Worst Ride You've Had?

[Dadpole]

Taupo to Auckland - Late Autumn - night ride.
And some cunt had nicked my gloves in Taupo. I took off my socks and used them as gloves. That just gave me terminal frostbite of the toes as well as fingers.

[Big Dave]

Damn there are some funny yarns in this lot.
Still wouldn't swap riding for quids aye.

(^ nice mix of trans tasman colloquialisms in that lot!)

[Motu]

I've had plenty of bad days riding,but there is always something to make them memorable and give a smile.

But I remember one ride that was hard work all the way.I think it was the 1980 Cold Kiwi,the last one when they stopped it for a few years.A mate came down on a Triumph with a blown head gasket,we pulled the head off,but there was no way to repair it.Ray Pratt was camped next door,and as they had brought down a big van (a no no back then,it was bikes only) they put the bike in the back of the van,to bring home a couple of days later as they were taking a few days longer.

So my wife and I had to pillion our friend and his pillion home on our bikes,plus all their gear too.My wife was teamed with our mate,and they shared the riding....but I got the other guy who was the worst pillion I have ever carried.He had no idea and would lurch around all over the place,I had a hell of a job controlling the bike.One time something started to fall off the bike and I pulled over...as we were on the gravel shoulder he starts wrestling with the gear and the bike is just going all over the place.In towns and cities I had to ride up to intersections and lights with both feet down like a learner,I just had no idea what he was going to do next.That was a hell of a ride,and I was glad when it was finally over.

[crusa]

Brought a XL125 back in 1985 in Auckland,rode it back to Napier,was nice and fine in auckland when i left in the morning but was pissing down by the time i got to taupo,i hate riding with wet feet and rain stinging my face, dumbest ride ive done and the napier to taupo road wasnt the best back then but the tarawera pub was all good for a pick me up .Its a full face these days and waterproof everything.

[warewolf]

The dirt road (4wd track really) out to Yerranderie, NSW, from Sydney. Very late Friday night by that stage, misty rain, patchy but thick fog. On a CBX250 loaded up with camping & caving gear.

The road was a mixture of slimy clay, sharp broken rock, gravel, sudden steep hills, potholes the size of a small Pacific nation, puddles of unknown depth, the works. There are unmarked cliffs along the road, adding to the hazards. As in the rock wall to your right becomes a wall of fog, you can't see the road ahead, then you suddenly realise that the track has just made a sharp right turn and there ain't nothin' ahead in that fog!

To add to my woes, those in the 4wd behind could follow my lead so would keep catching up, blinding me. They didn't want to lead because they couldn't see in the fog/rain. Sooks.

It was real hard yakka. I was cold, wet hands & feet, tired and drowsy. I thought I've gotta stop, I can hide the bike in the scrub on the side of the road and jump in the 4wd. So I flagged them down, suggested it, they said it was only a couple of kays more. A couple turned into 5 but jeez that seemed to take ages. I was absolutely knackered, and dreading the ride out on Sunday arvo.

It was fine in the dry in daylight - the 4wd couldn't keep up, not even close!

It was definitely one of those rides where I questioned my sanity. I'm still looking for an answer!

[Smorg]

behind JSG on a kiwibiker ride..................fucken death

[Big Dave]

I questioned my sanity. I'm still looking for an answer!

Nude, the room full of mirrors and a long hard look at yourself, Colin.
http://triplej.net.au/thissportinglife/

[Bonez]

What is the Worst Ride You've Had? (Without falling off).

Bulls to Wellington on an XT600.
A few years ago and I was a fair bit heavier than now.
Not a bad bike, but that's my un-favourite bit of road in NZ and the seat is 2" wide - plus it struggled up an incline in the screaming sou easter with mr windsock on it. Misery.

Yours?

You poor thing.

Makes my fortnighly winter rides from Auckland to Havelock North on my old CJ250T seem so insignificant.


Seriously my worse was on a trip when every bike on one ride had some sort of failure. 4 days and only about 300kms traveled. Ended up turning back home because we'd all had enough.

[Lord Derosso]

1./ Getting caught in a blizzard at nighttime on the desert road in 1981 on a GS750 with a mate on a clapped out Tiger 650, nearly dying of cold and finally making it to the Wairoru pub where the cops turned up to question us and to ID the 'bodies' a truckie said they would be looking for in the morning.

2./ Taranaki in mid summer approx 1998.

On a XV500 heading towards the mountain to go up the coast to Hamilton.
Wind got extreme, rain got extreme, foam was coming from the sea cliffs 400 metres away and been blown like snow across the road. Wind got worse. pulled into a large country pub/motel. Wind got worse, parked bike INSIDE pub. Roof started to come off pub. Tornedo narrowly missed pub. Continued riding approx 2pm. Came to Arakino Gorge? nth of New Plymouth. Huge landslip covering road. Stupidly tried to cross it and got stuck. Boulders begin to fall over and around my head. Panic and freak big time. Nice trucker pushes me and bike out of the mud. Finally make it to Te Kuiti and stayed at a pub. They treated me like the wet rat I was and even washed all my soaked gear. DONT GO TO TARANAKI IN SUMMERTIME. !

[frogfeaturesFZR]

Rode from Akld to Whakatane just as cyclone Bola hit. 3 hr ride took me 5 hrs. On my old naked Honde 750......Doh

[JT.]

dunedin to chch a week after the big snow fall this year. Sub zero temps and rain for most of the trip. I was moving back to chch, some mates had come down in their car and a couple of them were driving my car back. My car blew up 10 minutes out of dunners so they had to tow it. I was stopping at every second pub to defrost and let them catch up. Then it got dark and all I could see was the oncoming car lights and the power poles reflecting from my lights, just had to try keep bike somewhere in between. That is the only ride I've been glad to get off the bike.

[Beemer]

... I managed to get to Ohau (out of Otaki) in about the only half hour gap the road was open! I was on my way to Napier. Had to stay in Ohau - gorge shut...

Where the hell did you stay in Ohau? It's basically a settlement (about five kms south of Levin - closer to there than Otaki) of houses, no motels or anything - did you have friends there?

[Bloody Mad Woman (BMW)]

Yeah I had friends there!! Otherwise I would never have known it existed!!

[Steam]

Yup, well I'd never been in a hurricane before and as work and all government offices had been closed for the day due to high winds, I decided to go try to find the eye of the storm, which was supposed to be passing about 20 km north of where i lived.
I only went about 1 or 2 kms before being blown off the bike into a rice-paddy (I was only going 20 kph, so it was more hilarious than dangerous).
But on the way back I saw whole sheets of deadly jagged roofing iron flying across the road without touching the tarmac, cars crushed by falling trees and power poles, and trees down everywhere.
It was foolish but I was a foreigner in an interesting country and I'd never seen a hurricane except on TV.
A reminder for next time, Hurricanes = Dangerous.

[HenryDorsetCase]

I rode from Invercargill to Chch in early May a few years ago. On a GPz500 (the twin I think its properly called an EX500). It started snowing just as I was leaving Invers, and there was no way I was turning back. The snow was absolutely thick between there and Gore. A telecom linesman 4WD was going the same road, and I basically had to ride in the wheeltrack 2 feet from his rear bumper or it was off. some interesting slips and slides and I got to Gore absolutely shattered. It stopped snowing then so it was only freeeeezing cold the rest of the way. it was horrible. My gear wasnt so great then either but I dont think it would have mattered.

The first time I rode from Wellington to Auckland on a GSX400 was kind of entertaining too. I had no real idea how long it would take, and ended up in Waiouru at about 2am in a truckstop freezing cold. At least it wasnt raining that time.