2009 Southern Cross: Miles of Smiles

[Jantar]

Thursday 19th March: 800 km.

With the bike serviced earlier in the week, I left home near Alexandra shortly after 8:00 am and had a brilliant ride north through the Lindis Pass. Only very light traffic and hardly a cloud in the sky. There were a few bikes heading south around Tekapo, mainly BMW GS1200s, and I figured they were doing the leisuely tour. :sunny:

First fuel stop was in Geraldine, then on to Rakaia via Thompson's Track. I had read a thread on here about the gorgeous young waitress at the Cafe at Rakaia so that was my lunch stop. Either I chose the wrong cafe, or she wasn't on that day none of the waitresses were stunning. One wasn't bad, she was young but not gorgeous. However the food was first rate so I can't complain.

North on SH1 and I came across the first idiot driver of the trip. A few km south of Templeton and there was a line of traffic. A heavily laden ute towing a trailer was cruising along at around 80 kmh, which was a reasonable speed for the vehicle. Imediately behind him was a bus, then a car, I was next then a line of around 6 or 7 cars. As we came to a passing lane the bus pulled out to pass the the ute, and took the whole legth of the passing lane to complete the manouver, allowing only myself and 1 other car to get through, but still behind the bus. All the rest of the traffic was still held up behind the slow vehicle. Then only a few hundred meters up the road the bus pulls left into a bus stop. If I had have been one of the vehicles still stuck behind that ute I would have been cursing that bus driver.

Just north of Chrischurch on the motorway, I noticed my radar detector giving a strong Ka band signal, but almost no noise. "Here we go again" I thought to myself as this is the very spot my radar detector started playing up last Southern Cross. I stopped at the first rest area I came to and started checking all the connections. Unplugging each in turn to try and isolate the fault. I finally found the cause and started kicking myself. When I reprogrammed it to pick up K band (for the new speed cameras) I had turned the volume down while changing the program, and I had simply forgotten to turn the volume up again. :doh:

Onwards North, and through many sections of roadworks. One in particular stood out as I came up to a long line of traffic stopped for a red light at the bottom of a hill. After about 4 minutes the light turned green (away in the distance) and traffic started to move. Slowly I drew closer to the lights, and about 4 vehicles before I reached them they turned orange, then red. About half of the queue of traffic had managed to get through. We waited for around 6 minutes during which time a single car came in the opposite direction, then the lights turned green for our side once again. Almost 1 km up the hill there was a small section of about 50 meters of road works on the side of the road, and 100 meters further on was the light stopping traffic coming in the opposite direction. Two vehicles were waiting. For God’s sake! If they are going to use lights then at least have someone with some intelligence controlling them rather than simply relying on a timer for each direction.

A few kms north and I had a chance to practice emergency stopping in earnest. It was my own fault, but it shows how situations can change unexpectedly. I had been following a 4WD through a twisty bit, and I knew there were some short straights ahead. So I moved up close and to the right so I could keep a good lookout and be ready to gun it as soon as there was a clear straight. Suddenly the 4WD’s brake lights came on and the female driver swerved right into my path. I grabbed a big fistful of brake and pressed hard with my right foot, but quickly realised that I couldn’t stop in time. So it was off with the brakes, swerve hard left into the gap that was opening up between the 4WD and the side of the road, then hard on the brakes again. I stopped safely, alongside the 4WD on her left, at which point she drove slowly forward onto the wrong side of the road, and around the obstacle that had caused her to brake. It was a bloody road cone in the middle of the lane, so as I was closer to it I got off the bike and moved it to the side of the road. (more on road cones later). It was uneventful from there to Kaikoura and my next fuel stop. That coast road that used to be so great is almost boring now that it is limited to 80kmh. More uneventful riding up to Picton where I arrived shortly after 6:00 pm



Friday 20th March: 379 km.

