Waikato scooter rides?

[awa355]

On Wednesday, I 'm riding down to Taumarunui and back to Te A on my 100 scooter. I will be riding the back roads which suit the slower speeds and have less heavy traffic coming up from behind at 100kph.

I would like to see a riding group ( slow) in the Waikato that may be interested in some half/full day rides. Any bike or scooter that is happy buzzing along at around the 80kph mark would fit right in.

I get time most week day afternoons so like to get out for a run.

As there is very little activity on this forum, I dont expect any response, but who knows? someone else may be thinking the same thing.

In April 27-29th , I will take my scooter down through the forgotten highway, stay at Hawera then return on the Monday via either Wanganui or New Plymouth. Will probably leave on the Friday, spend Saturday exploring the Hurleyville area ( family history).

[awa355]

Finished looking around the classic car show at the Te A racecourse by 11.30, so decided to take the scooter for a run. I took the back road through to Otorohanga, skirted around the township and headed up the Waitomo valley road. Lots of tight corners, a few short strips of re sealing gravel. The country south of Oto certainly needs a lot of rain.

At Waitomo it was left then right into Fullerton road. Thankfully the two tourists cars in front of me were turning off just a few k's further. If you think scooters are slow, try sitting behind two krauts doing 10kph while looking for a sign. . Fullerton rd is made for motorcycles, at least it would be if some BASTARD would come along after the re sealing crews and sweep the road clear.

At the Oparure rd, I turned left to Te Kuiti where 2litres later Buggsy and I barrelled up the hill out of town heading to Piopio.

My target was to locate the Piopio cemetery and find the great grand aunty thats been hanging out there since 1923. Interesting backdrop to her story. The husband Isaac took out a life insurance on her in 1920. two years later Isaac is bankrupt, a year later, 1923, Emily dies suddenly at age 53. 1924 sees old Ike re married. Lots of stories from the oldies of the time. Seems Isaac was the black sheep of the family. Anyway, the cemetery is way up a side road on a hillside with a lovely outlook over the country. Not much use to the residents I guess, but there's something serene and peacefull about a small country cemetery that's kept mowed and well tended.

Goal accomplished, I rode back out to SW3 and a few k's back toward Te Kuiti, I turned up Troopers road. Heaps of S bends tight corners. The scenery was lovely. Very brown but the rolling hills and clumps of bush in the hollows and lots of rocky outcrops made the ride very enjoyable.


From Troopers rd it was back to Waitomo and into Otorohanga for a quick feed at Maccas. From there, I kept to the main road looking for slofox's Waikato tag. Back at home in Te Awamutu, the penny dropped. The tag was on the Pirongia road. So whats another 25ks? Off I went, got the tag ( I had taken a new tag photo on my way out to Piopio ).

All up just over 200 ks. The back roads dont make riding a scooter seem particulally slow. I'd like to meet up with others that are keen to do something different.

[deeknow]

Nice one dude, epic ride on the scooter huh. Looks like you got some sweet weather judging by the pics

[awa355]

I set off on Monday Morning on a 3 day quest to Taranaki to find some family history. Just out of Te A, I got above the fog blanket and stopped to admire the view of the sun shining onto the hills and trees standing above the fog.

Photos just dont do justice to natures beauty sometimes. From there, it was back into the fog right through to Awakino, when the sun finally took over. A friend had said that Buggsy would struggle up Mt Messenger, but the little buggar hit the hill like a rocket, albeit, a 'small' rocket. After a breather at the top, it was a slow run down the other side. The road was in shadows and very wet. An easy run into New Plymouth
and then we found a back packers for the night. The afternoon was spent at the Pukeriki library. This trip was, by neccessity, done on the cheap. Never again will I take a Dorm bed. Only two of us in the room but sharing with a stranger, especially a snail sucking french monkey was too much.

Tuesday moning had me aiming for the Okato cemetery to catch up with a family of ancestors, but Buggsy and I decided on the long way there. Carrington road winds its way between the upper reaches of the Taranaki farmlands and the fringes of the mount's forest. Narrow and winding, it was shaded from the sun for most of the road. Adding to the interest was the loose stones washed off the banks onto the corners.

