Karapoti Adventure Ride, Sunday 8 July

[K slider]

Dam I missed another ride I will have to check the computa regularly.
Probably a bit technical for me.

Pete.

[Balrog]

....
How did the GS go BusaJim? tTat would have looked impressive going up the hill after the river crossing.
...

Hey young1, GS went sweet as.
I was a bit worried about the start of the Param track.
Last time I was there I lost traction going up one of the rock/clay combinations
and started going backwards.

No problems this time, rode the bike up faster, had the tyre pressures down a bit more and it
went up very nicely.

I found it pretty tricky on the slippery clay. Little front washes and the odd
sliding into a rut when you intended to ride past it got the blood pumping.

Good fun though

[gunna]

humbling experience today - set off feeling concerned for those riding bigger machines across the very slipprery Pram Track - even offered to ride as tail end charlie. It turned out I struggled on my little DR - albeit on dual sport tyres which filled up and became useless quickly in the clay.

Big ups - I salute you Jim (1150GS ADV), Pampa(F650Dakar) and Tim with his daughter riding pillion (Triumph Scrambler) on those big machines.

Thanks to all for your company and special thanks to MarkS who kept an eye out for me after I had the front wash out on a down hill section ahead of the steepest part of the Pram Track

A great ride - magic country today in the sunshine - thanks to all for your company - see you out there - Aslan

Sorry some of us got lost and didn't see you at the end Aslan
When I saw that rear tyre you had on, I thought you would have a little bit of fun. Sometimes a big heavy bike with some bite in the tyre, a low centre of gravity and an extra bum on the seat will go some places that are a struggle on the lightweight stepladder brigade. Certainly it's not so far to fall in any case. Managed to put that theory into practice with a nice downhill biff right near the end. Luckily no damage to machine or passengers, so all good.
Had a great time, great bunch of guys and sorry if my mobile road block got in anyones way or scared anyone. Still not sure whether to try and improve the Eggbeater suspension and ground clearance for a more offroady feel, or just keep putting gas in the tank. C U

ps Anyone doing the MMMMMMMM trip mid-August?

[gunna]

Aye all! it was a very nice ride today guys including the tracks and the awoseme wheather, by the way thanks for waiting for me the few times I was going slow to scared to go faster .

First rest after the slippery pram track and nice river crossing

Quick question to MarkS if I may, what is the brand of your trail bike and how much does it cost? I'm trying to convince a friend to buy a bike and geetting a cheap one may help

Hi Pampa,

The cheap Chinese bikes are getting better and cheaper all the time. I sold those two to Mark and because his expectations were low, he's real happy (special case!). I've stopped importing the things for a number of reasons but my advice would be that if your friend has a low budget and is prepared to spend it on something with a zero resale value (similar to buying beer), they could have 6-12 months fun for maybe $2000.(similar to buying beer!)
It may be better to invest a bit more gold in a low mileage bike (how much did you pay for the DRZ250, Jim) and this could be sold later with less total cost and would be a better ride.

[denefoster]

Sorry some of us got lost and didn't see you at the end Aslan
When I saw that rear tyre you had on, I thought you would have a little bit of fun. Sometimes a big heavy bike with some bite in the tyre, a low centre of gravity and an extra bum on the seat will go some places that are a struggle on the lightweight stepladder brigade. Certainly it's not so far to fall in any case. Managed to put that theory into practice with a nice downhill biff right near the end. Luckily no damage to machine or passengers, so all good.
Had a great time, great bunch of guys and sorry if my mobile road block got in anyones way or scared anyone. Still not sure whether to try and improve the Eggbeater suspension and ground clearance for a more offroady feel, or just keep putting gas in the tank. C U

ps Anyone doing the MMMMMMMM trip mid-August?

I still reckon you've got one brave-as passenger.. and some mad skill to pilot that tank around on the clay. I had enough fun on the wee (in comparison) DR Looking forward to doing the Devil's Staircase with you sometime

[Aslan]

Looks like fun!!

Didn't look that muddy in the photos.

Do you think in summer it would be possible on my street tyre shod DR-Z?

