Lees Valley in the dark.

[Transalper]

Wow, it's been a while since we've visited Lees valley/Okuku Pass.
A few of us are talking about doing Lees Valley on Saturday 20/09/2008 evening if the weather and river level stay good. (Rivers at 1.8 cumecs right now, I am happy with anything under 3).
It will be a long slow ride not out riding our lights as we expect to encounter a fair few animals and closed gates along the way, not to mention the fords and who knows what condition the actual road is in now.
Plan at this stage is to meet at the Rangiora Mobile gas station at 7pm to be on our way by 7:30pm.
Be prepared to get cold (and wet if you fall in a water crossing:doh:).
We'll check river flow and make a final call Friday night/Saturday morning and post back here.

Cheers
TA.

[nigelp]

I would love to try this ride but have family from the states over.

Good news is: If anyone wants to borrow my LED night lights that I use for mountainbiking then flick me a PM. They are 2x CREE Q5 LEDs mounted in 25mm square aluminium. Very light (light weighs about 100 grams). runs on AA batteries and shouldlast up to 4-5hours. Would be handy for the tricky bits if anyone wants to borrow it. Beams are narrow (5 degrees) and medium flood (12 degrees).

Good lights for medium close work and handy that you can put on your helmet and points where you look. Oh, I have a spare battery pack also.

I also have an old halogen light that was used prior to LEDs that you may be able to rig up to your normal battery, alterantively will give you 1hr 30 of bright light via a 12v SLA in your backpack.

[_Shrek_]

I would love to try this ride but have family from the states over.

Good news is: If anyone wants to borrow my LED night lights that I use for mountainbiking then flick me a PM. They are 2x CREE Q5 LEDs mounted in 25mm square aluminium. Very light (light weighs about 100 grams). runs on AA batteries and shouldlast up to 4-5hours. Would be handy for the tricky bits if anyone wants to borrow it. Beams are narrow (5 degrees) and medium flood (12 degrees).

Good lights for medium close work and handy that you can put on your helmet and points where you look. Oh, I have a spare battery pack also.

I also have an old halogen light that was used prior to LEDs that you may be able to rig up to your normal battery, alterantively will give you 1hr 30 of bright light via a 12v SLA in your backpack.

bling for you mate damm nice offer :2thumbsup:


Wow, it's been a while since we've visited Lees valley/Okuku Pass.
A few of us are talking about doing Lees Valley on Saturday 20/09/2008 evening if the weather and river level stay good. (Rivers at 1.8 cumecs right now, I am happy with anything under 3).
It will be a long slow ride not out riding our lights as we expect to encounter a fair few animals and closed gates along the way, not to mention the fords and who knows what condition the actual road is in now.
Plan at this stage is to meet at the Rangiora Mobile gas station at 7pm to be on our way by 7:30pm.
Be prepared to get cold (and wet if you fall in a water crossing:doh:).
We'll check river flow and make a final call Friday night/Saturday morning and posy back here.

Cheers
TA.

bugga TA will not be able to do it this time, will be down sth with the Southern Rabble & some of the Canterbury Rabble :whistle:

[cooneyr]

I'll be there if I have the bike sorted (should be). Good practice for the legs of the DB1k that will be in the dark.

Cheers R

[XF650]

No wonder NigelP has aux lights - the Freewind candles are shite!!

[Peril]

I'll raise my hand.Hopefully will have shaken this cold by then and will be wanting to test out my new super dooper Hella headlight bulb.

[El scooto]

Me wants to play to!! be a good bit of practise

[NordieBoy]

I'll raise my hand.Hopefully will have shaken this cold by then and will be wanting to test out my new super dooper Hella headlight bulb.

Apparantly Osram do a +90 55/60w H4 bulb.
Havn't been able to find one locally yet to replace the +50 that's in there.

[Lugzy23]

Any idea of how long the ride will take. Might be keen the only problem is that I have work at 06.30 the following morning. ta

[Transalper]

No worrys Lugzy, you'll be home by then.
I'd allow twice as long as daylight... however long that is.

[far queue]

Sounds like something a bit different :argh: :shit: :D

But I'll be playing on the back roads down south this weekend :ride: Have fun guys :woohoo:

[cooneyr]

....I'd allow twice as long as daylight... however long that is.

