Passes ride daily updates and photos...

**Ruralman** · 15th February 2007, 22:18

Hi guys and thanks to all who joined the ride at some point - great to meet new faces from KB and get a bit of local knowledge for local routes.
This is a quick message because we're in Naesby at the end of the ride and can't upload photos till we get home. It has been a fantastic trip with a great group of guys who have developed great faith in each others riding - we have all riden each others bike over the last few days and I can tell you that all the bikes are great at something, it just comes down to the individual set of requirements and limitations we have.

Just a word on our Aussie mate Steve - he is a great fella and we all like him heaps. He knows he got it wrong on that corner on the way up the Moleworth but apart from us posting some embarassing photos we don't want a bad word said about him - he's a good bastard.

Trouble with this bike swapping - I've fallen in love - its got 3 cylinders and stripes. Anyone want a bloody good Transalp????

Tonight we have discussed what to do next - maybe next year we do the same ride but go the other way around???

Trips like these make us so aware of what a fantastic country we live in - the poor buggers who only stick to the sealed roads and never venture beyond that range of hills they ride beside have no idea of what lies behind - so come on all you sports bike poofdahs get out and see the real NZ and buy yourselves an adventure bike - the best thing is thta there are a few of them that will give your sports bikes a bloody good run on the real sealed road riding conditions all around this country as well.

Enough from me for now - back over the next few days with pics etc. I am going to put up a post on the general bike section about a group of Honda Riders Club members who are a pack of smart up themselves arseholes who walked out without paying for 25 meals at Franz Joseph the night we were there. You are an absolutely bloody disgrace to the biker community and I hope the lot of you get the fucking aresekicking you deserve.

**fleethaul** · 16th February 2007, 10:16

Please note if you live in spain this bike will appear the right way up.and http://fleethaul.smugmug.com/gallery...129868666-L-LB

**fleethaul** · 16th February 2007, 10:42

http://fleethaul.smugmug.com/gallery...129869136-L-LB

**fleethaul** · 16th February 2007, 10:51

Everyone has just departed Naseby with CD's from all the tight five cameras.
About 500 pics, expect to see more in the next 24 hours.

Jeff

We are not picking on Steve (slipperyoz) on KB. But his off has been the
subject of debate by including ourselves and no doubt will be the subject of more laughs when he comes to stay in ChCh. He has to wash down the bike for export. as his ride round the Catlins will be his swansong.

Must away, have to punt a Bandit 1200 through the Pigroot while my Dakar goes on a seni tour through Poolburn reservoir, Thompsons, Te Aka, Iron Bridge to Pukaki and Mt Cook. Still someone has to do it.

Jeff

**SDU** · 16th February 2007, 11:37

Thanks for the update guy's. Luv the pics looking forward to the rest.
Reckon Slipperyoz might deserve a beer after talented parking like that

**warewolf** · 16th February 2007, 12:05

Originally Posted by fleethaul

Please note if you live in spain this bike will appear the right way up.and http://fleethaul.smugmug.com/gallery...129868666-L-LB

Bet he couldn't do that again if he tried.

But he was the second Aussie to lose it on a corner on that trip:
What happens when you have a Little Lie Down in rocks

**fleethaul** · 16th February 2007, 14:17

It was 8:30 at night, I was on the last leg of the Passes ride having taken
a detour to my house to pick up a laptop so that we could burn all the pic cards to CD. It's 8:30 at night, the sky is still bright but the road is dark.

I'm turning on to the sealed bypass at Ranfurly, following a Honda Voyager
who is obviously unsure of the intersection and is travelling at about 20kmh.

It is of great surprise that my back wheel is trying to overtake the front.
Sh*t. Then it bites and I don't go down.

How do you get the back wheel to come round with no power on and going that slow?

Alan had taken my F650 over Danseys and I was on his shiny Bandit and almost lost it.
Later I admited to him sheepishly what happened and felt a right idiot
.

Now for the serious bit.
The intersection has been re-sealed. Vehicles have tracked through the
loose and left ridges of stones. Thankfully the front wheel must have tracked
on the hard and the back caught a loose ridge.

I know this because I went back at 12 noon today to have a look.
I had to be within 10m of the intersection to actually see the loose.
any further away it looks fine.

Not a road marking.... Not a new seal sign..... Not a no road marking
sign... zilch.

I called into an AA office on the way home to ask where to report the incident.
They highlighted to me that because it could??? be on the intersection
of a piece of road that transit controls and the council
controls there may be a demarcation issue and that the best way to bring
issues to Transits attention was to "put in writing".

My reply was that I just wanted to stop someone getting killed or injured".

So please warn your friends if they might be going through that way.

And if someone on the thread knows who to contact to get something
done about it... please do so pronto...
Looks like I need to study road demarcation management so that
I know who to ring.

