Gremlin's Tall Stories

Well… perhaps it doesn’t. Some would say it’s possible to get to Mount Maunganui without going round East Cape, from Auckland. This is doable when there are plenty of other things having high priority, but when you have to be in the Mount at 9.30am, it requires an early start, so that in turn requires a reward, aka, nice long ride since you have so much day left.

A couple of weeks previously I noted the fog lamp switch was playing up, sometimes turning on, other times not, or on, then off, and the switch seemed to have bad contacts. Emailing the dealer they said they would get the part and let me know when it was in, so they could replace.

Mid this week past, I get the email. Part has arrived, when would you like to fit? Some discussion with other stakeholders (boss etc) and a weekday is not possible, and dealer was OK with Saturday morning, 9.30am. I cancelled marshalling for the day (at the classics festival)

Got to bed around 2.45am, alarm at 6.45am, and ended up leaving late, at 7.45am. Fueling in Takanini on the way down obviously meant no filling required until well past Mount Maunganui, so it was non-stop to the Mount. I would have got there faster, except I decided SH2 would just be too boring, too many double yellows, traffic going slow etc, so went via Ngatea and Te Aroha, and exiting Te Aroha I came across a group of bikes heading the other way (BMW in front, Goldwing bringing up the rear), so they must have enjoyed the road as well.

Some traffic in some places slowed me down something chronic. On the Tauranga side of the Kaimais was a car refusing to exceed 80kph and braking to avoid doing so. Eventually got past and made it to the shop at 10.15am. Darryl was the only one on duty, so it would be a job between jobs, as he handled customers, which I didn’t have a problem with, as long as it got done.

Eventually all was done (he even asked for a hand at times) and the new switch definitely wasn’t as sensitive as the old one. Thanks made, I chatted to a couple of customers, one who commented East Cape was a good 2 day ride, when I told him I was heading there and not stopping overnight.

Down the road to Whakatane (100km), the heat was definitely on since getting to the Mount, with the bike recording a maximum of 32 degrees, and always over 25 degrees. 1pm, a medium length stop at the Shell for some food (what… no sandwiches?) and a couple of bottles of Sprite was in order. The first disappeared with rapid pace, and I sipped a little of the second, wary of needing a toilet stop too soon, but equally not needing dehydration near the beginning of the ride. A quick chat to a cruiser rider on his way home, and with the bike fully fuelled I headed east at 1.30pm.

Bar a photo stop and playing tag with a cruiser it was non-stop to Te Araroa. The cruiser tagged on the back leaving Opotiki I think, initially staying behind, then overtaking down the straights, while I kept more to the limit. He would slowly draw out a gap on the straights, but after each set of twisties I had narrowed the gap. There is a section of road unpassable along the coast, since sometime last year and a detour runs inland, which is quite decent gravel. The cruiser slowed right down and I took the opportunity to shoot past, and then waved to some oncoming bikes puttering their way through.

A couple of photo stops put the cruiser in front again and he disappeared. The conditions to East Cape were a complete smorgasbord, comprising of perfect hot mix, brand new chip seal, complete with a layer of loose stones (often not marked), roadworks or road that should have been road works (bumpy, rutted etc) The worn melted new chip seal (only NZ roading contractors seem to manage this feat) was the worst. I found myself automatically seeking the middle of the lane, to avoid the black wheel tracks, only to find myself sliding on loose stones instead. A very interesting quandary. To be fair, Fulton Hogan must have all the contractors on the Cape working at the road, as the road alternated between normal and roadworks constantly.

Reaching Te Araroa at 4pm, there was a big group of bikes parked up, but since I had never been to the actual Cape, it was a quick wave as I passed, only. The road to the Cape was somewhat fun, as its narrow, sealed in places, and the end is all gravel. I didn’t bother going to the lighthouse as it necessitated a walk up a hill in the very hot summer day, so a loop round the carpark and off again. Returning to Te Araroa I toyed with standing up on the gravel, which after a short while worked nicely for me, so I’ll be doing that again.

No bikes in Te Araroa this time, so a brief pause in the shade of a building to photograph my now dusty bike, and finish the second bottle of Sprite. No toilet stop needed, Gisborne was non-stop, leaving Te Araroa just before 5pm. I reached Gisborne at 6.50pm (having found the road conditions much the same as the other side of East Cape), hunting out a fish and chips takeaway shop on the coast, instead of something in town (like the Christmas Tour). I took a leisurely break, feeling the effects of the heat, getting a bottle of Lift Lemon and a Milkshake. Toilet stop while waiting for dinner order, so plenty of space for liquid.

Dinner complete, I filled up, with the station attendant commenting on the amount of gas (still 1/3 full). Rolling out of Gisborne just before 8pm I asked the GPS for Auckland, and it advised me to head south, use the Napier-Taupo highway then north, at 600km and arriving home at 3am. Knowing I could do a bit better than this, I ignored its constant re-calculations and advice, and once far enough up SH2 it said I should use it.

I had decided not to switch to the clear visor in Gisborne because sunstrike was in full force and sun was still decently up in the sky. By the time I reached Opotiki it was really dark and I had been struggling with the tinted visor half of the way through the Waioeka Gorge. Still, I wasn't as bad off as three English (presumably) tourists. Two guys and a (very cute) chick - who had been driving. Sandwiched between two vans, I found the new seal just as I was tipping into a corner, and they were stopped just after. She had lost control on the gravel, nosed into the armco, but it did the job of stopping them from departing from the road (with a healthy drop off the road to boot). We all stopped, and checked on them. Using the bike's manoeuvrability I nosed up to their bonnet, allowing them to check the radiator, and it seemed all the damage was cosmetic. There was not much more we could do, except following the advice of the Maori fella that said "All we have to do now is get off this road before a truck comes along and takes us all out". Good advice, so off I went. Stopping in the Opotiki Caltex as they were packing up for the night (didn’t need gas anyway), I borrowed the tap to clean the tinted visor, stowed it, clear on, and carried on.

The rest of the route home was non-stop, using the slower limits in towns to stand and stretch. The BMW is far more comfortable than the KTM, but show me a bike you can stay in one position for 3-4 hours +, without getting some really bad aches, pains and cramps. I kept a tighter lid on moving speed, aiming for 110kph indicated as much as possible as I’m still figuring out the consumption behaviour. The BMW seems to have a proportionate increase in consumption as paces rises, whereas the KTM actually got very efficient around 120-130kph. I guess the difference is the BMW has a far greater area facing the wind, which it has to push through.

Passing through the Mount again around 11pm it was full steam ahead for home (ignoring the GPS’s desire to visit Rotorua), going through the Kaimais again (wow, even in the dark, the downhill was fantastic, as I didn’t catch up to a single car) and loving the no-dive tech in the front end. I left Te Aroha for another day, staying on SH27 then 26. Traffic was quiet, so the pace was nice and consistent. Fuel consumption hovered around the 5.5L/100km mark.

Home at 1.30am I was quite tired. De-geared and unpacked all the stuff from the top box, chucking the marshalling stuff in ready for Sunday’s Classic Festival, showered and bed. All up, approximately 1200km and the bike’s odometer is sitting at 7700km.

I’ve even included some pics for this ride… how unusual.