A few questions about trip in Feb 2017

[iautox]

Hi All,

We did our trip from Feb 21st through March 9th. We put on about 6,000 KM and amazingly only caught a tiny bit of rain in Invercargil and then for part of the last two days as we returned to Helensville. We stopped at Taupo on the way to the ferry and then covered the South Island from Farewell Spit to Bluff. We got to everywhere we wanted to on this trip. Milford Sound was amazing including the ride there. As we waited to go through the tunnel I had a Kea on each boot one on the front fender and a bunch on the ground around us. People were taking pictures of us. I wish we had some of those pictures. We did not see Dunedin, Christchurch, Kaikoura, Mt. Cook or Hamner Springs, but we will get those on the next trip. We missed Mt. Cook because the day before we meet an very nice guy at a gas station in Gore and he told me about the March Hare Rally so we went there on Saturday afternoon. Not quite as big as Sturgis, but the drinks were cheap, roast pork great, band great and natives friendly! I have the t-shirt to prove I was there. Oh, and I have a bunch of World's Fastest Indian swag too. What a cool 'hardware store". I could go on and on, but the highlights of the trip were the New Zealanders we met. Since we flew standby and really just wanted to go from place to place changing our plans as we found things to do we booked lodging no longer than 3 days out, but usually just a day and a few times the same day. The only place we had a real problem was Queenstown and then we turned to Air B&B. I wish we would have done that right away. We met sooooo many nice people that way. We may never stay in a hotel or motel again. We stayed with a couple in Te Anau where the husband is a paramedic for St Johns on the helicopter that flys out of there. He had the most incredable video that one of the pilots put together over several years of flying over Milford Sound. We stayed with a couple in Cromwell with wonderful home in an olive orchard surrounded by other orchards and vinyards. They were equally as wonderful. They have a Moto Guzzi American that they ride all over and he's 70. I hope I'm still doing that at 70. We also stayed with a woman in Nelson who rides a Ducati Monster. She had the garage door up for us when we arrived and helped us pick a great route home. The only problem we had is that at the beginning of the trip my girlfriends legs were totally uncalibrated. She was squeezing me with her legs whenever she thougth I should slow down. If I would have applied the brakes as hard as she was squeezing we would have come to a complete stop in the middle of many corners - especailly the the two times we went over Takaka Hill since it was at the beginning of the trip. By the end of the trip she was prefectly calibrated. Oh, and I made her do the Big Swing over the Shotover twice. It was a day before she could open her eyes and two days before she could say anything, but by the third day she could usually answer simple questions. Don't worry though, she's back to talking my ears off again (what a shame, lol). The 1250 Bandit is a wonderful bike. You only really need first and 6th gears. It has so much torque. I'd like a big windscreen and a longer seat, but no bike is perfect. I'll get a better helmet and then I think the lower screen will be much better. Quite a few guys commented that they have a Bandit and love it, had one and wish they didn't sell it, sold one and then bought it back. One guy said he'd owned 23 bikes in his lifetime including a BMW GTL 1600 and that he liked the Bandit best and sold the BMW. We are planning to come back in October to do the North Island and then some time in Dec, Jan, Feb or March to hit the South Island again. We are flexible on dates and would love to have some company if anyone out there is interested. Also my friend in NZ is looking into renting out my Bandit is he can figure out insurance, etc. That would help me offset the cost of registration, insurance, and maintainence (wore out the front tire on one side). We were thinking maybe two week minimum time frame so he wouldn't have to deal with it a lot. If he figures it out I'll make a new post here. Once again, thanks for all the advice here! Mark and Suzy.

[pritch]

Seems like you had a great trip. You must have been luck with your timing because we've had a really crap summer this year.

[iautox]

Seems like you had a great trip. You must have been luck with your timing because we've had a really crap summer this year.

Yes, everyone was telling us this was "the year without a summer". We didn't get a bit of rain on the West Coast. I had told Suzy it was almost certain we'd be riding in rain at some point on the West Coast. She said our rain gear was going to waste. I told her that by that same token we then needed to crash so our air bag vests didn't go to waste, lol.