I was booked on the midday ferry; however as I was already in Picton I decided to see if I could get on the earlier crossing. So straight to the check in and I arrived just as it was opening and enquired about getting on earlier. To my surprise the woman in the check in office claimed that the all motorbike spots were full and there was no chance. Even when I asked if I could go into the unreserved queue and take my chances she still said “NO, all spots are taken and there is a long list of campervans wanting to get into the unreserved queue.” So I waited in the park by the check in office and counted the bikes arriving right up to the last minute for check in. Once the check in deadline had passed I went back to see the rather unhelpful woman and had a conversation that went something like this:

Me: “I see the deadline for check in has passed and there’s only 5 bikes gone through. Have there been any cancellations or have some not turned up yet?”
She: “No, they’re all here, and there is no more room for any motorcycles.”
Me: “I’m sure that there are more than 5 dedicated motorcycle spots onboard, could you please advise the ship that there is a motorcyclist waiting here if there is room.”
She: “There is no room on board, but I’ll pass on that message.”
Me: “ Thank you, I’ll just wait.”

Shortly after that one of the loaders saw me there and asked why I wasn’t going on board. He was incredulous when I told him about there being no room. But a few minutes later, the lady from the check in office called me over and said they can squeeze on one more if I get going now! I got going. As I expected there were still 8 bikes spots vacant.

At 2:00 pm exactly, I pulled out of Wellington and started the trip north. Traffic was only moderate and slow moving, so it was a fairly slow trip with the 140 km to my next fuel stop at Bulls taking a full 2 hours. I kept to SH1, and just south of Taihape my radar detector warned of a cop ahead. OK, only 1 had his radar on, but there were 3 cop cars escorting a group of about 30 bikes south. They were mostly HDs and, of course, none of them waved. The Dessert Road had its obligatory cop cruising with radar ablaze, and the sun on the mountain was quite spectacular. I arrived at Katman’s place in Taupo, at around 7:00 pm. Many thanks for your hospitality Katman, it was much appreciated.


Saturday 21st March: 12 km.

No it’s not a misprint. Today the bike only travelled from Katman’s home to his shop where he fitted new tyres for me, then to the Taupo Gliding Club next to the Taupo Raceway. I did have 3 glider flights, but not in my beloved Jantar, it was out for maintenance. 1 flight in a PW6 and 2 different PW5s. 6500 ft over Ohaaki, out over the forest then back onto the southwest ridge of Tauhara was a fantastic afternoon of fun.


Sunday 22nd March: 420 km.

This was to be another short ride so I didn’t leave Taupo till 10:45 am. I caught up with a group of Ulysses riders just east of Taupo, and as they were setting a steady pace of around 100 - 110 kmh I just sat in behind them. This worked well until just after the high point on the Taupo – Napier road they unexpectedly reduced their average speed to around 90 kmh. I waved to them as I cruised on by. The intersection with SH2 was reached just after midday and I carried on north to wee place called Putarino where I stopped for lunch. There were a couple already there on Harleys who were just travelling home to Waikaremoana. I only stayed long enough to have a bite to eat then as I was putting on my helmet a familiar looking bike went past. I couldn’t quite place it, but I knew I’d seen it before somewhere. A short distance up the road I caught up and as soon as I was close behind I knew what bike it was. The number plate FZED1 sort of gave it away. So I followed Mangell6 on his FZ1 through to Wairoa where I pulled up alongside as he was stopping. This was a fuel stop for me as I wasn’t sure whether I would have enough to get to Gisborne. We carried on as a pair through Gisborne and on to Tokomaru Bay. Later that evening it was a mini KB get-together at the Tokomaru Bay pub as KoroJ and a few others were there as well.

[Hitcher]

Mrs H and I spotted a few Southern Crossers on their way to the start at East Cape as we were heading the other way to Gisborne last week.

It looks like the weather gods smiled once more!

[shafty]

Next installment please! :shifty:

[banditrider]

Still on the road - looking forward to reading more soon...

[STJim]

Jantar like Shafty I am looking forward to the next instalment. Only sorry that I couldn't take the time off this year.

[mangell6]

Yeah where is the next installment, I am waiting to find out what we did. It was soooo long ago.

[Jantar]

Day 1. Monday 23rd March: 620 km

It was fine, calm and mild when I woke up at 07:30 on the Monday morning, so a shower and cup of coffee was in order before starting the day. In that short space of time it started raining. By the time I met Mangel6 at 09:30 it had become quite heavy, but as it hadn’t been raining long I figured we would soon ride through it and back to dry roads. Sure enough, it stopped raining about 6 km short of Te Araroa after 70 km of wet roads, but as I fuelled the bike the rain caught up with us once again. A couple of pies for sustenance then out to East Cape for the start.