Hi limbimtimwim - IMHO dual sport / adventure tyres are suitable on the PRAM when it is dry - when the clay is wet tyres with sharper knobs would be better - I plan to check out Vee rubber for my DR350 - cheers Aslan

PS this thread might help you http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=31920 also see gunna's post under Physics in this thread

[Aslan]

Hey young1, GS went sweet as.
I was a bit worried about the start of the Param track.
Last time I was there I lost traction going up one of the rock/clay combinations
and started going backwards.

No problems this time, rode the bike up faster, had the tyre pressures down a bit more and it
went up very nicely.

I found it pretty tricky on the slippery clay. Little front washes and the odd
sliding into a rut when you intended to ride past it got the blood pumping.

Good fun though

Again Jim (I think you should be named 'Intrepid Jim' and perhaps myself Mr Cautious) I salute you - great pics also - cheers Aslan

[Balrog]

Again Jim (I think you should be named 'Intrepid Jim' and perhaps myself Mr Cautious) I salute you - great pics also - cheers Aslan

Cheers Aslan

I wouldn't be trying these kinds of things without a good group of people around.

[marks]

Cheers Aslan

I wouldn't be trying these kinds of things without a good group of people around.

I wouldn't be trying the sorts of things you did even with the westpac helicopter parked next to me

[pampa]

Hi Pampa,

The cheap Chinese bikes are getting better and cheaper all the time. I sold those two to Mark and because his expectations were low, he's real happy (special case!). I've stopped importing the things for a number of reasons but my advice would be that if your friend has a low budget and is prepared to spend it on something with a zero resale value (similar to buying beer), they could have 6-12 months fun for maybe $2000.(similar to buying beer!)
It may be better to invest a bit more gold in a low mileage bike (how much did you pay for the DRZ250, Jim) and this could be sold later with less total cost and would be a better ride.

Thanks for the info and advise. I guess he might need to make is mind about that ...

[marks]

Thanks for the info and advise. I guess he might need to make is mind about that ...

Gunna's advice is good

If he does decide he wants a cheapy let us know as I think my son Glen is ready to move onto something better/faster so his bike will be surplus.

[windboy]

sounds like you guys had way past your share of fun this weekend... Thanks to busajim for sharing those pics!

later

[gunna]

I am replying on behalf of BusaJim (he's putting on lots of clothing right now)
If you haven't done this route before, then he says best not to do it 2 up the first time, unless you are a really really confident rider. Is going to get to be pretty tough going in places probably. And it will be quite slippery from all the rain we have had recently.

He'll see you all there soon.

(His partner - Marie)

Thanks Magic Fairy, as it happened we were putting our gear on and missed this post. We got to the end alive but my daughter is now mute and just stares at a fixed point somewhere over the horizon.............

[upshift]

Dam I missed another ride I will have to check the computa regularly.
Probably a bit technical for me.

Pete.

yeah right! I'm sure you'd be able to handle it pete

Great day out, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Many thanks to those who came, a great bunch to ride with. Thanks for the photo's BusaJim, very nice

Rather impressed with the ability of those on the bigger bikes, I get nervous even just thinking about such things. Managed OK on my DRZ but one off toward the end, bit of a slippery downhill and pretty much only remember being splatted to the ground and the bike on it's side facing uphill. Suspect I inadevertently touched the back brake!

Here's a plot from my GPS overlaid on Google earth. I'm fairly impressed with the sensitivity of my new supa dupa Garmin 60CSX, not only does it have no problem under tree cover but I was carrying it in the inside pocket of my motorbike jacket as well.

[K slider]

yeah right! I'm sure you'd be able to handle it pete

Great day out, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Many thanks to those who came, a great bunch to ride with. Thanks for the photo's BusaJim, very nice

Rather impressed with the ability of those on the bigger bikes, I get nervous even just thinking about such things. Managed OK on my DRZ but one off toward the end, bit of a slippery downhill and pretty much only remember being splatted to the ground and the bike on it's side facing uphill. Suspect I inadevertently touched the back brake!

Here's a plot from my GPS overlaid on Google earth. I'm fairly impressed with the sensitivity of my new supa dupa Garmin 60CSX, not only does it have no problem under tree cover but I was carrying it in the inside pocket of my motorbike jacket as well.

HI Neal did you draw the line in or did the GPS generate it for you as the the detail is very good. When you turned off to orange hut did you double back down the steam or go down the pram track. cheers Pete.