Round NZ on a 250?

[shadynz]

I realise I may be opening myself up for a barrage of abuse, but as I'm still fairly newish to motorbiking (6mths or so), I have to ask this question as my sanity rests on this holiday! Confident enough with riding now long distance, and I am planning a road trip on the bike. AKL-INV-AKL for two weeks in November.... Aside from AKL-WGN, the longest time on the bike at one day will be about 4 hours a day.

This is where my ignorance comes in - can a 250 actually DO this trip? Yes yes yes Hyosung I realise.. But 250's in general? Would there be any prudent measures to take, aside from the obvious I can think of... AA plus membership.. trade in the hyo..!, rah rah...

You know what I mean hopefully... Will I fark my bike if I do this on a 250?

[Keystone19]

Skelstar did 4000km around the South Island with us on his Hyosung 250 a couple of years ago and aside from a flat tyre near Picton there were no other problems. PM him if you want more info.

I'm sure you'll love it!

[flyingscotsman]

Just being here opens you up to abuse from allllll sorts of people. But, in answer to your question. Your bike will be OK as long as you don't thrash the shit out of it everywhere you go. Take your time - 4 hours a day certainly helps. I was on a SI trip last year and one of the guys was on a VTR250. The rest of us were on 750+ bikes, he had no problem keeping up - most of the time!! Any bike is capable of the trip. Personally I would make sure that the bike is serviced and on good tyres and that you are wearing some decent gear. November is a dodgy time. Last year it was snowing on the West Coast on the way to the Burt Munro Rally and was as windy as hell for the week we were there. Might be an idea to see if you can hook up with some other guys heading the same way - just in case. Enjoy.

[NighthawkNZ]

You know what I mean hopefully... Will I fark my bike if I do this on a 250?

I toured the whole country on my cb250n years ago, no problem... :) was fun

As every one else says... maintenance, oil etc should be any issues...

[canarlee]

cant see a problem myself!

do the regular maintenance checks and you should be ok.

[Zukin]

No problems what so ever, my wife (whom was on a learner licence and had only been riding for about a month) did over 7000km around NZ in Feb this year on DRZ250's (dirtbikes) in 14 riding days.

The weather was on our side for the most of it and the small fuel tank made us stop more frequently, and that is the key to it :)

Just take your time, its not a race!
On our trip we were crossing paths with another group of riders that were on Sports bikes, and they often referred to us as the Hare and Tortoise Riders, we were the slower ones as they went past us, but we would almost arrive at the final destination only minutes apart :niceone:

[deanohit]

A few monthes back I went Tauranga to picton and back on my Zongshen, now if my heap of shit can do that, your Hyosung should do it easy, especially if you're only doing 4 hours or so daily. See one guys brother on here went (I think) Chch to Auckland and back on a 50cc scoot.
Should be an awesome trip bro! =)

[flyingscotsman]

Wonder if we could organise a round NZ ride on 50cc bikes - hmmmmmm....:ride: I think I read somewhere about a ride for bike which cost less than $250 to buy - not sure if it was NZ or UK though. Anyone ???

[shadynz]

Oh man - confidence instilled in my trip already... beauty...cheers guys

Weather wise, I remember being down chch/inv way last year in the car and saw the bikes all leaned over riding the straights in the wind... Actually come to think of it that must have been around the time of the rally?! Makes sense now.

I have to do this as I used to drive the SI for fun in my car when I was living in chch...end up in some backhole middle of nowhere with mountains all around. Nothing like it and I can imagine on a bike, even better. Wind or rain I'm doin it. ha. Maybe not snow & ice.

So will aim for a next service at 6K (i'm at 4K now), then that gives me 4K to tour with while still under it's warranty. Sweet. Now for shiteload of shopping at Motomail for accessories I probably will never use... mmmm....

Oh, and go the inaugural "50cc NZ Road Trip..."

[Coldrider]

Go for it, 250cc motorcycles were the norm in the 70's, although they were predominantly 2 strokes then.
The first year I went to the Brass a mate of mine rode an XR250 traily from Napier (with knobblies).

[skelstar]

Yeah mate, was a peice of piss.