In the two previous Crosses they had allowed us to start a little early, but this year they didn’t open the book (where all entrants sign to show they have been at the checkpoint) until bang on 12:00. I started in mid field of the 130 riders and had a good run back to Te Araroa where the rain had stopped. Somehow I got separated from mangell6 but another KBer, RichardC was right behind me. The roads were starting to dry in places and I had one moment where the new Conti Attacks gave me a bit of warning that I might have been pushing a bit hard. However by this stage I was following a bike with the unusual number plate STUUU. I took a wild guess that the rider’s name was “Stu”. I also noticed a KiwiBiker sticker on his rear mudguard. After trying to puzzle out who rides a BMW RS with the name of Stu I finally gave up guessing and decided that I’d have to wait to the next checkpoint to find out.

A few kms up the road we came to some road works and all stopped at the red light. Of course this caused us all to bunch up two abreast as we waited for the green. RichardC was on my right, so as the light turned green he took off immediately behind Stu while I was next in line. The road cones directed us into the right hand lane, but as we rounded the blind bend we were faced with the grader working the lane we were in. Bikes were desperately trying to change lanes when I saw Stu’s brake lights come on, his front end went down, and a cone shot out from what appeared to be under his front wheel. We were only doing around 10 kmh and from my perspective it looked like he was losing it. Suddenly another cone came out from under RichardC’s BMW, he hit his brakes then his BMW ran into the back of Stu’s. Both bikes went down. I was fortunate to avoid the melee and hit my horn and hazard lights as I stopped to help. Once we had the bikes upright we found that the damage was minor (but expensive) and we soon had both bikes rideable. I also learned that Stu is xgnr on KB.

By the time we got going again all bikes were well gone and we were last. Further on along the road to Opotiki we saw a couple of bike stopped at the side of the road and the riders looking over the bank. Another BMW bites the dust. Again we learnt later that the damage wasn’t too bad. I was hoping that the fuel at Te Araroa would get me to Rotorua, but my fuel gauge was dropping at an alarming rate and I had to stop 30 kms short at Lake Rotoiti. RichardC and I also made this a quick coffee and comfort stop.

It was close to 5:00 pm as we passed through Rotorua and onto the Atiamuri road. This was my home turf in a previous life and I know the road well. 75 kmh bends can be taken at 110 with ease so it didn’t take long to pass Whakamaru and down to Bennydale. My original intention was to bypass Te Kuiti and head straight to 8 mile junction, but the sun strike was getting bad so it was over the rail bridge then on to Te Kuiti for dinner. Sure enough the sun had gone down as RichardC and I left Te Kuiti, and it started getting dark as we passed through PioPio. We had caught with another rider on a ST1300 and let him set the pace. All was going well as headed down a steepish hill through some roadworks. Suddenly the hard surface we had been on changed to a thick layer of river boulders. I’m pleased to say that we all did the same thing and increased the throttle to power through it. I saw a speed somewhat in excess of the legal speed when I hit the hard again.. Down another hill just short of the Awakino Gorge I saw another bike being loaded onto a truck. Its lights were on and it didn’t appear to be damaged, and even now I can’t be sure whether or not it was one of the Southern Cross riders. Mokau was my destination for the night, so I let RichardC and the ST1300 carry on to New Plymouth whiler I pulled into the Mokau Backpackers. Only 3 riders and no other guests meant that we had a quiet and undisturbed night.

[Gremlin]

Fantastic reading Jantar... keep going... how I wish I could have that kind of time off...

How did your tyre choice end up going?

[Jantar]

...How did your tyre choice end up going?
Katman couldn't get a full set of Scorpions for me, so we fitted Conti Attacks. They have proved pretty good and I would certainly rate them as a tyre worth fitting. It still remains to be seen how well they'll last. The rear is less than half worn with just over 4500 kms on it, so looking good.

[Jantar]

Day 2. Tuesday 24th March: 825 km

With only 147 km to the next checkpoint I made a leisurely start somewhere after 9:00 am, following a whitebait breakfast in the Mokau Café. I will not recommend that anyone stop there for whitebait. It was tasty enough but there weren’t many whitebait in that patty. It seemed strange stopping for fuel in Urenui. This is the town where my father was born almost 100 years ago and yet I have only ever passed through and never stopped before.

