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daveeasey
13th March 2004, 20:30
Wotcha everyone

I'm in the process of emigrating to NZ (Auckland) from the UK and am looking for any and all advice, tips, etc etc that you guys can share.

I specifically would like to know what sort of wet weather gear is available and more importantly how much am I likely to need it ! Do you have good quality weatherproof gear there (sorry if that is a stupid question :thud: )? I was thinking about buying a Triumph Aspen goretex all-in-one suit (with armour etc) as I am looking to use a bike to commute as well as have fun but don't know whether to buy it in the UK and ship it over or to wait until I'm in NZ (due hopefully early May if NZIS pull their finger out). Triumph suit here is about NZ$400, any ideas on the cost there?

What is the traffic in Auckland like ? Is it particularly congested like most UK cities and is a bike a necessity? I'm thinking about buying a Blackbird but not sure if it will be too unwieldy for Auckland. Presumably it would be OK for riding outside the city?

I'm looking forward to sampling good biking roads out there - any recommendations? What are the police like with bikers? Here they have a healthy disrespect, targeting bikers for everything from speed to small number plates and loud pipes.

looking forward to your responses.

Cheers

James Deuce
13th March 2004, 21:42
You'll probably be surprised at the range and quality available, and the deals you can get. The Triumph suit is a very good deal, and I think that it would be fine. Does it have removable thermal inserts? I would (and have just bought) get a vented jacket for summer. Auckland can get very, very humid and the temperatures you see on the BBC weather reports don't do justice to the actual "feel" of the atmosphere @ 28C and 96% humidity.

Auckland is horribly congested, but not for instance as bad as trying to navigate Oxford at 6pm on a Friday(been there done that, NEVER EVER DOING IT AGAIN).

A Blackbird will be perfect.

Smile :)

El Dopa
13th March 2004, 21:59
"Auckland is horribly congested."



Dave, a big welcome to Godzone from one ex-pat pom to another. You'll love it.

re: the congestion. I lived in London for most of my life, and compared to that, Auckland isn't even close. It gets busy mornings and evenings, especially the bridge, but otherwise it's comparatively free-flowing.

You'll have to get answers from people with more experience than me wrt to the specific bike stuff.

James Deuce
13th March 2004, 22:43
Dave, a big welcome to Godzone from one ex-pat pom to another. You'll love it.

re: the congestion. I lived in London for most of my life, and compared to that, Auckland isn't even close. It gets busy mornings and evenings, especially the bridge, but otherwise it's comparatively free-flowing.

You'll have to get answers from people with more experience than me wrt to the specific bike stuff.

Did you actually read my post?? I said Oxford, because, yes, Auckland doesn't compare to the M25 carpark, or the Nth Circular, or even the Hangar Lane roundabout at morning tea time. But I thought the Oxford nastiness was about right for Auckland by way of comparison.

dangerous
13th March 2004, 22:44
"Triumph Aspen goretex all-in-one suit (with armour etc)" Never heard of it we get sweet f/a over here its most likely yellow pvc or nothing. It maybe different up north Is but I recon that you should bring it all with you.

Blackbird should be good mind you 4's really belong in cars :bleh: If you want the best road around then come on down south one thing is for sure you will never get board on the roads in NZ

Don't get me started on the police thing all they wont is more money to hell with saving life’s.....opps started didn’t I. Noisy pipes arn't a worry here they tried to bring in a standard exhausts only thing but it cant possibly work because what’s a factory exhaust on a 65 Chevy look like :doh: As long as the dick heads on bikes with no baffling (straights) keep cool then I don’t think it will be a worry.

Yamahamaman
14th March 2004, 07:52
And spelling is no longer taught in New Zealand schools.

bane
14th March 2004, 10:57
And spelling is no longer taught in New Zealand schools.

could not agree more Yamahaman

I have a suspicion that OSH might have issues with accommodation in the middle of NZ roads....

wkid_one
14th March 2004, 14:08
And spelling is no longer taught in New Zealand schools.
Yes it is - but it is the present 'text' spelling where everything gets shorten and bastardised

gtg, brb, l8r, gd, u, 4, tx, r, thru, y, every1, gr8, m8, etc etc etc

James Deuce
14th March 2004, 15:05
And spelling is no longer taught in New Zealand schools.

What the HELL are you talking about?

I've been looking at your posts of late; when was the last time you posted something positive? Having a sarcastic year or two are we??

Holy Roller
14th March 2004, 15:14
" you will never get board on the roads in NZ

Off Topic
The quip is about spelling words that sound the same but have different meanings
I think the spelling should have been "bored" disinterested rather than board as in accomodation or a hunk of wood. :Punk:
The state of our schools is another matter... :sick: But we are out of that loop as we have homeschooled our 5 kids for nearly 13 yrs.

Yamahamaman
14th March 2004, 15:41
I've been looking at your posts of late; when was the last time you posted something positive? Having a sarcastic year or two are we??
That's good I suppose. Everyone else just ignores me. :o

I was :Offtopic: anyway me thinks.

James Deuce
14th March 2004, 15:58
That's good I suppose. Everyone else just ignores me. :o

I was :Offtopic: anyway me thinks.

Fair enough.

