I've been a bit of a lurker on Kiwibiker, but thought I'd break out in the new year and post a wee report on a ride I took to Russell yesterday. Part of the ride was to see how my new tires performed and part was to shake off the cobwebs from a long motorcycling hiatus.
AUCKLAND - WHANGAREI - RUSSELL
The weather was rather nasty from Auckland up to Wellsford, but was beautiful and sunny with a bit of high cloud the rest of the way. Traffic was not too bad on the state highway - mostly free flowing and well behaved.
Auckland to Whangarei was uneventful and rather boring, especially after the Brynderwyn Hills. Traffic petered out and the highway got a little more interesting from Whangarei onward. At one point I wondered if I was still on SH1 - it was narrow, meandering, undulating, and full of pretty agapanthus along the sides. Apparently agapanthus is now a weed in NZ. Eventually, Kawakawa was reached and bypassed to get to the ferry at Opua. The nice folks on the ferry charged my $5.50, put me right at the front, and held the cars up at the other end so that I could get away first without being held up.
Russell is usually a quiet little town, but there must have been two thousand people milling around courtesy of a cruise ship berthed just off shore. It was so crowded that I had trouble finding a decent spot to park the bike. Anyway, parked up, had coffee with friends and then followed them to their bach, which is up a steep, twisty, narrow gravel road. The view at the end is to die for. A fantastic bay of islands panorama holds you enthralled, with pleasure-boats and dolphins frolicking in emerald aquamarine water.
This gravel road is where the new tires come in. As I find myself on these kinds of roads quite often, I wanted to try a tyre that is good on the road, but give a little more control/confidence on gravel and dirt.
THE TIRES:
Michelin Anakee 2
100/90/19 front (with 35psi cold)
130/80/17 rear (with 39psi cold)
Michelin Anakee 2's seemed like a good bet for something like an 80/20 tyre. The price was right at Drury Performance Centre, so I took my wheels over to them a few weeks ago and Mike set me up nicely.
The Anakee 2 experience:
Rough back country roads were handled with aplomb (coastal road from Russell back to Whangarei), and I was also quite comfortable on the windy and wet SH1 bits (Dome Valley and Brynderwyns). On the gravel road, everything seemed to run nicely and even crossing the dodgy ridge of gravel in the middle of the road wasn't much of an issue.
On straight faster sections of the motorway and state highway, the Anakees seemed to be a bit strange - very sensitive to the road surface, and sometimes it felt like the rear was floating about a bit. Perhaps I had too much air in the tires (cold 39 psi rear/33 front), or perhaps it is just a matter of getting used to the tyre profile. This strangeness was not really disconcerting or a problem, it just did not feel "normal".
My previous tires were Avon Road Riders (33 psi in both front and rear) - their profile was much more rounded. I have been through many sets of the Avons and have always been happy with them - just thought I'd give something else a go and see how it is.
Some folks say that the Anakees are "noisy". I tried to listen to them, but they weren't saying much - a bit shy being new perhaps. The wind is howling, bike engine is growling, exhaust pipes are roaring, cars and trucks are running all around - it's a bit of a sensory overload, and detecting any specific noise proved to be a bit beyone me. Overall, except for the floaty bit, the Anakees seemed pretty good.
RUSSELL - WHANGAREI - AUCKLAND
The coastal route from Russell back to Whangarei looked like fun on the map. It was mostly devoid of traffic and went past pretty coves and beaches. Lots of horses in the paddocks along the way, and also many properties up for sale. There are many nice spots to stop for a sandwich (carry it with you as there are almost no shops along the way). Some parts of the road have big clay cliffs on one side and I can just imagine the mess on the roads during heavy rain.
Well, anyway, it took about 4 hours each way. Mind you, I like to take it easy and chill out - I hate edge of the seat sphincter tightening moments. It was still raining in the same places on the way back. The Bonnie's engine seemed to be running hotter than normal. I wonder if this is because it's summer, or my imagination, or my chain is a tad tight making the engine work harder?
Next planned trip is to see Tane Mahuta in the Waipoua Forest.
Thanx for reading
Cheers.
Here is a map of the Russell trip:
http://g.co/maps/a9qe9
And some pictures:
Opua ferry on its way in
Back roads
Baking in the sun
The prize at the end - a fantastic Bay of Islands vista
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Originally Posted by Katman
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