Page 2 of 37 FirstFirst 123412 ... LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 550

Thread: Cook Strait Ferries Megathread

  1. #16
    Join Date
    7th December 2007 - 12:09
    Bike
    Valkyrie 1500 ,HD softail, BMW r1150r
    Location
    New Plymouth
    Posts
    2,145
    Sorry but insurance conciders ferry a railway crossing....and will not pay out..If you don't believe me please ring your insurance and ask. Plenty of heartbroken car owners have found out the hard way, ask any sailor who worked on those ferries......

  2. #17
    Join Date
    28th June 2005 - 19:34
    Bike
    '15 VStrom 650, 1983 BMW R80G/S
    Location
    Flattenedstan
    Posts
    149
    Been across Cook Strait dozens of times. Uninsured apparently!! Anyway put your bike on its side stand, in gear and move onto compression (the rear wheel locks up)and get a couple of rubber chocks on the rear wheel. if i am on the ferry during a Rusty Nuts event (ie lots of other bikes) i use my own tie downs but if heading up to the Cold Kiwi for example i have made up some webbing loops (old car seat belts are ideal) and use these to wrap around the handlebars both sides and from near the pillion pegs both sides. then use their tie downs.You'll need to wash your hands afterwards. BlueBridge have good staff who will come over and see if you are coping ok. Interislander couldn't give a stuff. Latest ferry Kaitaki has next to no facilities or tie downs suitable for bikes so if you are booked on that take your own. Arahunga you are squeezed in between the trucks at the backon a wet slippery floor. Aratika you are put at the front of the upstairs car park. keep your helmet on or your earplugs in as the bikes are put next to a massive air intake and its bloody noisy. I have never had one fall over. even when in 3 metre seas on the Lynz still going full noise with the waves breaking over us. Not that i could have cared - too busy feeding the fishes!!
    To anyone that ever told you you’re no good… They’re no better.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    9th September 2006 - 21:40
    Bike
    3 black ones
    Location
    chch
    Posts
    1,456
    Quote Originally Posted by NiggleC View Post
    keep your helmet on or your earplugs in as the bikes are put next to a massive air intake and its bloody noisy
    that noise adds to the stress level as you are trying to tie your bike down.....i

  4. #19
    Join Date
    15th August 2004 - 17:52
    Bike
    KTM 2T & LC4
    Location
    Rather be riding
    Posts
    3,326

    Yep, just like a trailer

    People fret about their bikes on the ferries, seem to think that it gets really rough. The ferry staff just laugh, they reckon if it gets rough enough to need 4 tie-downs then there's a shitload more to worry about than your bike! Like several hundred souls...

    I use the ropes/straps provided, passed over the lower triple-clamp, holding the bike upright like in a trailer. Use a chock either end (one end could be the rail or whatever) to stop the fore/aft rocking. On the Interislander I do a truckies hitch but the Bluebridge has straps with mechanical locking devices. One more at the rear end just to triangulate things a bit, and on the 640 Adventure to compress the rear end to stop it hopping around. Can't see the point in carry the weight and bulk of my own tie-downs while I'm on tour, but if you are travelling with a group then resources may become scarce so bringing you own could be useful.

    Park up the bike on the stand, affix the LHS tie-down such that when the bike is taken off the stand the bike is held upright but leaning to the RHS - just like when you put a bike on a trailer single-handed. Or if your bike has a side stand, you can do the LHS tie-down firm [edit: not slack, not tight], then do the RHS, pulling the bike vertical ie off the stand.

    You don't have to eliminate all movement; you do have to eliminate movement that will loosen the tie-downs.

    My service experience is opposite to NiggleC's. Bluebridge were next to useless - they just don't have their shit sorted. In fact the overall experience was so poor I doubt I'll be back by preference. They have some staff that try really hard but they don't make up for everyone else, or the facilities etc.