[canarlee]

Wonder if we could organise a round NZ ride on 50cc bikes - hmmmmmm....:ride: I think I read somewhere about a ride for bike which cost less than $250 to buy - not sure if it was NZ or UK though. Anyone ???

there is an endurance c90 challenge that takes place over three rounds in three different parts of england (not uk, england) that is for charity, they buy the c90s for as little as possible then toughen them up for the challenge. these are ridden around fields for as long and as many times as possible. sparkysliders.co.uk i think is the website. but that is a small group of people who do it for local charities and have found themselves appearing in bike mag etc for their efforts.
or there are several lands end to john ogroats challenges on all types of two wheelers (powered or not) that takes you from the northern most point to southern most point of england all done in the name of charity.


or there is a postie bike challenge that i have only heard of and dont know anything about. i think that is australian or american? what that one involves i dont know.

[Buster]

Its a piece of cake on a 250! I did it on a gsx250. Rode from Christchurch to Taupo in one day! The hyosung might not be as comfy as the gsx tho..Still a good bike to do it on. Go for it!!

[discotex]

I didn't see anyone mention tyres yet. I'd want nice fresh tyres that are capable in the dry and wet. One of those handy puncture repair kits wouldn't go astray either.

[Eddieb]

Me and a mate did Hamilton to the Brass Monkey and back in the mid 90's over 8 days on a GSXR250RR & a CBR250.
Only problem was a flat tyre on the GSXR.

[canarlee]

I didn't see anyone mention tyres yet. I'd want nice fresh tyres that are capable in the dry and wet. One of those handy puncture repair kits wouldn't go astray either.

they come under general maintenence, which i mentioned earlier:p

[Squiggles]

i did auckland to chch and back on my rgv, perhaps look at having a custom seat done up for a bit more comfort if the gt250r's have hard planks, good fun otherwise, i got good weather the whole way but went prepared for the worst :)

[TKDSKIP]

Doing a lil ride around Coromandel yesterday came across a girl from overseas doing the loop on a 50 Suzuki 2stroke bike. She had stared in Chirstchurch and been up Northland was on the return trip. The little bike was loaded to the hilt with tent and backpacks doing 60k flat out down the Tairua hill. She had 2weeks to make it back to Chch and fly home. Certainly a great way to see NZ. If she can do it than a 250 should do it easy, and I cant think of a better way to get around.

[mdooher]

Wife and I went from Dunedin to Greymouth and day trips to various places from there last Christmas. (Me ST2, her GSX250) In a recuring theme on this thread the only problem was a puncture on her GSX 250 on the way back.

We were lucky it happend right in the middle of Oamaru on the first day the shops were open after new year. My advice ... if you have a bike with tube tyres join the AA. They seem quite helpful

[NordieBoy]

CelticSeaLily did it on a CB250RS and that only seems to get damaged when she's not riding it.

[deanohit]

or there is a postie bike challenge that i have only heard of and dont know anything about. i think that is australian or american? what that one involves i dont know.

Thats the postie bike challenge in Oz. Would have to look through my mags, but think they did the Birdsville Track with a bout 35 riders and a support crew. It's a bloody long way and not everyone made it all the way, but how much fun would that be? =)

[Solarwind]

The most important thing for a trip like that is how comfy your bike is to sit on for extended periods, and carrying chain lube and a puncture repair kit (if you get stuck out in the middle of nowhere with a flatty). A 250cc engine is plenty powerful enough for highway cruising, although a GN250 is pushing it. A fairing is overrated in my humble opinion, as I find they tend to direct a blast of air straight at your face unless you tuck in behind them, and you DON'T want to hold a racing crouch for several hours a day. My advice would be to try a shorter ride - try Auckland to Taupo (that's 4 hours) and see how your butt feels after that :blink: You might want to invest in a custom saddle like Corbin make if you're serious about long trips.

[Kickaha]

This is where my ignorance comes in - can a 250 actually DO this trip? Yes yes yes Hyosung I realise.. But 250's in general? Would there be any prudent measures to take, aside from the obvious I can think of... AA plus membership.. trade in the hyo..!, rah rah...


Have a read of this, it's about a week trip on a 250 that covered some serious miles

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=8959

[limbimtimwim]

I've done it. That was my whole reason for buying a motorcycle initially. Get a 250, ride around the South Island.

You can do it. I've got some great memories.

I remember shedding a tear of delight as I went down the west coast, I thought it was just so amazing. I still do.