Two Smoker
14th March 2004, 16:09
Just be careful at all times in NZ as no Cagers have any respect for Bikes, at all, also lanesplitting is frowned upon unless the traffic is dead stopped, Blackbird would be great for roads outside of Auckland, don't know what it would be like for around town, they go for about $12000 second hand and $18000 brand new. Theres a huge range of wet weather gear in Auckland, Motorcycles and Power Sports on Kyhber Pass in New market stock Truimph gear, but i guess you will learn about that when you get here:niceone:

Lou Girardin
14th March 2004, 16:40
You'll love it here. When you arrive check out Motomail and come and see me at Auck M/Cycles and Powersports as well. (Am I allowed to say that?).
Lou

Yamahamaman
14th March 2004, 16:48
You'll love it here. When you arrive check out Motomail and come and see me at Auck M/Cycles and Powersports as well. (Am I allowed to say that?).
Lou
Yeah, I think it is alright if you don't work for either company.

Motu
14th March 2004, 17:06
Off Topic :sick: But we are out of that loop as we have homeschooled our 5 kids for nearly 13 yrs.


Great Holy Roller - 18yrs with our 4 kids.Our families may have met along the way somewhere.

Des Truction
14th March 2004, 21:14
"Triumph Aspen goretex all-in-one suit (with armour etc)" Never heard of it we get sweet f/a over here its most likely yellow pvc or nothing. It maybe different up north Is but I recon that you should bring it all with you.
ChCH sounds like a sad ass place to get bike gear, but the ol yellow pvc is a good performer in the wet!!! :moon:

Lou Girardin
15th March 2004, 02:47
Yeah, I think it is alright if you don't work for either company.
Aah, yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying.
Lou

daveeasey
15th March 2004, 08:34
:eek: Thanks all, for the gen.

Good to see Bikers are much the same in NZ as here (but less cold :cold: I hope !).

Hope to meet up with some of you, sometime soon.

Cheers

Solarwind
15th March 2004, 12:20
I specifically would like to know what sort of wet weather gear is available and more importantly how much am I likely to need it ! Do you have good quality weatherproof gear there (sorry if that is a stupid question :thud: )? I was thinking about buying a Triumph Aspen goretex all-in-one suit (with armour etc) as I am looking to use a bike to commute as well as have fun but don't know whether to buy it in the UK and ship it over or to wait until I'm in NZ (due hopefully early May if NZIS pull their finger out). Triumph suit here is about NZ$400, any ideas on the cost there?

Motomail in Auckland (http://www.motomail.co.nz) have a decent selection of gear, they'll send you a huge glossy catalogue if you pay shipping (it's free in NZ). How much you'll pay for gear depends on how good you want it... you can easily blow $1600-$2000NZD if you want top-of-the-line stuff (Spidi, BMW etc.), I haven't seen Triumph gear here myself. After a few bad experiences with cheap gear (stitching/glue (!) coming undone etc.) I tend to brace my wallet and buy the best I can get.

danb
19th March 2004, 09:48
Sorry I just had to comment on the spelling!

Ohh the Spelling over here IS bad

Check this out

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the first and lsat ltteer be at thr rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

If you can read that Im sure you will be fine over here in New Zealand espically Auckland :yeah:

For more Jokes and Other Funny Stuff head over to http://www.computec.dynu.com/ which is my website I have created. The jokes are in the forums

:finger: <- only Joking

riffer
19th March 2004, 11:23
Shit that's scary - I didn't even notice anything wrong with the words at first - I read it so fast!

Solarwind
19th March 2004, 11:39
Shit that's scary - I didn't even notice anything wrong with the words at first - I read it so fast!

I know enough people who type that badly I didn't even notice it was a gag at first :banana:

Coldkiwi
19th March 2004, 12:06
I've been commuting in Auckland for the last 4 years and I can advise on the following
-overall, compared to britain, its not bad at all.
-never gets so cold a decent pair of winter gloves/jacket+balaclava can't keep you toasty
-can get a bit rainy but a one piece rain suit takes care of that. only bugger is when its hot humid and rainy (not too common) and you start cooking when you slow down
-... which is why i probably wouldn't recommend a blackbird. depends on where you're going of course. it'd be fine on the motorway where the lanes are nice and wide but even my 600 feels a little portly when trying to make progress down arterial roads that have narrower lanes. depending on your distance, I reckon a supermotard could be the ideal commuter in this place! forget about using panniers on a Bigbird tho because we simply don't have the lane width of Aussie or the US to get enough room between cars. Thats a personal opinion I guess driven by my mentality of 'its my right to leave all you cage drivers sitting there contemplating your stupidity for being stuck- and I'm going to run your face in it by carving you up'.. well, sort of :)

I'm sure you'll enjoy it tho. its a very nice city for the most part and can turn on some awesome weather on a not too irregular basis

be sure to let us know when you arrive

Blackbird
19th March 2004, 16:58
[QUOTE=Coldkiwi]
-... which is why i probably wouldn't recommend a blackbird. depends on where you're going of course. Forget about using panniers on a Bigbird tho because we simply don't have the lane width of Aussie or the US to get enough room between cars.
--------------------
I wouldn't use a Blackbird for commuting in Auckland either - they run a bit on the hot side in traffic as well as being a bit heavy for quick evasive action. I'd be inclined to buy a cheap 250 for commuting, and use the Birdie at weekends, but there again, I'm a tad biased :apint:

With regard to panniers, the Ventura luggage system is perfect for them - they don't hang over the side.

Cheers

Geoff