Bendiest road in NZ

[oldrider]

I was going to make this thread in to a poll but there is a limit of 10 options.
They have been ordered according to my fuzzy recollection of north to south and I don't have a map in front of me so it prob not correct.

To narrow it down a bit, which of these have a good stretch ( more than 2.5kms ) where the use of any gear higher than second (or first) is pointless?
Or are there other gems still out there?

Also if you know the road numbers/names for them then it will probably help to make a map.

North island
1. stretch of road just south of Kaitaia
2. SH12 that goes through Waipoua forest (north of Dargaville) (Found)
3. SH25a thames through to colville (Found?)
4. Coromandle loop (Where are the twistiest sections?)
5. mountain road leaving coromandel heading to whitianga
6. Mt Karioi at Raglan
7. Te Anga to Waitomo
8. Around the East cape
9. Waioeka Gorge
10. Whangamomona
11. Murapara to Wairoa.
12. Wairoa to Ruatahuna
13. Pukeiti Rd as it goes over the spur range west of Mt Taranaki
14. Taumaranui to Stratford (found)
15. Stratford Mountain House to the Plateau.
16. Ngaturi - Rangiwea Junction (nor-east of Wanganui)
17. Napier/Taihape
18. Parra Parra's (found)
19. Wanganui River road upto Jerusalem (found)
20. Tangimoana to Hunterville
21. Awakino Gorge
22. Akatarawas between Upper hutt and Waikanae (found)
23. Blue Mountains Road, connecting Whitemans Valley with Silverstream (found)
24. Moonshine Hill Road

South Island
1. Queen Charlotte Sound (Found)
2. Kenepuru in the Marlborough Sounds
3. takaka hill near nelson (found)
4. Bulla Gorge (found)
5. The inland Kaikoura road (found)
6. Westport to Karamea
7. Akaroa Gp from Cooptown to Barry's Bay (found)
8. Summit Rd & Bays (found)
9. The Crown Range Zig Zag from the Queenstown End and the road down to Okains Bay (found)
10. Some of the Caitlins

Add on the road to Milford sound it has some interesting moments too!

[98tls]

the road from fox to hokitika is a classic......

[petesmeats]

My experience it is the Akatarawas between Upper hutt and Waikanae, in fact it was my favourite road and I did it over 200 times when I lived in Paraparaumu and was a Rimituka refugee! I tell you, when you went through that road, the takas were made to feel like a 6 lane highway!

Yep i would agree with this one... ridiculously bendy... and narrow... and fun... and safe... could never go fast enough to break the 100k limit.

I havnt ridden it for a while but still like to do it when im at home. (Good loop: Waikanae-upper hut via aka's, Lower hut-Pauatahanui, Pauatahanui to Paekak via Paekak hill rd, back home to pram...) Used to be better (more legal) though before the sorry bastards lowered the speed limit over paekak hill rd to 70...

["D" FZ1]

The Parapara's. 56 kms of twisty fun. Just watch out for falling rocks

[marty]

i driven the akatarawa's a dozen times, on the way to the karapoti mostly - would be awesome on an RS250 or similar.

coro loop - not too twistie, but coming down to whangapoa from the top of the hill out of coro is pretty cool, as is across the ridge top just north of tairua.

papaparas are outstanding

karangahake gorge (80k...grrrr)

buckland rd

kawhia rd

kaitaia - turn off past the hospital and head down to the rawene ferry, then across and down to dargaville

western bypass whakamaru to turangi

[MattRSK]

I just got some google images of the Akatarawa's, see attached.
Photo one is quite typical on the Waikanae side.
Photo2 shows my favourite left hander on this road when heading north. The black circles show where you start and finish the leaning process. You are cranked over for a long time! As you flick it back over for the right hand switch back there is a handy wooden rail on the inside to brush a knee slider across. The X marks that spot
Photo 3, loads of "bush" work to be done, I painted in the road with white as the photo was dark.....
I just love this road, it is my all time fave, no wonder I like technical race tracks eh

Hey thanks for that. I plan to do that soon.

[marty]

just realised - there is no similar.....................

[Kornholio]

takaka hill near nelson?

OH FUCK YES!!!! Never been over it on a bike but goddam that is one tight twisty hill....especially the series of hairpins on the Collingwood side

[Rashika]

OH FUCK YES!!!! Never been over it on a bike but goddam that is one tight twisty hill....especially the series of hairpins on the Collingwood side

my dad went over recently on his revived XJ600, took it pretty damn slow cos of the ice, got near the top and his throttle had stuck open, stopped to check it out and stepped onto several inches of ice. Luckily lots of grit in the ice, which actually gave good grip. He ended up having to travel down the other side with his brakes on, till they gave out and he had to stop. One of the slowest trips over there he reckoned, usually a great ride...he is local.

[pzkpfw]

The Parapara's. 56 kms of twisty fun. Just watch out for falling rocks

...and Goats!

[XP@]

papaparas are outstanding

Nice road but way too much like a motorway

karangahake gorge (80k...grrrr)

If an 80 limit is of concern then we need to be looking at a tighter road.
Think 15k to 25k corners, lots of them and all next to each other.

buckland rd

where?

kawhia rd

where?

[Les]

The Karamea Bluff north of Westport heading to Karamea. One of the best roads in the country for a middleweight bike. Lots of challenging corners with varying cambers and hairpins aplenty. Not much other traffic either.

[Qkchk:Me]

I also note that the measurement is over a single mile. That hardly counts as a road. My vote would go to a stretch of road just south of Kaitaia. Aproximately 90 kms of continuous 55 kmh bends (and I think lee Rusty already knows of it).

A good place to do 'ya time on your 250 til you get your full licence'. The stretch of road would be the Maungamuka Gorge which is approx 15min south of Kaitaia. (I would know, I've lived up there for 25 years) Full on riding!

I would like to put forward my recommendation of 'Old Russell Road' (north of Whangarei) if no one else has (cant be fagged looking through the whole thread) Just ask the Norfland crew and Qkkid.......

[marty]

buckland rd, off karapiro towards matamata - hobbit country where they shot LOTR.

kawhia rd. on the way to kawhia....

[Blairos]

OH FUCK YES!!!! Never been over it on a bike but goddam that is one tight twisty hill....especially the series of hairpins on the Collingwood side

You mean this?

When I was a kid at Nelson College, I went over this road to see my family in a Newmans Bus that many times, I lost count - but will definitely be doing this road on the Feb Sth Island Safari

Another road is the Cobb Valley Road (the pic shows the beginning of it in yellow, off to the left side) - certainly worth a mention...