Brass Monkey 2010 by gravel

[cooneyr]

One of the brief glimpses shown on TV3 news showed two of the bikes that had to be recovered from Danseys and they weren't actually adventure bikes......one was what looked like a WLA Harley and the other a GT750 Ducati

All the details are over here. Indian Chief and mid 70’s Ducati.

Hell back in the day they were adventure bikes (well the Indian anyway).

[T.W.R]

All the details are over here. Indian Chief and mid 70’s Ducati.

Hell back in the day they were adventure bikes (well the Indian anyway).

That'd be the ones.......looked pretty desperate with the bikes suspended under the bucket of a tractor as they were being hoisted out of the snow

[Gixxer peter]

Update to come, but we saw the gravel , it was hidden under the snow!!!
photo is of the Hakateramia Valley on the south side of the pass (out of the snow) spot the ödd"one out (non scooter)

[pete376403]

We made it almost to the top to Thompsons but snow/ice was more than our tyres could handle so turned back. Here's a pic or two anyway. Just around the corner from the second pic was as far as we got.

[Gixxer peter]

snow?? this is snow and there is no turning back !!!!
nearly at the Haka Pass.

[dino3310]

snow?? this is snow and there is no turning back !!!!
nearly at the Haka Pass.

awesome photo mate, stepthru in the snow now thats adv riding

[Jantar]

snow?? this is snow and there is no turning back !!!!
nearly at the Haka Pass.

Awesome. Keep them coming.

[Gixxer peter]

Not in gravel, but on the closed canal road between Twizel and Tekapo, took us 3 hours to get through i call it the "far canal " short cut

[T.W.R]

Not in gravel, but on the closed canal road between Twizel and Tekapo, took us 3 hours to get through i call it the "far canal " short cut

Your wee group made airtime on the TV as well in the same piece as the rescued bikes...... your lead rider waved to the camera in Tekapo

[pete376403]

Yeah it looks ok in that pic but round the corner and up the hill a bit was more than our roadie tyres could handle. Plus there was a sidecar following behind and that never would have got through, nor would it have been able to turn around. So we wimped out, didn't make the news on TV, and left it to the Real Men (TM).
I'd guess a stepthru is a little easier to lift up than a laden KLR, or 950, for that matter.

[XF650]

Go the scooters!!! Well done
We overtook you guys in the Lindis then you caught up with us in Omarama - classic hare & tortise.
Weren't you guys from Blenheim?

[Gone Burger]

Awesome pics you mad, mad people! Most impressed you all made it through O.K - must have been a hell of an adventure all round all right.

[andy mac]

You lot are all mad buggers & should be locked up!


Respectfully Andy "Hey mum, throw another log on the fire please"

[kit]

Wow Cool pics, you guys are awesome riding all that way on those wee bikes! Top Effort!

[Gixxer peter]

Quick write up of a long trip.
Day one ...Blenheim to Kaikoura over the Taylor pass in the gravel just to mix up the start of the trip and it was a good place for Lisa to learn to ride on gravel,( or jist learn to ride)
Rain and more rain.

Day two ... KK to Rolleston via the Kaikoura inland road and then through Rangiora and so on to avoid the SH1 and motorway and yep more rain.

Day three .... now there are four of us Me, my wife Lisa,my father (70yrs old) and Johan
....... honda today, PGO comet (race tuned ,haha) sj50 and c50 stepthrough ,all luggage that was required was spread across the scooters and the "back up"vehicle was left at home (all or nothing) and no rain!!!! Through to Tekapo and we encountered the first bit of snow on Burkes Pass and in the Tekapo township no dramas tho.

Day four ... Back up the road to dog kennel corner and on to the Haka pass (yep it was closed)
we ignored that and carried on, it was a long haul through there we had lots of Ford to cross and quite good snow cover, i talked to a farmer near the top of the pass and was told that we would not make it through the pass (i choose not to tell tell the others the truth and said that they would be fine)
Lisa had a couple of offs in the snow on the PGO ( later i tried riding it in the snow myself what a pig , typical 2 stroke all or nothing) i was surprised that she made it through on it it was not the best place to learn to ride.
Funny moment on the top of the pass as a KLM rider that we met there asked us to follow him down incase he had an off and we needed to help him (he did have his young daughter with him, but we were flattered to be able to provide back up on the scooters)
We arrived in Kurow about 4 pm and got the fire going at the lodge, Johan and i shot through to the Benmore power station to collect his tent that he had stored there, was a fun ride through the darkness with his 6 volt light and the basket on the PGO in the way of the head light (driving by braille) i took the PGO because it was "fast"" bit of a race the PGO could beat the C50 into the wind but not on the way back GPS showed we hit a top speed of 86KPH (this may be due to the very steep downhill run down the dam) normal top speed was around 75 KPH, remember these were the cream of our crop for speed, normal running speed was 52KMh with an overall average of about 43KMH