Jeff

**cooneyr** · 16th February 2007, 14:38

Originally Posted by fleethaul

.............I called into an AA office on the way home to ask where to report the incident.
They highlighted to me that because it could??? be on the intersection
of a piece of road that transit controls and the council
controls there may be a demarcation issue and that the best way to bring
issues to Transits attention was to "put in writing"........

Transit controls all state highways and 20m from the center line of the highway up all side roads (last time I checked). If the new seal was on a state highway ring Transits Dunedin Regional Office (in their area) on 03 477 8527 and ask for the Area Engineer for that area. Otherwise contact the Dunedin CC (I think it is their area?????)

BUT before you do that - new chip seal can loose chip for a long time (3+ months). Was it few loose stones or ridges of stones and inch or more deep? Rather than flame Transit cause it wasn't signed as it may have been done as per the book it might be better to approach them about getting some maintenance guys out there with a broom or two. Most likely the second approach with be more productive.

Cheers R

**fleethaul** · 16th February 2007, 15:11

It's just facts from my perspective. I'm new to this forum and still learning the rules so it would help me if you would please highlight
the areas of supposition or opinion in what I wrote.

I forgot to pack a tape measure.

It's looks brand spankers to me.

Thick- some sections have no tyre tracks at all.

My issue is one of safety not finger pointing.

The AA incident is my way of saying my first approach at
dealing with issue resulted in the suggestion that I write to transit.
Today is Friday, If I post a letter today they will get it Monday.
What happens to the weekend riders.
One if my first actions on getting home was to attempt through contacts
to this forum to get something done about it quickly.
Me getting stuck on some govt quangos talking computer trying to learn
the ins and outs of the system is not the quick result I'm looking for.

It's worked there is a phone number within your missive.
I'm on it as we speak, dealing with the Transit phone system roundabout, The quality of the music is good, quite a pleasant tune too.

John Jarvis is on line before the song even finishes.

Now he is raising the issue of demarcation and could I tell him
if it is actually on Transits highway.
I raise with him your point about the 20 metres, but that I did not have a
tape measure with me at the time.

He is assuring me that it must have been left swept and that it would not
be left unswept and unsigned.

He promises to look into it immediately.

Thanks for your help.

**Laava** · 16th February 2007, 19:37

Thanks guys for a very inspiring get away! You obviously were enjoying it to have written and posted as much story and photos as you did. I have a question tho before I go back and re-read the whole story. Jo and I are hoping to head south in April, are most of these roads OK to do 2-up? We have just finished running in our Strom and are set up to go but I am unsure of our limits at this stage. We are OK on gravel so will stick to what is recommended at this stage. Any advice greatly appreciated.

**Ruralman** · 16th February 2007, 21:52

Originally Posted by LAV 750

Thanks guys for a very inspiring get away! You obviously were enjoying it to have written and posted as much story and photos as you did. I have a question tho before I go back and re-read the whole story. Jo and I are hoping to head south in April, are most of these roads OK to do 2-up? We have just finished running in our Strom and are set up to go but I am unsure of our limits at this stage. We are OK on gravel so will stick to what is recommended at this stage. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Quick reply b4 I get some much needed sleep - yes the roads would be OK 2 up if you are well used to doing gravel trips. Obviously you would need to go a bit slower. I followed Jantar a few times on the gravel and it looked like on the tight stuff he really had to work to get it to turn in - this was where the 2 650's (Dakar and Transalp) really came into their own and given a chance would easily pull away. Two up the turn in might be a little harder so the pace would have to come back. If you could I would add another 2 days to do it at least. (we did mainly 10-11 hour days - and we weren't mucking about when riding but did obviously stop for photos. Several of the riders would have regularly been in the 100-130km/hr on the gravel where conditions allowed)

The end of the Lees Valley section did have a couple of river crossings which you would want your pillion to walk through - it wasn't that deep but the gravel is pretty loose and dropping some weight would help, especially when your steering starts moving around a bit which will happen. The Maungatapu track we did was hard enough for the big Strom anyway (and great Credit to Jantar for getting it through in spite of the small mishap) so its really a no go with a pillion on your bike and theres no Passes on it anyway.

Hopefully Jantar will add his comments to this.