After coming off the mountain into Otako, and a emotional moment at the final resting places of my ancestors, it was off towards Hawera via Newalls / Wiremu roads. A stop at the Newall rd dairy factory which my grand uncle helped set up 90 years ago turned up something I hadn't seen to date in Taranaki, A genuine Taranaki gate, This gates' origin lay in the English background of the early settlers. From the same spot I took this picture. Just out of Kaponga I spied a bike coming towards me, going like the clappers. Before he got to me, he hit the brakes hard and I got a glimpes of a white Buell turning down a side road. Seconds later came a police car over the brow, lights and siren going, he shot right past the side road and kept going. A half k' further on and a second police car went screaming past. The rest of the day in Hawera was spent talking to people and locating two long lost gravesites.

Wednesday morning saw me turning towards my ride home. First up was a stop in Normanby to chat with an elderly distant relative. "Spud told me about his father, Bill Brogden. WW1 at the battle of the Somme, Bill was hit by machinegun fire. He survived, and at the ripe old age of 90 years old, Bill sat and passed his motorcycle licence so he could ride his scooter. He made the local newspaper as the oldest man in NZ to gain a motorbike licence. Good on ya Bill.

The rest of the run from Hawera went good, Mt Messenger was awesome. Buggsy would hold 60ks no problem and the '25kph' corners had us both grinning. Stopped an had a look around Mokau then a good run home.

Buggsy used 24 litres of gas, over 693k's, averaging 28kpl. Considering he only has 100cc and was pulling over 100kg ( rider & luggage) at almost full noise, he did pretty well. When traffic came up behind, I would pull over on the shoulder and let the traffic pass. Humming along at 80ks I settled into a rythym and cruised along. In a years time, I will upgrade to a 250 scooter, but for now Buggsy gets the job done. All comes down to attitude I guess.

[The Baron]

Thanks for a great read (ride report).

I think when you go up to a 250 there will be no stopping you.

Ride safe.

[frogfeaturesFZR]

Great ride report, keep them coming!

As an aside, friends moved to Bayley Rd, Kihikihi, last month. Lovely part of the country.
Ride safe.

[awa355]

Took a couple of hours yesterday afternoon to have a quiet ride around a few of the side roads on the Te Pahu side on Mt Pirongia. First pic is from Bell road looking towards Mt Pirongia. As I said in an earlier post, sometimes photos just dont bring out the sharp crisp colours of Autumn.

The roads were all in good order and ideal for leisurely riding. The lookout at the forest park end of Greys road is now getting overgrown and although I tried for a couple of pictures, none were worth keeping. Back onto Rosborough rd and the farms on the foothills of Pirongia looked lovely. Gullys of natives trees, and lush green paddocks in the late afternoon sun. I shot up Waites road for a look, found what would have been a fantastic panoramic photo, except some mongrel had gone and started building a new house in front of my stop which would have ruined the picture. Waite road is mostly gravel and going uphill was a piece of cake. Coming back down on 10" rims was a bit more interesting.

Limeworks rd is quite tight and winding. This pic shows some locals attempt to create something similar to the bra fence of Otago or the gumboot fence arount Taihape. Somehow tooth brushes dont quite have the same impact.

Just a bit further along is the Kaniwhaniwha stream reserve. Buggsy took some time out to eye up the trout prospects. I've flyfished this stream up from the bridge without a lot of success.

From the stream the road climbs up onto a ridge. Again, the late sun bought out the greens on the hills and the Autumn colours of the trees.

One more photo before turning into Whitaker rd , The photos dont show the sharp cold wind that was blowing. These roads pass through a lot of lovely country and a scooter gives me more time to enjoy the vistas than a faster machine would.

[awa355]

Got Buggsy out of the shed this morning and went for a short run around the back roads.

Wasn't cold at all, untill the last stretch from Otorohanga to Te A. I did about 90k and started thinking, I need to plan another decent scooter ride. I have wanted to do a full on day ride for a while. Waiting untill balmy summer days doesn't do anything for me, so I have a plan.

July 21st, I'm going to leave Te Awamutu early and do the Coromandel loop. Kopu to Kopu via Coromandel, Whitanga is a run I haven't done yet. From home to home will make it a 530k ride. (approx).

I know there are a lot of dumb bastards on KB, but whether there are any silly enough to do this ride on a scooter, in July ( apart from me), I'm not sure.

If there are scooter riders that are keen on a challenge and have a scooter, or an old or small commuter bike in the 100-200cc range, give this some thought.

