Hi :) (Fat Tony)

[Fat Tony]

Hi, first post as I thought it rude to sign up for a nosey round without introducing myself.

I found the site via Stuart at Road & Sport in Hamilton, after a PM to him on gixxer.com.

My wife, daughter and I are hoping to move to New Zealand in the next 12-18 months so we're in the process of doing some more research at the moment, and trying to find where we want to move to, can get work, find good schooling etc etc etc... we currently live in the UK near Wetherby, North Yorkshire by the way.

One of my biggest concerns about the move (after the thought of leaving our parents in their latter years) was the thought of having to give up sportsbikes. I currently ride a GSX-R750 k6 but I wasn't sure how popular sportsbikes were in NZ. All the literature we've accumulated so far has been based around touring so features BMWs etc and I wasn't sure if sportsbikes were big over there or not (not that there's anything wrong with tourers... oh God, I'm digging a hole now aren't I? lol)

Stuart's put my mind at rest so full steam ahead. Bl**dy hell, sorry I'm rambling on a bit now aren't I? :yawn:

Anyway... hi :)

[SwanTiger]

Welcome, sport bikes are well represented amoungst New Zealand Motorcyclist and you will have no problem finding Rossi-Wannabe's to ride with. They might even show you 'round the local CoroGP circut.

[ZeroIndex]

Welcome to the site.. if you can, stay out of Auckland :D.. yeah, sportsbikes are 'it' in new zealand..

Hamilton is a marvelous place to be (except for the constant fog/frost in the morning), hope the 'transfer' from the UK goes smoothly <-- I moved over from South Africa 3 years ago, and have settled in nicely..

[Fat Tony]

Thanks for the welcome fellas :)

So, not that we're going to select a location to move to based on what biking facilities are around (well, I won't mention that part of it to my wife) where abouts are any trackdays held in NZ? Taupo obviously, but are there others? Struggling to find much info at the moment.

Most of my riding's on the road to be honest, but I usually enjoy several trackdays a year. Did 18 laps of the Nurburgring at Easter which unfortunately used up my trackday budget for this year lol but it was well worth it - what a mental place.

[slowpoke]

Did 18 laps of the Nurburgring at Easter which unfortunately used up my trackday budget for this year lol but it was well worth it - what a mental place.


Ooo er Nurburgring, you looky looky bastid! (lousy pommy accent)

You'll love the roads over here (I do after coming back from 15years away) and the relative lack of traffic (most places) but may be disappointed in the tracks after experiencing facilities in the UK/Europe. Having said that track time is cheap ($80 a full day at Manfield) and fairly plentiful.

Oh yeah, don't worry about dis-ing the cruiser riders...they'll never catch your K6!

[Fat Tony]

You'll love the roads over here // but may be disappointed in the tracks after experiencing facilities in the UK/Europe

Yes, from what I've seen of the roads and scenery in your beautiful country I'm sure that will more than make up for not having easy access to Cadwell and Donington Park.

As I mentioned, I enjoy road riding, and my favourite times on the bike have been on a couple of trips to ride through Northern Spain and venture up in to the Pyrenees. NZ looks to promise even more than that so no complaints from me!



Oh yeah, don't worry about dis-ing the cruiser riders...they'll never catch your K6!

Hahahaa... One of my mates just chopped his 750k5 in for BMW R1200 S or something and absolutley loves it - each to their own :)

(mind you, he did just turn 65, lol)

[Grahameeboy]

I moved here from London in 98....Auckland is cool....don't listen to those who say otherwise........close to great varied rides........North Shore rocks.
Feel free to pm me.

[Fatjim]

Gudday FT. Most of the fat riders are in Wellywood down the bottom of the North Island.

If you're after the type of job you find anywhere then if it was me I'd be looking at Hawkes Bay, Bay of Plenty or Nelson area. At a guess Nelson would have the better riding, but the others aren't bad either with BOP having the CoroGP loop and Hawkes Bay having some good and empty roads too.

If you need the big city, bugger.

You have
Auckland, warmest but full of foreigners, and a real rat race. Plus all the real bastards on Kiwibiker live there.
Hamilton, cold wet and foggy, but good roads in any directions. They're a bit wierd there too. :)
Wellywood aka Wellington. Cultural capital of NZ, coolish (but warmer than anywhere in the UK in winter). Roads are good once you hit the bottom of the Rimutakas.
Christchurch, Nice place, good "ahem" straight roads, gateway to the south Island, but bloody cold in winter and therefor I'm sad to say, all year round riding is not possible, unless you buy a snowmobile.

Now I'll just sit back and get the shit beaten out of me.

[Jantar]

Christchurch, Nice place, good "ahem" straight roads, gateway to the south Island, but bloody cold in winter and therefor I'm sad to say, all year round riding is not possible, unless you buy a snowmobile.

Now I'll just site back and get the shit beaten out of me.
You missed out Dunedin. But I live even further south than Christchurch and wasn't aware that there was anywhere in New Zealand where year round riding is not possible. There are a few times I choose not to ride, but even they are rather infrequent.

