Northern DB1k attempt

[NordieBoy]

I'm learning to find the clip that holds the nozzle open, that car drivers use, otherwise my arm cramps up when filling from near empty.

Don't have that issue with the 9L TT tank.

Dammit.

[alane]

THIS IS GUNNA BE GOOD.

Hope the support crew get some good pics.

GOOD LUCK TOPO.

[topo]

well i'm off

[CrazyFrog]

Well, he's off.
Weather : Absolutely dead calm, and fine, plenty of stars out. Northerly forecast to pick up mid morn, so tailwind down the Molesworth.
Daybreak is around 0520, actual sunrise is 0550, so will only have a road "liason" stage in the dark before SS1 through the forestry road and Mangatapu on daybreak.

I suppose I should really get on my moto and lead him out of town......

[CrazyFrog]

Well that first part was fun!
We left right on 0530 from town, and travelled SH6 to the top of the Whangamoas to avoid the Maitai Rd closure, then took the forestry roads descending into Boiler Gully and over Teal Saddle, then onto the Mangatapu track.
Our ave speed by GPS was 69 kmph at the top of the Mangatapu, pretty good considering the condition of the track and forestry roads, so I'd say Topo will give this 1000km target a good nudge in a respectable time. His riding was smooth and consistantly quick, was like following any one of the Dakar riders, very nice!

I unleashed the Mapua Kid at the top and made my way down to Pelorus at a slightly more leisurely pace, then gapped it back home for work, grrrrrr.

He's just summited Altimarloch at 0815 by the looks of his tracker, all good so far.

[topo]

Well that was a bit of a disaster


had a steady run till just before the molesworth where the ignition barrel/key decided not to function for some reason, managed to bypass that fairly quickly only to get 2km down the road and have to stop for a front puncture.

once i got that fixed it was a great run through to hanmer and up the rainbow (which is in great condition). put a few extra litres in the tank in st arnurd and cracked on to murch, unfortunatley i "stacked it" on the way up the porika putting the bike off the side about 10m from where javahead did it in 09. no major dammage done to me but a stick went through the front wheel breaking the speedo cable and somehow tweaking the banjo bolt on the caliper rendering the front brake useless

eventually made it into murch at 2pm and called it quits, if anyone wants a real challenge try riding down the porika into lake rotoroa with no front brake - talk about a relief to get to the bottom still upright.

at the pace i was going without the problems i reckon sub 14hrs would have been possible, so Dave if you really did it in 14 on the beemer full credit to you!

Anywho, i'm off for a shower.

Topo

[javahead]

Glad you're back in one piece. Sounds like a good day's riding nonetheless.
A

[Underground]

Nice try Topo, glad you survived the attempt intact and the bike only seems to have minor issues.
I've done the porika on the AT in the other direction with no rear brake but I think if I was in your situation with no front I would have been turning round and heading back.
That downhill is a bit of a clencher with everything working.

[NordieBoy]

We did 508km for the day which is a nice 2 day pace.
Apart from the dust it was perfect conditions.

Lots of traffic too.

[topo]

We did 508km for the day which is a nice 2 day pace.
Apart from the dust it was perfect conditions.

Lots of traffic too.

i did 515km till i broke the speedo cable/brake so prob 700ish all up to murch and home, feeling pretty good really.

the molesworth was empty for me but i passed 15-20 4wds on the rainbow!

[Woodman]

Good work and bad luck.

Did you go over a different Rainbow than us? Parts were ok, the rest was not.

Seems to be broken bike day today.

[Transalper]

Well J and I did 595km today (Rainbow and Maruia Saddle were the only gravel). We were well behind topo when we entered the Rainbow after lunching in Hanmer. The DOC survey guy mentioned the rider doing a 1000km ride was through earlier. I thought the Rainbow was a bit of a mess, potholes and corrugation as big as ever early on and after the old homestead.
Couple of places were better than usual, but they were fairly short bits in the overall picture.
Grader was moving about near Hells Gate and several areas with no wheel tracks to ride in.



Sorry to read of the crash to DNF.... wonder were you pushing too hard to loose it on the Porika or was it just as likely to happen at a pace set to conserve rider and machine in order to finish?

[topo]

Well J and I did 595km today (Rainbow and Maruia Saddle were the only gravel). We were well behind topo when we entered the Rainbow after lunching in Hanmer. The DOC survey guy mentioned the rider doing a 1000km ride was through earlier. I thought the Rainbow was a bit of a mess, potholes and corrugation as big as ever early on and after the old homestead.
Couple of places were better than usual, but they were fairly short bits in the overall picture.
Grader was moving about near Hells Gate and several areas with no wheel tracks to ride in.



Sorry to read of the crash to DNF.... wonder were you pushing too hard to loose it on the Porika or was it just as likely to happen at a pace set to conserve rider and machine in order to finish?

I guess road conditions are in the eye of the rder at the time eh, the loose stuf doesn't worry me too much anymore, and the holes/bumps are fun to jump over.

My crash wasn't a major one, basically it started wheel spinning on a slippery section then hooked up unexpectedly leading to a forced 180deg wheelie/spin with the bike ending up off the bank facing the way i just came from. I ended up sitting on a big rock wondering what the hell just happened. dammaging the brake banjo bolt jas just a freak incident and is alreday fixed ready for a ride tonight.

[_Shrek_]

puting knobblies back on, can't just read about you guys having so much fun out there, but a great read all the same

[alane]

Yea!!!

Taa to a toppled topo.