I reached the checkpoint at Cape Egmont with plenty of time to spare and was able to wander around the other bikes and look at the wide range that was entered this year. BMW in various models were the predominant make with a good representation from all the Jap brands. There were even a smattering of Harleys and a Boss Hog.

Once again the book was opened at midday and we were on the road shortly after. I turned onto the surf highway following an ST1300 which I thought was KoroJ, and RichardC and Mangell6 were right behind me. We got separated a little by traffic going through New Plymouth yet still managed to keep up a good pace heading north through Taranaki. Just south of Mt Messenger are some sweeping bends that just seem to go on for ever. I don’t know of any other bends in the whole country that turn back on themselves in this manner. They are just magnificent. Through the Awakino Gorge in daylight this time, then into the hills. RichardC pulled over and waved me through, and I later learned he had a flat front tyre. Once again I was behind an ST1300 that was setting a really good pace, and I let him lead us into Otorohanga. Mangell6 and I fuelled up then back on the road north; we wanted to reach the Auckland Motorway before the worst of the rush hour traffic.

At Ngaruwhahia I stopped to give way to traffic on SH1, but when I went to take off again the bike stalled. I restarted it straight away and immediately stalled again. Hell, I never stall. So with plenty of throttle I just dropped the clutch and headed up the road with the front wheel clawing for the sky. But at least I didn’t stall for a third time. Until the next patch of road works that we had to stop for and sure enough, as I went to take off the clutch grabbed and I stalled again. Plenty of throttle and a bit of wheel spin this time and I was on my way, but something wasn’t right. I glanced at the clutch reservoir, and took a second look ….. There was no fluid at all showing. :eek:

No way was I going to attempt the Auckland motorway with a clutch that wasn’t working properly, so as we approached Mercer I signalled to mangell6 that I was having problems and pulled into the service center. Now, I don’t know why they are called Service Centers when they don’t offer any service, and even the inside is dedicated to food and groceries with very little in the way of motoring products. I tried explaining to the Indian chappie behind the counter that I wanted some brake fluid for my clutch, but he just didn’t understand. A second guy, also speaking in a semi foreign language told me that brake fluid is no good for clutch, I need clutch fluid, and he didn’t think they had any. Finally a kiwi woman came along and directed me to a small shelf tucked away on the side wall were there was a small selection of oils and fluids, among them brake fluid.

With the clutch reservoir topped up, and no obvious signs of any leak, we were on our way once again. Onto the Auckland motorway and the rush hour had started with traffic density already starting to build. At least we got through without actually having to stop. There was massive congestion at the point where cars were leaving the northern motorway just before the toll road, but that new section was marvellous, only about 4 cars and a few bikes. It seems wonderful that the government has spent so many billion dollars on a road that the cars don’t want to use and it’s free for bikes. :yes:

We stopped at Welsford for a bite to eat before pushing on to Whangarei and our next fuel stop. Mangell6 was staying here for the night, but I was pushing on to Kahoe, about 11 kms north of Kaeo. While filling up we got talking to a guy on a Tiger (not a rally entrant) who was returning home to Kaeo. As he knew the roads I followed him all the way. He set a good fast pace which I was happy to match. We had another couple of Southern Cross riders in the group as far as Kawakawa, but they pulled out at that point. I arrived at the Backpackers around 9:00 pm.

[Okey Dokey]

So far, so great-excellent ride report, jantar. Thanks so much. Looking forward to the next bit!

[Jantar]

Day 3. Wednesday 25th March: 858 km

With only 180 km to go to the checkpoint at Cape Reinga, I got underway shortly after 9:00 am. There had been a bit of dew overnight which indicated a beautiful clear day. It was a smooth run through to Houhora for fuel and breakfast, then onto to the cape. Blackbird had warned me about the road re-construction that was taking place, so I was prepared for the disappointment of not as much gravel road. Sure enough only 14 kms of gravel left, but even that little stretch did allow me to have a bit of a play and keep me smiling. :ride:

There is a new car park area at the cape, and it makes one wonder why DOC are so determined to ruin our natural beauty. They have built the car park in a basin so that there is no view of any of the surrounding area, and they have installed speakers that are playing continuous artificial bird noises that appear to chase the real bird life away.. What is so wrong with the natural scenery and natural bird calls?

