Chateau to Plateau (25 January)

[pritch]

Some time ago Nadroj posted info about the Chateau to Plateau ride.
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=84868

The way that the forums are organised this event appears under the heading "Taranaki" and thus may be overlooked by many. This event is worthy of consideration by riders from further afield than Taranaki so I'm posting it here as well, in the interests of wider dissemination.

The ride commences at The Chateau Tongariro car park and finishes at the Stratford Plateau on Mt Egmont after passing along SH43 "The Forgotten World Highway". Petrol will be available at Whangamomona - cash only, there is no gas station there.

Drinks and prizegiving in Stratford, and almost everybody won a prize last year...

People who like twisties and are looking for a ride in January could do a lot worse than considering this.

Note to mods, please be nice :innocent:

[Hitcher]

That could be a great ride for a Shiver...

[Gareth51]

All going well I'll ride up on Saturday and stay at National Park

[pritch]

That could be a great ride for a Shiver...

SH43 is a great ride on pretty much anything. I used to enjoy it slightly more on the Hornet than the VFR due to the fact that the road is very tight in places and the Hornet was better suited to that sort of thing.

A bike like the Shiver should be close to perfect.

Mrs Hitcher might fancy a night at the Chateau?

[Hitcher]

Hmmm. Two weeks to get it run in? Sounds do-able...

[pritch]

Hmmm. Two weeks to get it run in? Sounds do-able...

Actually riding a bike either way along 43 sounds like good running in. Up and down through the gears all the way... No droning along at a constant speed anywhere.

[tri boy]

Is this the Chateau ride marked down for the 25th of Jan? (Kiwi Rider Mag)
Might be able to make it to that one.:chase:

Edit> checked the 25th on the Calender thread. Doh!

[pritch]

Last time I rode up 43 to get to the start at the Chateau, I thought it might be nice to know what state the road was in. That turned out to be a good move...

As of now I'm still undecided about this time. That Saturday is Whangamomona Republic Day I think. They declare themselves independent, elect a leader, require passports* to enter and generally provide a variety of entertainment (or excuses to get pissed).

For anyone travelling up from the South this could be an option.

* Your NZ passport won't be required. They'll sell you one of theirs no doubt

[sels1]

All going well I'll ride up on Saturday and stay at National Park

Hmmm could tag along too

[GSXR Trace]

hey just want to check date.. is it on 27th of jan... a tuesday?

[nadroj]

25th January (sunday of Auckland anniversary weekend) - sorry for cockup.

[GSXR Trace]

25th January (sunday of Auckland anniversary weekend) - sorry for cockup.

its all good... i thought it was the sunday and was planning on going, but just wanted to check!
see ya there!

[Naki Rat]

Not to be confused with Republic Day (http://www.whangamomonahotel.co.nz/acat.html). Whanga's going to be fair humming that weekend :woohoo:

[ynot slow]

Not to be confused with Republic Day (http://www.whangamomonahotel.co.nz/acat.html). Whanga's going to be fair humming that weekend :woohoo:

Yep lock up ya sheep folks,them city slickers are a coming by all modes of transportation.

[Naki Rat]

Yep lock up ya sheep folks,them city slickers are a coming by all modes of transportation.

Baaabaaara Come to Poppa :chase::buggerd:

[ynot slow]

Baaabaaara Come to Poppa :chase::buggerd:

See that charge of $3 for passport is sheep eh!!!

[martybabe]

Just got back from whangamomommonomno republic day with Mstrs and Janno, marvelous day but hot as... and that brings me to the point of this post.

Whangas it self is just a sea of wet Tar,your feet get stuck just walking around, there are umpteen jandals stuck to the road by the pub it's that gooey.

The rest of the Forgotten Highway isn't much better, some of the bends are treacherous, seriously.

Have a great ride guys but take it easy on that horrible stuff. :niceone:

[Naki Rat]

You were right about the melty tar but pretty standard fare from the central plateau right up to the Stratford Plateau so everybody just seemed to take it in their stride. Good to get home and get the leathers off as the road wasn't the only thing that was melting.

A cold beer at home held more appeal than the prizegiving so someone else will have to post up the total number of riders involved but definitely a big turnout.

Excellent ride for all involved I would imagine and good to put a few faces to KB names.

And a pleasant lack of cops though I suspect there were some speed camera photos being generated in the Stratford Mountain House area (unless my pig sniffer was fibbing).

[nadroj]

Over 300 bikes completed ride, a bloody good turnout! Bloody hot day & cold beers are attempting to cool me still.
One woops on the gravel with a GSX1400 Suzuki loosing it when attempting to pass a marshall, a fall in the Plateau carpark getting a lucky draw ticket & a Harley drive belt failure were the only obvious incidents.

Stopped at Grubs corner & was impressed with the effort to put up the cross.

[banditrider]

My pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/andrew.l.thomson/2009ChateauToPlateau#

One of said sad GSX1400...

[Horse]

a Harley drive belt failure

That was me. 2nd broken belt in 3 months. Short version here. (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=1906199&posted=1#post1906199)

[Boob Johnson]

Over 300 bikes completed ride, a bloody good turnout! Bloody hot day & cold beers are attempting to cool me still.
One woops on the gravel with a GSX1400 Suzuki loosing it when attempting to pass a marshall, a fall in the Plateau carpark getting a lucky draw ticket & a Harley drive belt failure were the only obvious incidents.

