all those ride plans made during lockdown seem to be coming on top of each other - 1st world problem........or considering most of the 1st world is locked down, maybe just an NZ first world problem off now for 3 days of dirt riding to get to martinborough for the 2020 GS rallye - big heavy bike loaded down with too much stuff - check! - 2gps, 1 to follow the track and the other to follow the route - check! - big heavy camera and lens for proper pics - check! - dodgy screen brace diy'd out of scrap - check! - tankbag from different GS hastily altered to fit this GS - check! - espresso maker and big map book covering whole country - check! if you're going to ride a big pig you may as well go the whole hog!
It could be a wet one so I hope it works for ya, for me if I’m spending all that time and money I would want a bit more nob so it least it gave me a fighting chance. Good luck
eri - having pre ridden the route as 'Crash test dummy' (checking the route sheets) - those tyres should be fine - hope to meet you in Martinborough - cheers Oaters
Just popped in to awakino for gas after a great couple of days riding the gravel north 2 south roads. Hunia riding much faster than me on his 1250GSA.....now to look at that awakino back road!....briefly met Hayden on his new T7 and a couple of riding mates yesterday as we came down the coast from raglan to kawhia
Ha, @eri you want need the espresso maker. Being a GS ride there will be a coffee cart on route some where. Have a good one. WR
The north 2 south gravel route very good. We'll be as tuned up as we can be once we get to martinbourough. Bit of drizzle has caught up with at tauramanui, so we are restocking on calories + caffeine at a cafe
Good luck @eri you're not missing much up here. Much needed and very wet rain since early this morning.
Went for a tootle this morning and met a chap in Pahiatua heading down to the GS Ralleeee . He was adamant the rain will be gone for the weekend so you should be fine. He even said I could take the XC on it told him Tigers don't get on with Elephants
The forecast was for a wet Friday, dry Saturday for the Rallye and a wet Sunday for the ride home and that's largely what we got. After the first night camping we stuck to sleeping indoors and listening to the various night showers drumming on a roof instead of the nylon tent. Now at hunia's mum's at port ohope.... yesterday's ride probably the best yet, over 700km through wairoa, te renga, tiniroto, pehiri, rere, rakauroa, matawai, moto, opotiki....photos when I get home.. . very impressed with the big GS, really can do it all, yesterday we were going very quickly on the tar with the long travel suspension smoothing out the pitching and heaving tar, tucked in out of the drizzle in rain mode with heated grips on.... then once back on the gravel down to 1st + 2nd gear, Enduro modes, for the motu trail
first day of the trip we met at the drury autobahn, 11am, then headed down the southern motorway to pukekohe, tuakau, port waikato, raglan pub, kawhia pub......you know you are in a remote area, but not far from a bunch of ratbags, when you start to go past the burnt-out cars the late start meant we didn't get as far as hoped so as dusk fell and we found ourselves still high in the te kuiti backcountry so we pushed our way through a thin wall of gorse into a beautiful little camping spot under pines .....at the rallye itself vege mentioned the 2021 GS Rallye may be in this "waitomo" area in what became our normal pattern Hunia would zoom off on the 1250GSA but then wait for me to catch-up
Very good days riding yesterday, adjusting route as we went to miss weather, although we did get caught by darkness and rain for last 30 minutes of the Motu, ending with a picnic in the Opotiki New world car park of a Burger and beer
on thursday the 5th we rode out to awakino, then back inland on the north to south recommended marokopa road, nice limestone country at taumarunui it appeared the rain forecast for friday was starting early so we scrapped the plan to head up to ohakune, then down through the turakina valley, and instead decided to ride down through my favorite almost ghost town, ohura, and then the whanganui river road to a night in a whanganui b+b/yha with a beer/wine/garlic bread, steak + onion dinner we put together with the aid of countdown and hostel kitchen
didn't see any signs of that 3 years ago when passing through there were about 5 people about 2 years ago it was only 3 people at a guatemala food/coffee stand this time there was no one as the coffee cart is now closed through the weekdays
Video of the GS Rallye just been put up on YouTube. A Great varied selection of bikes, plenty of KTM ,a few triumph, yamahas ,hondas old and new. And of course BMW gs of all sizes and ages. Well organised event in a great location with a great bunch of like minded people made for an epic weekend, looking forward to the next one
if you get grainy video click the settings cog and to tell it you only want 1080, (you can remember that number right?)