Having signed the book, I held back to be one of the last to leave. I figured it would give me a chance to play in the gravel once again while catching up with the rest of the KBers. I gave them about a 5 minute start then headed south. I passed a few riders I recognised, then caught up with mangell6 about halfway to the seal. I sat behind him for a while, but then another rider went past at pace. I couldn’t take it anymore, so opened the throttle and had more fun all the way to the seal. :ride: :D

Once on the sealed road I stopped and waited for mangell6 to catch up. He was only a few minutes behind, and we were on our way south in a large group of riders. We made a short stop in Kaitaia while we discussed our fuel situation and both decided that we should get closer to Whangarei before needing to stop again. Just past Moerewa my radar detector picked up a HP vehicle coming towards us, and no sooner had we passed that one when we came up behind another one at some road works. We followed him through and after a few kms along the road he pulled over and let us all past. I gave him a wave as we left him behind. Then less than a minute later a got another weak Ka signal. It was a short blip, then was repeated a short time later but stronger. Speed was kept down when into sight came yet another HP vehicle. We stopped in Kawakawa for fuel, and while there a cop car also pulled in for fuel. I asked the nice lady cop if it was the same car we had followed through the road works, but apparently not. So that was 4 cops in the space of 15 minutes.

Heading down through Whangarei the traffic was slowly getting heavier. It was now starting to be obvious that we would catch the Auckland rush hour this time, and so it proved. Auckland traffic was bloody terrible. One and a quarter hours to negotiate the motorway, on a bike!!! :brick: This was the worst I had ever struck. I can’t understand the mentality of cage drivers who voluntarily venture into such diabolical driving conditions every day when they could reduce the congestion by taking public transport or choosing a motorbike, or better yet work closer to where they live (or live closer to where they work). Maybe some of the Auckland riders can explain it, but I sure can’t see the sense of living there.

We stopped at Bombay for fuel and a bite to eat. But when we returned to our bikes I noticed how late it was getting. Mangell6 departed here for his home near Welllington. I had told the backpackers in Taupo that I was expecting to arrive at 8:00 pm, and it was now 7:15. I didn’t think I could do it in ¾ hour, so I rang them to say I was running late. When I told the guy at the backpackers where I was calling from he said that I would be lucky to arrive before 10:30 pm., and that they would be locked up and closed. I told him I was on a bike, and that it would take me 2 ½ hours only. His response was that if I arrived within 2 ½ hours he would check me in, but any later and I’d be out of luck. It took me 2 hours 29 minutes from Bombay to Taupo via Matamata, and what a brilliant night time ride down through the Waikato.

[shafty]

Great riding
Great writing!

Thanks for sharing the fun Malcolm

[mangell6]

Great writings Malcolm, pity Blackbird was still recovering from his December troubles and not able to travel with us.

I thought you were doing well at Kawakawa chatting up the female PC and getting all the tips of where they were stationed.

[ntst8]

Just home tonight from the SCRR and what a blast, 6032km in 10 days incl home via Catlins, SH87, Danseys Pass, Lindis Pass, Haast Pass, SH6 to Havelock, Queen Charlotte Drive. Today SH4 seemed tame.
And only 1/2 hours rain in 10 days, plus 2 smooth ferry crossings.
Great write up Jantar, looking forward to the rest of it.

[Jantar]

Day 4. Thursday 26th March: 526 km

Fuel at Caltex, breakfast at MacDonalds, and I was on my at 8:00 am exactly. A group of five Southern Cross Riders passed just out of town, and I followed them for a while to Hatepe, but decided that I didn’t need to travel at 130 kmh when I had 5 hours to reach the ferry. It was a cool yet sunny morning and the views across Lake Taupo were brilliant. Approaching Turangi my radar detector started beeping on Ka band however I was legal, so I simply switched off the sounder and continued on my way. Three quarters of the way over the Desert Road I glanced down and noticed that the sounder was still turned off, and this is cop alley. I turned it back on and within a minute it alerted me to radar up ahead. Whew, that one saved me a small fine.

Just south of Waiouru I ran into fog, and it started to get decidedly cold. I came up behind a couple, Allen and Jennifer, on a BMW F650 at some road works and followed them as far as Taihape. The cold was starting to get to me so I stopped here to put on a jersey under my leathers. :cold: I soon caught up with Allen and Jennifer a few kms further down the road, and stayed in company to Bulls where they stopped for fuel. Otaki was my fuel stop, and from here it was a good clean run through to Wellington and the ferry.