    PS The Kaitaki is a big boat (sorry, ship; boats are picked up and carried on ships) it is the only one that sails in rough conditions, it gets thrown around much less than the others.
    Last edited by warewolf; 28th December 2007 at 20:26. Reason: PS
    Cheers,
    Colin

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve McQueen
    All racers I know aren't in it for the money. They race because it's something inside of them... They're not courting death. They're courting being alive.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    14th December 2006 - 11:09
    Bike
    '01 Honda Transalp '99 Honda CBR 600
    Location
    Christchurch
    Posts
    502
    Quote Originally Posted by P38 View Post
    .

    The crew are really helpfull ask if your unsure, however they wont take as much care with your motorcycle as what you will.
    [rant]I've never been on Bluebridge but after my first experience on the Interislander I am now reluctant to let any crew member within 5m of my bike. I tend to tie my bikes down onto the side stand (ie side stand side first). Without getting into a discussion of the merits of various methods.... after I had secured the stand side, and was just cranking down the opposite side, a 'friendly' Interislander crew member who had offered to 'help' slackened off the strop on the stand side because he thought he saw a better place to secure it.The bike (a fully faired CBR600) immediately and violently tipped over onto the steel deck, just missing me. Given that, as several people have pointed out already in this thread, the ferry companies operate on the principal of 'all care, no responsibility' (quite reasonably as someone has also pointed out) it is far better to tie the bike down yourself, because (a) It is more fragile than the other cargo that the crews of road/rail ferries tend to deal with, (c) as the owner of the bike you will tend to treat it with a bit more respect, and (b) If they fuck it up, the best you can hope for is an apology. [/rant]
    Nobody knows what human life is, why we come, why we go,
    so why then do I know, I will see you in far off places?
    Stephen Patrick Morrissey

  6. #21
    Join Date
    2nd August 2007 - 20:01
    Bike
    EXC300 - NSR250 MC28 - CRF250X - TXT300
    Location
    The Farm
    Posts
    74

    North/South fairy crossing

    I'm prolly going to the Cold Kiwi then heading towards the bottom of NZ, then up the other side. What sort of stuff will I need for the crossing, like tie downs etc.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Fairy-Print-C10212648.jpeg 
Views:	153 
Size:	50.2 KB 
ID:	102524  
    Error 500 - Internal server error
    An internal server error has occurred!
    Please try again later.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    26th February 2005 - 15:10
    Bike
    Ubrfarter V Klunkn,ffwabbit,Petal,phoebe
    Location
    In the cave of Adullam
    Posts
    13,624
    Only for Honda riders I presume, this crossing.
    Quote Originally Posted by skidmark
    This world has lost it's drive, everybody just wants to fit in the be the norm as it were.
    Quote Originally Posted by Phil Vincent
    The manufacturers go to a lot of trouble to find out what the average rider prefers, because the maker who guesses closest to the average preference gets the largest sales. But the average rider is mainly interested in silly (as opposed to useful) “goodies” to try to kid the public that he is riding a racer

  8. #23
    Join Date
    2nd August 2007 - 20:01
    Bike
    EXC300 - NSR250 MC28 - CRF250X - TXT300
    Location
    The Farm
    Posts
    74
    It will be my lone trip, but others can join and leave as they please. It will be done with the least expenditure possible with hide or free camping where available.
    Error 500 - Internal server error
    An internal server error has occurred!
    Please try again later.

  9. #24
    Join Date
    26th May 2005 - 20:09
    Bike
    Prolight 250,XR4hundy
    Location
    Murch....
    Posts
    1,439
    If its not a busy time on the "fairy", then there'll be heaps of things to tie them down with, more of a problem of what to tie it to sometimes
    The Heart is the drum keeping time for everyone....

