5 Day East Cape/Coro trip Jan 2nd-6th

[Howie]

Hey Dave, looks like you had a good few days away. It was a bit windy on Monday though, I hit the wind in the Rapa on the way home on Monday.

[Paladin]

Hey Dave, looks like you had a good few days away. It was a bit windy on Monday though, I hit the wind in the Rapa on the way home on Monday.

Yeah mate, was windy as hell on the way to Wanganui! All pretty good after that and no rain, in fact it was darn hot! We also hit some NASTY wind coming back over the 'Takas on Wed nite, some of the worst I have ridden in on that hill!
I thoroughly enjoyed the Gentle Annie and glad to have done it before they complete the seal this year - probably maybe 30k ish of gravel in the middle(did you check that on your ride?) and Route 52 was great too! Hardly saw any traffic on either of those routes - always a good thing!

[Howie]

Yeah mate, was windy as hell on the way to Wanganui! All pretty good after that and no rain, in fact it was darn hot! We also hit some NASTY wind coming back over the 'Takas on Wed nite, some of the worst I have ridden in on that hill!

Thr Rimutaka's can sure be interesting when it's windy.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Gentle Annie and glad to have done it before they complete the seal this year - probably maybe 30k ish of gravel in the middle(did you check that on your ride?) and Route 52 was great too! Hardly saw any traffic on either of those routes - always a good thing!

Yep Bart came up, and we probably did the least distance that you can on the Napier-Taihape road. It's all written up over here http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ke-s-Bay/page5

[Paladin]

Yep Bart came up, and we probably did the least distance that you can on the Napier-Taihape road. It's all written up over here http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ke-s-Bay/page5

Yep, looks like you two had a blast! If up in the Gentle Annie area again, I certainly would like to explore some gravel roads too; Ben and I just didn't have time for that unfortunately. And Ben certainly wouldn't have been comfortable on tracks on the Navigator with the road tyres he is running and I'm not gonna be getting too aggressive on the T/A until at the very least it has crash bars and knobblies on!!!! It DOES handle well on the gravel though, so I'm very pleased with that.

[Aslan]

Day3:

After a night camped out near Cape Kidnappers, we headed south on SH2 until Waipukurau where we turned off onto Route 52, which I think is also known as the "Old Wellington Coach Road". The plan was to head all the way down this road to Masterton. Passed that place with NZ's longest place name! Had a little side trip up the gravel to Waihi Falls from Waione. Got to Alfredton & Benjah had a fuel warning light on(!) so we didn't make the turn to stay on Route 52 and headed into Ekatahuna for gas, latte & a toasted sammy! And there we met Chris on his trusty steed, the KTM 690 on his mammoth tour southwards. He had just finished a days ride with Bart and by mad coincidence we were all in Ekatahuna fuelling up at the same time! All three of us then blatted down to Masterton on SH2 to JMJ's!

A little under 1100kms by the time I got home!

It may not have been 5 days OR the East Cape, but it was a fun 3 days nonetheless and a good test of the new bike! I was most impressed with the T/A; comfortable and very happy on the seal AND gravel!!! It eats up the miles (and corners LOL!) on the seal and is very stable on the gravel especially when standing up on the pegs as it gives good leg position and you feel well planted over the front wheel!

Glad for you that you had a good trip Dave and that you're pleased with the T/A

[Paladin]

Glad for you that you had a good trip Dave and that you're pleased with the T/A

Cheers Stephen, it was a nice way to get a better feel for the T/A!