Open road advice

[Fatt Max]

Up until now I've been very much the commuter rider but I want to take a spin up the the Corromandel over the christmas break.

I plan to go Auckland through Whitford, Clevedon, Kawakawa up to Kaiua, through to Kopo then over the range to Tairua.

Now, serious newbie to this kind of route and riding so I wondered if any of you lovely people can chuck a bit of advice a fat blokes way regarding the plans.

I promise I will have a camera with me in case I come acorss anything silly, stupid or otherwise.

Thanks as always my lovelies,

Oh, and dont forget to check out the 'Present From Fatt Max' in the general rant forum. It's free and rather seductive,,,

[Subike]

Advice for the open road?
Dont out ride your personal limits.
Keep control of the erge to catch the guy that passes you.
Eat lots of pies

[AD345]

Keep to the left

Never trust a car

Stop often to look at the scenery and remind yourself what a rare privilege it truly is to do this in Godzone

[Headbanger]

When you feel like a break,take a break.

[Trudes]

Take your time, stop often, pack for emergencies, keep your mind on the job and enjoy it!!

[blacksheep]

don't forget to keep putting go juice in

[Fatt Max]

Take your time, stop often, pack for emergencies, keep your mind on the job and enjoy it!!

Cheers Trudes (and all of you of course),

As for the 'pack for emergencies bit', what would you reccomemend? I've seen so many different opinions on this (all good of course...apart from the blow up sheep one) but what would be the best bet. I always reckon mobile phone and cash are a goodie and a tyre repair kit, but what dya reckon?

Thanks again for your help guys, you make a fat pommie biker really happy....

[kevfromcoro]

Hang on ..you coming down here..
i will just shift my bike and car off the road
just incase,

[raftn]

Hang on ..you coming down here..
i will just shift my bike and car off the road
just incase,

Thats kind of funny.......

[Headbanger]

Cheers Trudes (and all of you of course),

As for the 'pack for emergencies bit', what would you reccomemend? I've seen so many different opinions on this (all good of course...apart from the blow up sheep one) but what would be the best bet. I always reckon mobile phone and cash are a goodie and a tyre repair kit, but what dya reckon?

Thanks again for your help guys, you make a fat pommie biker really happy....

The one time I took along everything I may need, I came off the bike,landed on my bag of tools, and got an almighty bruise for my troubles.

Nowadays, If it can't fit in my pocket I don't take it.


Wallet and phone.

[dpex]

There's two places you need to apply especial attention. The first is after you leave Kaiaua and head into the hills. It's a very deceptive, winding road, often with loads of crap (mud, stones, you name it) plus green stuff which grows because bugger all sun hits parts of that road.

When the sign recommends 25/20/50K's etc, for the corners, take the advice.

The Coro road, till you start ascending Tapu hill (I thinks that's what it's called) is also a very deceptive road. There's a lot of reducing radiius corners with either none or negative camber.

Worse yet. The scenery is quite spectacular, so keeping your eyes glued to the task in hand (ergo, avoiding Christmas-fevered cagers) is paramount.

If you're thinking about doing the full loop through to Tairau, be careful. Unless you've done a lot of distance riding, then you're not going to be road-fit.

Always keep in mind the missive of Kieth Code. You have ten bucks to spend each minute you ride. When you start getting sore, tired, hot, hungry, thirsty, you start spending whole dollars on the discomforts. Suddenly, you can find you have little left to spend on staying safe on the road because most of your concentration is targeted at how uncomfortable you feel.

When in doubt, rest. And if you're wearing full leathers, strip off the top at least and chill-out under a tree, while drinking buckets of water.

Hmmm. Might post a thread on the issue of dehydration.

And as someone else points out in this thread. Let the knob-jockeys go. Chances are you'll catch them up as they're being hefted into an ambulance, anyway.

Above all, enjoy. AND DO NOT FORGET to call into the Kaiaua oyster factory for a bucket of their home-made oyster soup. It truly is, oral heaven. Extra advice. Buy a french loaf at the local shopping centre first. They don't do breads at the factory. And ya need a good bread with this soup.:--))

Tell Sally (the bottle Blonde 50-something, lovely lady) Dave, on the Yami said you should call in. Her kid runs a dirt-bike, so she's a bit of a biker, by default.

[Fatt Max]

Hang on ..you coming down here..
i will just shift my bike and car off the road
just incase,

Arrhh, dont do that mate, I might just call in for a cup of tea and a mince pie. I mean, it is Christmas and eveything.....i'll bring some biccies...!

[madbikeboy]

I have some incredibly important advice. The servo at Tairua has the best pies, they always keep them just the right temperature. That's why I do the Coro loop. For the Pies.

As for the riding stuff. Not sure. I close my eyes the whole way round. Thank christ that Scoot pays attention.

[kevfromcoro]

Arrhh, dont do that mate, I might just call in for a cup of tea and a mince pie. I mean, it is Christmas and eveything.....i'll bring some biccies...!

No worries .just be a bit carefull down here
its a bit crazy this time of year
just reading your last posts. you havent been having a lot of luck lattely..
Oh well ... shit happens
PM me if you need a place to stay ..

or a bit of advice
KEV

[pritch]

Above all, enjoy. AND DO NOT FORGET to call into the Kaiaua oyster factory for a bucket of their home-made oyster soup. It truly is, oral heaven. Extra advice. Buy a french loaf at the local shopping centre first. They don't do breads at the factory. And ya need a good bread with this soup.:--))

Some good advice in that post and not least the part quoted. I have passed there quite often and was unaware of the soup. Next time...

On the Coro loop over Christmas there might be shit loads of caravans and boats on the road. Well, there was when I did it last time. Don't become impatient.