. One bit at the Whanganui end where a slip has reduced it to one lane, and there was a heavy digger in the middle which had to move so I could get past. Lots of potholes and areas with uneven surfaces. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although the day was a bit too hot. Treat the road with respect, and you should be fine.

[tri boy]

Enjoy the seal while you can.
Winter slips and washouts hopefully will send that black muck
to the bottom of the upside down creek.
Necminit a fucking latte hut will be open on it.

[Moise]

I also did it last Friday, coming from Whanganui to Raetihi. A bit of loose metal where they've resealed the road but not swept it properly. One bit at the Whanganui end where a slip has reduced it to one lane, and there was a heavy digger in the middle which had to move so I could get past. Lots of potholes and areas with uneven surfaces. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although the day was a bit too hot. Treat the road with respect, and you should be fine.
Did you stop at the Caltex at about 4? We were filling up then.

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