First proper tour

[rwh]

Well that was mostly good.

I've just spent 3 days riding: Wellington - Bulls - Wanganui - New Plymouth - Awakino - Taumarunui - National Park - Raetihi - Waiouru - Taihape - Palmerston North - Mackay's crossing.

I'm a bit sore and tired, but unfortunately my bike is worse - it started making funny noises at Awakino-ish, then started losing power at Palmy, and finally said no more at the top of the new bridge at Mackay's crossing I probably should have stopped earlier, but it was kind of hard to hear through my helmet ... and the guys at the shop in Palmy said they thought it was a cam chain and probably would just get noisier but not cause catastrophic failure, and should be fine to get me home. Yes Wasp, I did remember your dire warnings about vt250s, but I wanted to get home

Oh well - hopefully the fact that it puttered out rather than going bang means something good, and I can get it going for long enough to get to my full ... I want something that overtakes more comfortably

Richard

[HenryDorsetCase]

good effort.... hope the ride was fun nonetheless.

[Vagabond]

Hope you enjoyed yourself despite the problems, and hopefully not too expensive to repair!

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

least you got home, and hope the ride was fun. Get yah bike looked at and you will be back before you know it...

[rwh]

Yep, the ride was good all right. I think the bike is probably history; it seems it's not worth fixing. I might keep it for parts if I get another of the same (or to repower if I was to bin the new one ...). Or I might just borrow some money and splash out on something much newer.

I did find by part way through I could definitely use some more power for overtaking - and I discovered that my legs really don't like being bent up like that for several hours at a time, and my backside suffers a bit too. I'm not sure how I'll deal with those things - perhaps just put up with it and take more stops. Or switch to a cruiser when I get my full

Richard

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

Yep, the ride was good all right. I think the bike is probably history; it seems it's not worth fixing. I might keep it for parts if I get another of the same (or to repower if I was to bin the new one ...). Or I might just borrow some money and splash out on something much newer.

I did find by part way through I could definitely use some more power for overtaking - and I discovered that my legs really don't like being bent up like that for several hours at a time, and my backside suffers a bit too. I'm not sure how I'll deal with those things - perhaps just put up with it and take more stops. Or switch to a cruiser when I get my full

Richard

IF you are going to do more touring then a bigger bike will help both in power and size. but your legs are still going to be in the same position...

Sheep skin works wonders and gave me an extra 200 ks before I started to get a bit of a pain in a backside... (I rode for Kiakoura to Dunedin (and back) and it was only in the last leg of the trip I noticed it...

Just take regular breaks... use my excuse its a photo shoot time when its really probably I have a sore butt...

another trick is under the sheep skin buy a bit of foam rubber from Para Rubber for about $8.00 stitch to the under of the sheep skin (you may need cut and shape it and to split it up the middle so it sits right)... it will also probably slightly alter your riding position you will be sitting a little higher so becareful to get a to thick a piece and adjust as required

[Wolf]

Sorry to hear of your bike, rwh. Sounds like you did a good, substantial tour.

The VT250 looks like a bit of a "croucher" so your feet would probably be tucked up towards the rear of the bike with your shins sloping down and back. A cruiser would position your feet towards the front of the bike with your shins sloping forwards. It may also cause you to tilt backwards as if sitting in an armchair, putting your weight on your tailbone. I've found this uncomfortable but Your Mileage May Vary.

Personally I've always found the most comfortable bikes on long hauls, especially day-after-day riding, are the old tourers or road-trails where your feet are forward of your torso but your shins are close to straight up and down and your back is more upright, head at a natural forward facing angle and supported by your spine, hands resting naturally on the bars.

You may find this uncomfortable, however.

The thing to do is try out a variety of bikes of different sizes and style for at least half an hour's test ride (be sure you get a decent 100km/h stretch in there to see how the wind feels at the legal limit.)

If you want to do a lot of touring (and it seems you've made a respectable start) get a comfortable bike that suits your build. Riding in pain and discomfort can certainly take the edge off a tour.

It does not pay to be overly stretched or cramped.

All the best finding a suitable replacement for the VT.

[rwh]

Sorry to hear of your bike, rwh. Sounds like you did a good, substantial tour.

The VT250 looks like a bit of a "croucher" so your feet would probably be tucked up towards the rear of the bike with your shins sloping down and back. A cruiser would position your feet towards the front of the bike with your shins sloping forwards. It may also cause you to tilt backwards as if sitting in an armchair, putting your weight on your tailbone. I've found this uncomfortable but Your Mileage May Vary.

Personally I've always found the most comfortable bikes on long hauls, especially day-after-day riding, are the old tourers or road-trails where your feet are forward of your torso but your shins are close to straight up and down and your back is more upright, head at a natural forward facing angle and supported by your spine, hands resting naturally on the bars.

You may find this uncomfortable, however.

The thing to do is try out a variety of bikes of different sizes and style for at least half an hour's test ride (be sure you get a decent 100km/h stretch in there to see how the wind feels at the legal limit.)

I'll probably do more of this once I have my full - I'm guessing there are lots more comfortable bikes out there than any 250.

If you want to do a lot of touring (and it seems you've made a respectable start) get a comfortable bike that suits your build. Riding in pain and discomfort can certainly take the edge off a tour.

It does not pay to be overly stretched or cramped.

I have yet to decide properly whether bike touring is for me. I've done a fair bit by car; over the last 2 years I've driven to both ends of the country, and enjoyed it. But I quite like taking lots of stuff, and travelling by myself is easy - I just throw in whatever I feel like. By bike that will have to be a lot more careful and scientific. I might just revert to using the bike for shorter (1 day) trips and the car for the long holidays. Depends what I find, I guess.

All the best finding a suitable replacement for the VT.

At this stage, it's pretty much 'something that will get me through the next 3-6 months'. I'm due to go have a look at a ZXR250 this afternoon - I'm guessing that's not the right bike for touring

[Wasp]

come march 21 you can have my bandit to borrow if you want

[rwh]

come march 21 you can have my bandit to borrow if you want

Cheers for that. When do you go get it?

Richard

[Wolf]

By bike that will have to be a lot more careful and scientific.

But that's half the fun and the added advantage is it doesn't take 6 hours of packing (and hunting for anything you might have left behind) when you want to head home.

I've developed a minimalist attitude to packing over my years of camping and motorbike touring - the less I carry, the less I have to worry about. On the Cold Kiwi (2 nights) I had a 45-litre pack (occupied almost entirely by my bulky -10 sleeping bag with only a single change of clothes and a warm bush shirt jammed in), a single person tent, a bed roll and and Army-Surplus canteen/dixie in addition to the clothes and motorbike gear I was standing up in. Camera, sunglasses, thermal gloves and balaclava were in the pockets of my riding jacket.

Most the stuff I took didn't even leave the pack - weather was too mild for the bush shirt, most I had to do to keep warm was put on the thin balaclava that was in my jacket pocket.

When coming home, I was packed and ready to roll in under half an hour including around 5 minutes of trying to cram the sleeping bag back into the pack.

Put together a "touring kit" - stuff that is only ever used or worn on tour - and even starting off is a breeze as it's all stored (or even already packed) waiting to be put on the bike. Tour regularly enough and you'll find that "scientific packing" comes naturally.

I used to take loads of stuff, too, but now I pack very light even when journeying by car, which is handy because stuff we need to take for the kids practically fills the car (though it will improve when our daughter is able to sleep in a bed and is toilet trained - at the moment most of the space is taken up with portacot and loads of nappies and spare clothes).