open road riding

[bigbadwolf]

oh i'll definitely enjoy it, i always enjoy the open road!!! especially going from queenstown to wanaka on the crown range, so many corners... mmmm.... i found some gear on trademe, is this stuff decent?

Jackets:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/a...sp?id=42659816
http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/a...sp?id=43001747

Boots (are these MX ones? im not sure):
http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/a...sp?id=42921585

Gloves:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/a...sp?id=42747524

[sunhuntin]

with gloves, it pays to try on before you buy, as some can be too long in the fingers....dunno about anyone else, but i cant ride with excess finger room. the ones you posted look ideal.

[Unit:Me]

Also make sure there are no dangley bits... having your rear trye stop at 100kph ain't fun!

Gotta watch them dangly bits alright, mmmmmm Ive gotta say Im really impressed by the great response youve had with this thread, its been good to hear all the different things people think about when they go out on their bikes.

[SARGE]

watch out for Diesel on the road... wet weather especially.. by the time you see the rainbow, its too late..

[bigbadwolf]

Ive gotta say Im really impressed by the great response youve had with this thread, its been good to hear all the different things people think about when they go out on their bikes

yea its been absolutely brilliant a, thanks very much everyone!!! now iv just got to sell my car by this weekend so i can get that sexy gpx... im doin the basic handling course and the theory test next monday, so i will be right out there gettin lots of kms done so im ready for the trip. hope i see some of you guys out there



PS im likin the look of the boots on trademe (link above), but can someone please tell me whether im being an idiot and lookin at motorcross boots instead of road ones? i cant tell the difference and it doesnt mention either...

[Eurodave]

PS im likin the look of the boots on trademe (link above), but can someone please tell me whether im being an idiot and lookin at motorcross boots instead of road ones? i cant tell the difference and it doesnt mention either...

They look like a good pair of road, sports/touring boots to me!

[raster]

Jacket and pants, I've got removable linings in mine, fantastic, just make sure you can put them somewhere when you take the linings out.
Some have zip vents too.

If your too hot you dehidrate quicker than you would expect.

Good luck on your car, I sold mine and the money was in the bank for 24hours, usually it doesn't even get to the bank.

[bigbadwolf]

aargh nobody wants my car because it has quite high kms... but i've dropped the price by nearly $1000 and its advertised in 3 car forums,the buy-sell and the press this weekend so wish me luck!!! and some more luck for finding a good bike before new years!!! dam, i should have bought a bike in the first place...

EDIT: someone is comin around to look at the car tonight, then going to look at the GPX!!!

EDIT 2: went and saw the gpx, wow. its in really good condition, low kms, sounds great, no rust, was completely done over by trevor pierce motorcycles when imported 3 years ago so is mint as

[sefer]

Good luck on selling your car. My little bit of advice on that would be to set a realistic price and stick to in, even if it isn't selling over a few weeks. If people see that your lowering the price a lot regularly they'll think one of two things:
1: There is something wrong with it so you can't sell it.
2: If I wait long enough I'll get it for less.

In saying that if people are looking and you do need to sell say you'll take offers (personally I never say what I'll take, just that I'm open to offers, I've made some coin on item that I would have accepted less for that way )

Re: the bike, sounds good I hope it goes well for you. I'm the second owner of my bike which Trevor Peirce also imported a year or two back and it was great to see that when I went in there one day he remembered selling it, and a few things that had happened to it since then In saying that make sure you do get someone in the know to check it out, a lot could of happened to it since then, and while it may look shiny and perfect when you first look at it, once you own it and have time to have a good look you'll find any flaws (hopefully not bad ones )

Good luck

[oldrider]

I have quickly looked through the above posts and the advice is good but I have a couple of thoughts to emphasise.

Without trying to treat you like an idiot there are things that can catch you out.

Your riding skills change drastically when you get tired or cold.

Where you look is where you go!

Don't stare at things on the road that you can't identify always look where you want to or should be going, set good safe lines.

Ask yourself, do you really know how to steer a bike on the open road? If you don't know, ask someone who does.

Train yourself to ride in your own space especially in the rain.

This has been said a lot but just to reinforce it.

Every one else is out to kill you, in ways you haven't even thought of, YET! They have and are thinking up new ones right now.

Good luck and enjoy your ride and your bike. Might meet you on the road some day. Cheers John.

[Jantar]

Christchurch to Wanaka this time of year is a great first long ride. I would suggest that you plan to stop at Ashburton, Geraldine, Tekapo, Omarama and Tarras. Get off your bike and stretch your legs, have a drink of water or unsweetened fruit juice, eat little but often, and refuel at Omarama whether you need it or not. If you run out of fuel in the lindis its a long push.

Make sure that you are dressed for the conditions. Once you are west of Burkes Pass the air is likely to be very dry and you can dehydrate quite quickly. Others have already said to make sure you keep warm, but in McKenzie country and Central Otago it is also easy to overheat. If your helmet is one with vents then make sure that they are all open.

If you are riding at the same speed as vehicles in front then place yourself so that you can the driver/rider in front through his/her mirrors. If you can't see him then he can't see you.

On the section approaching Lindis Pass I would suggest that you ride in one gear lower than you would expect to and don't lug the motor. It is a long uphill push and lots of vehicles tend to overheat up there.

[bigbadwolf]

Ask yourself, do you really know how to steer a bike on the open road? If you don't know, ask someone who does.

so how do i steer a bike on the open road? i'm doing a training course on monday so i will ask them there, and im gonna get a fair bit of local riding done before the trip, but any pointers would be great!

[oldrider]

so how do i steer a bike on the open road? i'm doing a training course on monday so i will ask them there, and im gonna get a fair bit of local riding done before the trip, but any pointers would be great!

You are on the right track, they will explain how you combine everything, how you co-ordinate vision, body position and wieght with what is generally called counter steering.
You will get it right and you will then be practicing every moment of the journey, thats what is so enjoyable about riding a bike compared to a cage.
It's not like riding a push bike or you will end up in the shit as you increase your speed.
When you go off road it all changes again.
You will know when you get it right because it feels soooh gooood. Must rush going out on my bike. Cheers john.

[raster]

The biggest thing I've found is don't try and lean the bike, if you want to turn right, steer left, then follow the corner, keep your body upright to the bike and tilt your head level with the horizon and look to the exit of the corner, but also watch for debris on the road, dramaticly reduce amount of front braking in loose gravel.

I've also found the bike will lean further than you may expect so if you find your going too wide on a corner,(unless you've completely over done it), let the bike lean a little further rather than getting in the gravel.

Best thing is don't enter corners too hot, power out.

Always look for an excape route.

N

[sunhuntin]

on the toy run, the route we took had heaps of corners and was very narrow. i figured out to let the engine carry me through and then accelerate gently out of it....not too much to allow for the next corner. this also helped me stay on my side of the road...on sharp uphill corners i have a habit of using too much power and going over the line, something i am working to correct.