SI adventure trip 2026

[SaferRides]

Mainly on sealed roads with 3 days of soft adventure riding, Molesworth, Nevis and Hakataramea. There are 3 of us on a 1250 GS, V-strom 800 and me on the R1. I was going to buy or borrow an adv for the trip, but decided to bring the R1 instead as it enjoys the SI and I can do some good rides on the adv days.

Arrived in Blenheim yesterday after a very pleasant crossing on the Livia. It was one of those good days in Wellington, and just a slight swell after leaving the harbour.


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[F5 Dave]

Nice. One of my drivers for an adv was to do molesworth, will taken in rainbow as well, but next year for me. Have fun.

[release_the_bees]

Nice. One of my drivers for an adv was to do molesworth, will taken in rainbow as well, but next year for me. Have fun.I've done them both in the 4x4. It was an amazing day and a half of driving, with an overnight stay camping at Lake Tennyson for New Year's Eve. I definitely plan to do it again on two wheels sometime. Especially now that I have my late father's KLR650 in the garage.

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[Kickaha]

Nice. One of my drivers for an adv was to do molesworth, will taken in rainbow as well, but next year for me. Have fun.

Rainbow is the better ride of the two and at the St Arnaud end the Porika track is not far away

[F5 Dave]

I have coffee table book (from my late father) of Molesworth, but yes want to overnight Hammer and do both. Will look up Porika. Must look up some mates in St Arnaud as they were building but never have spare time when passing through.

[BMWST?]

Its so easy to do both Rainbow and Molesworth .If you want something a little milder do the Braeburn from St Arnaud to Murchison as a gateway to the west coast. Can Camp in the Molesworth at 1 of 2 campsites or at lake tennyson or cold water creek in the Rainbow or of course overnight at Hanmer The rainbow has a couple of fords and a couple of creek crossings. Conditions can change very quickly there if it rains

[release_the_bees]

I'm glad I wasn't on the bike when we met this guy in the middle of the road!
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[SaferRides]

Day 2, Blenheim to Hanmer
The adv group had a great ride today, apart from both the GS and V-strom riders dropping their bikes. They said it was a good ride up to Molesworth station and a bit rough in places after that.

I went up the Awatere Valley until seal end. There was a lot of metal on the first unsealed section, which the R1 does not like, so I turned around. Really enjoyed the ride up the valley though.

Good ride on SH1 to Kaikoura, then the inland route to Hanmer. Most of the road is good, but unless you could see through a corner, you couldn't be sure the surface was OK. After finding broken seal past an apex, I dialed it back a bit. Hoping the front rim is OK...

Most fun was the last part into Waiau. Straights connected by fast, sweeping corners, so I let the bike have some fun.

Looks like a wet ride to Ross tomorrow, but the next day should be fine.

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[BMWST?]

Yes I found the inland route a bit sorta disjointed. I normally find that a road has a certain rythym but I found the beginning of that road(I was going in the opposite direction) didnt gel with me. As you say a bit bumpy and some loose seal I think. I think this was the only 15km hr corner on the trip on that road.

[SaferRides]

Yes I found the inland route a bit sorta disjointed. I normally find that a road has a certain rythym but I found the beginning of that road(I was going in the opposite direction) didnt gel with me. As you say a bit bumpy and some loose seal I think. I think this was the only 15km hr corner on the trip on that road.I certainly wouldn't make an effort to ride it again. I took the 15 km/h corner in 2nd, there are tighter hairpins marked as 25 near home.



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[SaferRides]

Day 3, Hanmer to Ross
We had a very pleasant, warm evening in Hanmer, then a wet day off and on on the West Coast. Since arriving in the SI we've been joined by 2 others, one riding a Himalayan and the other a V-strom 1000. So we didn't stay together much!

The original plan was through Lewis Pass to Reefton for brunch, then straight to Ross with a couple of side trips. But not the best day for stopping and looking at stuff, so we turned right at Reefton, rode the Lower Buller in heavy rain, then down the coast, which was mostly patchy rain.

Really enjoyed parts of the ride. I'd never ridden from Springs Junction to Reefton before, which was a great ride. From the Westport junction to Punakaiki was one of my favorite rides from the last trip, and it was even better with waterfalls of mist flowing from the hills to the sea. Very West Coastish.

No photos, sorry.

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[F5 Dave]

Seen in south wairarapa today:

Yer 'avin a larf yeah? I took at 50 waiting for something, but no.

[SaferRides]

Seen in south wairarapa today:

Yer 'avin a larf yeah? I took at 50 waiting for something, but no.We came across the same sign at roadworks near Levin, and had the misfortune to be following a tourist who slowed from 30 to 10.

You really have to wonder who thought it was a good idea.

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[BMWST?]

10 km hr! Its almost walking speed. 6km hr is a fast walk!

[SaferRides]

I had planned to document the trip each day, but for various reasons, this has proved to be a bit of an ask.

The adv riding has been more challenging than some expected. The two offs on the Molesworth were minor, but getting stuck under a 220 kg bike in a ford resulted in a reappraisal of the potential risks. The decision was made to ride to the Nevis summit yesterday instead of going through to Kingston, and a planned ride on Thompson's Track has been dropped.

Anyway, I'm having a good time on the R1. The Crown Range was fun yesterday, even on a Sunday afternoon with traffic! I was surprised to find it's still 100 km/h. Made a total mess of one hairpin when I took it in 2nd instead of 1st and had to stop halfway around the corner. Most embarrassing.







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[SaferRides]

Day 5: Wanaka to Bannockburn to Wanaka

I'll skip Day 5 Ross to Wanaka as there's no route options and I expect most of you know that road well. Very pleasant weather and stunning views.

We stayed in Wanaka 2 nights and did a loop to Bannockburn and the start of the Nevis, then back over the Crown Range. I visited the Mt Difficulty winery while the others rode to the Nevis summit and back. One of the more scenic vineyards in the area.

The ride from the Crown Range summit down to Cardrona is one of my favorite SI roads. Despite a shit ton of traffic, I was only held up right at the end. Fortunately only one campervan and the slow cars were easy to overtake going into corners.

Stopped at the pub and was very surprised to find Urbanaut Southern Lakes on tap! Perfect end to a very pleasant ride.

View from Mt Difficulty winery.
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