At the ferry check-in we were informed that the ferry was running late. So instead of leaving at 2:05 pm it was closer to 3:00 before we got underway for a very smooth crossing. We were fortunate to see a pod of dolphins crossing the ship’s bow as we approached the South Island and another pod feeding near the mussel beds inside the sound. The ferry made good time and 40 bikes were on the road again by 6:00 pm.

Another very comfortable and uneventful ride down the coast saw me arrive at Kaikoura around 7:30. As I parked the bike outside the Adelphi mangell6 came out, looked at his watch, and said “I suppose you’re going to tell me the ferry was late!”

[Jantar]

Day 5. Friday 27th March: 640 km

Mangell6 and I had arranged to meet another rider, Paul, outside our accommodation at 8:30 am. We had our bikes loaded by 8:20 and were checking them over when mangell6 commented that his bike need oil. I decided to check my own site glass, and saw EMPTY!!!! :shit: How could this be? We were parked on a slight slope but surely not steep enough to cause that. Mangell6 had enough to top up his own bike and I decided that I would buy some oil at the first fuel stop.

08:30 came and went, and no sign of Paul. Another ¼ hour went past and we decided to go looking for him. We found his accommodation, but there was no sign of his bike, so we headed on south. Mangell6 had filled up in Wellington the previous day and was sure he could get to Amberley. My previous fuel was Otaki, and my Vstrom was slightly thirstier than his FZ1. I was sure I could get to Cheviot, and just maybe Amberley, but that would be cutting it fine. At Cheviot I still had 2 bars showing on my fuel gauge so I pressed on and decided to use Greta as a decision point. If the last bar wasn’t flashing at Greta I would continue to Amberley, otherwise I’d stop for fuel at Greta. As we passed Greta the gauge was still not flashing so on we went, 10 seconds later it started flashing. I knew I’d be cutting it fine and when we did stop at Amberley I had less than 12 kms of fuel left in the tank. However at 17.3 km/l that was the best fuel mileage I had ever managed for that type of run. I bought some oil here as well, but when I went to put it in the sight gauge was showing an almost perfect oil level. I put a little in anyway (and a lot over the engine case) figuring that maybe it was just the difference between hot and cold.

Taking the bypass road through Christchurch, traffic was fairly heavy, nothing like Auckland, and we had a good run out to SH1, south to Rakaia, then Thompson’s Track. On that long straight road we could feel the wind gaining in strength. For most of the straight we were heading directly into wind so it didn’t affect us too much, but once we reached the end and turned more south it was side on and strong. We battled the wind all the way to Geraldine and lunch.

After the long straight of Thompson’s Track, the nice twisty road to Fairly was a welcome relief. We carried on to Lake Tekapo for our next fuel stop, and caught up with a rider from Taupo on an R6. We have to give this guy credit: He dropped his bike on the way to the start and did some damage to the plastics and to one engine case. He had the bike repaired, (roughly, but quickly) and carried on. The R6 would not be the most comfortable bike for this type of trip, yet he was still smiling and enjoying himself.

The weather ahead was looking suspect with bands of rain visible, and as I could see Mt Benmore in the distance I assured Mangell6 that we should be OK. Maybe some big heavy drops of rain near Omarama, nothing too wet, and fine from there to Lindis. That prediction was correct as far as it went. There were a few big heavy drops of rain between Pukaki and Omarama, then fine all the way to Lindis Pass. Once over the Pass though it was a different story. The sky was black and rain was the order of the day. We stopped to put on some wets and rode through the very heavy rain which lasted all the way to Cluden; a distance of 40 km or about 25 minutes. The road was still wet in places, but no more rain from there to home Alexandra.

