Well, I got me my new wheels and had to make sure it was run in properly, so off I go for a little ride. 4 Weeks and 7,500km later - I think it should be run in now.
To be honest there was an ulterior motive, which was to ride the length and breadth of the North Island and find the best most twistiest road.
Hmm, some company would be nice, but who has 4 weeks spare, more money than sense, doesn't know my dodgy reputation and is stupid enough to try this with me in the middle of winter? Well fortunately I came across the lovely Stirts, she qualified on all counts - and then some, such as cooking, cleaning, dishes, laundry - even though she did leave my underwear as a present for the motelier, I mean how hard is it to take the laundry out of the washing machine and put it in the drier right along side?
Ok, so this was no small task, first we headed north through the Waipoua Forest then through the Mangamuka Gorge around the top and down the east coast taking in Old Russell Road and down to Whangarei then down SH1 to Auckland.
A brief stop over in Auckland and off again.
This time to the Corro GP clockwise via Kaiaua and taking in Coromandel, Whitianga, Whangamata, Waihi and down to Tauranga.
From Tauranga we headed down to Opotoki and took the Waioeka Gorge to Gisborne then on down to Napier via Wairoa.
From Napier we went to Shannon via the Pahiatua Track. The lovely locals took us on some little used roads and back down Vinegar Hill and SH54.
We left Shannon for Masterton via the Saddle road from Ashhurst to Woodville and on out to Castle point and back.
From Masterton we went back roads to Martinborough then over the Rimutaka hill and into Wellington and on up to Whanganui. From Whanganui we took SH4 through to Taumaranui.
Ok, now here is where the roads really start to get interesting.
Most of you I am sure will be familiar with some of the places already mentioned and know that there is some pretty bloody good road in all that. The Waioeka Gorge for instance has a "twisty road 50km" sign at the entrance. SH4 into Whanganui trumps this slightly with a 52km stretch. The Mangamuka has corners banked so high with twists so tight that there are swells about 3m high all the way up the road as one corner transitions to another. The Rimutaka hill was so much fun it took me 3 tries to actually get to the end.
But NOTHING prepared us for the next leg. Take SH43 from Taumaranui to Stratford and there it is folks - 150km of Nirvana.
This road has EVERYTHING you could want including -
Signs advising not to loiter because of frequent slips, More bullshit than KB, no 50km sections or towns (or petrol), 13km of hard packed gravel, awesome scenery, wandering stock (sheep, cows and goats), Northland style repairs, 2 lane sections where each lane is barely wide enough for my bloody bars, a 3m wide tunnel (that fucks with your mind as your peripheral vision is all screwed), slips and washouts, jarring mid corner ruts and bumps - all that and almost end to end twisties.
Ok, it's a dangerous road, I suggest that you keep something up your sleeve on the corners that you can't see around. There are for instance numerous repairs where they just splash down tar and throw marbles on it, most of these have no warning and several are out of sight on the blind side of bends. I lost both the front and the rear on one corner due to hitting clay left on the road where a slip had been cleared on the far side of a blind bend.
There are many sections where speed advisory signs are not provided and it is easy to see why - every corner would need one. In other sections you will see the use of blanket speed advisory signs, for example the standard twisty road for Xkm sign but with a 35kph advisory sign tacked on.
Wandering stock was an issue particularly about the gorge, but tended to clear after the gravel section.
But for all that, it was the longest hard on I ever had and gets my vote as the best road for motorcycling in the North Island.
Below is a sample of one of the 15kph corners you will encounter - If that don't make ya wet, nothing will.
Originally Posted by Tank
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Karma ... Justice catches up eventually !! 
Pass the tissues.
, I too kinda have a curvy figure which makes it worse beacuse im a guy. Well the waist kinda goes in and the bum pushes out. When I was in college the girls in my year would slap me on the arse and squeeze because apparently it is firm, tight...
I wear jeans
weaken the plastic?
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