Hey guys and gals!
The easter ride has just touched down in auckland and I wanna write up my little bit of what we did and the stuff I learned before the others tarnish my image with all the stupid things that happened lol. Man what can I say it was an intense ride *well for me anyway* and we must have seen some of the most beautiful parts of the country. Cape reinga was gorgeous. The first day, I was kinda nervous meeting the other riders for the first time but after a few minutes we were all having a laugh and after waiting for the last people to arrive headed off. First thing we hit was fog. I had to ride with visor up the whole time lol, "Hey dushy, you have ice on your eyebrows". The ride up to kaitai was awesome. Passing through welsford and further up through the twisties. The countries biggest tree was nice, but the twisties that followed we awesome. Just riding in a group and chewing up the ks was fantastic. Confidence was building by then and the group had a awesome rythm. The stay in kaitaia was wicked with the brews and laughs coming strong. Suffice to say there were some hilarious sleeping habits of some kiwibikers haha.
The next day we headed up to the cape, with the nice paved roads leading there being awesome! The gravel on the other hand hated. First time ever on heavy metal roads and I was struggling but it was worth it. Cape reinga has to be one of the nicest spots I had been too. On the way back I unfortunately dropped the RG as I got too close to the left side of the road and the gravel bank shifted, no worries. Picked her up, kicked her in the guts and continued.
The ride to whangarei was fun up until again you guessed it gravel! We did some major adventure riding *well for me anyway* on the ride, the road conditions were sometimes shocking *but still bloody good fun* with the front and rear bouncing everywhere. We hit gravel for the second time and again I dropped the rg *almost stationary again* as I got nervous over-corrected and flipped her. No worries, picked her up and kicked her in the guts again and RING-A-DING she went. Isaac rode her through the gravel for me as I got a ride with a truckie haha *shame*, but later that day we hit gravel again and I started getting the hang of it. The ride to whangarei as dramatic as it was was fantastic. Nice sweepers and the mentality of riding in a group is addictive.
The last days ride was nice and fast with the twisties coming hard and fast. I'm starting to get more confident in cornering although when the front and rear bounce and skittle it still scares me lol. We were making great progress until I had quite possible the scariest motorcycling moment ever. Cranking around a corner at 120, I was confident until the front tire blew and completely came of the rim at one point. Ensuing tank slapper was scary, followed byt the fact that I was heading towards a railway line with no front brake with a stop sign. I basically flew over the lines tank slapping, with the rim banging down on the other side. I managed to control her though and slowed enough to use the rear brake and skidded to a halt.Well I'm back now and what can I say, thank you to all the guys who came. I made some awesome friends, had a blast. We rode through some tough shit, stuck to it and came out with a great experience. People rode into birds, pieces of wood, animals etc. I learnt to not fear the gravel *I'm working on it* and well I just had a blast. Thanks agin to toto for organising it and the other riders. Kepp in touch eh and feel free to add your thoughts and experiences guys to this thread. Photos will follow! Post all your photos here if you want, nice and orderly to have one place for them.
Peace everyone
Drider
P.S getting towed the last 90k to auckland sucks lol almost made it, stupid tire haha
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Originally Posted by gijoe1313
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