[Jantar]

Day 6. Saturday 28th March: 235 km

We left home just before 9:00 am and fuelled up in Alexandra. The temperature was around 6 or 8 C, I can’t remember exactly, but mangell6 was surprised how mild it felt for such a low temperature. I had promised mangell6 some twisty roads to make up for the long boring straights of the previous day. We had a good run over the hills to Roxburgh, then just short of Ettrick I turned right and led us into the hills of Moa Flat. A farmer with a sense of humour has built a moa out of old fence netting and wire, and placed it just inside his property on the apex of a 45 kmh bend. It’s in such a position that you only have a moment to glance at it or risk running off the road. I had warned mangell6 that we may see a moa in this area, so there we were cranked hard over to the right and I had my left arm out straight pointing at this moa. I paused briefly at the Edievale corner thinking “Left to Tapanui shorter, straight ahead to Heriot more fun”. The “more fun” road won out. :ride: :ride:

We rejoined SH1 at McNabb, and in Gore made a short comfort stop, then on to my next short cut at Kennington. A left turn through the settlement, then I overshot the road I was looking for. A quick U-turn, then on to join the Bluff road as we by-passed Invercargill completely. This only saves about 8 km, but it has no 50 kmh areas, no traffic lights, and no traffic. Through Bluff and on to the end of SH1 at Stirling point, we had made it all the way; only to be told that the books were back at the Eagle Tavern in Bluff. We headed back to Bluff, signed in, collected our badge, checked into our accommodation, then back to the Eagle for party time. :wari:

Once everyone had arrived, Lee Rusty called us all into the main bar for some important announcements. Among them was a message that came up on the large TV screen, “Allen wants to know” followed a short time later by “Jennifer, Will you marry me?” The silly girl said “Yes”

[mangell6]

:scooter: :scooter:

What a great ride I had through Jantars home county, oh and I am sorry that I doubted Jantars weather prediction as we came through the Omarama and Lindus passes.

The line up of some of the bikes outside of the Eagle was impressive.

[Jantar]

Sunday 29th March: 339 km

I awoke on Sunday morning to hear some bikes already heading away. I only had a short day so wasn’t in any hurry. Packed the bike, collected the oysters I had ordered the night before, and on the road well before 9:00 am. Neither of the fuel stations in Bluff were open so I headed into Shell in Invercargill, then headed back east onto the Catlins road. It was a great ride on a lovely twisty road, despite the wind, and I even gave a toot as I passed Daffyd’s house in Papatowai. Approaching Balclutha I felt like a coffe, so I headed for Chez Scumdog to see if he was home. The car was there, so I knocked on the door, but no sign of life. Oh well, I put my helmet back on and was backing the bike out of his driveway when SD appeared. Apparently he had been on night shift the previous evening and I had just successfully woken him up. Just as well I did too as he had dancing practice that afternoon. :wari:

I left SD’s about an hour later and headed home via Clydevale and the Rongahere. Another quiet uneventful ride. 5654 km in 10 days so not even any really hard days either.

[xgnr]

Day 1. Monday 23rd March: 620 km

... However by this stage I was following a bike with the unusual number plate STUUU. I took a wild guess that the rider’s name was “Stu”. I also noticed a KiwiBiker sticker on his rear mudguard. After trying to puzzle out who rides a BMW RS with the name of Stu I finally gave up guessing and decided that I’d have to wait to the next checkpoint to find out.

A few kms up the road we came to some road works and all stopped at the red light. Of course this caused us all to bunch up two abreast as we waited for the green. RichardC was on my right, so as the light turned green he took off immediately behind Stu while I was next in line. The road cones directed us into the right hand lane, but as we rounded the blind bend we were faced with the grader working the lane we were in. Bikes were desperately trying to change lanes when I saw Stu’s brake lights come on, his front end went down, and a cone shot out from what appeared to be under his front wheel. We were only doing around 10 kmh and from my perspective it looked like he was losing it. Suddenly another cone came out from under RichardC’s BMW, he hit his brakes then his BMW ran into the back of Stu’s. Both bikes went down. I was fortunate to avoid the melee and hit my horn and hazard lights as I stopped to help. Once we had the bikes upright we found that the damage was minor (but expensive) and we soon had both bikes rideable. I also learned that Stu is xgnr on KB.


Great start to the SCRR. Analised by a BMW RT... ouch.

Only had the 1150 for a couple of weeks after swapping it for the K75 (which was backed into by a cage in CHCH at the TT2000.... riding bikes is a hazardous occupation)

Now, for the record I did not hit any damn cones or "lose" it.

The bike ahead of me hit a (horizontal) cone that he did not see cos of the bike ahead. When I saw him bouncing around I braked hard as he appeared to be about to have a wee tumble. The guy following me failed to stop in time and hit me tossing me onto the road.

