Kudra
24th July 2006, 05:24
Hey folks,
it turns out City Scooters ended up registering one of their Belladonnas just for me after a second round of begging, so now I've been back a few weeks and uploaded some pics, I present for your edification, amusement or disinterest:
Scooter touring in the South Island of New Zealand: "Not Snow, Ice nor Takaka Hill will keep me from my 4 Day Whirlwind Itinerary"
Arriving in Christchurch mid afternoon, there was a light drizzle and the temperature was about 5 degrees. After weather warnings of another potential snowstorm, I was quite worried I would be unable to get out of the city and was hugely relieved that the weather wasn't quite as bad as expected. Even so, the reaction was dubious from the staff when I rocked up @ City Scooters. They didn't much fancy the look of the weather for riding, but I was unshakeable in my purpose. So in less than 15 minutes I was off, slowly getting used to a different bike to my little 50cc at home and the rather chilly temperature as it slowly closed the gap to 0 degrees. By the time I was an hour north, it was closing on dusk and my hands started really numbing. Stopping for some coffee and soup at a roadhouse, I discovered the true meaning of pain as my hands thawed out.... wouldn't wish that on anyone!
After the stop, it was true dark and I was about 20 minutes from the backpackers I planned to stay at, the Waipara Sleepers. Quaint, but extremely cold in these sub-zero temps! I managed to sleep, and in the morning, was all ready for a full day's riding - all the way to Nelson/Motueka.
The ride from Waipara up to Kaikoura was, frankly, stunning. There was intermittent snow for about the first hour, and then it cleared up and there was quite a bit more sun. The scooter handled well, and as the road started heading into hills it of course got alot more fun. There was quite alot of ice on the roads but they were well gritted and really, I didn't find it a problem.
I reached Kaikoura after about 3 hours I think, stopped for about an hour, and was off again in rather stiff winds, to continue north to Blenheim, my next stop. Conditions continued clear with only sprinkles of rain, and in Blenheim it was over 10 degrees and wonderfully sunny. The stretch from Kaikoura to Blenheim was uneventful, and the stretch from Blenheim to Nelson, while it got dark about 1/2 hour out of Nelson, was smooth running as well. I think the valleys heading out from Blenheim to Nelson are some of my favourite in the country. It did take me about 5 minutes to get the seat up at the last petrol stop before Nelson though, the mechanism is a bit tricky there, something you need to get the knack of.
The ride from Nelson to Motueka after dark had a couple of hair-raising moments, and that was when I was switching from low to high beam; I managed to turn the headlights off altogether. The design here I think could be better: in the dark it's really easy to press the wrong button, the headlights off button is right next to the low/high beam button. I did this twice and then decided to just leave it on high for the time being. Fortunately, I wasn't too rattled, and I had my destination in sight, and it was maybe 8pm when I finally got off the road.
The last amusing incident though was just before getting to my friends, as I stopped in Motueka, as it happened right outside an Indian restaurant. A young guy came rushing out, telling me with excitement how he had one back in India, asking where was I from etc. He was so enthusiastic - seems these scooters do indeed have a following in their home country of manufacture.
The next day, I tackled Takaka Hill. I had been warned the hill was treacherous indeed for motorcycles, and my memories from 10 years ago tallied with that warning. But being the foolhardy sort, I went and did it anyway - and found, once again, that it wasn't really so hard. Yes, extremely twisty, very very steep, and lots of ice. But the ice was well gritted, and I took it slow, at times really only going about 20, and I got to the top with no bother at all.
Going down the other side was fine too, and I didn't really see as much difference in the two sides as I'd been told there would be - more ice on the Motueka side, maybe by a touch, but it didn't make alot of difference. I did a bit of visiting in Golden Bay, had a lovely lunch, and then headed back over the hill to Motueka. Got back well before dark, welcomed back with relief by my friends who are summer-only motorbike riders and rather more nervous than me about ice etc, despite their proximity - or pehaps because of it?
Third day was not a riding day, just headed to different friends' place about 15 minute ride away.
Fourth and final day, was very ambitious: get back to Christchurch before 2pm to meet a friend @ the airport. I was really under the hammer to get back in one day, so I left just on dawn. As I had no shelter to keep the scooter under at this place, I had the joy of scraping ice off of everywhere. And, impressing my friends immensely, she started *first go* even at 7am and having been covered in ice. I was very impressed overall with the reliability, I never had trouble starting her once. People were surprised and impressed just at the trip in general, and I got alot of comments everywhere I went.
So for the return journey I elected to go via the Lewis Pass, inland. While alot higher a pass than anywhere along the coast road, the route was far more direct, the roads alot less twisty, and really I found it fabulous. There was alot of ice the whole way except later in the afternoon, once I was on the east side of the pass and a fair way down, and I went through a few patches of fog before getting to Murchison, which slowed me down a bit. Almost no traffic, being a Sunday morning, and stunning crisp clear weather the whole way once again - I know I got very lucky. Lots of snow covered fields and forest all the way up to the Lewis, and there is something incredibly magical about whizzing through this still white silent frozen land. I made excellent time the whole way, regular stops for coffee and soup. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Lewis was dead easy, and the whole run was much faster and easier than the coast road, by a significant margin. It was odd to think how much concern people had for my sanity in trying this when really, it was the best fun I'd had in ages!