**Ruralman** · 16th February 2007, 22:07

Originally Posted by LAV 750

Thanks guys for a very inspiring get away! You obviously were enjoying it to have written and posted as much story and photos as you did. I have a question tho before I go back and re-read the whole story. Jo and I are hoping to head south in April, are most of these roads OK to do 2-up? We have just finished running in our Strom and are set up to go but I am unsure of our limits at this stage. We are OK on gravel so will stick to what is recommended at this stage. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Just re-read your post again - April??? - you may not get permission to go through the Molesworth (ask DOC), the rivers and Fords everywhere may be very different if there has been a typical reversion to autumn rains after summer.
Having said that probably it is only the Molesworth and Okuku-Lees passes that would be in doubt - with others OK unless theres a major weather event at the time (including snow).
Probably better to travel with more than one bike as well - eg if you had a small relatively low speed off after having the front wheel slip on something, and lets say you hurt your right arm/shoulder. Could you and your wife pick up the Strom? What if this happened on a section that was a bit steep, could you man handle it and get it going again? Theres often no cell phone reception so you need to be self reliant. When Jantar's Strom lay down it took 3 of us to get him going again - two could have done it, one would have struggled to get him going unless really strong. Admittedly this was a worse spot than you would be on but similar scenarios could happen.

You probably would want a more dirt orientated tyre to help - like a Mitas EO7 or something similar.

**Jantar** · 16th February 2007, 22:21

Originally Posted by LAV 750

Thanks guys for a very inspiring get away! You obviously were enjoying it to have written and posted as much story and photos as you did. I have a question tho before I go back and re-read the whole story. Jo and I are hoping to head south in April, are most of these roads OK to do 2-up? We have just finished running in our Strom and are set up to go but I am unsure of our limits at this stage. We are OK on gravel so will stick to what is recommended at this stage. Any advice greatly appreciated.

All of the roads with the exception of The Maungatapu track are quite suitable for the Strom two up. I was using Battlewing tyres which are really a pure road tyre, but I was convinced that they would do the job Ok, and sure enough they didn't let me down once. I did have to slow down a bit earlier on the loose gravel sections, and couldn't accellerate as hard as the other bikes, or my rear end would loose traction, but overall, the VStrom was a very good bike for the terrain.

Ruralman is correct that on the tight stuff it wouldn't turn in as quickly as the smaller bikes, however that is just a matter of riding the bike appropriately for the conditions. This trip was 70% seal and 30% gravel or dirt roads, and I set my bike up for the seal and hard packed dirt roads. I certainly wasn't disappointed with how it behaved. If you are concerned about the gravel sections then fit Tourances or Anakees for a little more agressive bite in the gravel.

The Maungatapu track is another story. When I first heard about it I wasn't terribly confident on taking the Strom through, but when I was told that it was rocky rather than than muddy, and hard rock at that, then I decided that the Strom would be OK. What let me down was a single, short, steep uphill stretch with loose rock and quite rutted. To keep the Strom up in its rev range meant I had to take this section too fast to pick the correct line, then when I hit a large rock in a rut, the bike just stopped, and then started sledging backwards. It appears that the rock I hit also knocked the bike into neutral

So I was trying to hold it on front brake alone. That didn't work, then I lost my footing and down we went.

**Ruralman** · 16th February 2007, 22:22

I won't embarrass him by putting up Richards name ( oh F.. I've done it!!!!), but hey isn't that how we bond in this part of the world - chucking shit at each other.
Had a nice ride home with SlipperyOZ and The Yank (time you had a KB name Richard) - went through to Hyde (from last nights stop in Naesby), then over to Mcraes. Bloody windy and pleased not to be continuing through to Middlemarch.
I hope Mr and Mrs Oldrider coped OK over the Dunstan Trail.
WE then retracked our Coastal route which these guys hadn't done, via Karitane and Mt Cargill (still cloudy!!). Really windy heading for the flood free highway so took them round the old main road route through Henley etc.
Stopped in Milton and insisted SlipperyOZ came to the Doctor 'cos I was getting bloody sick of watching him grimace - got checked out, and given a few more pills to help.
We went to leave and SOz and myself headed off thinking R was ready to go - stopped a few K's down the road (only 2km!!!!!!!! - those who know will know!!!!!!!!) cos he didn't show up, and then went back - the bike had moved back, he'd got his back wheel caught on the curbing or something, slightly lost his balance couldn't hold it and down it went. Lost a bit of fuel into the storm drain. Not sure if he picked it up himself or got help but he got it sorted by the time we got back - did add some scratches to the pannier on the other side though!!
They gave away the Catlins trip for this time and we came up SH8, had a quick look at our farm and a cuppa and then they headed off to Alexandra

**Shiner** · 17th February 2007, 08:51

Originally Posted by fleethaul

Please note if you live in spain this bike will appear the right way up.and http://fleethaul.smugmug.com/gallery...129868666-L-LB

Oh dear not the best way to park a beamer, however I know how easy it is to do, have to admit to having my 650F in a similar position. Interestingly, as RedKLR650 pointed out to me, the big beamer running exactly the same tyres as mine. However mine soon to change if I can get my hands on a Mitas 19inch for the front.
Have totally enjoyed the photos and stories from the big passes ride and am keen to get back into the Mainland.