Lees valley route is about 75kms so say 3 hours (25kph average instead of 50kph average). Add about 45 mins traveling either end so roughly 5 hours all up, home by 12.30ish. Heaps of time to sleep lugzy.

There wont be fuel available at Oxford the time of night that we go through so everybody needs to make sure that they have 200+kms range. No I ain't being a mobile petrol tanker! :Pokey:

Cheers R

[Peril]

Apparantly Osram do a +90 55/60w H4 bulb.
Havn't been able to find one locally yet to replace the +50 that's in there.

Mines a new Hella one,but I can't find it in their online catalogues.It only lists the 55/60XU as a +50,but the guy I bought this one off assured me it's only been out a couple of weeks (about a month ago now) and it's basically a +90 over a standard H4.

[Transalper]

So we are talking bulbs that draw the same current, are the same wattage etc as the standard 55/60 H4 but put out the extra brightness?
How sensitive to vibration are these ones now?

[Peril]

So we are talking bulbs that draw the same current, are the same wattage etc as the standard 55/60 H4 but put out the extra brightness?
How sensitive to vibration are these ones now?

No idea :)
I haven't even tried this one out at night yet,but I was assured I'd be very impressed with it.
As for vibrations,I've been out (Mcleans Island) twice since being installed and always run with the lights on and it's still going,so I guess that's something.

[Peril]

Mines a new Hella one,but I can't find it in their online catalogues.It only lists the 55/60XU as a +50,but the guy I bought this one off assured me it's only been out a couple of weeks (about a month ago now) and it's basically a +90 over a standard H4.

:Oops: It's not a Hella,it's an Osram Bilux "night breaker".
Linky to the specs
http://www.svetila.com/en/osram-light-bulbs-66/automotive-tuning-77/h4-12v-60-55w-64193nbr-night-breaker-90-more-light-10-whiter-4064.html

[NordieBoy]

:Oops: It's not a Hella,it's an Osram Bilux "night breaker".
Linky to the specs
http://www.svetila.com/en/osram-light-bulbs-66/automotive-tuning-77/h4-12v-60-55w-64193nbr-night-breaker-90-more-light-10-whiter-4064.html

That sounds familiar :D


I run a +50 55/60 H4 in the main light and a +50 55w in the little flood my kiwi sits on.
I wouldn't mind changing that one to a 35w and the main light to one of the Osram +90's

[cooneyr]

So we are talking bulbs that draw the same current, are the same wattage etc as the standard 55/60 H4 but put out the extra brightness?
How sensitive to vibration are these ones now?

Pete and I had been running the +50 Hella's since the end of 2006 with no issues or blown bulbs.


:Oops: It's not a Hella,it's an Osram Bilux "night breaker".
Linky to the specs
http://www.svetila.com/en/osram-light-bulbs-66/automotive-tuning-77/h4-12v-60-55w-64193nbr-night-breaker-90-more-light-10-whiter-4064.html

Thanks for the link. Where did you get your bulb from? I've got two standard 55/60w that I'm going to use on Sat but am interesting in changing to +50's or +90's depending on how things go on Sat.

Cheers R

[Peril]

Pete and I had been running the +50 Hella's since the end of 2006 with no issues or blown bulbs.



Thanks for the link. Where did you get your bulb from? I've got two standard 55/60w that I'm going to use on Sat but am interesting in changing to +50's or +90's depending on how things go on Sat.

Cheers R

Was Brent or Brett (can never remember between those two names!) at Canterbury Auto Electric.
They've also moved out to Hornby too incase you go looking.
It cost me $25,not sure if that was a trade price or not though.

[NordieBoy]

It cost me $25,not sure if that was a trade price or not though.

That sounds very cheap. The +50's were around $30 or so.

[Alpha Solo]

I'm in..

1) I can get some gas in cans at my place in Oxford for when we finish, maybe some coffee too?

2) anybody advise on a suitable bulb for a DRZ 400?

:niceone:

[Peril]

2) anybody advise on a suitable bulb for a DRZ 400?

:niceone:

Yep,follow me all night :2thumbsup

[Alpha Solo]

As long as I dont have to bump start you again!

[cooneyr]

.....2) anybody advise on a suitable bulb for a DRZ 400?...