Finished the SCRR but ended up losing the pannier south of Whangarei along with my wet weather gear and other stuff. If you find it let me know :weep:

Nice to chat at the bar Malcom and thanks for the help :niceone:

Cheers

Stu

[KoroJ]

Nice read Malcolm. Good to finally meet and great to get other perspectives on the same ride.

[Xaria]

As always Malcolm a brilliant write up.
It is on my to do list, just not too close to the top

[Grant`]

Awesome write up, sounds like a great trip!

[shafty]

Great write up Jantar, up to your usual standard, cheers Malcolm :clap:

[xgnr]

Great start to the SCRR. Analised by a BMW RT... ouch.

Only had the 1150 for a couple of weeks after swapping it for the K75 (which was backed into by a cage in CHCH at the TT2000.... riding bikes is a hazardous occupation)

Now, for the record I did not hit any damn cones or "lose" it.

The bike ahead of me hit a (horizontal) cone that he did not see cos of the bike ahead. When I saw him bouncing around I braked hard as he appeared to be about to have a wee tumble. The guy following me failed to stop in time and hit me tossing me onto the road.

Finished the SCRR but ended up losing the pannier south of Whangarei along with my wet weather gear and other stuff. If you find it let me know :weep:

Nice to chat at the bar Malcom and thanks for the help :niceone:

Cheers

Stu

Final update

The new bike was almost a write-off... $8k worth of damage (OMFG) but been accepted now by Insurance and just waiting for bits to turn up.

Roll on the GC :2thumbsup

[xgnr]

Final update

The new bike was almost a write-off... $8k worth of damage (OMFG) but been accepted now by Insurance and just waiting for bits to turn up.

Roll on the GC :2thumbsup

another semi-final update

After months of pain and Physio, I went to the Spinal guy today and it looks like I have a fucked neck as a result of this off. MRI tomorrow yay :2thumbsup

[Gremlin]

Are we still gonna see you in a couple of weeks?

[xgnr]

Are we still gonna see you in a couple of weeks?

awww how sweet

I really felt it today just doing the MRI thing. Lie down and DO NOT MOVE. Was in fuking agony after a few minutes. How the hell I will do the GC I don't really know :crybaby:

Anyways I will give it a crack and see how things pan out. Have adjusted the bars (again) lower seems to be better but maybe just see what panadol and Voltarin do along with a big ol' cup of "harden the fuk up"

See you there !

[paturoa]

Lie down and DO NOT MOVE. ... I will give it a crack and see how things pan out. .......harden up

Just what goes on at a MRI scan???

[xgnr]

Just what goes on at a MRI scan???

Hopefully you will never have to find out Brian!

[Jantar]

....I really felt it today just doing the MRI thing. Lie down and DO NOT MOVE. Was in fuking agony after a few minutes. How the hell I will do the GC I don't really know :crybaby:....
Hell. So much damage and pain from what was a very low speed off. According to my GPS the average speed of our group imediately prior to the collision was only 28 kmh. We had been doing 39 kmh just before the bend where we saw the grader.

[xgnr]

Hell. So much damage and pain from what was a very low speed off. According to my GPS the average speed of our group imediately prior to the collision was only 28 kmh. We had been doing 39 kmh just before the bend where we saw the grader.

what are you suggesting? I am no expert on falling off a bike at low speed and what injuries you can do to your neck thats why I am going to the spinal guy. ACC seems to accept that I have an injury and the specialist does as well. I just want it fixed cos its causing me grief. Not after your sympathy.

[Jantar]

I'm suggesting that your experience mirrors my own. More injuries and more expensive damage at low speed than at high speed. My shoulder injury that kept me off the bike for almost a year was at less than 50 kmh.

[xgnr]

I'm suggesting that your experience mirrors my own. More injuries and more expensive damage at low speed than at high speed. My shoulder injury that kept me off the bike for almost a year was at less than 50 kmh.

Apologies Malcom, read your comment the wrong way. Frustrating as all hell TBH I cant even understand why I am having so much problem from this minor crash. Maybe I am just getting old.

[Gremlin]

Thats probably the most irritating part... At least if it was a decent speed, you could understand. Slow speed, long term recovery... gotta suck.