White lining/lane splitting and general hooliganism

[flyin]

plenty of free motorbike parks all over wellington, if the one outside work (yup by the front door) is full cos i didn't get to work till 10+ then i have to venture across the road for another, or 100m round the corner for another........ all big enough for a good 6-10 bikes dependin on how people park......

Yeah Wellytown!!! the cops here have been nice about lane splittin/filtering to me so far (even got a warning for a mono while test riding a bandit.hehe... told me to "test ride like i'd ride it every day"...... HAHAHA little does he kno...... )


oh and 150km is "walking speed" ie you WALK your arse home!! under thats tikets and demerit points

[SPman]

Ponsonby road - been told I should look at buying a place to live there if I want to live near/in the city. Appaently up and coming and not too expensive at the moment, but maybe I am already to late.
.

Excuse me while I choke on my Weetbix! Read the second part of the sentence first. Although.......say $700K for a shitter with "potential", then $2-400K to refurbish. If thats not too expensive, then your're in!

[Wolf]

Welcome to Kiwi Biker and New Zealand. NZ is a great country for riding in and you'd have to be a total pussy not to ride all year 'round in most places in the North Island (I gather the Central Plateau can get a bit hairy on occasion and they actually close the roads due to the snow, but the rest of the Island is pretty mild).

Worst I've encountered has been torrential rain and gusting winds (that reduced me to around 20km/hour) and a few days when you think "shit, I've gotta go out in that?" but you go out anyway because you have to and you'd get wetter walking than you do on a bike (you get wetter running from where you parked your car to the office than you do in decent wet weather gear.)

When the weather's fine there are great roads - whatever style of riding you're into, you're likely to find it ('cept our motorways won't be quite like you're used to.)

[MSTRS:Me]

Hey guys - stop shitting the nice man. The roads here are all straight, with no twisty bits, the cops are everywhere just to keep the traffic moving at 160kph or more, the cages lanesplit us & the only gravel roads are graded everyday so there is no buildup of loose stuff or corrugations.(PT)

[Biff]

Welcome.
I still class myself as a newbie to this great country, and yes, I'm still getting used to the changes in driving styles/standards. I find that the lower speed limit takes some getting used to, but as I said to the cop that pulled me (my seconds ticket within three weeks of arrival here),” I'm acclimatising!”

Yes you can split - but you must do it slowly and to the right. I’ve split passed loads of cops lately (between two lanes going in the same direction), without any problems. Jim's links will fill in the gaps.

Enjoy, be safe and be seen.

[James Deuce]

WHAT? You mean we are the only ones? I'm gonna have to get out more!

I've seen pictures. You should stay on gravel roads where people can't see you!

[Krusti]

I've seen pictures. You should stay on gravel roads where people can't see you!

Duh...ooooooh look fire....hey woman cook food.....me hunt...oooh look white man....aaaaaargh!

[Krusti]

Want to shear your sheep?.....No go get your own!

[craigsyd]

Worst I've encountered has been torrential rain and gusting winds (that reduced me to around 20km/hour) and a few days when you think "shit, I've gotta go out in that?" but you go out anyway because you have to

Very used to winds here, especially this last year has been a bit hectic, Almost got blown off my bike twice and this has never happened to me before. In both cases I was stationary or near stationary but still not pleasant. I have also driven through a miniature whirlwind on my BM 1150 GS, and was thrown from side to side in a matter of a split second 2 up, and it was fine, just very scary when it happened.

My only fear with torrential rain is aquaplaning - it has never happened - but I have lost the front once in my life (diesel and light rain, tight corner, wrong camber and thoughtlessness) and the first you know of it is when your helmet hits the ground. Been caught in quite a few bad downpours and just had to take it very easy!

[craigsyd]

Excuse me while I choke on my Weetbix! Read the second part of the sentence first. Although.......say $700K for a shitter with "potential", then $2-400K to refurbish. If thats not too expensive, then your're in!

hmmm not quite what I had in mind. Back to the drawing board

[Sniper]

Craig, you will love it here.

What do you want to do in the NI? The Southn Island is way better but I suppose it is reserved for those who wish to have a track day everyday while riding to work. You will have to take a trip down this way and you will definetly want to stay here.

If you are patient too, you can pick up a great bike with low KMS for a great price

[outlawtorn]

Excuse me while I choke on my Weetbix! Read the second part of the sentence first. Although.......say $700K for a shitter with "potential", then $2-400K to refurbish. If thats not too expensive, then your're in!

[enigma51]

If you are going to work in orewa buy a place in orewa. As a fellow capie I can tell you winter riding is a breeze in comparision it is not a cold as cape town gets (Snow on the mountains and all) When you get here make sure you do the conversion to NZ license as soon as possible. It not very difficult and will not even take long. PS FOLLOW THE SPEED LIMIT until you know the roads and have been on a few rides with kiwi bikers. They have laser speed cameras radar and hidden cop cars and they will catch you. When you get here give a shout and I will take you trough the ropes with road laws and those type of things. Also go lookup on the ltsa website if havent already Good luck with the move. This might sound weird but if you are using forman and hendricks you might want to rethink your options (Not to scare you) but the wife and I had a bit a bad experience with our whole imigration story all because of the agency did. We had to do everthing and she was pretty much a glorified postman.

[FROSTY:Me]

I agree with enigma. the ponsonby price thing--um waaaay out of date--like 10 years.One place i predict is gonna explode soon price wise is KUMEU
and the hassle is if ya live in kumeu and work in orewa ya have to ride over 15 km of clean windy roads with a very light population.
Lane splitting isn't encouraged except passing stationary vehicles.
Theres a couple of sections of my (30km each way) commute that are like that.
and there are plenty of fun dirt roads not far from auckland. You just need to know where.
I'd give Motu a PM when you get settled here--hes got a nose for finding dirt roads.

[Pixie]

I agree with enigma. the ponsonby price thing--um waaaay out of date--like 10 years.One place i predict is gonna explode soon price wise is KUMEU
and the hassle is if ya live in kumeu and work in orewa ya have to ride over 15 km of clean windy roads with a very light population.
Lane splitting isn't encouraged except passing stationary vehicles.
Theres a couple of sections of my (30km each way) commute that are like that.
and there are plenty of fun dirt roads not far from auckland. You just need to know where.
I'd give Motu a PM when you get settled here--hes got a nose for finding dirt roads.

It may seem like 15 Km kumeu to orewa,but it's more like 45