Same wattage as it currently runs but in a +50. I'm assuming you have a plastic lens so you don't want too much higher wattage as it may melt the lens. The +50 and +90 bulbs supposedly put out 50% or 90% more illumination than a standard bulb of the same wattage buy using a mixture of gasses (xenon and halogen I think?). Not sure what a +50 or +90 bulb will do to a plastic lens and they should in theory be no hotter but I'd play it safe and stick with the +50.

Cheers R

[fatbarstard]

i will have a car &trailer parked @ rangiora with some spare gas for emergencies and will pick up any bikes with problems .
as for lighting- the ktms lights suck so i will be riding mid pack and bludging candle power frm others.

[Transalper]

Righto, went in and spoke to the man at Canty Auto Electric... didn't realise they had moved to 159 Waterloo Rd but luckily a mate at work told me before I went the wrong way.
The bulb I came home with is in a Hella packet. Apparently Hella, Osram and another he mentioned are all linked together now.
The packed says it's a XD1260/55UP.
Then is says Blub H4 12V 60/55W P43t.
Then ULTRA PLUS 90.
It cost $25.30 trade (although on a good day you won't need to give a company account name and still get that anyway).
See picky if you feel you need more info but I already told you everything.

Other picky is Okuku Fox Creek flow rate up to today. It's looking good but I see rain forecast so hopefully that will not mess with us too much.

[Underground]

I use a pair of XD1260/55XU-2 's ... bloody brilliant specially compared to the 35/35 's that were in it , kept thinking I'd forgotten to take my shades off, now 130k is no prob in the dark

[Transalper]

Looks like it will be a bit of an endurance day for me. Doing the Arthurs/Lewis loop maybe via Punakiki with a few in the Meetings and Events forum before heading out on this. Should have just enough time for tea and to change my boots between rides.

[Peril]

The river flow looking ok with todays rain?
Seems it's ment to be fine tomorrow and saturday now,so hopefully things dry out a bit.

[JATZ]

Looks like it will be a bit of an endurance day for me. Doing the Arthurs/Lewis loop maybe via Punakiki with a few in the Meetings and Events forum before heading out on this. Should have just enough time for tea and to change my boots between rides.

You might as well start practicing for early jan about now.

[Transalper]

The river flow looking ok with todays rain?....It would have to rain in the hills a lot more than todays trickle to have much effect.
It is listed as 1.13cumec at 3:15pm today. Will post up again tomorrow but pretty sure we'll be fine.


You might as well start practicing for early jan about now.:whistle:

[cooneyr]

TA ya cheat (actually I'm just jealous).

Cheers R

[Transalper]

Good news... the river peaked about 1.85cumec last night and is now dropping again. Down to 1.69cumec at 3:15pm this afternoon and falling.

I plan to take a snack to eat and drink incase I get hungry again out there in the middle of nowhere. Torches are good too.

[nigelp]

Sooooo... how did you guys go seeing in the dark?

[cooneyr]

Sooooo... how did you guys go seeing in the dark?

Tomorrow night dude.

Cheers R

[mattsdakar]

Have a good ride guys, I was all keen to my wife reminded me that we had invited friends for a bbq..bugger!

[Transalper]

...we had invited friends for a bbq..bugger!Dam fool.:bleh:

River down to 1.16cumec at 5:30 this morning and still dropping. Going to be a goodin.:niceone:

[Dr Death]

Im keen to ride through Lees Valley tonight. Take the XT 600 for a spin.

[Dr Death]

So... how many riders plan to head to Lees Valley tonight?

[cooneyr]

So... how many riders plan to head to Lees Valley tonight?

About 6 or so I think. More than welcome to come along - see you at Mobil Rangiroa (Approx Location) (http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&saddr=-43.301599,172.595601&daddr=&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=16&sll=-43.30218,172.596653&sspn=0.007714,0.019312&ie=UTF8&z=16) at 7pm.

Cheers R

[Dr Death]

Excellent. Count me in. Should be a good night for it.

[Transalper]

River listed as 1.16cumec and still dropping at 5:30pm.
I just back from big block. Gettin ready for Lees Valley now.
On me way in about 20minutes.:chase:

[NordieBoy]

Hope you all have fun - dammit :(

[Transalper]

Home again and now off to bed.:sleep:

[Transalper]

Couple of pickys from start and finish. Didn't actually take any during the ride.
There were 8 riders showed up for this ride. I saw several scarey moments where a rider ahead parked just off the road instead of making the turn.
The main river was good, a little interesting but all good. Even kept my feet dry.
I'd happily do it all over again.