I got back to Christchurch a little later than I'd hoped, had been a little ambitious with my estimations, but not by much: I got back maybe 3pm, from memory. Dropped the Belladonna back at City Scooters and that was the end of my scooting for the rest of the trip. I was also really amused to hear from my friend that she'd been calling around fearing for my life when I arrived a little late - and also that when telling someone that I was riding down from Nelson to Christchurch on a scooter, in *one* day, they responded with complete disbelief that that would take days, and they didn't believe her!
General riding observations: with the centre of gravity being alot higher than I'm used to and the wheels being bigger, I couldn't steer the same way. I'm used to steering with my bum as much as counter-steering with my arms. I couldn't do this on the Belladonna, and I missed that extra control. But where the Belladonna really came into her own was in the gears - I'm used riding an automatic, and the extra control of the gears was invaluable in the hills. Honestly I don't think I'd want to ride a geared scooter in an urban setting, even once you are doing it as second nature, I prefer having my attention solely on the road.
Where she was let down though was in the power department. While great for the flats and meandering flat-ish curves, climbing was underpowered and on steep gradients this was very noticeable. Top speed on the flats was around 95kph, which was fine for alot of the journey, but I wasn't going as fast as I would have liked up some hills, full throttle was only getting about 50 or so in some cases. I'd definitely choose a 250 for a similar trip in future, but I'd also definitely prefer a geared scooter.
One of the other things I noticed was that even after all-dayriding, I really wasn't *that* sore - and I'm pretty sure that on a motorcycle as opposed to a scooter, my back would have been hurting alot more. I think the vertical riding position is excellent for long distance touring, something that hadn't occurred to me before. The Belladonna particularly forced me to have better posture than my 50cc as well, with my legs slightly spread/braced, rather than straight in front. Definitely a big plus and once of the best reasons I think to use a scooter over a motorbike for touring.
Overall: if you're not in a really big hurry, and with the scenery in New Zealand, who should be? ... a Belladonna is a great all-round choice. Also incredibly economical, I don't think I spent more than $NZ 50 on petrol for the whole trip. I had a fantastic time and would highly recommend the experience.
Any questions, feel free to ask! I also have some photos of the scooter featuring in a few places along the way, attached if you are curious.
it turns out City Scooters ended up registering one of their Belladonnas just for me after a second round of begging, so now I've been back a few weeks and uploaded some pics, I present for your edification, amusement or disinterest:
Scooter touring in the South Island of New Zealand: "Not Snow, Ice nor Takaka Hill will keep me from my 4 Day Whirlwind Itinerary"
Arriving in Christchurch mid afternoon, there was a light drizzle and the temperature was about 5 degrees. After weather warnings of another potential snowstorm, I was quite worried I would be unable to get out of the city and was hugely relieved that the weather wasn't quite as bad as expected. Even so, the reaction was dubious from the staff when I rocked up @ City Scooters. They didn't much fancy the look of the weather for riding, but I was unshakeable in my purpose. So in less than 15 minutes I was off, slowly getting used to a different bike to my little 50cc at home and the rather chilly temperature as it slowly closed the gap to 0 degrees. By the time I was an hour north, it was closing on dusk and my hands started really numbing. Stopping for some coffee and soup at a roadhouse, I discovered the true meaning of pain as my hands thawed out.... wouldn't wish that on anyone!
After the stop, it was true dark and I was about 20 minutes from the backpackers I planned to stay at, the Waipara Sleepers. Quaint, but extremely cold in these sub-zero temps! I managed to sleep, and in the morning, was all ready for a full day's riding - all the way to Nelson/Motueka.
The ride from Waipara up to Kaikoura was, frankly, stunning. There was intermittent snow for about the first hour, and then it cleared up and there was quite a bit more sun. The scooter handled well, and as the road started heading into hills it of course got alot more fun. There was quite alot of ice on the roads but they were well gritted and really, I didn't find it a problem.
I reached Kaikoura after about 3 hours I think, stopped for about an hour, and was off again in rather stiff winds, to continue north to Blenheim, my next stop. Conditions continued clear with only sprinkles of rain, and in Blenheim it was over 10 degrees and wonderfully sunny. The stretch from Kaikoura to Blenheim was uneventful, and the stretch from Blenheim to Nelson, while it got dark about 1/2 hour out of Nelson, was smooth running as well. I think the valleys heading out from Blenheim to Nelson are some of my favourite in the country. It did take me about 5 minutes to get the seat up at the last petrol stop before Nelson though, the mechanism is a bit tricky there, something you need to get the knack of.
