I left Auckland Friday morning and headed over the Bombays in "motorway traffic" down to Rangiriri where I crossed to the west side of the river and from there on down to Waotu just outside Tokoroa I pretty much had the road to myself.
Stopped for gas at Te Awamutu an had a yarn with five people riding older Nortons and Triumphs.
They were heading for a bike show in Wairoa via Taumaranui-Taupo-Napier,,,,,,It took a bit not to follow them.But I stuck to the plan an got to the old folks home with zero incidents "just cool corners and old memories.
Yesterday I left Waotu and took the Old Taupo rd past Tokoroa out through Whakamaru on to the Taupo western access an once again had the road to myself through to Taumarunui.
Travelling through the forest between Tokoroa an Whakamaru is the road I learnt to drive and ride on and on Saturday morning it had a light damp fog heading past Toke but then dried out a couple of kms south of town.
Smooth flowing 100mph corners and perfect road conditions "getting to Whakamaru didn't take long but I needed a smoko break by the time I got there..
Had big trout rising 10 meters from the bank as I lent on the bike an watched,,,still no traffic,just ducks an mist hanging low over the lake.
Always planned to take photos from various places on the western access rd so this time I stopped an did just that several times.
Will post later.
Yesterday avo' I left Taumaranui around 5:00pm and once again the traffic seems quite light until I hooked up with HW#1 again at Ngaruwhakia "but by then I was into following the car in front mode so was happy to just trundle along for the last part of the ride.
Stopped for pie at Te Kuiti and spoke to a huge guy called Spider riding an older Victory "very nice bike not as shiny as the newer ones.
Stopped again at Mercer/Muddywaters an watched the local Auckland HD lifestyle people for a bit but didn't talk to anybody because I haven't got enough badges.
Hit the peninsula in the dark and had one of the best scratches up my own road I have for a while.
My first trip on the new bike,so it ran like a clock has good power an handles 80% but it's uncomfortable due to shite suspension which also robs much from it's handling,,,,nothing a $grand or so couldn't fix but it's quite livable for now an I'm broke so it can wait.
The brakes work well but they feel soft,,,might be a Triumph thing,,I dunno,,they do work aye.
Clean check chain,tyres,Oil change,wash today.![]()
No to the hill climb/burnout. I wanted to make sure I was able to get home again.
A quick count of my Brass monkey badges ... next one will be #18. But as I live only 45 minutes ride (At the speed limit) it's not that big a deal.
The pic is in 09 when we had some light snow. Only about 4 deg below zero. But I do recall one (96 I think) that got to 14 below. (I was riding the Suzuki)
When life throws you a curve ... Lean into it ...
Good Lord am I exhausted... went to Mangakino via Poihipi Road then Te Awamutu through Ngaruawahia and on to Auckland. Soooooooooooo much traffic! Te Awamutu to the shore ended up being an almost 3.5 hour trip. Blargh!
Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.
That tends to happen on state highways
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Hi Guys,
Been reading this thread for the past few days as I was going through the same situation. Just thought I'd share my few pics I got as I am just getting into riding but having a bunch of fun. Hope I'm not treading on anyones toes by posting this up here.
Rode from Palmerston North to Tauranga on Thursday. Left at about 9am and proceeded up SH1-SH5-SH33-SH2. Was foggy until north of Bulls which was something new for me so took it easy. Roads were not heavy with traffic at all on the way up but I took a few rest stops as this is the first ride of this length I have done.
Came back down today. SH1 was busy busy as usual (should have done a fuel stop somewhere other than Turangi) so I went down Vinegar Hill and had a little blat through there, no one seems to ever go that way...
Anyway enough jibber jabber here are a few piccies. Should be fairly easy to guess where they all are.
Andrew
Nice photos Andrew. Did you go all on your lonesome?
Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.
I spent the better part of ngaruawahia through almost to Takanini (where I got off cause I was exhausted) going a lot of the time slower than first gear or if I was lucky, up to 2nd. I was fortunate enough to get up to 5th for awhile just before the bombays but my hopes were dashed shortly thereafter. In the end (somewhere around ngaruawahia and then huntly) I had to hop on the shoulder for a bit cause I didn't know how much longer I could last, my hands, wrists and forearms were killing me, was god damn torture.
Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.
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