#1 - getting started at Rangiora 7:40pm.
#2 - Heavy fog back down on the flat at the end of the dirt and all the way back to Chch made using the camera flash a bad idea.
#3,4,5 Same place, Oxford end of Lees Valley Rd just before heading home. 11pm

[Peril]

Good ride,certainly different in the dark!
And nice to see more Yamaha's than Suzuki's this time :)

[cooneyr]

I like having twin headlights - even with standard 55/60's they put out shit load more light than than the DR with the +50 55/60 ever did.

The super bright LED's mounted to the helmet definitely seem like a good idea.

Heaps of fun. Thanks all.

Cheers R

[Dr Death]

Thanks guys for a great night ride through Lees Valley. Looking forward to the next ride.

[Alpha Solo]

Nice ride everyone, I'm off to research some lights.

I too would do it again any night!

Nice to meet the new faces too.

[young1]

Now that is an Adventure!! It is bad enough riding out on the tar seal in the country at night, so can't imagine what it was like for you guys. Nice one.

[Club Matrix]

Nice ride everyone, I'm off to research some lights.

I too would do it again any night!

Nice to meet the new faces too.

I'd echo that - great run, starting to thinkk about DB1K09 ...
First night time river crossing ever - with or without a bike.

[fatbarstard]

a great night! how about a daylight double run before christmas to help out
those doing the dusty butt with a bit of saddle time! lunch stop in oxford?

[cooneyr]

Now that is an Adventure!! It is bad enough riding out on the tar seal in the country at night, so can't imagine what it was like for you guys. Nice one.

When it gets dusty it is like riding in fog. Speaking of which we had terrible fog coming back down the plains. Was 50kph for the wiggly bits and not much faster on the straights. The GPS was helpful with the corner locations but would not recommend riding using the GPS in this way - was a little interesting.


....starting to thinkk about DB1K09 ...

Go on ya know you want to.


......how about a daylight double run before christmas to help out
those doing the dusty butt with a bit of saddle time! lunch stop in oxford?

Excuses excuses - we don't need any help you just want to go riding. Still, keen to do the double with minimal or no stops.

Cheers R

[Peril]

Be keen on a double run.Must do something about my seat now as my ass was sore as hell on the way home.Did a bit of standing down Tram Road and Main North,but still didn't help much.I think Dr Death looked a bit confused when he pulled along side with me pointing at my nether region :D
Oh oh,thanks again to those who helped trying to start "Ray" at Rangiora,seems he doesn't like adventure :)

[Transalper]

:lol: DB practice might look more like Yaldhurst/Russley cnr Garage start - Waimak south (Intake Rd) to gorge - Oxford - Lees valley - Whiterock (or even Rangiora) - Lees Valley - Oxford - Waimak Nth bank - Coutts Island - McLeans Island/Chattertons Rd/Miners Bank Intersection - back to Start.
And that's only about 1/3rd of the main event.:sweatdrop

[cooneyr]

:lol: DB practice might look more like Yaldhurst/Russley cnr Garage start - Waimak south (Intake Rd) to gorge - Oxford - Lees valley - Whiterock (or even Rangiora) - Lees Valley - Oxford - Waimak Nth bank - Coutts Island - McLeans Island/Chattertons Rd/Miners Bank Intersection - back to Start.
And that's only about 1/3rd of the main event.:sweatdrop

And your only allowed one major stop (20 mins) and maybe one minor stop (couple of mins) over the whole thing and 1/2 of it needs to be in the dark.

Sounds like a plan :clap:. 4pm start (Daylight savings time) should work. So when are we doing it TA?

Cheers R

[Transalper]

will have to check to see if the waimak gates we will need to pass have locking times. Other than that lets get some lights sorted so we can fine tune them.

[cooneyr]

will have to check to see if the waimak gates we will need to pass have locking times. Other than that lets get some lights sorted so we can fine tune them.

Gates will probably be dusk on the north side and there isnt any on the south side that I know of. North side first and then back via the south side?

Had a bit of a look at lights at lunchtime. Might be just as easy to buy a LED torch (see trademe)?