The ride from Nelson to Motueka after dark had a couple of hair-raising moments, and that was when I was switching from low to high beam; I managed to turn the headlights off altogether. The design here I think could be better: in the dark it's really easy to press the wrong button, the headlights off button is right next to the low/high beam button. I did this twice and then decided to just leave it on high for the time being. Fortunately, I wasn't too rattled, and I had my destination in sight, and it was maybe 8pm when I finally got off the road.
The last amusing incident though was just before getting to my friends, as I stopped in Motueka, as it happened right outside an Indian restaurant. A young guy came rushing out, telling me with excitement how he had one back in India, asking where was I from etc. He was so enthusiastic - seems these scooters do indeed have a following in their home country of manufacture.
The next day, I tackled Takaka Hill. I had been warned the hill was treacherous indeed for motorcycles, and my memories from 10 years ago tallied with that warning. But being the foolhardy sort, I went and did it anyway - and found, once again, that it wasn't really so hard. Yes, extremely twisty, very very steep, and lots of ice. But the ice was well gritted, and I took it slow, at times really only going about 20, and I got to the top with no bother at all.
Going down the other side was fine too, and I didn't really see as much difference in the two sides as I'd been told there would be - more ice on the Motueka side, maybe by a touch, but it didn't make alot of difference. I did a bit of visiting in Golden Bay, had a lovely lunch, and then headed back over the hill to Motueka. Got back well before dark, welcomed back with relief by my friends who are summer-only motorbike riders and rather more nervous than me about ice etc, despite their proximity - or pehaps because of it?
Third day was not a riding day, just headed to different friends' place about 15 minute ride away.
Fourth and final day, was very ambitious: get back to Christchurch before 2pm to meet a friend @ the airport. I was really under the hammer to get back in one day, so I left just on dawn. As I had no shelter to keep the scooter under at this place, I had the joy of scraping ice off of everywhere. And, impressing my friends immensely, she started *first go* even at 7am and having been covered in ice. I was very impressed overall with the reliability, I never had trouble starting her once. People were surprised and impressed just at the trip in general, and I got alot of comments everywhere I went.
So for the return journey I elected to go via the Lewis Pass, inland. While alot higher a pass than anywhere along the coast road, the route was far more direct, the roads alot less twisty, and really I found it fabulous. There was alot of ice the whole way except later in the afternoon, once I was on the east side of the pass and a fair way down, and I went through a few patches of fog before getting to Murchison, which slowed me down a bit. Almost no traffic, being a Sunday morning, and stunning crisp clear weather the whole way once again - I know I got very lucky. Lots of snow covered fields and forest all the way up to the Lewis, and there is something incredibly magical about whizzing through this still white silent frozen land. I made excellent time the whole way, regular stops for coffee and soup. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Lewis was dead easy, and the whole run was much faster and easier than the coast road, by a significant margin. It was odd to think how much concern people had for my sanity in trying this when really, it was the best fun I'd had in ages!
I got back to Christchurch a little later than I'd hoped, had been a little ambitious with my estimations, but not by much: I got back maybe 3pm, from memory. Dropped the Belladonna back at City Scooters and that was the end of my scooting for the rest of the trip. I was also really amused to hear from my friend that she'd been calling around fearing for my life when I arrived a little late - and also that when telling someone that I was riding down from Nelson to Christchurch on a scooter, in *one* day, they responded with complete disbelief that that would take days, and they didn't believe her!
General riding observations: with the centre of gravity being alot higher than I'm used to and the wheels being bigger, I couldn't steer the same way. I'm used to steering with my bum as much as counter-steering with my arms. I couldn't do this on the Belladonna, and I missed that extra control. But where the Belladonna really came into her own was in the gears - I'm used riding an automatic, and the extra control of the gears was invaluable in the hills. Honestly I don't think I'd want to ride a geared scooter in an urban setting, even once you are doing it as second nature, I prefer having my attention solely on the road.
Where she was let down though was in the power department. While great for the flats and meandering flat-ish curves, climbing was underpowered and on steep gradients this was very noticeable. Top speed on the flats was around 95kph, which was fine for alot of the journey, but I wasn't going as fast as I would have liked up some hills, full throttle was only getting about 50 or so in some cases. I'd definitely choose a 250 for a similar trip in future, but I'd also definitely prefer a geared scooter.
One of the other things I noticed was that even after all-dayriding, I really wasn't *that* sore - and I'm pretty sure that on a motorcycle as opposed to a scooter, my back would have been hurting alot more. I think the vertical riding position is excellent for long distance touring, something that hadn't occurred to me before. The Belladonna particularly forced me to have better posture than my 50cc as well, with my legs slightly spread/braced, rather than straight in front. Definitely a big plus and once of the best reasons I think to use a scooter over a motorbike for touring.
Overall: if you're not in a really big hurry, and with the scenery in New Zealand, who should be? ... a Belladonna is a great all-round choice. Also incredibly economical, I don't think I spent more than $NZ 50 on petrol for the whole trip. I had a fantastic time and would highly recommend the experience.
Any questions, feel free to ask! I also have some photos of the scooter featuring in a few places along the way, attached if you are curious.