I plan on getting to Kopu by 10am so if you are interested, and I know you are coming I could meet about there. This isn't a marathon ride by any means but I'm going to do it anyway. If this weekend is solid rain, then I would flag it, but a few showers wont matter.

[craisin]

Hope to see some good pictures
All the best

[wharekura]

I like slower speed rides so will be keen on some sort of overnight trip one weekend with a stopover at a bar that we can crash at. I'll try and fit in with you but am renovating weekends with inlaw.

[awa355]

If I get no response for company on this ride, I may go on the Saturday and camp at Coromandel. That would give me time to look at Colville bay and other side roads.

I still like the idea of a long hard dawn to dusk type one day ride.

[craisin]

If I get no response for company on this ride, I may go on the Saturday and camp at Coromandel. That would give me time to look at Colville bay and other side roads.

I still like the idea of a long hard dawn to dusk type one day ride.

if you could get us back to 1970 i would be happy to ride anywhere with you.

[awa355]

if you could get us back to 1970 i would be happy to ride anywhere with you.

1970 this is my 1st beast. 50cc, 3spd 3.5hp. Cost $162 brand new. I put down $60 deposit and paid the balance over 12 months. Came up a steep hill one night with my mate on the back. We T-boned the biggest possum in NZ. The front wheel went up, My mate went off the seat onto the number plate, somehow we came to a halt without dropping the scooter or falling off.

The photo is not very good.

[craisin]

i have a suzuki step thru from 74? that has no motor
that i was going to put a genuine 49cc chinese 4 stroke.
i need a downdraught carb like some of the old honda had save the hardwork of the induction having a corner init

it had rexed like crazy in second gear fourth was downhill only

the 72cc blew second gear no taco serious rev s got 60kmh

[awa355]

My day off, the wife has gone to work and there's $30 in my acc that she doesn't know about so guess what? That's right, put the riding gear on and here's my chance to try Buggsy's tyres on some wet roads. As it turned out, the rain only came throughout the day in small doses, but the fog that hung around kept the road surfaces nice and wet. I was getting Buggsy cranked over through many of the corners and never had an anxious moment.

I stopped to get a photo of the rowers out on lake Karapiro, but the foggy background and overcast weather made for dull pics so the rowers are a no show. Past Maungatautari and down to the Piarere bridge. Got my first decent photo just across the bridge, looking back towards the ski club.

Onwards to Tirau and an hour spent with two riding buddys from the early seventies. After swapping lies about stray women and fast bikes, it was back on the road. I wanted to ride through to Morrinsville via the backroads skirting the Whitechapel hills and Matamata. First, Totmans rd, then Puketutu, Henry Watson roads. This pic is from the Henry Watson road.

After a diversion up a side road looking for a decent scenic photo it was on to Kiwitahi and into Morrinsville. I had wanted to look at the new Moto Guzzis at NV Motorcycles. If I could've pulled 14g out of my back pocket I would have ridden away on a lovely green cafe styled V7. I fueled Buggsy up and we mozzied back to Kiwitahi. Into Waterworks rd, we climbed for quite a way. Another pic from this road.

This road had a short stretch of gravel then right onto Te Miro rd, Fencourt rd and from there into Maungakawa rd. This has a climb of about 5 ks, all tight 25- 45kph corners, Magic. At the top a short gravel road leads to the Gudex Reserve. This has been developed from the grounds of the old TB sanatorium that operated here from tha 1890's to the late 1940's. My grandfather was sent here with TB from which he died in 1948. So this quiet spot had a special significance for me. The monument of stone is dedicated to Michael Gudex who developed the grounds after the hospital closed. The hill in the distance is Kakapuku. Pirongia is to the right under a cloud.

Riding Buggsy down the Maungakawa hill was a grin factor of 10/10. We had a choice of right into Cambridge and straight home or the 'long way home'. Yep, left into French pass road and lots more twisties.

Into Karapiro village, I snapped one more photo.

From here, a short run back to Te A. All up, 240 kilometers. While I will eventually get back into a big bike, this scooter has opened up many local roads that on a big bike, I would probably race past.

Now, I still have a day off tomorrow, and some petrol money left, Maybe a ride and Harbour, Waitomo roads?? Then on the 21st, its a run around the Coromandel loop.