Advice & pointers for a new gurl

[Ms Piggy]

Hi There All,

I introduced myself in another forum but it's great that there is a forum for the chicky babes too.

I've only been riding for around 2 & a half weeks but I'm really hankering to go for a bit of a road trip at the start of Feb - I'm in Wellington and have a friend in Hamilton I thought riding up to see. I thought I'd take a day to get to Taupo & then a day to get to Hamilton - giving myself *lots* of time

Do you think this is unrelaistic and too ambitious? What sort of advice or tips can you give me?

I am open to any advice & very keen to be a good & safe rider.

[BlueR1]

Youd do it in two days easy as, Id say if you left early youd do it in one day without any dramas, but Hamilton to Taupo is not that far at all, a couple of hours and youd be there easily. Have a good and safe trip...

[jrandom]

Do you think this is unrelaistic and too ambitious? What sort of advice or tips can you give me?

Not in the slightest. Knock yourself out (figuratively speaking, of course). Just take it easy, open road riding is a lot less stressful than commuting in traffic if you're not trying to wear an inch off your kneesliders around every corner (not likely on your bike anyway )

Taupo->Hamilton is a pretty short ride, you'll be done with that bit in a couple of hours or so.

Remember to pack some wets to put over your gear (if it's not waterproof) in case the weather turns to custard on you. Take your cellphone in case something terrible happens in the middle of nowhere and the CB Fails To Proceed. Make regular rude gestures at highway cops and may the Patron Saint of Motorcyclists watch over ye.

[Slim]

Do you think this is unrelaistic and too ambitious? What sort of advice or tips can you give me?

Absolutely not too ambitious.

Advice or tips?

Get a good map. If you haven't got a pack frame & have to carry everything on your back, only take the absolute essentials. If you need to stop, stop! Don't worry about what everyone else thinks. Don't let any other road users sitting right up yer arse push you harder than you're comfortable going - pull left at the best opportunity & let them past.

Have fun.

[Slim]

And don't forget to wave at all other 2-wheeled road users.

[jrandom]

If you haven't got a pack frame & have to carry everything on your back, only take the absolute essentials.

Indeed.

If you don't yet have a bungee net to strap things down to your pillion seat with, get one. $15 or so from Motomail or most bike shops. Loop the hooks around something-or-other on the rear of the bike and you can transfer the backpack off your shoulders.

Of course, a packframe is a somewhat more elegant solution. I just don't like 'em because they stop me swinging my right leg over the bike with the greatest of ease...

[Hitcher]

If you plan to do a bit of touring, get a tankbag (with magnetic flaps) and a tailbag. Oxford make the best of both of these. Their tailbag is big enough to carry a helmet and then some. It has built-in bungees and I can recommend it highly. Both bag types work brilliantly on 250s and larger bikes (unless you buy a sportsbike with a plastic tank or a cruiser where the handlebars come into play against a tankbag).

Watch out on the long uphill drags between Mangaweka and Waiouru -- particularly where the road closes back to one lane at the end of the passing lanes. 250s don't have spanking amounts of power and road management is important. If it's windy watch out for wind gusts across the Desert Road -- if it's bad go via Ohakune and National Park.

Long distance touring is more enjoyable if you have somebody to ride with.

Stay upright and enjoy your ride.

[Motoracer]

No one mentioned this but its one of the most important things as obvious as it may be. IS YOUR BIKE UP TO IT? Throughly check/Get it checked. Check the tires, oil, brakes, chain. Make sure that every thing is intact and not going to come loose. Once you know that the bike is ready for a big trip, THEN go out and have lots of fun!

[Firefight]

Don't forget some basic tools, if your bike does not have a tool kit, make one up, you won't need much, just the few standard metric sizes, maybe a few cables ties & a bit of elcky tape., Even if you don't know that much about fixin bikes, if someone stops to help, atleast you have the gear.


Also you may care to post the date that you are heading up some KB's may care to give you some co on the way up.


firefight

[Ms Piggy]

This is all good stuff for me to go on with

I'll keep you posted on how it goes if I do end up going...which I really hope to!

[SPman]

How long have you been riding? If you are brand new to it all, remember that riding for any length of time takes more out of you than when you have more experience - you tend to be concentrating harder and are more tense than you may expect, so take lots of breaks and, as Slim said, just tootle along at your own comfortable pace.
Good luck.

[Big Dog]

No-one mentioned lube. Oft forgotten on long trips. 380kms one way Wellington to Taupo. 153kms to Hamilton from Taupo. Most bike shops reccomend lubing every 600 kms.

But most important take your sense of adventure.
"A good Traveller has no set plans or destination".
Ignore the peasants who say "I can do it in 2hours".
Travel your way at your leisure and stop for fuel regulary (yourself as well as the bike).
Pick your time of day well, riding for an hour at a stretch in touring gear is less pleasant at midday in the middle of summer than at 7-12 (assuming you take 5 hours to do the 380kms) or 3-8. Make sure you know how far you can travel on a tank of juice when loaded so you can make informed decisions about where to stop for gas.

Keep your ID in your jacket and your cash in your pants or vice versa. It sucks to get seperated from your cash out of town with no ID. When going out of town I keep a $20 (more the futher i'm going from home) in my boot in case I get mugged. (enough cash to get home if mugged, or dropped).

You probably won't need a back up plan unless you don't have one.

The only time I would say a long trip was premature would be if you
* don't have proper gear.
* don't have insurance (towing charges can be a lot inter city).
* don't have a backup plan.
* don't have a bike that will stand up to the kms.

[Big Dog]

How long have you been riding? If you are brand new to it all, remember that riding for any length of time takes more out of you than when you have more experience - you tend to be concentrating harder and are more tense than you may expect, so take lots of breaks and, as Slim said, just tootle along at your own comfortable pace.
Good luck.

The Road code reccommends hourly breaks for novices or those not currently bike fit. But when i was first learning I found 45 mins about right not too short but if you still feel good you can keep going to the next town with out wearing it too thin.

[Slim]

The Road code reccommends hourly breaks for novices or those not currently bike fit. But when i was first learning I found 45 mins about right not too short but if you still feel good you can keep going to the next town with out wearing it too thin.

Wow. That comment just brought a rush of memories back!

I used to live out Te Atatu North, and on my trips down to Hamilton on my GB250, I used to take breaks at the BP at Pokeno and the Mobil at Huntly. That trip's "just round the corner" for me now. Strange.

[Big Dog]

That trip's "just round the corner" for me now. Strange.

It's amazing how much more relaxed bigger cube bikes are. You automatically assume they will be more work. Not so. And a little bike fitness never hurt neither.