Popular track conditions, including Molesworth & Rainbow conditions (December 2011)

[Padmei]

For those that are planning a trip thru soon & haven't read the reports in the other threads on at the moment.
For 28th Dec 2011
Molesworth. Good conditions can go though on a road bike with road tyres i reckon (well you know what I mean)

Rainbow. Ridden from Hanmer towards St Arnaud - Not so good. Slippery most of the way through in comparison. At times riding on the deep gravel in the middle it felt like both my tyres were flat. The slips were nicely graded & fords were good. A couple of fords towards the end were a tad deep - axle depth perhaps? We did see a SV650 come thru the other way looking comfortable.

Ryans corner is still there & still caught me unawares...
At the St Arnaud end after the pay gate the roads are smoother ie no gravel however it is riddled with deeeeeeep potholes. These are the worse i've seen for years. They creep up unexpectedly as you tend to travel faster over the otherwise smoother non gravellled road.
if you are travelling 2 up or fully loaded i would suggest taking it pretty slowly thru this section. it caused damage to 2 of our bikes thru sudden bottoming out. Of course if you are on a trail bike like topo did then jsut go for it.
Hope this helps & please continue to revise as conditions change

[Aslan]

Hi Padmei - thanks for posting - useful info for anyone - specially those of us planning on coming through one of these iconic routes en route to the Dusty Butt S

[Transalper]

...Rainbow. Ridden from Hanmer towards St Arnaud....
if you are travelling 2 up or fully loaded i would suggest taking it pretty slowly thru this section....

The Rainbow (Hanmer Jacks Pass, up to SHW63 near St Arnaud)...
Two up on the transalp took me 3 hours 17 minutes from the start of Jacks Pass (Hanmer end) to the SHW63 intersection.
We saw the SV650 too. Think he was buzzing with a grin over taking a soft bellied road bike through. I kind of felt sorry for the bike as my bash plate had already been making some noise.

[Waihou Thumper]

Send a PM to Jantar, change the title to Track (sp) I presume

Popular Tracks and their conditions, updated regularly by Kiwibikers

This could be made a sticky and include ALL of New Zealand?
What do you think?

[schrodingers cat]

I've driven through the Molesworth Road 3 x in the last couple of months for work.
The road from Hanmer to the 'Road closed' bridge is all gravel and is poorly maintained with lots of potholes.
The road from the bridge to Molesworth is all gravel has been graded. It is in pretty good condition.
From Molesworth up through the Awatere is a mix od gravel and seal and likewise is in good condition.
You'd have to be a bit nuts to ride this on a sportsbike but anything else which is comfortable on a gravel road would be fine. I agree 'road' tyres would be ok.

It is an awesome road. Give yourself lots of time. Careful on the (many) blind corners. There are two fords which can catch you unawares if you're fanging along...

Enjoy the views

[NordieBoy]

The only (proper) way from Hanmer to the bridge is over Jollies Pass which is in pretty good condition.

Jacks Pass is crap...

[cooneyr]

The only (proper) way from Hanmer to the bridge is over Jollies Pass which is in pretty good condition.

Jacks Pass is crap...

The properest way is via hydro road. Don't know anybody who's got up it yet though.

[NordieBoy]

The properest was is via hydro road. Don't know anybody who's got up it yet though.

Now you tell us...

[topo]

Well i guess i could contribute too.


PORIKA TRACK- currently has some small water ruts and quite a few loose rocks on the St Arnurd side, nothing too serious but could catch a front tire if not looking. The lake side is actualy quite washed out with plenty of loose rocks on the surface and some water ruts making life interesting, i'd happily take a beemer through as long as it had good tires (E09 or similar) however i'd probaly bypass it if two up, while not too scary the extra weight of a big bike would definately require extra care at the moment.

reccomended tires - TKC/E09 or knobblier



BRAEBURN TRACK - excelent condition, hard packed with minimal centre ridge. The fords are exceptionally slippery at the moment being the only possible issue.

reccomended tires - black and round



MATAKTAKI VLY/MARUIA SADDLE - The Matakitaki Valley road is hard and fast as usual with minimal loose material on the center ridge. once on the Maruia Saddle rd the surface becomes quite sandy although quite hardpacked with the odd large granite rock poking it's head out, it's in really good condition with all the fords easily crossed having been repaired over the winter. Watch out for windfall on the road, i noticed a number of branches sticking out from the inside bank when i was last through (2 weeks ago).

reccomended tires - any will do but something with a knob on the front will make it a bit more fun especiall in the maruia saddle section.



TAPAWERA-GLENHOPE via SHERRY RIVER rd/TADMORE-GLENHOPE rd - This road is currently in the best condition i've seen it!, it's hardpacked with a small center ridge but due to recent logging and fire visibility is great. Watch out for rabbits and hares all the way through, there's thousands of the little buggers waiting to take you out. The start of sherry river (tap end) has some VERY long grass on the roadside which was hiding some kamikazi sheep.

reccomended tires - black and round unless it's actually raining at the time when a knobblie would be good although not nessary, i went through a few weeks ago after the big rain and there was traction in spades once the rain had stopped.

[RTWbyBIKE.com]

Hi everyone,

I want to do the Malthworth down to Hamner Springs tomorrow and up the Rainbow a day later, 2up, fully loaded XRV750, 480kg in total... do you see any problem?

cheers, Sascha

[Devil]

Just get in there before the rain does

[Padmei]

Hi everyone,

I want to do the Malthworth down to Hamner Springs tomorrow and up the Rainbow a day later, 2up, fully loaded XRV750, 480kg in total... do you see any problem?

cheers, Sascha

Yes get that lisp sorted out.

BTW welcome to kiwibiker.

[Shewolf]

hey Sascha, welome! Been following your blog, hope you're havn an excellent time here.

You should be fine - we passed 2 x GS's 2 up on both roads and they were managing just fine.

There's a grader working up and down Rainbow to watch out for and as mentioned in other posts, squidgy metal in some places and maneating potholes.

Hi everyone,

I want to do the Malthworth down to Hamner Springs tomorrow and up the Rainbow a day later, 2up, fully loaded XRV750, 480kg in total... do you see any problem?

cheers, Sascha

[buggsubique]

Hi everyone,

I want to do the Malthworth down to Hamner Springs tomorrow and up the Rainbow a day later, 2up, fully loaded XRV750, 480kg in total... do you see any problem?

cheers, Sascha

Shame, I will just miss you by a day as I leave Hanmer tomorrow! I have just subscribed to your blog - look forward to keeping up!

As you are riding an Africa Twin I doubt you will have any problems at all. Just be cautious of large pot holes on your way through Rainbow station. With that weight, it could play havoc on the AT's ageing shocks as some are very large and hard hitting.

Enjoy the ride!

[RTWbyBIKE.com]

lisp?

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

My suspension is 8.500km "old", got a revamp (new spring made for the extra weight) b4 I came to NZ. We did now 8.200km in KiwiLand! All great, great people, country, roads... ALL! Just loving it!

We did Thomson´s Track (love it!!!!), Skippers Kanyon, Danseys, Louis, Arthur´s, Hakaratarea, Old Dunston Gold Track, Walter Peak, +7500 roads zigzag through NZ.

Now unfortunately we have to hurry up a bit, have to go to SEA b4 the rain season comes... but nevertheless 3 weeks to go here...