Cheers R

[imdying]

I gotta buy a 'real' bike so I can get into this shit! :D

[laRIKin]

Gates will probably be dusk on the north side and there isnt any on the south side that I know of. North side first and then back via the south side?

The gates shut about 7:00pm maybe 8:00pm in Summer (will check)
And there are gates on the south side around McLeans Island and up passed the paint ball game to keep out boy racers.
The there are some now at Weedons Ross Rd that are sometimes closed, but you can ride around most of them.
And would not be surprised if there are some at the Intake after all the damage done to the dam control room.

[Peril]

Gates will probably be dusk on the north side and there isnt any on the south side that I know of. North side first and then back via the south side?

Had a bit of a look at lights at lunchtime. Might be just as easy to buy a LED torch (see trademe)?

Cheers R

South has gates along McLeans Island road and also at one Lorimas Road (pretty certain I have seen one there).

Also I should make a mental note that $20 worth of petrol,plus about 5-6 litres still in the tank,will NOT get me over 200kms!
Bike was coughing at the start of Fitzgerald this morning,put it onto reserve.Then it decided to run out on me turning onto Stanmore out of Armagh St.
I love my bike,I really do :rolleyes:

[Transalper]

That's right there are gates that get locked around dark all over the South side exits from and including Lorimas Road, all McLeans island exits and some further up.
Won't take much to scout it out, a quick run up each side bridge to bridge should do it.

[JATZ]

I don't know if this is any good to you, could be worth a try

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=676447

[Transalper]

mmm, i got that in the newsletter too, but I dont think it's bright enough.

[nigelp]

I don't know if this is any good to you, could be worth a try

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=676447

You want something in the range of 400 lumens +. The one TA had is about 450-500 lumens and v1 of the lights I have made. My v2 puts out 600 lumens and is great for tight trails on the MTB.

[cooneyr]

You want something in the range of 400 lumens +. The one TA had is about 450-500 lumens and v1 of the lights I have made. My v2 puts out 600 lumens and is great for tight trails on the MTB.

Is there a page or similar that you could point us at re making some like yours? Also where did you get the LED's?

Cheers R

[nigelp]

Is there a page or similar that you could point us at re making some like yours? Also where did you get the LED's?

Cheers R

I emailed TA the "menu" (excel file with parts list and suppliers) for making them with link etc to suppliers. Very easy to make - if you can solder two wires together and cut aluminium (badly in my case) then you can make them.

The LEDs used in the one TA had were P4 LEDS (lower spec), my Mrs lights are Q5 which are noticable brighter. You can even get P7 LEDs which put out 900 lumens (apparently) from a single one!

I get most of my parts from www.dealextreme.com - free shipping via Hong Kong.

Anyone who wants my parts list flick me a PM with your email address.

[Transalper]

The one I borrowed was only just bright enough to make a difference on the sharper hairpin bends and where the terrain had cast shaddows.

[Club Matrix]

Guy in a cycle shop today showed me one of the 900 lumen units ($900!! or $600 without batteries). Turned the lights out in the shop and lit the place up. His opinion was more the better - also because there is shadow cast from those following, and you need to wash that out with your own headlamp, The smaller sub-400 lumen jobs are probably not going to do it, especially given the speed we are travelling and the inability to match the bright lights you already have on your bike.

[Transalper]

I wouldn't want to see a shop lit up, I'd want to see the house across the road two doors dowm lit up at night from the shop door as proof of suitability.
I got small torches that light up the inside of my place of work quite well but do nothing for the motorcycling situation.

[Club Matrix]

it was broad daylight; bit hard hard to make a difference lighting up the street in competition with the sun!

[Transalper]

So wont they open the shop up at night for you?... or let you take it home for a test run.
Be nice if they would:shifty:

[Alpha Solo]

I wouldn't want to see a shop lit up, I'd want to see the house across the road two doors dowm lit up at night from the shop door as proof of suitability.
I got small torches that light up the inside of my place of work quite well but do nothing for the motorcycling situation.

Me too!

:niceone:

[Club Matrix]

At $900 (even though it's supposed to be 900 lumens) I think I'll try to make one. I presume the mountainbikers can afford all this stuff 'cause they don't have to buy the motor in their bikes?!

[nigelp]

I have started a new thread to discuss LED lights if anyone is interest here http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=1743187#post1743187

Dont want to take away from the trip or spam anyones thread!!!