[xwhatsit]

Yeah, sure man! You'll get a sore arse but there's absolutely no reason why not. If I can ride (literally) all day and my old girl doesn't blow up, then why can't I do that 2, 3, 4, 5 or 20 days in a row?

In fact, I posted a thread a while ago about it, but a Japanese woman has been riding around the world on her 250 (well, 225cc actually) for a few years now.

Of course comfort might be an issue, as it's not quite so relaxing with a small bike on the open road, but you've got one of the larger 250s out there. Luggage capacity too -- I don't think it'd be quite so effortless to strap a month's worth of supplies to your bike the way you could with a Blackbird.

Go for it! I've been wanting to get down to the South Island on my bike, riding all the way, but time and money is always an issue. Keep us posted and take lots of photos when you do it :yes:

[Jantar]

...or there is a postie bike challenge that i have only heard of and dont know anything about....
I am off on the Postie Bike Challenge in 5 weeks. Brisbane to Cairns via Longreach and the Gulf of Carpentaria, 3600 km in 11 days on a Honda CT110 through the Australian outback. Have a look at http://www.postiebikechallenge.org/ and see just what can be done on a small bike. :ride:

When I was a young and impoverished student at Otago University, I had a holiday job in Queenstown. That was a 300 km commute on a 125 cc two stroke.

[NighthawkNZ]

When I was in Aucks (RNZN) me and a mate use to ride to Napier and back regularly (every weekend we could) and back on our too fidies...

I had a CB250N and he had a GN250... was interesting we we swapped bikes for a month or so...first corner I came to I went wide and he cut the corner... was funny then when we swaped back did the same thing ... :doh:

anyway as said regular maintenance etc... you will have no problems

[bert_is_evil]

I went to the brass monkey in central Otago on a gsxr250 no probs, just spent a lot of time with a sore bum and cramp in my legs

[McJim]

I've been to Taupo and back on a VTR250 and I've been to Napier and back on a VTR250.
It would cruise at 130-140kph quite comfortably in 5th.

Only problem with being on a 250cc bike around New Zealand is the fact that many drivers drive at 75-80kph until you try to overtake them. Then they accelerate to 160kph for reasons best known to themselves. On bigger bikes you can deal with this but on a 250 you have to just put your headlight on full beam and sit behind them. :rofl:

[shadynz]

Go for it! I've been wanting to get down to the South Island on my bike, riding all the way, but time and money is always an issue. Keep us posted and take lots of photos when you do it :yes:

..Oh yeah.. I am planning to be snap happy the whole way down... Will take photos of anything and everyone... I can see myself running up to tourists and asking THEM to take a pic of me and my bike.. ha. Seriously though, this will be kind of a dream trip for me and just looking forward to meeting random people everywhere.

I'm up to about 4-5 hours in a day ride now with stops.. So figure I'll handle the riding position and soreness hopefully. It's more about seeing NZ rather than going flat tack...

Bloody brilliant to get all this advice... muchly appreciated!

[Wannabiker]

You will do it easy on a Hyosung 250. (and with a pillion if needed!), I have two of them. One has done 20 000k's and is regularly ridden between Welly and Napier no problem. The other bonus is that they have great fuel economy as well. Can get welly - Napier for $15 worth of gas, with plenty left in the tank. If you are worried about sore bum...get some cycling shorts to wear under your protective pants. They have a padded arse that will also absorb sweat (yeah I know...Gross:sick:) but they are comfy.

[banditrider]

Seriously though, this will be kind of a dream trip for me and just looking forward to meeting random people everywhere.

I'm up to about 4-5 hours in a day ride now with stops.. So figure I'll handle the riding position and soreness hopefully. It's more about seeing NZ rather than going flat tack...

Bloody brilliant to get all this advice... muchly appreciated!

Go for it! You probably won't stop grinning for a month. You'll get used to the numb bum. Take care and have fun!

[gw555]

I did Wellington-Auckland Wellington in 3 days a month ago on my GT250. Had absolutely no problems at all. I made sure I had a puncture repair kit and chain lube.

I did have a bit of trouble with the weather ie heavy rain, sleet, hail and wind but you expect that travelling in July

It took me 8.5 hours each way including stops for lunch fuel etc, I do have to admit to having a sore bum but you get over it reasonably quickly

Go for it and enjoy - I would like to do it sometime