  10. #25
    Join Date
    3rd February 2004 - 08:11
    Bike
    1982 Suzuki GS1100GK, 2008 KLR650
    Location
    Wallaceville, Upper hutt
    Posts
    5,049
    Blog Entries
    4
    They're being mean to you (BTW it's "ferry")
    Take your own tie downs, sometimes there are some available on the boats but more often than not, nothing. Thats all you need.
    it's not a bad thing till you throw a KLR into the mix.
    those cheap ass bitches can do anything with ductape.
    (PostalDave on ADVrider)

  11. #26
    Join Date
    1st January 2007 - 19:48
    Bike
    Suzuki RG400 Yamaha ST125 Yamaha TDR250
    Location
    Singapura/Banks Peninsula
    Posts
    1,474
    Blog Entries
    1
    i do about thirty or so crossings a year on the ferries,all on bikes.(tough job,someones gotta do it)

    the interislander provided tie downs for us bikers,but some assholes stole most of them,and the word i get from the guys there is they wont be replaced-cant really blame them huh.

    the bluebridge boats are about the same cost,have far better food,cabins to sleep in that are FREE if you are lucky,much better coffeeand generally a far better experience.you can take your own tie downs but ropes are provided.and tie your own bike down cos then you wont have to worry about expensive bits getting scratched/broken etc.

    either way,its a great trip,just make sure you take your favorite brew of 2T oil with you cos the good stuff is few and far between round these parts,which is why i keep a 200 litre stash of fully synthetic for personal use
    "more than two strokes is masturbation"
    www.motoparts-online.com

  12. #27
    Join Date
    14th March 2006 - 21:55
    Bike
    06 Bandit GSF 1200SK6
    Location
    Levin, Manawatu
    Posts
    6,404
    Quote Originally Posted by gammaguy View Post
    i do about thirty or so crossings a year on the ferries,all on bikes.(tough job,someones gotta do it)

    the interislander provided tie downs for us bikers,but some assholes stole most of them,and the word i get from the guys there is they wont be replaced-cant really blame them huh.

    the bluebridge boats are about the same cost,have far better food,cabins to sleep in that are FREE if you are lucky,much better coffeeand generally a far better experience.you can take your own tie downs but ropes are provided.and tie your own bike down cos then you wont have to worry about expensive bits getting scratched/broken etc.

    either way,its a great trip,just make sure you take your favorite brew of 2T oil with you cos the good stuff is few and far between round these parts,which is why i keep a 200 litre stash of fully synthetic for personal use
    and if you get on Bluebridge (currently Monte Stello) when dogsnbikes is working then you will get looked after really well

    I have travelled on the Bluebridge & staff are really helpful good tie down points & chock for the wheel to help anchor it down - If you have a fully faired bike I would invest in a handlebar bra (oxford product) keeps the tie downs well away from the fairings
    Have to Karma ... Justice catches up eventually !!

  13. #28
    Join Date
    26th February 2005 - 15:10
    Bike
    Ubrfarter V Klunkn,ffwabbit,Petal,phoebe
    Location
    In the cave of Adullam
    Posts
    13,624
    Sigh. Pearls before swine, that's what it is.
    Quote Originally Posted by skidmark
    This world has lost it's drive, everybody just wants to fit in the be the norm as it were.
    Quote Originally Posted by Phil Vincent
    The manufacturers go to a lot of trouble to find out what the average rider prefers, because the maker who guesses closest to the average preference gets the largest sales. But the average rider is mainly interested in silly (as opposed to useful) “goodies” to try to kid the public that he is riding a racer

  14. #29
    Join Date
    30th November 2007 - 11:49
    Bike
    Triumph Sprint St 07, G650gs BMW
    Location
    Auckland, New Zealand, Ne
    Posts
    515
    I have Tie downs you are welcome to borrow, if you dont want to buy some, I used them at christmas when i went across.

  15. #30
    Join Date
    18th May 2005 - 09:30
    Bike
    '08 DR650
    Location
    Methven
    Posts
    5,255
    Just get some tie downs, if you're heading down on the nsr they can double as a way of tieing your gear to the bike. Lock it down properly on the ferry, in gear, tie down so the forks are partially compressed etc


Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •