Epic one day, 1000+kms and 4 passes
Myself and two hardy fools tried to cross as many Sth Island passes in one day as possible; Haast, Lindis, Burkes, Arthurs then Lewis pass. This in itself is no great achievement, except half the day was riding through torrential rain in freezing temperatures.
I sailed to Picton Friday morning while 8 others had crossed Thu night and gone on ahead to Hokitika. The loose plan was to go to Karamea Sat. to join 2 others then Hanmer Springs then home on the Picton 6pm sailing Sunday night. My rear tyre was almost shot but I knew it would JUST handle that and back to Picton.
I blasted down Qn Charlotte Drive-Murchison-Westport-stopped of at my Grandparent's 1st ex-bach at Woodpecker Bay then their 2nd one at Punakaiki. Hoki was a beaut night, whitebait, beer and wine. A stupid booze driven plan evolved to cross the 4 main SI passes. I agreed with the proviso my tyre wouldn't last. No worries mate we'll find somewhere. Yeah, just where on a Sat. arvo exactly Guys...? I should have pressed this technical clitch in the plan further. They loosely dropped words like, we'll swing by Alex or Wanaka in need, yeah right again.
So crack of dawn off went.. only 3 of us. A Duc 996 and ZX14 and my trusty 636. Better tourers have not been invented.
Oh did I mention that a minute before leaving home to the ferry I checked metservice- whoa, 3 days of sunshine. Since real estate on my bike for luggage is at a premium I ditched my amazing wet oversuit. Wont need that, oh no way, yippee.
So 10 minute south of Hoki it starts .. rain on top of rain on top of more rain. Summer gloves just don't cut the mustard. 3 hours solid rain until we get through Haast to lake Wanaka and Hawea. The Haast is just unbelievably beautiful, isolated and empty of all human presence- including bike shops with tyres.
Push on over the Lindis Pass. To conserve my tyre I avoided any hard throttle use, no rear brake and capped the speed at 160. Above that and rubber disintegration goes up 10 fold [yeah yeah others will mention licences as well- that's a given, OK]
A quick stop at a memorial plague the Lads build for Grant Russell near Lake Tekapo (well respected Wgtn rider who died of cancer last year. His brother was in our larger group) . It was here my heart sunk. looked at the sun shining off the silver steel of my rear tyre. metal tyre?? meant to be black rubber. I was riding on the steel wires, half of which had snapped. All sign of rubber gone! %#@& sorry Boys I'm stranded in one of the most deserted parts of the frozen lakes district without winter gear, soaked to the skin and already close to hypothermia. Really pleased I listened to you Guys and came along.
Must ask Scumdog where are the nearest bike shops in this wider area?
Well bugger me if one of the Lads says, High Country Motorcycles are just up the road towards Fairlie. High what?.. dreamer and the easter bunny will change the tyre for us while we wait. No more weed for you bud.
I crawled to HCM/c (they do exist!). A full workshop in a barn on the outskirts of Fairlie. Specialist service for Harleys, Buell, Guzzi Triumph. Noel was fantastic. Doesn't sell tyres as such but luck had it he had replaced a 1/3 worn tyre off a Buell so sold me that and fitted for us. I was desperate and it was a case of, if it's 17" round and not a knobbly I'll take it. It was a squared off under sized touring tyre. Not my cup of tea but hey what do you do.
Back in the hunt! Lets move boys. Flew through to Geraldine, warm, sunny quick feed and off to Springfield. This was covering some of the country's best bike roads.
About now my local knowledge started to kick in. Doh, lets see, got to go over Porters pass, Arthurs Pass and Otira, then cut across behind Lake Brunner THEN start the Lewis and it's now 5pm. Locals know better than to attempt Arthurs late arvo, let alone try and come back again late at night- all the while in pouring rain.
Well it got colder and wetter. I've never been so miserably wet and cold. Dreaming of my winter gear and gloves sitting warm and dry at home. 2 of our cell phone inside our jackets had now given out from water damage.
Now by 7.15pm we reached Stillwater for the most impressive downpour of my life. Stillwater- the sense of humour our forefathers had! No joking in one second all visibility went, the road vanished under flood water 2 inches deep instantly. Rain drops felt the size of golf balls. Thought they would shatter my visor. We had to detour to Dodson for gas at which point my lack of body fat warned me enough was enough. Our concentration was gone, darkness had fallen and we had done another 3 hrs solid rain - no let up ahead for sure. I near begged the others to come with me to Grey and call it a night. It was now too dangerous to ride and if anything happened this late on an empty road who would help, go where for help, use our dead phones, not that there would be coverage anyway. And if we reach Hanmer. Will a motel be open, with vacancies?? more gambles.
Well the tough lads did it. Took them 4 hours to Hanmer and lucky the Karamea group had arrived and were looking out for them. They were warned to turn back at Spr. Juncn as it was now zero degrees! Apparently they were so close to hypo, shaking and couldn't speak when they got to Hanmer.
Next morning I get a relieved call from one of them and I shot through to join them. Bit of rain until Springs Junction but then SUNSHINE. A chance to dry my soaked clothes out a bit and pick up the pace finally on dry roads.
Into hot pools to recover. Then we all cut through more stunning back roads to Kaikoura and Picton. Home just before midnight thanks to the usual delayed ferries. No tickets but 3 crashes. A 916 highsided twice in the wet on the dual road/rail bridges. Lot of panel damage to both sides. Even worse though a Boxer twin collide with an opposing car on a bend. Threw the rider over the bonnet, ripped the guard off the car and smacked the boxer about a fair bit. Rider was in a bit of shock too from the sound of it but he gathered himself enough to get to Hoki (day 1) Then headed home before his sores set in more, as they do over the next day or two.
I'll do that challenge again but only if prepared tyre-wise and clothing-wise and in mid summer with a perfect forecast. Cost heaps too.
Still it's the tough rides that give us fond memories.
Oh how I miss the South Island. No question it is the biking paradise.
Final score- I did 1035 kms on one sitting and 4 Passes. The others accomplished an amazing 1277kms and 5 Passes in one day. Remember, this was in pouring rain on twisty mountain passes. Not some simple USA straight line cruise, no brain, skills required test.
Last word- the 636 was comfortable the whole time and never missed a beat. Good headlights at night too. Not sure where the hard luggage attaches for next tour? My double visor helmet came in real handy as well.
Happiness is a means of travel, not a destination
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Karma ... Justice catches up eventually !! 
Originally Posted by Jantar
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