At 9am Saturday morning Velox, Limbimtimwin (lbtw) leave Wellington for Auckland.
12 hours later we are in Te Awamutu.
Saturday
Since both Velox and I were going to head up to the U2 concert this last weekend (postponed) we decided that we would come up to Auckland anyway and find some twisty roads to ride along the way. I was going to visit my sister and V was going to see some friends. We also planned to meet up with some KBers and have a bit of a ride down the much discussed SH22. Limbimtimwin was a late addition to the trip as he 'felt like a ride' that weekend as the weather promised to behave.
We set off from the Caltex truckstop near Ngaio Gorge at 9am and headed over the Rimutakas to meet up with poo's mate Karl in Featherston. The hill was a non-event this time as half of it had new seal. Once meeting up with Karl in Feathers we headed off. Despite catching up with Nic (Crazylittlesh1t) in Eketahuna, the trip was quite uneventful until Pahiatua where we encountered a detour as a result of a parade down the main street. Karl head through to Hastings/HB and we inadvertently headed towards the Pahiatua Track. Velox spotted a dairy plant/facility of some sort and insisted of going to have a look but had to be content with reading the noticed board at the gate instead. This, strangely, seemed to be enough. Over the track we go.
After a brief stop in a Yamaha dealership in Palmy to have a look at a flash new ZX6R (limited ed. I think), we headed over Vinegar Hill. This road goes from Fielding to (nearly) Mangaweka. It cuts out a lot of boring straight crap. This is a new road for me and I quite enjoyed it. There was a pleasant outlook over some river terraces at the top and provided a good spot for taking some photos of the bikes. Somebody insisted on taking a lot of photos exclusively of her own bike. Not saying who.
Boring riding all the way through to Turangi. LOTS of cops along the desert road. Almost all of them seemed to have pulled someone over and were writing tickets. One that we followed out of Waiouru kindly pulled over to let us through and didnt try to keep up. Nice. Its 4pm at this stage (Turangi) and clearly we werent making a lot of progress. There has been some stuffing around. I take the lead and we decide to head up the western side of Lake Taupo.
At this point lbtw and Velox decide to swap bikes. After a quick 'be carefull of my beautiful bike' speech from V we are heading along towards the hill just outside of Tokaanu (Kuratau?). Despite suggesting I take the lead (I knew how good the hill was going to be) I found myself behind these two nanas weaving around the road like a group of lepers. A quick swap-back and Im finally in my rightful place at the front. A quick photo opportunity at the top in perfect still conditions we headed on for what I would consider as a 'very good pace'. We made up lots of time I reckon.
At Mangakino we headed left and got onto a road that goes past a dam and heads to Te Awamutu. I think the road was called the Waikawa Road or something? It was a goat track that was quite twisty and very narrow in places. It was enjoyable but definitley challenged my skills at cornering. I ran real wide in one left-hander and later mentioned it to V (who was behind me) and she said she had done the same. Phew. In good company then. At this point we were following lbtw on his RVF400. He all of a sudden is coasting down the hill and is gesticulating furiously. A break on the side of the road reveals a bike that will fire occasionally but is starved of fuel and is unrideable. A marginal cellphone coverage phone call to Honda Riders Club initially provides little more than hold music for lbtw. Making lightof the situation he declares "Haha...I have more music than you guys!!!". The quote of the trip. About an hour later we have the bike on the back of a flat-bed truck despite Fonterror (intentional) trucks racing along this very narrow road. I took delight in slowing the bast@rds down so they have a very slow trip up the hill.
Te Awamutu - 12 hours after starting.
Velox and I ride ahead of the truck into a very picturesque sky with the sun setting in the distance and farm smells all around. Felt like some of the best riding that day for some strange reason. We put the bike into storage at Te Awa, and made a call to Quasi who we were going to meet that afternoon. Quasi VERY kindy offered to trailer lbtw's bike through to Hams the next day which was awesome. Not sure if he did but big ups to him for offering. We found some accomodation for lbtw where he would stay until Sunday where he would take one of several different options. Lbtw was quite keen to fix the bike in situ, and sounds like he may have done so afterall.
Velox and I leave a disgruntled lbtw in Te Awa and head for Auckland at 9pm. V's visor is tinted so I assume the lead. Its a VERY painful trip through Hamilton and I wonder if there was a bypass that I didnt see on the way in. Painful. Painful enough that I am looking for a turn off the Southern Motorway heading into Aucks for a rest and a stretch. Finally find a deserted 'Hampton Downs' exit where there are no streetlights, no cars, and no houses. We resort to studying the maps for exit points under while my hazard lights are flashing in the darkness. The air was very still and we had not encountered anything more than 1 mintue of drizzle at this point. I have to find the Nothern Motorway and V is taking the Kyber Pass exit. I pray mine is signposted. Its not. A ride down the Sthn MW and I understand why people could ride down there at 200km/h. Its long, boring, and conducive. V finds her exit and I, by way of miracle, find mine. A celebratory beer at my sisters place and I hit the sack.
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Originally Posted by skelstar
, what turned out to be wrong with your bike? I shudder to think of how hard it must be to get parts for 
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