[Fatjim]

In Christchurch this year they haven't even had all year round driving!

[crashe]

Fat Tony - Kia ora and welcome to KB


Pukekohe track costs: $90 a day for about 4 or maybe 5 sessions
Pukekohe is just out of Auckland.




Oh yeah, don't worry about dis-ing the cruiser riders...they'll never catch your K6!

OI you.......:nono: There is nothing wrong with cruisers.... so there :nya:

[Scorpygirl]

Welcome to KB Fat Tony :yes: Rhino (my other half) is from Dewsbury in Yorkshire. He came out to NZ with his parents when he was 11. We look forward to welcoming you and your family sometime next year. :sunny:

[andrea]

welcome to kb tony bring your bike too, lots of sports bikes here and lots of cool people on kb too

[Edbear]

Yep! Welcome to KB and hope to see you posting from within NZ! We have basically two countries in one here,the South Is. is like going to another country! Stunning scenery and even the people seem different...:innocent:
They call themselves the "Mainlanders" down there. Auckland is very metropolitan but where most of the country lives.

Everywhere is fantastic for motorcycling! Race circuits in both islands so no prob with trackdays.

Petrol is cheaper than UK, but getting very "up there" over here at $NZ1.80 or so per litre, now!

Won't take long browsing KB to discover the ratio of sportbike owners and the very friendly, good-natured rivalry between the cruiser brigade and the "knees down" bunch...:wait:

[sAsLEX]

What sort of work you in as that could dictate where you live?

Though in the North Island Taupo is only ever 5 hours away, which holds trackdays etc, A new track Hampton Downs is being built a bit closer to auckland but that is a way off .

Anywhere is the south island is good, but all the tracks are towards the southern end, Ie christchurch and south.

[Mental Trousers]

Most places in New Zealand have great roads to ride on. But if you want to be near decent tracks (ie the only 2 brand new ones in the country) then somewhere in the Waikato is ideal as it's less than 1.5 hours to Taupo and Hampton Downs (when it's built) will be less than 1 hour. Also, the CoroGP loop is 45 minutes away with 22 10 minutes up the road (watch out for low flying R6's).

If you want a city that's crowded, noisy and drowning in traffic jams live in Auckland. Otherwise, anywhere else is mint.

[kiwifruit]

Welcome to the site, might catch u at a trackday soon :)

[Grahameeboy]

By UK standards, Auckland is not noisy etc..it is still a village......

[Colapop]

And if KYBoy has anything to do with it, more like the Village People....

[The_Dover]

Hey fat man,

if you wanna buy a 750K6 in black when you get here then pm me.

[Grahameeboy]

And if KYBoy has anything to do with it, more like the Village People....

Ssccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......you boy!!

[Grahameeboy]

Hey fat man,

if you wanna buy a 750K6 in black when you get here then pm me.

and check the log book in case Dover was a previous owner??

[The_Dover]

well you don't buy a fuckin bike to polish it do you?

[Fat Tony]

Wow, what a welcome - cheers all - some great info in there thanks :2thumbsup

LOL at Fatjim's post :first: Class. Started my day off in stitches, hahaaaahha


Auckland, warmest but full of foreigners

That'd be the likes of us then I guess! :shit:


What sort of work you in as that could dictate where you live?

I'm currently creative director at a web design agency (poncy title meaning i've spent years in design, moved in to management and spend more time doing that than designing these days lol)

To be honest though, I'm not sure I want to continue working in that field and am thinking long and hard about what I want to do next. I'd love to get involved in something bike related: tours, track, promotion, bike shop/import... I dunno... I'd just like to find something that means I spend more time with people I enjoy spending time with, rather than being stuck behind a computer all day with little communication because everybodies so busy staring at their monitor. So, something a little more people based.

My wife trained as a midwife and currently works as a specialist nurse in an early pregnancy unit, so we're going to have be somehwere near a hospital if she's to find work in a similar field.

As for our daughter, she turns 11 in October and still insists that she's not old enough to start full time work. Kids these days ;)

Once again, thanks for the lovely welcome, and yeah, I hope to ride with you soon(ish) :scooter:

[Grahameeboy]

well you don't buy a fuckin bike to polish it do you?

.....polish it off did you say...........

[merv]

Welcome.

So how fat are ya?

[Grahameeboy]

Welcome.

So how fat are ya?

Gotta love that chat up line.....:blip:

[Fat Tony]

So how fat are ya?

Haha... mate I have the physique of a racing snake - the original 9.5 stone weakling - saves spending a fortune on shaving ounces off the bike I suppose

[Grahameeboy]

Yeah, don't worry about Merv the Perv...................geeze that is a good old English saying eh.....

[Bend-it]

One of my biggest concerns about the move (after the thought of leaving our parents in their latter years) was the thought of having to give up sportsbikes.

Nahh, nobody likes sportbikes here, in fact, you get abused so badly it's not funny, some people even have cars pull out in front of them!

Tell ya what, I'll do you a favour... bring your bike over here and pass it to me for safekeeping, it'll save you from going through all that crap. :innocent: