Hi there - Brit, 23, coming to NZ. Few questions for you all. Thanks

[TOTO]

Hey Rickie, give me a yell when you get to Auckland and I'll show ya some real nice roads. Really


The most expensive segment of the motorbike market seems to be the 250cc because everyone is obliged to go trough this in order to get their full licence. Since you have your full from UK you should be fine with the big bike prices tho. You can sometimes get real good deals

Giz a yell when you get some wheels, I show ya round

edit: when are you coming over ?

[Slyer]

The most expensive segment of the motorbike market seems to be the 2500cc because everyone is obliged to go trough this in order to get their full licence.

Toto's mistakes are always big ones.

[munterk6]

Forget the North Island....come to ChCh and the best motorcycling country in THE WORLD!!!! The South is wicked, little traffic and scenery to die for, seriously. only thing is..do we really need more poms in the S.I?
Spose you lot aren't tooooooo bad (compared to Afghan refugees lmfao)

[McJim]

All depends what you actually want to get out of New Zealand. If you like urban areas you will find Auckland uncomfortably rural - after living in London & Glasgow I found it very quaint. Christchurch is a bit of a smog pit and there are huge numbers of wankers trying to intimidate the general public with their boom boxes and lowered cars. They don't have the same stringent laws regarding vehicles and modifications as the UK so there are huge numbers of death traps being driven by 15 year olds with no skill or experience.

Insurance is not mandatory so you wil also get a couple of bikes written off from under you by people who will then proceed to pay you $5 per week for the next 115 years.

Give way laws are a bit vague and generally the guy with the bigger car and most dents wins.

Some pome people love the place though so who knows.

[TOTO]

Well said McJim

[ceebie13]

Forget the North Island....come to ChCh and the best motorcycling country in THE WORLD!!!! The South is wicked, little traffic and scenery to die for, seriously. only thing is..do we really need more poms in the S.I?
Spose you lot aren't tooooooo bad (compared to Afghan refugees lmfao)

Hey Rickie...
Have you ever been to Milton Keynes? Well Christchurch is like that. All grid roads and poor signage. And it takes a good two hours (at the national speed limit) to get off the Canterbury Plain from central CHCH before you see any twisties... oh, apart from Akaroa.
Seriously though... you'll love it here. Great riding, great scenery, great people, great chicks....ouch!! sorry love - didn't see you there.

Wellingtonian Pom with sore head..

[Rickie]

Hey Toto,

Thanks for the offer bud, i'll give you a shout.

I think around 3 months max, should be in Australia at the mo (fam. in Melbs) but finances kicked me in the balls...had a flight booked & everything but really need an extra £1k or 2 for security.

The reason I think Auckland is because my first priority is to find work(web/graphic/garment design) and a college to do a part time course. I'm a Yorkshire boy, so obviously love a bit of countryside (part of the attraction of NZ)

Awesome, sounds like y'all having fun on the roads. Has NZ been hit by the stringent 2stroke emissions laws we have here in the UK?

Thinking a DRZ or XR and slowly build it up to a basic SM spec over the year. Then if settled in get a 600 or import my RS125.

Thanks for all the replies and positive attitude guys, much appreciated!

[kwakalover]

i'd agree with martybabe about the roads, there's probably some of the best roads for bikes in the world over here, some are bumpy and crap, wouldn't want to go balls out until you've done the road at least once, but some of them are just made in heaven, sweeping bends with amazing veiws through mountains, coast and forests. i toured the north and south island with a mate on a KTM adventurer and it was just amazing.

that said i'm not sure if i would live here again given the choice, i have a 3 yr old daughter with my ex wife over here so i'll never leave now, but maybe i would if i could, its a great country if you like the sea, fishing and rugby, its what absolutely everything seems to revolve around out here, i loathe all 3 which is probably why i'm not keen on the culture.

the ppl are great, much freindlyer (is that a word?) than in the UK, although you'll find just as many brits and s.africans as kiwi's anyway.

there's heaps of little differences too, like the population is so small there's alot of stuff you can't get or have difficulty getting, take bikes, there must be loads of replica fairing suppliers in the UK, last time i tried you could get virtually anything for any bike, out here there's one!, same with lots of other bits, its really hard to get parts for alot of older bikes, i have an 86 cbr4 and a 90 zx10 and its almost impossible.

its like that with other stuff too, but theres heaps of good points about the place, i came over with alot of my family, most of them think its heaven over here, i can take it or leave it and my brother hated it so much he left after 6 months - i guess you just have to come over and find out.

PS if you love pot noodles (i'm guilty) DON'T come, you can't get them!

[TOTO]

Two websites you may wanna check regarding bike prices:

www.trademe.co.nz - most popular place. Private sales + Dealers

www.motorcycletrader.co.nz - mainly dealer listings

That will give you a feel for the market.

[rapid van cleef]

Hey. heres a few negatives, but on the whole, we love it here. Bikes are way more expensive here generally, than in UK. 2nd hand bikes hold thier value for a long time but insurance is very very cheap and you can do track days on your regular insurance usually(as long as there is no timing involved) I have seen the same bike model I sold in uk for 1100 quid 3 years ago, sell here on trade me for double that. Traffic cops can turn round here........theres no barrier up the middle on most roads. There are very few dual carriage ways like in the UK. which i forgot about and got me 1st ticket after being in NZ for 6 weeks. Cops here are red hot on speeding, not anywhere near as forgiving as in UK. The requirements for passing driving tests here is , well, not as strict as it is in the uk........lots of people have no indicators on their cars(apparently) and the give way rule does not appear to apply on most roundabouts. Public transport is non existant really(compared to UK) People here are generally way nicer than in UK. We can leave our car unlocked , doors unlocked, kids can play out and go off wandering in the supermarket and its not an issue here. I wouldnt let anything out of my site in UK. You get used to not being able to get certain things and the great weather for months and months more than makes up for sitting in traffic jams everywhere in the uk despite being able to get anything that you want.but you have to que for it in UK. Supermarket queues here are laughable, i remember standing in line for over and hour and a half during christmas time in uk at the supermarket...that never happens here. most shops look like they are about to close down as they are so empty compared to uk....thats great.no queues!!!! Sky tv is crap here. During the summer you will not be indoors much. When my dad came to visit he was amazed that there was no 'english type / country pubs' somthing i had not noticed, but i have not found any yet. Use the expat forums in the UK and keep doing your research. a few things have changed about the process since we moved here 3 years ago. all said and done, I wouldnt go back to UK except to visit family n friends. The quality of life here is generally way higher than in UK, not really cheaper, just different in terms of what you can do for free/ cheap and how accessable things are. Oh, And we are from Newcastle.

[martybabe]

i'd agree with martybabe about the roads,


PS if you love pot noodles (i'm guilty) DON'T come, you can't get them!

Hey. heres a few negatives, . Oh, And we are from Newcastle.

I've deleted most of what Kwakalover and rapid van cleef posted purely to save space but I suggest you read both posts in full because in all honesty, I've never read better accounts of what life here is like for us pommy immigrants.

Of course we all see things a little differently but those two posts combined are honest, well expressed, well observed, and pretty darned accurate in my Opinion . Well done guys

P.s. Pak n save do a very tasty braised beef substitute pot noodle thing, It's from China I think so no actual food products are contained in it, but tasty!

[kwakalover]

Hey Martybabe, cheers for that,

are the noodles nice fat ones or the skinny one that makes it look like your eating human hair??

[Rickie]

Yo, Rickie here..

Thanks for all the replies, I'm overwhelmed by the responses! I will try answer each one throughout the week..

First off, the replies from this board have been amazing - never thought there were that many Brits riding in NZ, (but hey, we're all Brits at heart!)

Thanks,

Rickie

[Slyer]

(but hey, we're all Brits at heart!)

Fuck off! British scumbags.

[davereid]

Insurance is not mandatory so you wil also get a couple of bikes written off from under you by people who will then proceed to pay you $5 per week for the next 115 years.

I dont agree with you about that Jim, I would hate third party insurance to be compulsory.

Here why.

1. It's not compulsory so its bloody cheap.
3rd party on my 650 is $65 per year. It would be $650 - $2000 like it is anywhere else if it were compulsory.

2. Even if it was compulsory, it wont help.
You can be sure that the guy who hits you wont have paid it, will be over the drink drive limit, or will have breached the terms of his licence, and his claim will be declined, leaving it back with you.

3. As long as you have third party insurance you are covered.
Most insurers will pay for repairs to your bike and get the loot from the at fault party even if you only have third party cover.

Please leave this one alone, we are well served by our third party laws !