ambler signing in

[ambler]

Just noticed this forum section...

I've been away from NZ for about ten years, planning to move back in Feb next year. Currently living in Tokyo which has got to be one of the worst places to try and find an enjoyable place to ride. However that hasn't curbed my mania and I have just picked up a third bike this week. The wife has two as well, so our container will be full of bikes when we come back! I may even get another just to sell in NZ... currently trying to judge what would be an guaranteed seller, any tips? Between us now we have KLX250, FJ1200, VFR400R, Hornet250 and SV1000S. After getting back to NZ I will probably cut back to two, dunno about her though.

God I can't wait to get back to NZ roads where the air is clean, highways are free, traffic is thin, speed limits are reasonable, scenery actually exists, summer is not hot and winter is not cold, and you have these wonderful wonderful things called roundabouts. I tell ya, if you've never been out of NZ you don't know how good NZ riders have it. Or maybe I just picked a crap place to live... anyhow, the wife and I will no doubt be riding the wheels off our bikes around Auckland next year along with a few overnight trips, and I can't wait to try a track day. Maybe we will come across some of you somewhere.

Until then I will mostly be lurking on the forums, counting the days and imagining what it is like to ride on a road where you don't have to stop for a red light every 20 seconds. You'll find I have a habit of coming out of the woodwork whenever something about Japan is mentioned, so I can sound all knowledgeable about it

cheers!

[Storm]

Welcome aboard the nuthouse mate. Nice to see you keen as mustard to get back here.
See ya in Feb

[Big Dog]

Welcome aboard.
Hope you find what you are looking for when you return.
Traffic has gotten a lot heavier in recent years and the roads are wearing out faster than they are being repaired but the scenery is still good.

[slimjim]

well then your'll notice the change in traffic forsure, and wonder why there are so many angry cage driver's haha however that's only some of thee changes and all best in bringing back all your toy's

[NZsarge]

Welcome ambler, when you move back to NZ where about are you gonna settle do ya reckon?

[ambler]

We will probably move to Auckland, or somewhere nearby.
Actually I am aware of the heavier traffic - I was in Auckland for a wedding (mine) in Feb and I would estimate there is about 1.5 times as much traffic on the roads as there was when I was going to uni. This is what causes me to add "or somewhere nearby" to the answer above, to get away from it a bit.
I'm secretly hoping the increase in traffic will see more people using bikes to get around which might improve the negativity towards riders I've noticed from reading some other threads on these forums. Cagers getting in your way on purpose? Kids throwing stuff at you? Wow. How will I explain that to my wife... I wonder if a nasty V-max and black leathers would help discourage that kind of attitude
I guess maybe Tokyo does have some good points. Since about one in ten vehicles is a bike there is a high awareness of bikes and how they differ from cars etc, makes riding safer.

[Swoop]

Welcome Ambler!

Not too sure about the "reasonable speed limits" here... The tax collectors are out in force nowadays.
That is a nice container load of bikes to bring back!!!

[ambler]

Hi Swoop
Over here the speed limit in the city is 30 or 40 km/h.
On relatively long straight stretches of road like the Rainbow Bridge (like Akl harbor bridge) if you are lucky it is 50 or 60.
The highest speed limit anywhere is 80km/h and that is only on the highways which cost approx. 50c per kilometre to use (that's for a bike which is the cheapest class, expect to dish out a lot more if you want to take a truck or bus on the highway).
So in Japan, if you want to legally ride at more than 80km/h, you need to go to a racetrack!

[Storm]

Mate, after 10 years away, are you sure you can handle the screaming adrenalin of 100km/h? You might pop an o ring



(pt)

[ambler]

ah yeh. think I will manage just fine
Of course what I neglected to mention is that these limits are routinely ignored. Go out on to any road, anywhere, and every single vehicle without exception is speeding, and not just by a little bit either, usually by almost double. Over the bridge mentioned I can happily do more than 2.5 times the limit.
My suspicion is that it is left this way so that the police don't have to work hard to get revenue... they can just go out onto the street anytime anywhere, and pick any car to ticket.
On the positive side, fortunately they only do any serious ticketing during the last few weeks of the fiscal year - I wonder why? But in those few weeks they make up for the rest of the year, so that becomes almost a no-ride time.
The rest of the year you only need to be on the lookout on sunny weekend days. At night after about 6pm and rainy days you can do whatever you like, because motorcycle cops are not out then (wusses). And motorcycle cops are all you really need to worry about, cops in cars have gotten sick of trying to chase bikes which just slip thru traffic, so they pretty much don't even bother.

[Tim 39]

Hi and welcome to kiwibiker (not sure that Aucklnad is the best place to live but anyway)

[yod]

auckland? why bother? it takes ya half an hour just to GET to a decent bit of road....still....when you're coming from tokyo thats probably a pleasure