Getting on the road

[quattro]

Right. Flight's booked. See you all on October 3rd

The plan is to arrive in Auckland on the Monday. Have a good look around. Organise phones, banks, etc., find a bike and get on the road ASAP.

I have another question or two... I have you all pestered about what I'm sure are very annoying things at this stage. I'm waiting on Trademe to get back to me with a reason why I can't sign up to the site so I can start emailing sellers. I'm also trying to find out about pack racks and soft luggage etc. Are pack racks model specific? Are they readily available? Anyone know what they would cost? Ditto soft luggage?

Thanks all. I appreciate you all humouring me

[quattro]

"You can't join Trademe until you're physically in New Zealand or Australia, contact us when you get here".

Thanks Trademe. Thanks for defeating the purpose of the Internet.

[baptist]

Last time I bought a pack rack (Ventura) it took about a week to arrive at the dealers, not sure if more common ones may be stocked. Email a dealer like cycletreads to see what their lead times are.

Enjoy the riding when you get here... I've been here 12 years and love it (mostly)...

[DR650gary]

Buy a bike with the bits on that you want. New Ventura or Givi racks are expensive and are very much bike/model specific. There are heaps of good bikes available here with either racks already fitted and the bags are always available second hand for less money if they do not come with the bike.

If you have a mate here, get him/her to buy the bike for you. Paypal is your friend.

Cheers and have a great trip.