Stopped at Grubs corner & was impressed with the effort to put up the cross.
The chap to my right in the first pic (Greg Gail) witnessed a Harley rider literally bouncing off the walls of the tunnel right in front of him, bits of the two wheeled tractor flyin off n all lol :blink:

A fantastic day alright, twas the finish of a 4 day holiday for me so was a great note to end on :niceone:

[ynot slow]

Sheesh Horse,read on manawatu rides your adventure,see if they(harley suppliers)have a warranty on belts,worth a crack.Seemed like a great day.

Boob when you get bloody green leathers.

[Boob Johnson]

see if they (harley suppliers) have a warranty on belts, worth a crack.
No pun intended? :whistle:



Boob when you get bloody green leathers
Ewwwww

[pritch]

Hi

Nice weather for a ride like that. Almost too much so, but I'd feel guilty complaining about sunshine after some of the wet trips I've has over the past twelve months or so.

Met up with Nutbar and Naki Rat neither of whom I'd met previously. Naki rat made it easy by wearing a KB Tee shirt.

Sorry to have missed bandit Rider and I didn't see Mr Johnson anywhere among the merry throng.

Marty, you're right about the tar. I was trying to ride between the car tyre tracks, on one corner though they spread out all over the road and I had a nice little slide before I got back in my groove.

[martybabe]

Hi

Nice weather for a ride like that. Almost too much so, but I'd feel guilty complaining about sunshine after some of the wet trips I've has over the past twelve months or so.

Met up with Nut Bar and Naki Rat neither of whom I'd met previously. Naki rat made it easy by wearing a KB Tee shirt.

Sorry to have missed bandit Rider and I didn't see Mr Johnson anywhere among the merry throng.

Marty, you're right about the tar. I was trying to ride between the car tyre tracks, on one corner though they spread out all over the road and I had a nice little slide before I got back in my groove.

Glad it went well Ron, I had a bit of a moment on a shady corner, a little to much gas on a river of tar and my first thought was the hundreds that would be doing that route the next day. Not true actually my first thought was WTF! I'm going sideways :sweatdrop :laugh:

[ynot slow]

Thought at the time this ride is day after republic day,road could be cut up with shiny tar etc.And last year it was wet ish,so good to see the day was brilliant for all concerned.

[banditrider]

Glad it went well Ron, I had a bit of a moment on a shady corner, a little to much gas on a river of tar and my first thought was the hundreds that would be doing that route the next day. Not true actually my first thought was WTF! I'm going sideways :sweatdrop :laugh:

Had a few little moments on it myself. My mate following me reckoned he could here my bike moving around on the tar! The Connie doesn't seem to like the hot stuff - neither does the rider...

[Naki Rat]

Had a few little moments on it myself. My mate following me reckoned he could here my bike moving around on the tar! The Connie doesn't seem to like the hot stuff - neither does the rider...

I followed a TRX as we arrived at the plateau and didn't only hear it but I could see the tracks it was leaving in the tar.
Just like riding on molasses :crazy::eek5:

[Hitcher]

Is the Plateau carpark sealed?

[martybabe]

Is the Plateau carpark sealed?

No mate, It's gravel but in good order mostly.

[Naki Rat]

Is the Plateau carpark sealed?

No, and big lumps of it ended up glued to our tyres as soon as we left the tarseal.

[Hitcher]

I took Mrs H up there for a midnight ride some years ago -- starry night, summer breeze, that sort of thing. Parked the bike in the "gravel" and went for a short stroll to look at the fairy lights from Hawera, Eltham, Stratford and Inglewood. It was so dark, we couldn't find the bike. If not for the metallic tinking noise of an exhaust system cooling, I'm sure we would probably have had to waited until sunrise to find it.

[Ocean1]

It was so dark, we couldn't find the bike.

*Furiously taking notes*

And I thought “running out of petrol” was pretty innovative.

*Adds note re dousing hot 'zorst with water before "losing" bike*

[Nasty]

Over 300 bikes completed ride, a bloody good turnout! Bloody hot day & cold beers are attempting to cool me still.
One woops on the gravel with a GSX1400 Suzuki loosing it when attempting to pass a marshall, a fall in the Plateau carpark getting a lucky draw ticket & a Harley drive belt failure were the only obvious incidents.

Stopped at Grubs corner & was impressed with the effort to put up the cross.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop at the corner ... that is soo special to me :)

[pritch]

No mate, It's gravel but in good order mostly.

Ummm the bit the marshals were using weren't the best. Quite deep really.

There was an FZ1 in front of me had trouble turning, he stalled and looked a bit unsteady. Then my effort made him look good. I heard somebody dropped a Ducati (ST4?).

[nadroj]

Saw a silver ST1300 Honda drop it just off the seal while getting his finishing number.

[NUTBAR]

hey, what a great weekend, great to meet a whole lot of kbrs on saturday night & sunday at the Chateau to plateau, think i will be at the next one. also met a few on my travels home,