Highway 22, who's been?!

[superman]

Went on my first group ride Thursday night, set off from Red Hill Papakura, and went through Hunua and Bombay to get to Pukekohe for our tank fill which was already an awesome road in itself. Twisties galore!

Was me on my little 250 Ninja, and a couple of mates of mine, one on a Fireblade 900cc and another on some type of Suzuki 400. Set off at about 9:50pm. Almost no traffic = bliss

Headed on highway 22 from Pukekohe, and wow. That road is amazing, if you ever have the time do it. I'll have to do it again during day time so I can see some scenery too but the roads are just great. Except in a couple of places where the road has large bumps and cracks, though signs warn you so it's fine. AND BLOODY ROADWORKS!

Problem at that time of night was all the possums, though they freeze in the road unlike the rabbits but I kept myself 3rd in the group so I could always see when they started to brake for the animals

Note: Don't do this without nice and warm gear... at least at night. Still waiting on my leather pants so jeans was the only option

But either way for my first group ride was awesome trip, came back up to Auckland along the main road from Hamilton after some Maccas, that highway 22 is definitely a beast to conquer. Will have to do many more now, especially during a nice day instead of the freezing night!

[jtzzr]

Shes` a good ride mate , wouldnt suggest it at night with no experience, some tight bits in there and a lot of the time there`s that pea gravel on the odd bend(not cool) and the odd wandering cow (but not too often).

Have a go , Don`t forget to look out for the raglan turn on the right by the gravel dump or you will miss it, it`s happened before.

[superman]

Shes` a good ride mate , wouldnt suggest it at night with no experience, some tight bits in there and a lot of the time there`s that pea gravel on the odd bend(not cool) and the odd wandering cow (but not too often).

Have a go , Don`t forget to look out for the raglan turn on the right by the gravel dump or you will miss it, it`s happened before.

Yeah there's no way I would have gone without other people. Could gauge the corners by seeing how the others took them before I came up to have a go. Always an experience to see someone kick a possum in the face with a steel cap boot though

[awa355]

If you want to re do part of H22 on your return leg,, turn off HW1 at Huntly, go past the power stn and onto Heatherington rd. It comes out on the Waingaro rd, turn right and head back to Pukekohe. Quite tight but would suit a light quick turning sportsbike.
Or come right down H22 to the Raglan rd, left to Whatawhata, left to Ngaruawahia, Waingaro rd, H22, home. Plenty of roadworks to make some of the corners interesting.
A deviation off H22 is a 'there and back' run to Te Akau. Lovely views and corners.

[Mully]

SH22 is nicer Northbound (IMHO)

Have a go at going South on SH1 and coming back on 22 next time,

But probably in the daytime....

[Neon]

SH22 is nicer Northbound (IMHO)

Yeah I'll second that. I've done it loads of times in both directions and it's a good technical ride, if a bit of a goat track in places. But Northbound is more fun.

As already mentioned, unmarked gravel can be a bit of a hazard as well as livestock, but nothing has been quite as undie-changing as a couple of years back after a particularly wet winter when the road had subsided in a few places by 10cm or so

[boman]

Done 22 quite a few times. A great ride down to Raglan. I wouldn't be keen in the dark tho. Even raining would be a tad slippery. But still a great ride.

[slofox]

SH22 is nicer Northbound (IMHO)

Have a go at going South on SH1 and coming back on 22 next time,

But probably in the daytime....

I agree about northbound. Southbound, there are a few odd camber corners. I always feel happier northbound.

From The Tron, you have the option of going as far as Heatherington Road and looping back to Huntly - or to Pukekawa and looping back to Mercer or all the way up to Tuakau...

I've done it in the early morning a few times. And had to dodge rabbits all over the place. Dumb rabbits that try to run under your wheels...oh and the odd harrier on the roadkill as well...

[superman]

I agree about northbound. Southbound, there are a few odd camber corners. I always feel happier northbound.

From The Tron, you have the option of going as far as Heatherington Road and looping back to Huntly - or to Pukekawa and looping back to Mercer or all the way up to Tuakau...

I've done it in the early morning a few times. And had to dodge rabbits all over the place. Dumb rabbits that try to run under your wheels...oh and the odd harrier on the roadkill as well...

Yeah I had a couple of nasty feeling corners. Worst was a wide radius right bend followed immediately by a tight left bend. No straight to brake from the faster corner into the slower corner and nearly shat myself into a tree.

[ital916]

Yeah I had a couple of nasty feeling corners. Worst was a wide radius right bend followed immediately by a tight left bend. No straight to brake from the faster corner into the slower corner and nearly shat myself into a tree.

Don't freeze, don't chop the throttle, just relax, look through the corner, lean her over and trust your tires.